Janaka, our host, creates a rota for volunteer projects as there are several that we can get involved in. This morning I was allocated the orphanage along with two other volunteers, Lisa (from Holland) and Daisy (from London).
Now I was warned about the smell before I arrived, but wow...Nothing can prepare you for the stench of stale wee. But there was no time to even be disgusted, immediately we were told to grab one of the small babies from the pen (aged about 6-12 months at a guess!) and change there nappy (followed by the slightly older babies who were one or two). Well, I have never even changed a nappy before so this was going to be interesting!
I walked up to the baby pen to see about 8 babies all looking longingly up at me with their arms out reached. I picked up one of the babies who was extremely cute and rushed him over to the changing table. After a few times doing this, (take the wet cotton nappy off (I dread to think how long they'd been in it), whisk them to the sink to rinse them off, then pop on a clean pampers and shorts.
I found myself getting into the swing of it...until we ran out of pampers.... (We are the only people that supply nappies for the orphanage, 30 in the morning and 30 in the evening... considering there was at least 50 babies in total, it's just not enough!). So then we moved onto the cotton nappies (in other words a square piece of cloth). I would say it took me a good 15 minutes with the first one, much to the babies amusement!
Once the dirty stuff was out of the way, I settled myself in the pen with the slightly older babies. As soon as you step in the pen it's like a swarm of flies, they all rush towards you with their arms held out and plonk themselves on any part of your body. The only toys they had were tambourines which was a shame, but they found them greatly entertaining, despite several of them insisting on throwing them out the window...
I then moved on to the younger babies and found myself alone in the pen with about 6 babies. These babies had no toys, cushions or anything, just a concrete floor! But all they want is a cuddle and to be picked up and they'll instantly stop crying.
So here I was with 6 babies, one under each arm, two on my legs and 2 crying as they tried desperately to cling on to me! Now thankfully as anyone who knows me knows, I LOVE babies, so despite it being a little overwhelming, I can't complain at all! By the end of this experience I will have definitely satisfied any baby cravings AND motherhood will be a breeze...
It's unbelievably sad that there's so many new babies coming into the orphanage constantly and there really aren't enough staff for the number of babies, if it weren't for the volunteers, the babies would get no attention or love at all so just the experience at the orphanage has made this trip feel worthwhile!
In the afternoon, Lisa and I were on the community centre project. It's basically an after-school club run by us alone, that any local kids can come along to. We brought some paints and glitter to entertain the kids, which was hugely appealing to one of the kids, however the other three insisted on playing catch. I entertained this for some time but there is only so long I can run around in the heat (although it has rained almost all day today so is much cooler!)
One of the boys was that annoying boy you always have in a class who is quite honestly a little brat who encourages other kids to misbehave. Lets just say it all got a little out of hand and resulted in us locking three boys out of the classroom! The experience has well and truly reinforced that I will be chucking my kids out when they turn 8 (joke... maybe).
We ended the day with a trip to Galle Fort, largely for a chocolate brownie which all of the volunteers rave about. So we settled in a lovely little place with the best brownies in town!
Lisa, Lucy, Sophie and Eddie
There's more to say about the buses, volunteer house and life in Sri Lanka in general but I'll save that for another day!
If you made it to the end of this... Congratulations!
Good night x
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