They watched Disney on Ice, shopped at a mall and rode escalators for the first time.
Maryland, after all, is far away from the girls? home in Namibia, Africa the Children of Mount Zion Village, an orphanage established by Mount Zion United Methodist Church in Bel Air and still operating thanks to donations and volunteers from churches throughout the state.
“It?s a lot for them to take in,” said Sarah Dorrance, a seminary student and missionary advocate at Calvary United Methodist Church in Mount Airy, one of the orphanage?s sponsors.
But the girls appeared at ease recently while riding horses at Petticoat?s Advance, a farm in Hampstead in Carroll County.
Mary Shunk, an instructor with the 4-H Therapeutic Riding Program of Carroll County, praised the teenagers for their riding skills.
“You must have had a good teacher,” she told them.
The girls ride horses all the time at their orphanage, where most of the 55 children who live there lost their parents to AIDS.
“The Bible says to care of orphans, so we feel called to help,” said Lisa McLaughlin, wife of Mount Zion Pastor Craig McLaughlin. “The same volunteers and children get to know each other over the years, so it?s not anonymous. It?s a very hands-on, personal connection.”
The girls loved visiting the National Zoo in Washington, where they sawcheetahs and elephants, some of the animals that reminded them of Africa, 16-year-old Beerina Cayi said.
Husband-and-wife Mount Zion missionaries, Rebecca and Gary Mink, founded the orphanage five years ago, but this is the first time some of the children visited the United States.
Wearing brightly colored African garb, the group of 10 girls sang, danced and drummed for their many donor churches for the past five weeks. They leave for Namibia today.
Dorrance volunteered at the orphanage last summer and plans to go back in July.
In Africa, “we played with the kids,” she said, “taught, cooked and just gave them some attention.”
