Bye-Bye Bap Babies
My eight weeks of volunteering at Bapumelele Children's Home are up. I just completed my final shift this morning and said a final goodbye to the kids.
And yes...I was really sad. I didn't cry like departing volunteers generally do, but I certainly didn't feel any sense of 'Phew, it's over.' I'll miss the children, some of them a lot. I just won't miss the pandemonium.
Here's my last collage of the kids. What cuties.
It was hardest to say goodbye to Sibusiso! I want to pack him in my suitcase and take him home as a souvenir. I'll just tell customs that he's my little puppet boy. He's South Africa's Pinocchio, with his big head, skinny but compact little body, and a mouth that seems to only open vertically--just like a dummy's mouth. In the middle of a ticklefest, the only indication of enjoyment is his hoarse little laugh and just the slightest gap between his lips. He's super light so I treat him just like a puppet, spending most of my time with him swinging him around, twirling him over my shoulders, hanging him upside down and tickling him, etc... Ah, my little puppet boy. I think I've been spoiling him too much lately!
But he and all the other Bap babies will surely be spoiled by the next round of volunteers, and the volunteers after that. So I am sad for selfish reasons alone. :)
And yes...I was really sad. I didn't cry like departing volunteers generally do, but I certainly didn't feel any sense of 'Phew, it's over.' I'll miss the children, some of them a lot. I just won't miss the pandemonium.
Here's my last collage of the kids. What cuties.
It was hardest to say goodbye to Sibusiso! I want to pack him in my suitcase and take him home as a souvenir. I'll just tell customs that he's my little puppet boy. He's South Africa's Pinocchio, with his big head, skinny but compact little body, and a mouth that seems to only open vertically--just like a dummy's mouth. In the middle of a ticklefest, the only indication of enjoyment is his hoarse little laugh and just the slightest gap between his lips. He's super light so I treat him just like a puppet, spending most of my time with him swinging him around, twirling him over my shoulders, hanging him upside down and tickling him, etc... Ah, my little puppet boy. I think I've been spoiling him too much lately! But he and all the other Bap babies will surely be spoiled by the next round of volunteers, and the volunteers after that. So I am sad for selfish reasons alone. :)