Living in a village has its perks; one being that I have been inducted into the society and they have accepted me as a peer and treat me as such. I was invited to a wedding of one of the girls from the craft center that I am currently managing in the village. Chandelao has had it’s fair share of weddings this winter but this is the first that I have been cordially invited to rather than just being prodded or persuaded to join in due to providing entertainment as the dancing white girl.

I would say the best words to describe the experience are colorful, elongated, solemn, and confusing. The wedding, like most Indian weddings, lasted three days last weekend. The first and second nights are for the respective sides of the family to have their own traditions and ceremonies with the bride or groom, and the third night of the wedding is the main and actual ceremony of the wedding. The first night, Radhika, a friend who came for the wedding, and myself escaped having to go because it was just a night of dancing and the next night would be very similar.

The second day of the wedding, we were invited to one of the bride’s family member’s home to have lunch as part of the weekly celebrations. The family members in the village all commit to helping and to take some of the financial burdens of the family, they have some of the meals for the guests and families at the their house rather than the bride’s home. The bride’s family incurs most of the cost for the wedding and has to cover the wedding ceremony, guest accommodation and board, dowry (still popular in villages though outlawed in India), and gifts to the bride that will actually be taken as gifts to her new family. The groom’s side of the family really just has to provide the son to marry and receives all the gifts and money for taking on a new daughter-in-law.

The second night of the wedding, Radhika and myself ate dinner at home and then went to the wedding around 9 p.m. and were happily invited into the room with the bride. We were being treated specially because Radhika and I were special guests for them. They treated us very nicely as well by allowing us in the family affairs while the bride and her family were given mehindi (henna) and dinner. Since we had already eaten, we agreed to have the sweet that is given at most weddings: lapsi. After eating most of our portion, the ladies all started feeding us bites from their hands, which is a customary way of showing affection. With at least three large bites of lapsi in my mouth, one of the younger girls put in a bite of roti with savji (chapatti and vegetable) in my mouth and made me nearly throw up. Not a good mixture, but I was able to swallow it. Shortly after dinner, the dreaded dancing time came. We both knew that we would have to dance, especially me who had been getting teased all week by the other girls at the center about dancing. Well, not long after walking outside, I was forced to dance to the second song and had to do a traditional Rajasthani dance, which ended up looking more like a hula, or so I think.
The night was full of dancing from family members to show well wishes to the bride. There was also an improv play from an aunt and her nephew and they dressed up like opposite sexes and cracked jokes about marriage, or so I was told. We left earlier than most and went back before it was very late. The next day we knew was the late night.

The saddest night I have had in India was the third night of the wedding. When we arrived at the wedding house, we were once again allowed in the room where the women of the bride’s family were getting her ready. Manju, the bride, was nearly dressed and was huddled in a corner looking like a frightened animal getting ready to meet her end. I have been to other weddings but they were all in the city and I think the couples had at least known each other a short while before getting married. In the village, however, the bride and groom most likely have never met and get introduced as they are being married be a priest. It’s no wonder why Manju seemed so scared. Can you imagine getting married to someone you have only heard a bit about and being ripped away the only things you have ever known: your family, your friends, and your village?

After a while in the room, sitting confused and solemn over the impending pairing of two unknown people, the groom was soon to arrive so most people went outside to see him be delivered on his horse. I watched as a bystander as the groom disembarked from his horse, not so gracefully, and while the priest blessed the groom and performed puja for him and the other male guests of the village, all sitting outside of the marriage home. Once the priest had blessed the male caravan and elders of the bride’s village, the groom once again dawned the courage to get on the horse to enter the bride’s home after the women completed certain rituals of blessing. I retreated to inside of the inner walls to watch the groom enter on his horse and be ushered to an area where all the female and young family members could crowd around and one by one give blessings to the groom.

The commotion died down rather quickly once all the blessings had been given and the groom then retreated to outside of the home again; my guess is to be entertained by the male family members of the bride’s side, most likely by drinking. Once again, the waiting started and being an auspicious community, they had to wait until after 11:03 to perform the wedding ceremony. Once the time reached, the bride was ushered out to meet the solemn and unresponsive groom. The priest then placed their right hands together, the first touch of the soon to be married couple. Next came the promises that each of the fearful quarries had to make to one another and proceeded to walk around the fire built as the main part of the ceremony in Indian weddings. Each took turns walking around the fire first, and sometimes together, depending on the promises they made to one another that they most likely repeated from the priest.

