Those were moving moments that we – Birgit and Detlef Voelz – were happy to experience at our orphanage „Team for Children” near Yangon! On Saturday morning of the 7th November, we drove onto the premises of the orphanage situated approximately 50 kilometres north of the Burmese city, and were immediately in for a big surprise: The facade of the house gleamed in new bright colours of yellow and blue, the corporate colours of „Team Trans Hamburg“ und „Team Trans Logistics“. Smiling, our local partner Naymyo Ko of „Carefreight“ explained that he had been guided by the colours on our business cards – great idea!
And another exciting moment followed when we entered the house: Our 15 kiddies stood in line and greeted us. After the warm welcome, the three-to-ten-year-old children quickly got going. When the brought along sweets had been distributed among them and the goodies happily finished, Edmund, our guest from Hong Kong, unpacked a trunk full of toys which immediately wandered from hand to hand. The happy moments were further enhanced by Friedrich Rahn of the German Embassy in Yangon who had arrived together with his wife Mie, and brought with him a football and an Embassy’s cap for each child.
In the meantime, we inspected the clean and well cared for rooms, walked around the premises, talked to the four helpers and to both teachers who, for example, like to play LEGO with the children on week-ends. Outside at the open stable, we enjoyed the sight of meanwhile two cows with their two calves that supply fresh milk every day. Towards the end of our visit, our other guest Wolfgang Beisert who had accompanied us, sang various songs together with the children, improvised round dances and accompanied it all on his ukulele.
It was almost like Christmas: For the children the great delight with the many presents and for us the sight of the happy children beaming with joy.
All photos and videos to be found here.