"Bap"
I have completed my first shift of volunteer work at the orphanage. I liked it. I’m glad I’m here. I plan to share much more about the children in weeks to come, so for this week I thought I’d just give a quick rundown of the ‘facts.’
ABOUT THE ORPHANAGE
I am working at Baphumelele, a “children’s home” in the township of Khayelitsha. Opened in 2001, the home provides a safe haven and loving home for abused and abandoned children who would otherwise face a life on the streets. The center now cares for around 100 children ranging in age from newborn to 18 years.
The center has actually gotten quiet a lot publicity over the last couple of years, including visits from singers Elton John, Beyonce Knowles, and U2's Bono. Yet despite this publicity, the center still struggles, with just one caregiver for every ten children. Thus, Baphumelele (or “Bap” as we call it) needs volunteers to carry out basic tasks like helping with child development, laundry, washing, feeding, homework, food collection and a variety of other tasks.
WHAT DO WE DO ALL DAY
Here’s a dry run-down of what we do each day. You can skip this section if “I work with orphans from newborn to 5 years old” is a good enough answer for you.
The work day starts at 7am with bottle feeding, teeth brushing and getting shoes on. Older kids are then escorted to the “creche” (kindergarten) and we take a morning break.
At 10am, we are back down with the babies for two hours of playtime. Right now the volunteer-to-baby ratio is really good (there are 12 babies) so we are able to give them each lots of individual attention. After playing, we help prepare lunch, then feed the babies and put them down for a nap.
At that point, we get a two hour break—just long enough for lunch and a short nap—and then it’s back down for our longest shift, from 2:45 to 7pm. We pick up the toddlers from the crèche (which is just next door), then attempt some semblance of structured playtime until around 5pm, when we help make dinner, feed the children, then help with bath time and teeth brushing. Then, time permitting, we play for a bit longer, generally watching the ever-popular Barney as a pre-sleeptime treat. And promptly at 7pm, it’s bedtime, aka “La La Time.”
So, that’s our day—7am to 7pm with plenty of breaks. It goes by very quickly, except for the 2:45-5pm structured playtime. That portion tends to get boring because we need to come up with some new things to do.
(Got any good ideas on ACTIVITIES we could do for a group of kids with ages ranging from 1-5 years old? I’d love to hear them! However, please keep the following three things in mind:
(1) There is no money to buy materials or toys. However, if the activity requires something that is quite cheap, the volunteers can buy it.
(2) Activities that require a lot of sharing and quiet cooperation are probably not a good fit. The kids really aren’t very good at sharing, and having witnessed the situation first hand, I have no grand ambitions to change that single-handedly. Imagine: the kids live in a room with 6 to 10 other children, the place is always crowded and hectic, and there aren’t many toys so the children must share everything with 27 other children. They don’t have anything that belongs only to them, so when they do get their hands on something, they don’t want to let it go.
(3) The staff speak to the children in the local language “Xhosa”, which is one of those cool clicking languages but is also a bit of a barrier for us volunteers when communicating with the kids. They do speak some English, but activities that are really intensive in the spoken word are probably not a good fit.)
THE VOLUNTEERS
I am part of a team of five volunteers who always work the same shifts, with three days working, then three days off. My shift-mates are great! There’s Kristin from Illinois, Molly from Baltimore, Kaity from Canada, and Henriette from Holland. I’m the granny of the bunch—almost double most of their ages. But luckily, I usually forget the staggering age difference, since we all get along so well.
On our first shift, we also had Mary from Massachusetts and Gina from California, but they are now off exploring eastern South Africa. We’ll miss you guys!
OUR ‘FLAT’
As I mentioned before, I sleep in Khayelitsha half of the time, staying at the volunteer apartment on the orphanage grounds. Khayelitsha is not a safe place so we never leave the orphanage grounds. In general, however, I do feel safe there. Not sure if that impression is well-founded, but I certainly have no problems getting to sleep at night.
At right is a picture of the flat from the street. Our flat is virtually the only second story building around, so it affords good views of the neighborhood. That pink wall in the foreground is the wall that surrounds the entire orphanage grounds.
