I have been writing
some blog entries on my first four months that I spent at The Nest from April
to September 2013. Now that I have my
Kenyan permit approved I am now able to post them and not get into much trouble
as what I do on my free time on the K class visa is up to me. So I’m happy to share what I do with the
babies and how the system works in the coming month. I promise not inundate you too much with the
postings!
I’m into my second week at The Nest and I have to say I
was very excited about going back to see my ‘little birds’. What I am sad about is that I am not able to
post my entries as I write them for the next few months as I am technically
working illegally here in Kenya. It is
the weirdest system that even if you are doing volunteer work, you have to have
a work permit to be able to do this, which in itself doesn’t sound like a
problem but the COST of the visa is around $2000USD plus fees for a 2 year visa
and it can be tedious to obtain. I don’t
have an issue getting the visa, BUT with my trip to London next week for 2
weeks-I will be in West Africa for 2 months in September and then a trip back
to Australia for 4 weeks in November-it seems like a waste of money for a 2
year visa when I won’t be here for 4 months of it to start with. I checked out what the penalties were for
getting caught ‘working’ ( I like to still call it volunteering) and there is a
possibility of a fine of 20,000KSH (240USD), a possible prison term maximum to
1 year, both options and then the inevitable deportation out of Kenya. The fine I can handle, the prison term scares
the hell out of me and deportation would be heartbreaking. I am not a law breaker and to KNOW I am doing
something wrong, and in Africa of all places, I feel like I am looking over my
shoulder, just waiting for a tap to tell me that I have been ‘caught’. Ughhhhhhh I just shudder at the thought. So I have decided to keep writing my blog
entries about The Nest, I just won’t be able to publish them for a few months
until I am ‘legal’.
I updated my Facebook status before I left and amongst
all the awesome messages I always receive I got one today from Georgina. She works in the neo-natal ward of a hospital
in Melbourne and she mentioned that they have people coming into her ward to
help hold the babies and they call themselves ‘volunteer cuddlers’. I have to say I LOVE it and I too am now
going to call myself a volunteer cuddler.
So thanks Georgie for sharing that as when people now ask what I do,
besides saying I am semi-retired I can add that to my list of professions. Is there a better job in the world than
getting to cuddle babies all day? I
think not! So with a spring in my step
and a smile on my dial I headed back to the orphanage today. It really was great to see all the babies
again and it felt great that I recognised and knew half of the babies and their
names. I am making a point, when I do
have a child in my arms that I get to know their name, not only for me to get
to know them, but it is always nice to sing to a child and call their name and
get some response from them when they hear their own name. When I get there at 12 noon, there are
probably 75% of the babies awake-so this is my play time before they all get
their nappies changed one by one and get taken down to the nursery for their
afternoon sleep. So by 1-1.30pm most of
them are all in their cots and if they aren’t asleep they are happy to lie
there and have a small rest. During this
time is when the mounds and mounds-and I mean MOUNDS- of washing is folded,
staff have their lunches and they catch up with each other and you can hear
laughter coming from the nursery kitchen and around the ‘mound’ of clothes that
is set up outside the nursery on blankets where anyone with some spare time
will sit and just tackle the pile. This
was me today-all babies were in bed, so with no child to care for I partook in
the folding.
You have not seen a clean washing pile until you are at
an orphanage that cares for 17 babies!
You think if each baby has a clothes change at least 3 times a day, plus
however many nappies are used (per baby) plus the amount of bibs, clothes, bed
sheets, blankets and I think you get the general gist. I will need to post a photo of all the
clothes horses that are set up outside that are just covered in baby clothes
and it has been like that every time I have been there. I asked Maggie today as we sat and folded if
there were washing machines and I was told no-all these clothes are washed by
hand-every day- I wouldn’t be far off the mark by saying there would be
thousands of items, if you take into account the socks, hats and most babies
even though they are changed around 3 times a day (their clothes) most of them
have 3 layers on at the moment. Between
the singlet, the t-shirt-the long sleeve or the one-sie on all of that-it
really does make for a lot of washing and to sit there and be told it is all
done by hand is mind boggling! I
mentioned that I could take some of the big stuff home to be washed by machine
if that helped and was told to talk to Mary (supervisor) about that, but they
sounded grateful for the offer, and I will speak to Mary tomorrow about it. On the 2nd day I did all the
folding myself while the ladies were taking a break in the nursery kitchen and
I honestly have to say I didn’t mind. If
it means that they can have some time to have a ‘girly’ chat while the kids
sleep, then I am also not just helping the babies but also the staff as
well. They work on an 11 days on 3 days
off roster and they work a 10 hour day starting at 8am and finishing at 6pm
every day. I am finding the staff more
friendlier each time I come, and to think that I didn’t mind so much if they
didn’t talk to me I guess is a little bit of a white lie because as I get to
know them and their names it makes me very happy and I am glad that they are
slowly letting me into their ‘baby world’.
I know these kids are important to them, you can see it in all the hugs
and kisses that they give and in their voices and gestures towards the kids and
I want to become part of that. It was a
good day to get to know people and they in turn get to meet me and it was nice
to pass on that I was a solid volunteer and one that was in for the long haul
and I could even just tell their persona to me change when they found out I had
no plans of moving on.
There was a new addition this week to the nest baby
Ruto. I am not only trying to learn
their names but also asking what happened and the history of the babies coming
into The Nest. Ruto is 3 weeks old and
will stay with us till he is 6 months and then if he is not claimed by family
he will eventually be adopted out. Ruto
was left by his mother on Monday and I couldn’t get a clear reason behind him
being left except she was still at school and this is probably the main reason why.
The babies start to wake up from 3pm and as routine
dictates they have their nappies changed before they leave the nursery and we
had a few little bundles thrown to us as we folded until the whole nest was
awake, which is generally around 3.30-4pm which also happens to coincide with
my departure at 4pm. It probably isn’t
the best time to leave, but I have asked several times about what times I
should be there and they said 12 noon till 4pm suits them just fine! We will see how we go because I can stay
later if it does get too inconvenient for Driver Steven waiting when I have a
baby in my arms feeding and I just can’t/don’t want to stop just because it
suits me. But I am loving the place more
and more and I can see myself offering a long term commitment here.
No comments:
Post a Comment