04/07/2026
A five year old pressed her palm on a wall and whispered, 'I want to be something.'
We haven't stopped thinking about that since April 12th.
We went to CNECOF Orphanage Gombe with a clear goal: not just to hand out items and disappear, but to sit with these children, teach them something real, and remind them that someone sees them. That's exactly what happened, and it hit harder than we planned.
There were games loud enough to shake the compound. There was laughter that didn't need translation. Then the skills session, where kids stopped watching from the sidelines and started building with their own hands, some of them for the first time in their lives were holding proof they were capable of more than anyone ever told them.
Then the Dream Wall. Tiny painted palms pressed onto a wall, each one saying something that child had maybe never said out loud before. I want a future.
Afterward, the Orphanage coordinator told us plainly: this meant everything.
Here's an unpopular opinion. Items and donations matter, these children need them, and we're not pretending otherwise. But items alone don't make a child believe in a future. What does that is someone sitting with them, teaching them a skill, looking them in the eye and making them feel seen. That's the part people skip. Tell us if we're wrong.
These children won't just remember what they were given. They'll remember whether someone believed in them enough to stay and build with them. If you grew up without that kind of attention, you already know exactly what I mean.
There's another child somewhere right now, still waiting for someone to give them both.
Drop a 💚 if you believe presence and belief matter just as much as what you give. And if you don't agree, tell me why in the comments, I actually want to hear it.
Last question. When last did you make a child feel truly seen, not just given to?