I was told about the aftermath of the wedding on the way home, and the next morning the groom, his new bride, and the males from the groom’s family would make the journey back to the new village for the bride. The bride would spend a few days, five in this case, with her new family and then be picked up by a brother or other male family member to come back home for a short time so as to not get completely shut off from everything she has ever known. The groom’s family would play games and slowly get them used to one another by doing things like putting cotton on random places of the body and having each other remove the cotton. These are ways to introduce each other to one another but also to get them used to touching the opposite sex since neither one has ever had sexual contact with the opposite sex, assumingly.

Needless to say, this was a great cultural experience for me even though I was saddened for Manju and the fear that she couldn’t hide. I cannot imagine having to marry someone I had never met before, but on the other side, I imagine they can’t imagine having the choice to marry someone they had to choose either.

Tuesday 21 February

Today was interesting. I worked with my English teacher on writing a friendly letter and comprehension. It never ceases to amaze me how hard the English language is. I take for granted a lot of things in English, especially “hearing” that something isn’t right. For example I would never write something like: The girl feel frustrating. Because I know that doesn’t sound right. How in the world do you teach a child hear if something doesn’t sound right? It’s very difficult, but it wasn’t too bad. I made sure to use an example with my group before having them write their own personal letter and they were actually pretty good. It’s amazing to me what some of the learners write. The group I had was great but once I got into the classroom, it was a struggle. Sometimes I would read a sentence and have no idea what they were trying to say. Then when I asked, I was met with blank stares or just a repetition of the sentence I didn’t understand.

After break, I worked with another group on a story. We first read through the story and then I had them identify unfamiliar words and as homework they were supposed to look up the meanings of the words (the teacher’s idea not mine). I thought it might be better to do that first but it didn’t seem to matter with the group I had. We read through the story several times and finally underlined the parts of the story that answered the questions they had to answer. It took about an hour but they seemed to get it which is the main thing and they managed to write beautiful full sentences!

That took me up until the end of my day because after the last group I had lunch and then by the time I was finished with that it was the end of the day. Today workshop was doing volcanoes. It was really cool. They actually had the kids make their own volcanoes and then combined vinegar and baking soda to make them explode. The kids loved it! It was great to see their faces as the lava erupted out of the volcanoes.

After school, a group of us decided to go on a sunset cruise. There is a guy in the local area that does sunset cruises for cheap. It was beautiful. The boat was a decent size with a top deck with a small bench for seating. We even saw seals, apparently there is a large population in our area which I didn’t really know. Words really can’t describe so I’ll let the pictures explain the rest. (Notice my awesome shorts? Those are the new shorts I bought in Cape Town!)

 

 

 

Tuesday 21 February

Today was interesting. I worked with my English teacher on writing a friendly letter and comprehension. It never ceases to amaze me how hard the English language is. I take for granted a lot of things in English, especially “hearing” that something isn’t right. For example I would never write something like: The girl feel frustrating. Because I know that doesn’t sound right. How in the world do you teach a child hear if something doesn’t sound right? It’s very difficult, but it wasn’t too bad. I made sure to use an example with my group before having them write their own personal letter and they were actually pretty good. It’s amazing to me what some of the learners write. The group I had was great but once I got into the classroom, it was a struggle. Sometimes I would read a sentence and have no idea what they were trying to say. Then when I asked, I was met with blank stares or just a repetition of the sentence I didn’t understand.

After break, I worked with another group on a story. We first read through the story and then I had them identify unfamiliar words and as homework they were supposed to look up the meanings of the words (the teacher’s idea not mine). I thought it might be better to do that first but it didn’t seem to matter with the group I had. We read through the story several times and finally underlined the parts of the story that answered the questions they had to answer. It took about an hour but they seemed to get it which is the main thing and they managed to write beautiful full sentences!

That took me up until the end of my day because after the last group I had lunch and then by the time I was finished with that it was the end of the day. Today workshop was doing volcanoes. It was really cool. They actually had the kids make their own volcanoes and then combined vinegar and baking soda to make them explode. The kids loved it! It was great to see their faces as the lava erupted out of the volcanoes.

