Casa Hogar el Buen Pastor

I successfully managed to get myself out of Rosie’s class, and today was my first day with the kids. It’s not an elementary school like I thought. It’s more like… an orphanage. But it’s not for orphans, per se. Some are, but most are children of single mothers or prisoners. Anyway, Adriana and I went to the Casa Hogar (as it’s called) and we were each put in charge of a group of kids. I had the boys, and she had the girls. The first task of the day was to sweep and mop the walkways. You would not believe how hard it was to get them to do it. When you are 8 years old and you live with 35 friends, it’s easy to be distracted. The best I could do was give two boys brooms and set them at opposite ends of the walkways. Whoever reached the middle first won.
It was amazing how quickly they attached themselves to us. Within 10 minutes of being there, a tiny four-year-old came up behind me and gave me a big hug around my legs. I don’t think I’d even seen her yet. I said “Hi” to her, but she went off. For a moment, I wasn’t even sure which one she was.
One of my boys, Sulivan, immediately took a shine to me. There’s something different about this kid. There is something a little bit wrong with his right hand and leg, and he runs in sort of a half-skip because of it. I also think because of it, he doesn’t really get to participate in the cleaning and such, so naturally he’s the only one who wants to. He grabbed my hand a lot, and he walked around with me. They need adults. Parents.
After cleaning, we played soccer in the back patio. I was the goalie, which was not hard because I was half the size of the goal. I’m beginning to see some personalities. Sergio, 8-ish, is pretty competitive and sporty. He likes to win. Julio, 11-ish, is becoming something of an authority figure, and a good influence on the kids, I think. Javier, 10-ish, is Julio’s good friend and right-hand man, it seems. Raul and Omar, 8 and 7, I guess, want to be where the action is, whatever it is. Adrian, 8-ish, did not play soccer with us. He sat on the sides and played with some wood and rocks. He’s good at getting out of work, but a good kid overall. Rafa, about 14, I think, broods. He seems a little resentful of life in Casa Hogar. He wants/needs more. I want to see what’s going on there.
When I first got there, I almost immediately wanted to leave. I didn’t (and still don’t) know what I’m doing, but I feel needed, even if I’m just playing around and making jokes with them.
Plus, I still get credit for it. Three credits for loving and being loved? All right.