The staff hesitated for a while.
At that moment, the other visitors also said, "Sister, take us to see the children! They might welcome our presence! We want to help them, too. They surely won't hate us."
"Alright! I'll take you to see them."
The nun took them to a building behind the church.
Once they were near, they could hear the voices of little girls playing.
"A portion of the girls have gone down the hill to go to school. Right now, the ones remaining in the church are either not healthy enough or they haven't reached the schooling age." The nun led the group and introduced them to the girls.
"The children have to go down the hill on their own to get to school every day?" Avery asked.
"Yes. We would take turns sending them down, but they need to hike up and down the hill. They have it tougher than the kids who live down the hill. It's winter now, and they have to get up before the sun rises to go down the hill," the nun explained.
Avery had only hiked up the hill and already she found it a little tiring. She found it hard to imagine that the children had to do it every day.
"Why doesn't the church have the children of schooling age stay at the orphanage down the hill?"
"The orphanage can't accept that many children at once. Furthermore, the children are used to staying in the church. They're not willing to leave this place," the nun explained. "Previously, a visitor had wanted to adopt a child from us. The child did not want to, so we won't didn't force her to leave."
Avery was touched. "It must be because you sisters have treated these children extremely well and that is why they are reluctant to leave this place."
While chatting, they arrived at the children's lodging and play area.
There were about more than a dozen children playing under the supervision of the staff. Some were playing games, some were playing with toys, and others were lying on the ground, looking at the ants between the bricks.
A visitor that was with them immediately walked over to a girl.
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