After school, a group of us decided to go on a sunset cruise. There is a guy in the local area that does sunset cruises for cheap. It was beautiful. The boat was a decent size with a top deck with a small bench for seating. We even saw seals, apparently there is a large population in our area which I didn’t really know. Words really can’t describe so I’ll let the pictures explain the rest. (Notice my awesome shorts? Those are the new shorts I bought in Cape Town!)

 

 

 

Wow. I haven’t written in a while. Sorry about that. I have been busy but mostly I haven’t written because I haven’t had anything good to say. These past couple weeks have not been good. Suffice it to say that I am tired of being taken advantage of and underutilized. But actually the end of this week got better. I talked to Mel about it (I was hoping that that wouldn’t have been necessary but it was) and she had a meeting with my teachers and the head of the department. To my horror, it was just MY teachers and didn’t include Joel’s teachers which means my teachers knew that I was the one complaining (they told me this later) and that I wasn’t too happy. I was horrified. That’s not how the meeting was supposed to go. It was supposed to be a general meeting with all the teachers and just giving them suggestions for improvements. I was horrified but glad that I spoke up because I did not want to spend my last weeks here grading papers (which is what I had been doing).

Thankfully, the teachers weren’t too upset at me (at least not to my face) and I finally got to do more. I got out of the classroom and into the library working with small groups of students, which is what I was doing before. I’m not sure why I stopped doing that but for some reason after I got back from holiday, everything was different.

So the last couple days this week were good which was good since I think I was at my breaking point. There are still other frustrations like why the government finds it necessary to teach two different kinds of number systems to the kids (our teachers choose Egyptian hieroglyphics and Roman numerals). It seemed like a waste of time but at least I was out of the classroom and actually I taught an English lesson and it went really well. That is amazing for me because usually I struggle a lot with English (who made up these rules anyway?). The students struggle a lot with comprehension and answering questions in complete sentences. Often they just copy sentences out of the passage instead of actually understanding what is being asked and how to answer it. But I broke down my lesson a lot and we went through the story several times and even though it took an hour and half, they wrote their sentences beautifully and seemed to comprehend. That’s a big step forward.

Yesterday was a really nice day. Sarah, one of the long term intern and I went into Cape Town via the train. It took two hours. It wasn’t bad though because we were in no rush and we did eventually get there. We even meet this coloured man who talked to us almost the entire way and he made the ride seem much quicker. Once we got to Cape Town we headed for Green Square Market where I started negotiating the prices for the things I wanted. I always enjoy doing that. I wish we did that in the States. It’s so much more fun. Unfortunately the thing I really wanted, these awesome pants in a ton of different colours, that price was not up for negotiation. It took some of the fun out of it but I am very happy with my purchase. I also bought my fiancé (still have to get used to that) an ostrich egg, which I was able to get a good price on.

After the market, we went and had lunch on Long Street at this amazingly cheap and delicious 24/7 Indian restaurant. It is a little piece of heaven. They give you so much food! My chicken tikka masala and garlic naan was delicious. Sarah and I were both very full after that meal.

After lunch we met up with Angie, one of the girls from our house who was staying in Cape Town for the weekend. We decided to go to the beach since it was such a gorgeous day. I suggested we take the minibus because they’re super cheap and I personally think they’re a lot of fun (even if they are dangerous). They try to cram as many people as possible in a tiny minibus and that’s exactly what they did to us. I was fine because we were only cramped for a bit before more room opened up.

We ended up at Camps Bay and if you ever come to Cape Town you must go there. It is gorgeous. It’s in a very wealthy part of Cape Town and the beach is beautiful. Yesterday the water was freezing but Angie and I jumped in anyway and it felt great after being in a stuffy minibus. We couldn’t stay long because Sarah and I had to catch the train back home but we soaked in a few rays and even got some smoothies before getting a cab back to Cape Town. We made our train no problem.

Our ride back was less eventual since it was shorter but we were joined by this mother and her three adorable daughters. One of the daughters was cracking me up. She kept trying to steal a balloon from her baby sister and then when that failed tried to get a balloon from someone she didn’t even know. Finally the girl with the balloon gave it to the little girl and she was very pleased with herself. It was hilarious. It was wonderful Saturday.

