BUNK BEDS AT THE POTTER'S HOUSE

It's been way too long since we last visited the kids at The Potter's House.  We saw them at Christmas, but then time got away from us - Saturdays were occupied with this or that other concern.  We didn't even get to help them when they made the move to the new house since it was a school day when it happened. And then, more recently, the orphans started passing around chicken pox and we thought it best to keep our family at a distance.

Even yesterday, as we had time and reason to visit the House, we heard the chicken pox still hadn't finished its rounds and so Melissa and I left our four at home.  We went to check how everyone was doing in their new surroundings and to see firsthand the progress on a bunk bed project some young friends back in Indiana had raised money for over the last few months.

Vernel appeared to be the last to get chicken pox!

Upon our arrival, it was immediately evident that the kids and the workers were all loving the bigger, brighter house.  When our friends Bud and Jane had "stumbled" upon the orphanage a year and a half ago after heavy rains had knocked down one of its outer walls, the kids were living in a cramped four room house with no electricity and a garden hose from a neighbor's yard as the only source of running water.  At that time, the kids were spending their nights sleeping on the concrete floors - all the boys in one bedroom and the girls in the second.  Jane had helped them find some twin size beds and Caleb's classmates had helped with bedding, but space limitations had dictated multiple kids per bed. 

With the orphans' move to the new house approaching, a whole bunch of hoosier kids - from Community Church of Columbus and Little Seeds Preschool - spent several of the last few months collecting money to make sure each kid could have his or her own bed.  All told, about $1,200 was raised and the director of the orphanage was able to contract with a man to build enough bunk beds to sleep all 22 kids. 

We went today to see the beds and to sign off on final payments for their construction.  We agreed with the director that one important element was missing - safety rails for the top bunks!  Thankfully, the builder has agreed to return and weld rails on each bed before they will be used.

 

This little guy followed us around while the Director showed us the various bedrooms and the beds.

And then he distracted me while Melissa finished negotiating plans to finish up the beds with the Director.

Just for comparison, here is a picture of the gathering area in the old house - making up one half of the available space in the building:

And here's the gathering space at the new house:

As always, the kids were so enthusiastic about our visit.  One little guy tugged on my shirt and asked, "Samuel? Samuel?" I assured him that we would bring all our kids the next time.

Melissa brought along enough suckers to give one to each kid.

We were pleased to hear that there is even enough money left over from what the Columbus kids raised to purchase some of the extra mattresses needed to furnish the beds.

A great big thank you to all the kids of Community Church of Columbus and Little Seeds Preschool (and all the adults who organized things behind the scenes)!  Thank you all for caring for the orphans and providing for their needs!  We will go back and get more pictures once the beds are complete and the mattresses are purchased.