Baphumelele here I come!!!

Hi Everyone!
I've just come back from my first shift at Baphumelele Childrens Home in Khayelitsha Township and it was brill!! Really enjoyed myself!
There are roughly 80 children at the home, from 0 to 18 years, some have disabilities, some have HIV/Aids, some have parents (that can't take care of them) and some don't, but it's a surprisingly happy place.

Friday was my first day and it went so quickly - probaly because it was non-stop all day! A normal weekday usually runs the following way -
6.am - Wake Up
7am - Go to baby house to prepare bottles, feed toddlers, find shoes for each child, brush teeth. Wash Up.
Playtime
9am - Break for our breakfast
10am - Make and feed toddlers snack and drink. Wash up. One to one sessions if enough time.
12pm - Serve and feed toddlers dinner and drink. Wash up.
1pm - Our dinner time
2.30pm - Collect children from creche.
2.45pm - Make and serve snacks and drinks. Wash Up. Playtime.
4pm - Wash all childrens hands.
5pm - Serve tea and drinks. Wash Up.
6.15pm - Brush all childrens teeth.
7 - 7.30pm - Finish for the day!!
Sometimes we have to assist in Homework groups with the bigger kids and there is also an option to get up at 4am to bath all the babies and toddlers.
Weekends are more chaotic because the older children are not at creche or school and the orphanage don't run any acticities for the children so they have nothing to do all day. Except for on Sundays when they have 'church', this is when preachers come to talk to the children, sing and dance. The children love it!

Saturday started when I got woken up at 5.50am by May (the Preist/Cook/Extremely Happy Man) singing "Jesus loves me", "He heals my heart". Three volunteers had managed to raise money to take the kids out on a fun day, which was really good. They got a bus ride, candy floss, bouncy castles, water slide, paddling pools, ice-cream, McDonalds, new swimsuits, and a day out of the township! They were all so excited and seemed to have a great day! Everyone fell asleep on the way home after such a long day! When we got back we had to start tooth brushing and washing up so we were all tired at the end of the day to.

Sunday was nice, we took the children to listen to the preachers, they love the dancing to the church music. We also had time to so some one on one work, this makes sure each child gets some alone time with one person. I took Patience (a little cutie) to play, she didn't smile much (she never does) but was engrossed by the flashing lights on the toy we were playing with.

This morning was very noisy, all the toddlers were shouting, playing and running about - hard work! We finish at about 9am, then we get brought back to Aviva house and the other shift go to Baphumelele.
I am so tired today! Been to get my hair cut this morning and now having a rest this afternoon. But it was worth it, really enjoyed interacting with the children and got so many kisses and hugs! Although learning 80 childrens names is such hard work!! Looking forward to going back on Thursday!


Han
xx

P.s. I know I'm not supposed to but I have a favourite already! Nenana is the sweetest little girl but unfortunatley very ill. Look out for photos!