Life at the Rainbow Children's Home in Aguascalientes, Mexico, has its peaceful moments as well as its frenzied ones.
Tuesday evening, there were 42 children running in and out the orphanage. The brick plaza across the street was full of children skipping, jumping, laughing and singing. People came out of their homes to watch the circus-like atmosphere as First Christian Church members played with children from the home. The church group of 25 is helping build a new orphanage in Santa Rosa, 25 miles from Aguascalientes.

That night, the boys quietly lined up for dinner on the right side of the hall, the girls on the left.
"Shuuu," said one girl, hushing a boy who was laughing. Single file, they marched into the dining room and scooted onto the wooden benches. One boy stood up and prayed. They ate in silence.
Sandra and Sergio, children in the home, gathered up about 40 bowls and cups. Two boys washed the dishes. No one told them to do the chores. It was automatic.

Nancy took the mop and plunged it into a bucket after dinner. She mopped the utility room. Another girl swept the hallway, while one lugged a bucket full of water into the girl's bathroom. Luis wiped the boys' sinks clean.
Much of what happens at the orphanage is run by the children.

There are two rows of tables, one for the boys and one for the girls. At dinner, a child sits at the head of each. The two pass out food, pour more to drink and take care of everyone at the table.
Miguel is the song leader during church services. They walk each other to school and watch after one another during class.

Wednesday, the children got up at 5:30 a.m. It took about 10 minutes to stretch out the night's sleep. One girl sat and stared blankly for about two minutes before springing in action. Rosi, the smallest girl in the home, twisted on tights, putting them on backward. Sandra swept. She was wearing the shoes Nancy had on the night before while cleaning. Although the floors had been mopped the night before, a girl mopped them again.

After getting dressed, they ate oatmeal that had simmered overnight. Spoons clanged against bowls. Hardly a voice rose above a whisper in the morning.
Breakfast was followed by a Bible lesson. They then walked to school.

Alfredo, a first-grader, ran to school. He stopped about every 20 yards and turned around as if making sure the rest still followed.

The 7-year-old is almost never completely still. He runs everywhere and during prayer he rocks himself with hands on his elbows. In class he taps a foot. While standing in line, he jumps up and down. Although some might call him hyper, he's one of the few that stayed on track at school.

The teacher put addition and subtraction problems on the board and they left the room for about 30 minutes. Instantly, the students got up, fought, crawled over each other and quit their work.
Although the children from the orphanage didn't goof off as much as the other children, Alfredo never really stopped working. He paused to push Antonio, a classmate, off him but kept his pen to his paper.

When the teacher came back in the room, she gave the class another assignment. Alfredo had done it the day before. The teacher told him to do the next page in the book. The room didn't change much when the teacher returned. She shrieked directions above the buzz in the classroom. The students paid her little attention.
"I like school because I learn a lot," Alfredo said, after his teacher checked his page and scribbled a big "E" on it for "Excellente."

Having finished his work, Alfredo pulled out two strings and a marble from his pocket and bobbed his head as the class roared around him.