A Different Kind of Orphanage

There was this village, Rambukkana (Rahm BOOK' ana), about four miles from MEF. A boys orphanage had been established there by an order of Buddhist monks. From time to time some of the volunteers would go over in the evening to teach a little english and basically just play with the kids. They ranged in age from probably ten to 18 years old.

They had an old TV, but otherwise this was the barest of places. No XBox would ever come within 100 miles of this place.

The boys would cling to us like Saran wrap. They were eager to learn and to have human contact. AND they loved to mug for photos. The beauty of digital. Instant gratification.

They were proud of their english books and struggled mightily to improve. I'm sorry to say I'm not much of a teacher, but together we would all work to improve our communication skills.

It's not all sunrises on Adam's Peak and World Heritage sites. But, maybe this was the best of it.