In Johannesburg, South Africa at least one baby is abandoned every day…
at hospitals,
deserted in parks,
discarded in dumpsters,
put in situations where they are left for dead.
This month, we are working with Door of Hope Children’s Mission here in Johannesburg. Door of Hope rescues abandoned, abused, and orphaned children. They provide a stable Christian environment until adoptive homes can be found. Currently, they are operating 3 homes with a total of 51 children all under 4 years old. Two of the homes are for babies and the third home is the toddler home.
We arrived a week ago and I feel like we have been plopped into one of those TV shows like Jon and Kate Plus 8. My team is staying at Door of Hope’s toddler house with 8 toddlers. Imagine 7 adults (3 males and 4 females) living in community with 8 toddlers. Our ministry for this month is to help care for the toddlers as well as help out at one of the baby houses where they have 20 babies and 10 “special needs” children. Some of the team stays home while others go to the other house to help out. Not everyone on the team has cared for children before so they are being thrown into learning to raise not 1 but 8 children…and toddlers at that. Talk about chaos. We are like moms and dads…the kids call us “aunties” and “uncles”.
The kids start their day at 6am. One of us is up with them to change them and feed them. The rest of us usually join the kids at the table for breakfast. Those who go to the baby house head out to be at “work” by 7am. There is a schedule that is followed during the day for the toddlers and at the baby house. The day shift ends at 6pm. We return to the house a little after that to find someone cooking dinner for us and the toddlers at the table having their snack before they head to bed at 7/7:30pm.We rotate who does what but even on days off we are helping out with laundry, dishes, food, and the toddlers. It is a 24hr ministry and two people always have to be at the house… unless we find another volunteer (babysitter 😉 ) to help out.
I wish I could fully portray the work that we are doing but there is too much to write about, but I will share a few funny moments with you from the toddler home. Trying to corral the kids can be difficult, imagine 8 tiny tornadoes all running in different directions, with different objectives trying to destroy different targets. Bath time involves 8 toddlers in the tub at the same time playing until you turn on the shower head to rinse them off – then they start screaming and scrambling to get out of the tub. When Auntie Rosette, who is their normal nanny does this, it looks so easy to do. It is pretty funny to watch, but almost impossible to be the one trying to give them the bath. One day when it was time for them to brush their teeth, I took them into the bathroom and gave them all their toothbrushes and paste. I then left the bathroom to go in search of the one kid that didn’t come in. I found the missing toddler in the kitchen, but when I picked him up and turned around I found the rest of the toddlers trailing behind me through the house, with their toothbrushes in their mouths and hands, covered in toothpaste grins.