Wow. I haven’t written in a while. Sorry about that. I have been busy but mostly I haven’t written because I haven’t had anything good to say. These past couple weeks have not been good. Suffice it to say that I am tired of being taken advantage of and underutilized. But actually the end of this week got better. I talked to Mel about it (I was hoping that that wouldn’t have been necessary but it was) and she had a meeting with my teachers and the head of the department. To my horror, it was just MY teachers and didn’t include Joel’s teachers which means my teachers knew that I was the one complaining (they told me this later) and that I wasn’t too happy. I was horrified. That’s not how the meeting was supposed to go. It was supposed to be a general meeting with all the teachers and just giving them suggestions for improvements. I was horrified but glad that I spoke up because I did not want to spend my last weeks here grading papers (which is what I had been doing).

Thankfully, the teachers weren’t too upset at me (at least not to my face) and I finally got to do more. I got out of the classroom and into the library working with small groups of students, which is what I was doing before. I’m not sure why I stopped doing that but for some reason after I got back from holiday, everything was different.

So the last couple days this week were good which was good since I think I was at my breaking point. There are still other frustrations like why the government finds it necessary to teach two different kinds of number systems to the kids (our teachers choose Egyptian hieroglyphics and Roman numerals). It seemed like a waste of time but at least I was out of the classroom and actually I taught an English lesson and it went really well. That is amazing for me because usually I struggle a lot with English (who made up these rules anyway?). The students struggle a lot with comprehension and answering questions in complete sentences. Often they just copy sentences out of the passage instead of actually understanding what is being asked and how to answer it. But I broke down my lesson a lot and we went through the story several times and even though it took an hour and half, they wrote their sentences beautifully and seemed to comprehend. That’s a big step forward.

Yesterday was a really nice day. Sarah, one of the long term intern and I went into Cape Town via the train. It took two hours. It wasn’t bad though because we were in no rush and we did eventually get there. We even meet this coloured man who talked to us almost the entire way and he made the ride seem much quicker. Once we got to Cape Town we headed for Green Square Market where I started negotiating the prices for the things I wanted. I always enjoy doing that. I wish we did that in the States. It’s so much more fun. Unfortunately the thing I really wanted, these awesome pants in a ton of different colours, that price was not up for negotiation. It took some of the fun out of it but I am very happy with my purchase. I also bought my fiancé (still have to get used to that) an ostrich egg, which I was able to get a good price on.

After the market, we went and had lunch on Long Street at this amazingly cheap and delicious 24/7 Indian restaurant. It is a little piece of heaven. They give you so much food! My chicken tikka masala and garlic naan was delicious. Sarah and I were both very full after that meal.

After lunch we met up with Angie, one of the girls from our house who was staying in Cape Town for the weekend. We decided to go to the beach since it was such a gorgeous day. I suggested we take the minibus because they’re super cheap and I personally think they’re a lot of fun (even if they are dangerous). They try to cram as many people as possible in a tiny minibus and that’s exactly what they did to us. I was fine because we were only cramped for a bit before more room opened up.

We ended up at Camps Bay and if you ever come to Cape Town you must go there. It is gorgeous. It’s in a very wealthy part of Cape Town and the beach is beautiful. Yesterday the water was freezing but Angie and I jumped in anyway and it felt great after being in a stuffy minibus. We couldn’t stay long because Sarah and I had to catch the train back home but we soaked in a few rays and even got some smoothies before getting a cab back to Cape Town. We made our train no problem.

Our ride back was less eventual since it was shorter but we were joined by this mother and her three adorable daughters. One of the daughters was cracking me up. She kept trying to steal a balloon from her baby sister and then when that failed tried to get a balloon from someone she didn’t even know. Finally the girl with the balloon gave it to the little girl and she was very pleased with herself. It was hilarious. It was wonderful Saturday.