The pictures below were taken inside the flat: at left, my bedroom; at right, the dining area (with Molly, Kaity and Kristen chatting at the table).
ABOUT THE ORPHANAGE
I am working at Baphumelele, a “children’s home” in the township of Khayelitsha. Opened in 2001, the home provides a safe haven and loving home for abused and abandoned children who would otherwise face a life on the streets. The center now cares for around 100 children ranging in age from newborn to 18 years.
The center has actually gotten quiet a lot publicity over the last couple of years, including visits from singers Elton John, Beyonce Knowles, and U2's Bono. Yet despite this publicity, the center still struggles, with just one caregiver for every ten children. Thus, Baphumelele (or “Bap” as we call it) needs volunteers to carry out basic tasks like helping with child development, laundry, washing, feeding, homework, food collection and a variety of other tasks. WHAT DO WE DO ALL DAY
Here’s a dry run-down of what we do each day. You can skip this section if “I work with orphans from newborn to 5 years old” is a good enough answer for you.
The work day starts at 7am with bottle feeding, teeth brushing and getting shoes on. Older kids are then escorted to the “creche” (kindergarten) and we take a morning break.
At 10am, we are back down with the babies for two hours of playtime. Right now the volunteer-to-baby ratio is really good (there are 12 babies) so we are able to give them each lots of individual attention. After playing, we help prepare lunch, then feed the babies and put them down for a nap.
At that point, we get a two hour break—just long enough for lunch and a short nap—and then it’s back down for our longest shift, from 2:45 to 7pm. We pick up the toddlers from the crèche (which is just next door), then attempt some semblance of structured playtime until around 5pm, when we help make dinner, feed the children, then help with bath time and teeth brushing. Then, time permitting, we play for a bit longer, generally watching the ever-popular Barney as a pre-sleeptime treat. And promptly at 7pm, it’s bedtime, aka “La La Time.”
So, that’s our day—7am to 7pm with plenty of breaks. It goes by very quickly, except for the 2:45-5pm structured playtime. That portion tends to get boring because we need to come up with some new things to do.
(Got any good ideas on ACTIVITIES we could do for a group of kids with ages ranging from 1-5 years old? I’d love to hear them! However, please keep the following three things in mind:
(1) There is no money to buy materials or toys. However, if the activity requires something that is quite cheap, the volunteers can buy it.
(2) Activities that require a lot of sharing and quiet cooperation are probably not a good fit. The kids really aren’t very good at sharing, and having witnessed the situation first hand, I have no grand ambitions to change that single-handedly. Imagine: the kids live in a room with 6 to 10 other children, the place is always crowded and hectic, and there aren’t many toys so the children must share everything with 27 other children. They don’t have anything that belongs only to them, so when they do get their hands on something, they don’t want to let it go.
(3) The staff speak to the children in the local language “Xhosa”, which is one of those cool clicking languages but is also a bit of a barrier for us volunteers when communicating with the kids. They do speak some English, but activities that are really intensive in the spoken word are probably not a good fit.)
THE VOLUNTEERS
I am part of a team of five volunteers who always work the same shifts, with three days working, then three days off. My shift-mates are great! There’s Kristin from Illinois, Molly from Baltimore, Kaity from Canada, and Henriette from Holland. I’m the granny of the bunch—almost double most of their ages. But luckily, I usually forget the staggering age difference, since we all get along so well.
On our first shift, we also had Mary from Massachusetts and Gina from California, but they are now off exploring eastern South Africa. We’ll miss you guys!
OUR ‘FLAT’
As I mentioned before, I sleep in Khayelitsha half of the time, staying at the volunteer apartment on the orphanage grounds. Khayelitsha is not a safe place so we never leave the orphanage grounds. In general, however, I do feel safe there. Not sure if that impression is well-founded, but I certainly have no problems getting to sleep at night.At right is a picture of the flat from the street. Our flat is virtually the only second story building around, so it affords good views of the neighborhood. That pink wall in the foreground is the wall that surrounds the entire orphanage grounds.
The pictures below were taken inside the flat: at left, my bedroom; at right, the dining area (with Molly, Kaity and Kristen chatting at the table).
