So You Think You Can Dance--Jennifer Hamilton

We visited an orphanage where the "children" ranged in age from three to twenty-five! I never thought that an orphanage would have people over eighteen, but where else are they supposed to go? Many of the people that ended up at the orphanage have had breaks in school so they may be twenty-five and still in high school. After we had our tour of the grounds, we got to hang out with the kids.

The first thing I heard as I walked up to the orphanage was "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. I was confused until I saw the iPod and docking station and the volunteer it belonged to. It turned out that there was a group of five volunteers from University of Western Ontario (London, ON, Canada) which spent the afternoons there after teaching English at the local elementary school. Each volunteer sacrificed his or her phone and camera to the kids for the afternoon. One went above all the rest by also lending out her music.

Jamming to the music inevitably lead to dancing to the music. Unfortunately, when we went closer, the boy that was dancing got really shy. It took some getting used to, but he eventually showed off his skills to us outsiders. Then three really young boys walked onto the stage and showed everyone up. They were extremely talented and fun to watch. On the sidelines, I saw others who were younger and more shy doing the same moves! This home for orphans has turned into a home of dancers.

Note: Visit www.gisimba.org and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12978946 for more on the fascinating history of Gisimba.