We entered the center with anxious hearts, but the welcoming smiles of the kids blew our worries away. There was a huge group of kids waiting for us-around 35! Our first activity was an art activity-we had prepared a poster with a drawing of Bart and Lisa Simpson(!!!) and had cut it into 4 separate pieces. We divided the pieces throughout small groups and the children helped color and decorate the posters. ​

Our intentions were that the children would learn to work together without arguments over the coloring activity. The kids loved the small color pencils and crayons we brought with us. Seeing them happy and excited was the prize of all our hard work. ​

The children had prepared something for us too! They showed us their Thingyan (water festival) traditional dance. ​

The electricity went out!! Luckily, we opened our flashlights from our phones. What a way to save the day~~

We were able to present a small skit on teamwork which we had prepared. With animal characters, props and animate actions, we were able to make the children laugh and pay attention to our essential message: Working together is key to success. ​

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It started to rain once it was time to go back. However, the brutality of the rain cannot belittle how content we were that our first trip ended successfully. Next trip will be another adventure! Stay tuned! ​

​To start the year off with a little warm feeling in our hearts, the orphanage leaders Sabrina and Shwe Yee (Helen) helped the Global Issues Network (GIN) on their project called GINCARE, because GIN cares. They met on Saturday August 27th at school and took off for Grace Home Orphanage.
They arrived around 1:30 pm and set up the food, drinks, books, and medicine. The children arrived around 2 pm and GIN had a doctor as the guest lecturer. He educated them on the importance of washing hands and how it could lead to diseases. After about an hour or interactive learning and videos on how to carefully wash hands, GIN leaders gave them dumplings and milo drink to enjoy. The leaders then donated medicine to the care takes in the orphanage and books for children to write in. After the children washed their hands, it was playtime with them. The orphanage leaders then took over and lead them in playing several games. The leaders of GIN played with the children as well and took videos for memory.
After several games that Sabrina and Shwe Yee lead, the children themselves were teaching the students how to play their kind of games. It was new and entertaining to everyone around the street. With uncontrollably smiles and each and every children singing along to their game, the environment was lit up with their laughs and screams. 
​The saddest part of the trip enters when it was time for GIN and Orphanage leaders to leave. Some children at the orphanage were even teasingly asking them to stay behind. Around 4:30 pm, the GIN and orphanage leaders left the orphanage with the sight of children beaming with smiles and a lot of memories made. Hopefully, they get to continue helping the lives of orphans in Yangon.