So last night was a surprising and eventful one. After not being able to sleep for most of the night, for multiple reasons, I awoke to a noise coming from converter that I had my computer charging on. Well, subconsciously I hit the charger from my computer and less than five minutes later the whole wall went up in flames! Well, maybe not the whole wall. The converter and wattage box that I had plugged in caught on fire to my surprise and I grabbed the charger out in what I thought till later was just in time. I mean it is not charred and melted like the converter and box, but it is not working. So I am wasting precious time typing right now because I don’t know when I will get a new charger.

Other than waking up in a fright last night, the past week has proved to be a successful week full of meetings and visits. At the end of last week, I visited a crafts center in a village a ways from my own in order to see the large-scale center that exports to overseas accounts. It was amazing to see the ingenuity and efficiency that has gone into creating such a well-oiled machine. First the women are on salary and are only given holidays and a certain amount of days off, versus the lack of accountability on how often the women work at our center. The women are specialized in different areas of the center and work together to produce fine quality products that are then sold in the shop and exported. Nila Moti, the other center, employs 70 women from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon. The biggest difference other than size and efficiency was that the organization that started the program is a constant force in the process and sends someone to work there and check on operations multiple times a year. At Sunder Rang, the organization that gave the money and set up the center has left the project to be run and overseen by whoever can help out, and that doesn’t always allow for efficiency and skill sets needed to manage a project. I am hoping that we can find a manager before I leave, because the fears that I have for the center being left behind are an impending doom if no one comes along to replace me.

On to the greenhouse: Sandy, the older volunteer, and myself visited a farm outside of Jodhpur a few days ago and had a superb visit with the farmer. After getting so frustrated over people who claimed to know everything, but really knew nothing, it was a breath of fresh air to find the true expert on all things plants. I was a bit worried that we would not get the information that we needed, but once we arrived, the translator and farmers started answering every question we had with in depth demonstrations around the farm. While we are not planning a large-scale farm like he was overseeing, he still knew how to plant and cultivate in the arid desert of Rajasthan and offered to come to the village and help train when the time comes. I can’t explain the relief that I had when I left the farm knowing that all hope was not lost and that the greenhouse really is possible. The next step, however, is trying to get those involved in the village to actually start the work and get the plans implemented.

First things first, we have to test the soil to the PH levels and salt content to know if we will be able to plant in the soil. We are expecting to have to bring in soil from other areas because the salt level is quite high, or so we have been told. This week’s goal was to start the compost in the hotel grounds so the vegetable scraps and other compostable materials can go straight from the kitchen to the compost bins. Someone at the hotel will have to be charged with the responsibility of making sure only specific items are allowed in the bins while at the same time keeping it moist and turning it over as to not get overheated.

The village has been very loud and busy lately and the center has been just the opposite. Most women are missing from the center for the past week or even up to two months for some of them due to wedding preparations. One of the girls from the center is getting married this weekend and we have all been invited to celebrate! I know I will be the entertainment because they all love to see the white girl dance, but I am excited to go to a village wedding. I don’t know how different it will be from the city weddings I have been to but I am about to find out. Tonight is the first night of the wedding. Well it is the dinner that the family puts on to start the celebrations and tomorrow through Saturday, three days, will be the festivities. All I know is I am going to be decorated and made to dance more than I want, but I just feel special because I was given an invitation like they give to their relatives and friends.

The word expert evokes a certain degree of respect and awe to most people. It is like the words connoisseur and specialist, they all try to differentiate those who know the most from the others who would like to know more. In India, however, the word expert describes those who at best have a degree, and yet most of the time they don’t. I am not saying that all those who claim a superior knowledge do not possess such, but most do not.

As the long-term intern, coming after two short-term interns from the summer program, I have the duty to complete the proposed projects that were funded. I am working on both getting training for the women at the center and now to build a greenhouse in a village that has no experience in growing small-scale vegetable gardens. In this area of Rajasthan, there are only 5 main crops, mostly grains, which are grown and on a very large scale expanding over the vast desert plains around the edge of the Thar desert. Being a white female in a male dominated society, where I cannot speak the language, I have been in need of help getting the materials and plans for the greenhouse together. There is one specific contact that the past intern has worked with, Mr. Dwivedi, who has agreed to help in whatever way possible, and has great English skills. He also works with the agriculture department and has contacts for certain necessary items.

