Growing up I had always wanted to travel the world and work with orphans. In 2008, that goal was realised. I had organised a 4 week volunteer stint in an orphanage (Christine Revell's Childrens Home) in Cape Town through
i-to-i Travel.
Christine Revell's Childrens Home (CRCH) is a home for children from new-borns to about 5 years old (or whenever they are ready to start school). Once they are ready to start school, they get moved into an older children's home (unless they've been adopted already). The children in the home were there for many reasons which include,
- Abandoned by their parents
- Parents were too sick to care for their children
- Parents were too poor to care for their children
- Parents were in jail
- Parents had passed away
The time I was there, they were caring for close to 50 children. Most of these children were HIV positive, however we weren't told which were and weren't to prevent any discrimination. The staff consisted of local permanent carers and a constant flow of volunteers.
The children were split into 3 groups.
- Group A - New-borns to 1.5-2 year olds (until they can walk well and can start feeding themselves)
- Group B - 1.5 - 3 year olds
- Group C - 3 years and older
Each group would have slightly different daily schedules based on their development stages. Whilst at the home, I had worked with groups A and B.
Working with the babies in group A, we stuck to a daily schedule that included times for feeding, nappy changing, bathing and play. The babies were my favourite! It's amazing to see how much they grow and develop even over a short period of 4 weeks. We got to witness them learn to crawl, take their first steps and say their first word. I taught them how to give me a high five and clap. It's such a rewarding experience.
The schedule with the older children differed in that they also had learning time. We would have individual sessions with the kids to try to teach them to differentiate and recognise colours and shapes, put puzzles together and read or write depending on how developed they were.
The time I had at CRCH was overall a happy and constantly sniffly (I constantly had a cold the whole time I was there due to the nature of the work) experience. There were however, some heartbreaking moments of realisation, and touching moments of strength from these kids.
My favourite baby, Siyabonga, had just turned 1 when I began my work
there. He had problems with his legs. I'm unsure of what the condition
was, but I believe he had under-developed muscle and motor-control. He
had upper body strength and would just crawl with his arms and hands,
dragging his lower body. During my time there, local university students
studying Pediatrics or Physiotherapy would come in once a week to treat
the children who needed it. By the time I left, Siyabonga had enough
strength in his legs not only to crawl properly, but to also pull
himself up and stand. I won't lie when I say a few tears rolled.
Another favourite of mine was Tyrone. He was a tiny 2 year old boy who looked like Exibit. He would always try to keep up with the big kids and always lagging behind. When he was happy, he'd kick off his shoes, sit down and start singing to himself - La La Laaaaaaa. It was sooo hard to not give him massive cuddles and kisses.
This is Gabriel. He was the piglet of the lot and was always hungry. Looking back now, I think he may have had some form of mental disability. There were moments when he would just blank out and become unresponsive. He always kept to himself and didn't really play with the other kids much. I didn't really notice him until he got sick a few weeks in and had 20-30 ulcers in his mouth. The poor thing was in so much pain and became needier than usual. I spent that day cuddling him and trying to make him comfortable. He had so much difficulty eating because of his ulcers and considering it was his favourite thing to do, he was so sad. That day I fell in love with him.
Ester was found abandoned by her parents at a few weeks old, in the airport bathroom. A priest had found her and brought her to the Children's home. She craved a lot of attention and would oft cry if she did not get it. However, when she was happy, she had the most beautiful smile!
I can't remember this little lady's name (as I didn't work with her much), but she was definitely one of the most clever kids at the home. When she wasn't wearing her favourite jeans, she would purposely wet herself. Then she'd come to one of us clueless volunteers and smile sweetly saying 'Ronda, I wet my pants. Can you take me to change please.' We'd then take her to the girls bedroom and she'd change into her favourite jeans!
She was also responsible for planning a mission to sneak into the kitchen late at night to steal some cookies to snack on with some of the older children at the home.
Eon. Oh this guy was definitely the leader of the boys! He was the popular guy everyone wanted to be. He could dance, he was smart and he was an athlete. He was also a great big brother. His younger brother Justin was always taken care of and included in most of the boys' activities during playtime.
There's so much more to share about these awesome kids, so I might have to write another post on them later on. Christine Revell's was quite a well equipped home and the children were much happier than I had expected. Volunteering there was hard work but totally worth it. You so easily fall in love with the children.
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| Our last day at the home. We had a bit of fun covering the kids with baby powder to the chagrin of the permanent workers. Teehee |
