I feel so loved when I enter the toddler and preschool room
here at the Children’s Shelter.
The kids come running yelling, “Annie, Annie, Momma.” I get hugs, high-fives, and a couple of kids
asking to be held. Today was yet another
full day of feeding and playing.
Typically I feed the toddlers and babies soft porridge (similar to
grits) in the morning followed by a cup of tea.
For lunch they receive some vegetable baby food mixed with “sour milk”
(similar to yogurt). For dinner they
receive another bowl of soft porridge. I
lucked out today and was only assigned to easy babies, so I did not have any
spitting up, coughing or crying.
However, I did end up with wet pants on two separate occasions… once
from a leaky diaper, once from a leaky preschooler.
A new baby was brought to the shelter last
night. The baby boy is just a few days
old and still has his umbilical cord. He
was picked up in a village outside of Rustenburg because the mother did not
want him. As I peeked into the crib at
the precious tiny new face, I wondered where the little one will live for the
first part of his life. He could end up
in a family in South Africa, with a family in Scandinavia, or he could live at
the LCS for the next few years.
A South African family with three boys of their
own is working on setting up their home as a foster home. Soon six of the children from the shelter
will move into their house located on the property. The children are ages 2-8 so the family will
have their hands full. They will receive
help with laundry, cooking and cleaning during the weekdays, but nights and
weekends they will be on their own.
The
mother was discussing the language issue, “We speak Africans in our home, but
many of the children speak a tribal language.
I guess we will all have to use English to communicate.” Her youngest son does not speak English nor
do some of the younger foster children.
The first few months may be rough, but I’m sure the children will adapt
well to the loving and generous family.