Mr. Dwivedi has put me in touch with experts who are more than willing to help in the greenhouse endeavor, for a hefty price… That is the kicker. We are building this greenhouse to help people in the village of Chandelao, whether it be directly through job procurement or the availability of fresh vegetables at lower costs. The so called “experts” that have either come to the village or met with us in Jodhpur have expressed interest in building or helping with the greenhouse but only if we can build it larger than we have proposed, so they can make more money. On top of that, they do not seem to know what they are talking about. Unfortunately, in Indian society when a business meeting happens, they all agree on topics that are either not going to work or agree just to agree. After the meeting, however, the plans never get done, because even though they agreed in the meeting, they didn’t really mean their affirmations. I did not realize this until my host father explained it to me. This makes life difficult.

Per discussion with an “expert” on building greenhouses, we visited the CAZRI in Jodhpur. The Central Arid Zone Research Institute is a large-scale research institute where the administrators and scientists do experiments and research on possible uses and growing techniques for dry arid zones, such as Rajasthan. They have other projects as well, but these were the most relevant to what we were looking for. Another volunteer and myself went to check out CAZRI and see the “greenhouse” that the “expert” had built. When we got there, being women, the only person who was spoken to or answered was the older man who is volunteering at Chandelao and helping me set up the greenhouse. I did not feel put out or hurt at all by this because I was used to it, but it is still something I should express to explain the situation.

Walking around CAZRI, we soon found out there was no small-scale greenhouse that we had been led to believe we would get to see while visiting the institute. The greenhouse that was shown to us was a concrete structure with sprinklers and fans built into iron for irrigation purposes. Being that the budget is around $1500, the greenhouse shown to us was out of the question and more of a waste of time. But I was glad to see the center, because walking around we saw the way they have been traditionally teaching others to grow and compost. Being that our original ideas of composting and building a hoop-house style greenhouse still seem most relevant in the arid climate and budget we have to work with, we will not be following the advice from the “experts” and building the cheap version that will work just as well as the expensive and large-scale versions.

Now to implement… Teaching people who have no experience and or knowledge in growing will be a difficult task. That is why I am keeping extensive track of the steps we take to build and run the greenhouse so an operations manual can be written with pictures and descriptions clear enough for the new employees to understand, and hopefully implement in other areas.

Other than the greenhouse, I have been getting quite a few invitations to be involved in the village. The younger girls are always inviting me to chai and the other day even brought me to one of their homes to see a newborn baby. One of the unmarried girls from the crafts center is getting married soon and I have been invited to the 3-day wedding! I have been to multiple weddings in Jodhpur this wedding season, but this will be their first that I have been invited to in the village. Although I am sure that people would have invited me into their wedding if I were passing by, I would not feel comfortable if I did not know anyone at the wedding. This has happened many times in Jodhpur: I walk by somewhere that a wedding is taking place and someone tries to get me to join in on dancing or just coming into the festivities because I am white and a nice addition to the celebration. I am excited for the village wedding and appreciate how much the women are trying to include me in their daily affairs.

It was way too difficult to pick just a few pictures of the older kids because they are so cute. They will seriously steal your heart away.

First up is Nugget. Yeah, that’s right. Her name is Nugget and don’t let that innocent face fool you, she is a handful to say the least. She’s adorable though and I love her. She has a brother and a sister (that I know of). Her brother is the adorable Anathi, featuring in my last post and Nobulelo is featured here. Nugget is super smart when you get her to listen and sit down but that’s the problem she doesn’t sit down or listen, she runs around and has a habit of hitting you on the bumb. What a lady!

Next up Nombulelo. Isn’t she gorgeous? This girl is too cute and she has the sweetest little voice. She’s not as much trouble as Nugget but she gets into her fair share of trouble. I love this picture of her because she looks so happy.

And then there’s Athula (the rest of the pictures are below). She has the most beautiful skin! I had the privilege of working with her for a bit one to one and she’s very smart. She was a joy to work with and she always looked forward to our one to one sessions. Can you tell how much I love these kids?

 

 

This one is just me and my girls: Aseza, Nugget and Nombulelo. Aseza is probably my favourite. She is such a character and we always have so much fun together.

