Sometimes plans fall apart

My Girls!

A few days into the second week, a few of the younger girls asked Emery to play with the skipping ropes with them. Their names were Blessing, Scarlet, Hope and Winifred. They were the girls that she got along with the most, along with Jacinta, but she wasn't there at the time as she was doing her chores. Emery's forearm was beginning to get tired after half an hour of twirling the ropes around, but she kept going because they were enjoying it. After a while, she had to sit out because she was starting to feel weak and lightheaded. Collapsing was the last thing she wanted to happen. She told them that she was going to go inside to get a drink. The sun rays were harshly shining down, and it was almost blinding. When Emery got inside, she felt relieved straight away. It was going to give her a chance to refresh and limit the chances of her collapsing. She took a few minutes to sort herself out and get a drink before going back outside.

When she went back outside the girls were playing together between themselves, so she went over to the side gate and looked out onto the field. The plan for her was just to walk around and look at the piglets. Once she got to the gate, she saw the boys were all playing soccer with John. Emery had never seen them playing soccer before, so she was surprised to see them. She went over and asked if she could join them. She replaced John as the goalkeeper because he wasn't good at it. He was quite clumsy, but he blames it on his age. Michael, who was one of the older boys seemed very surprised at the fact that Emery didn't move away from the ball when it came at her. A few of the older girls began to join in after they saw her playing. It was good for Emery to be around teenagers. She wanted to make more of a connection with them but didn't know how to start, so she used this as an opportunity. It was noticeable that all the volunteers automatically go to younger children because it is just easier. Emery wanted to be different, but she was too self-conscious. It stopped her being able to most of the time, but when she got the chance, she took it. Emery didn't have the self-confidence that she needs to just go up to the girls who were the same age as her.

Four girls around Emery's age were in the orphanage. Their names are Joanne, her sister Ann, Tori and Dorcas. There was another girl there at the time, her name was Kuchi, but she wasn't part of the orphanage she was just staying with Jane who was her aunt while they planned her sisters' wedding. Joanne was a sweet girl. During the introduction, she was timid; all of them were, which is understandable. Joanne and Kuchi were great friends; you would rarely see one without the other. They seemed to enjoy playing badminton. Emery's little brother donated them as his contribution to what they brought over with them. The other girl Tori wasn't around that often. She was trying to find a way to get into college. She wanted to be a doctor, but she didn't have the financial ability. She was an intelligent girl, and she always had her laptop with her working on a project. Kuchi was very friendly if it hadn't been for her Emery would never have built up enough courage to walk up to them and try to make a connection with them or even to start a conversation with them. It wasn't something she was good at doing. When she was at home without language barriers, she was afraid of saying something wrong and offending someone.

Emery originally began talking to Dorcas when she was doing Emery's hair. Winnifred just started messing with her hair and a few of the other girls wanted to try. Jacinta was one of them. She found it difficult to do her hair because of the softness of her hair compared to their coarse hair. Dorcas then came over. She is very good at styling hair. She was the one who did the girls' hair whichever way they wanted it. They got to talking. Emery noticed she was a very reserved person, like herself. You can never know how much someone has been through in their life no matter how old they are. They started talking about how she has been helping Mumbi with her little two-year-old baby Manu. Dorcas was pregnant, but she didn't understand what it meant. She was excellent with Manu, and you could tell she would be a great mother with a great support system behind her. Mumbi knew what Dorcas was going through. She was in the same position, not too long ago. Manu was born and grew up in the orphanage she understands it was better for both of them. They are happy and healthy, Mumbi found it challenging, but she knew nothing else. You could see it in her that it took her childhood away, but when she looked in Manu's eyes, she saw her beautiful little boy and she wouldn't have it any other way.