I Love You Zarfat Kiddos : Joey Rosario

We visited Panti Asuhan (Orphanage) Zarfat on February 13, 2008. The orphanage is in Tiga Balata, a small town about 15 minutes away from my hometown. A friend of mum told us the orphanage is short in funds and we should help ease their financial burden. She made a phone call in the morning to inform them of our planned visit. We asked for their specific needs and what we can do to help them out. Their needs are mostly medicines and basic necessities like toiletries.

We planned to have a meal together with them. We decided on combo meal from a local fast food restaurant. I know I am into healthy stuff and have avoided fast food restaurant like a disease. And of all places, I picked KFC. I have boycotted KFC for the last 4 or so years. But then again, these kids probably have never eaten it before. I don’t want to push my belief on them.

I went shopping in the afternoon. Good thing mum was around so she knows exactly where to take me shop for supplies. The combo meals itself took about 45 minutes for them to prepare. It’s a two-person show this time around, just me and Julie. There are 41 kids at the orphanage. 15 of the children are below the age of 10 and the other 26 are between 11 – 18 years old.

We arrived around 4 pm. We were greeted by the caretaker Mrs. Sihombing. There is another staff on-site. The kids just had lunch at 2 pm so the plan to have a meal together has to be canceled. (P.S. I wasn’t planning to eat the KFC) They will have the meal for dinner instead. The kids sang a song about religion tolerance be it Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, or Hindu … if only the rest of the world could listen.

One kid was asked to speak on their behalf and she was gracious of our visit today. Mrs. Sihombing led a prayer after that. I spoke to her about the children there, what they do, where they are from, etc. Most of them go to school in the morning. Afternoon activities vary greatly. The older boys learn about farming. Others have afternoon lessons. They are one big happy family. I will be back one day to bring more joy and happiness to them.