Next is Siyabonga, Mama Lumka’s grandson. Mama Lumka is the woman in charge of both the orphanage and the nursery, in case I haven’t mentioned that before. You see this kid everywhere: at the orphanage and at the nursery. He’s super cute and has the best smile.

And that cutie is Masithembe. I haven’t spent much time with him but he is super cute.

And last but certainly not least is Yofeza. For the first few months that I was here he always looked sad but I saw him. But he has a beautiful smile and he’s a sweet kid.

Well, that’s all for now. There are more kids are the orphanage but I don’t have pictures of them yet. I’ll be sure to update you guys real soon. I get to see my kids on Friday. Can’t wait!

 

 

 

 

It was way too difficult to pick just a few pictures of the older kids because they are so cute. They will seriously steal your heart away.

First up is Nugget. Yeah, that’s right. Her name is Nugget and don’t let that innocent face fool you, she is a handful to say the least. She’s adorable though and I love her. She has a brother and a sister (that I know of). Her brother is the adorable Anathi, featuring in my last post and Nobulelo is featured here. Nugget is super smart when you get her to listen and sit down but that’s the problem she doesn’t sit down or listen, she runs around and has a habit of hitting you on the bumb. What a lady!

Next up Nombulelo. Isn’t she gorgeous? This girl is too cute and she has the sweetest little voice. She’s not as much trouble as Nugget but she gets into her fair share of trouble. I love this picture of her because she looks so happy.

And then there’s Athula (the rest of the pictures are below). She has the most beautiful skin! I had the privilege of working with her for a bit one to one and she’s very smart. She was a joy to work with and she always looked forward to our one to one sessions. Can you tell how much I love these kids?

 

 

This one is just me and my girls: Aseza, Nugget and Nombulelo. Aseza is probably my favourite. She is such a character and we always have so much fun together.

Next is Siyabonga, Mama Lumka’s grandson. Mama Lumka is the woman in charge of both the orphanage and the nursery, in case I haven’t mentioned that before. You see this kid everywhere: at the orphanage and at the nursery. He’s super cute and has the best smile.

And that cutie is Masithembe. I haven’t spent much time with him but he is super cute.

And last but certainly not least is Yofeza. For the first few months that I was here he always looked sad but I saw him. But he has a beautiful smile and he’s a sweet kid.

Well, that’s all for now. There are more kids are the orphanage but I don’t have pictures of them yet. I’ll be sure to update you guys real soon. I get to see my kids on Friday. Can’t wait!

 

 

 

 

This week has been crap to be perfectly honest. It has been overwhelming, draining, exhausting...I could go on but no one wants to hear about my bad week so let’s focus on the positives like talking about the rest of my day last Friday. It was a great day. Every two weeks we get to go to orphanage and seriously I count down the days until I get to see my kids again. They are so cute. So this week instead of me focusing on my words and then adding pictures, this post will be heavy on the pictures and light on the words. Changing it up. Plus you have got to see these kids. I’m in love. I get to see them again in a week and I can’t wait!

First up is Ricardo. Before I left for holiday Beth had me write profiles for each of the babies so I’ll let you imagine baby Ricardo telling you all about himself:

My name is Ricardo and I’m awesome! I enjoy walks to the chicken coop or around the orphanage. I’ll even show you around (so please don’t pick me up)! I can say “teacher” and I will say it often. I like to play catch and practice kicking the ball. I’m a very happy baby and it doesn’t take much to make me smile. Give me a raspberry on the belly and I give you the best smile ever!

Ricardo is adorable. You can’t see it in this picture but he used to have the cutest baby dreads ever. They shaved all the kids’ heads over holiday 🙁 Not sure why. But I love this picture because he was obviously going to town over whatever they were eating for lunch. Love him!

 

This cutie pie is Xabiso. It’s pronunced with a click but it’s pretty much impossible to explain how it goes without actually just saying it. So suffice it to say that the X is his name gives it a click. The other letters in Xhosa that give clicks are C and Q. Here’s his profile:

My name is Xabiso and I generally have a sad face but when I smile, I light up the room. I like tickling, sliding and swinging. I love music so give me a bell and I’ll show you what I can do. I also enjoy playing ball and I’m practicing to be the next big soccer star, so let’s get that soccer ball out! I can walk (obviously) so please don’t pick me up. