Kelvin and Gil left for Saguramo on September 9, 2009. The trip goals were to review the recent construction work at Saguramo Orphanage, to discuss future plans with Lali, the director, and to visit with the children.
The entire second floor, which is where the children sleep and spend most of their time, was being remodeled. The old smelly bathrooms were no more. This was the first time ever that I have walked into the building without smelling the odor of raw sewage.
The holes in the floor that the kids have always used were being replaced with real flush toilets. Showers with hot water (thanks in part to the new boiler we recently installed) were also being installed, which is also a first for the Saguramo Orphanage. We were very pleased with the quality of work being done and how happy and healthy the children looked.
After community members attended the Christmas party at the orphanage, we began to see more volunteering. Several church members are coming regularly to teach classes, some high school students are giving fitness lessons, and a retired professional rugby player is teaching interested boys how to play rugby.
We made visits to orphanages similar to Saguramo in Lagodekhi and Tashiskari. Together they house about 100 children, in conditions similar to those at Saguramo before we began our work: crumbling walls, insufficient heat, dampness and odor, and so forth. In one case the plumbing was so bad that raw sewage was dripping down the walls in the rooms beneath the bathroom. The Surami Children’s Educational Organization was our third visit; here the building was warm, fueled by wood, and the bathrooms were functional. Still, the list of needs was long: new roof and windows, shoes and clothes for the children, new beds, a washing machine.
Our final visit was to USAID. We had hoped to enlist their help in gaining tax-exempt status as a charity in Georgia, but they were unable to assist us.
