The good thing about having scheduled work only in the mornings is that we can use the afternoons for other projects or activities. I spent some of my afternoons visiting the schools and orphanages with the other volunteers when they went back in the afternoons (many of us frequently chose to go back to work after lunch if there was stuff to do). I visited 3 different orphanages: 'Happy Kids', 'Eugemot', and 'The orphanage for the mentally challenged'.
First I went to 'The orphanage for the mentally challenged' (I think I have 'politically corrected' this from what it might commonly be known as) to spend the time after lessons playing with the kids. I didn't see too much of the living arrangements because the stone building split into its three classrooms, which is where we spent our time, is set a bit apart from the main orphanage. The kids were easily entertained - they are happy just to have your attention and sing insy winsy spider over and over (and over!) again. It was the first orphanage I visited and it was striking how little the children have (both materially and emotionally) and how basic are their requirements. If they fall over for example, they just bleed, rub a dirty finger in the wound and move on - there were many needless scars around from previous such incidents.
The next orphanage, 'Happy Kids', is perhaps the most shocking in terms of living conditions. There are 15 - 30 children living there (really not sure how many since some just attend for school) varying in age from a year or so to over 16 years. They all sleep on the stone floors of 2 rooms, each about 7 - 8m squared in size, and school classes are run in the semi open section in the grounds (covered with a roof of straw and shrubbery). I think it gets a bit soggy when it rains. We would always get mobbed the minute we arrived outside the gate, with kids shouting their welcomes and running over to relieve us of anything we might be carrying.
First I went to 'The orphanage for the mentally challenged' (I think I have 'politically corrected' this from what it might commonly be known as) to spend the time after lessons playing with the kids. I didn't see too much of the living arrangements because the stone building split into its three classrooms, which is where we spent our time, is set a bit apart from the main orphanage. The kids were easily entertained - they are happy just to have your attention and sing insy winsy spider over and over (and over!) again. It was the first orphanage I visited and it was striking how little the children have (both materially and emotionally) and how basic are their requirements. If they fall over for example, they just bleed, rub a dirty finger in the wound and move on - there were many needless scars around from previous such incidents.
The next orphanage, 'Happy Kids', is perhaps the most shocking in terms of living conditions. There are 15 - 30 children living there (really not sure how many since some just attend for school) varying in age from a year or so to over 16 years. They all sleep on the stone floors of 2 rooms, each about 7 - 8m squared in size, and school classes are run in the semi open section in the grounds (covered with a roof of straw and shrubbery). I think it gets a bit soggy when it rains. We would always get mobbed the minute we arrived outside the gate, with kids shouting their welcomes and running over to relieve us of anything we might be carrying.
A group of us spent an exhausting afternoon at Happy Kids one day, scrubbing the walls so that they could be repainted. I had to give up on any idea of perfectionism since I discovered that pulling out the tissue paper from the gaps between the wall and ceiling only meant that the roof started to fall through, covering your newly washed wall with earth and dust. It was most distressing! The kids as usual were fascinated by our activities and some of them attempted to join in. I began to go off this idea once they had skated around the floor for a bit, fallen over the broom a few times, with varying amounts of resulting blood, and used the bleach to wash their faces :o(
Eugemot is bigger and slightly better staffed and equipped. The children sleep in bunk beds in their dorms (though I'm not sure how many kids, or bugs, each bed might be expected to sleep). There are also several different classes so the kindergarten do not learn with the 12 year olds as they might at HappyKids. Kristina came along on this particular day to spend the afternoon cleaning and dressing infected wounds, most of which had been growing rather than shrinking for quite some time. It also provided much entertainment for all the other children who watched, mesmerised and not getting at all bored, as infected wound after infected wound was painstakingly poked and sterilised and bandaged up with the usual firm and unheeded instructions not to coat it with dirt again.
I learned the hard way that any game you begin will not be over quickly and find myself playing wheelbarrows and spinning games endlessly, and dizzily, or doling out suncream (to kids who never get sunburned!) just for the 'pleasure' of rubbing it in, smelling it and enjoying how our skin now feels all greasy. And there was I, discontentedly taking for granted the delights of the sun cream ritual.
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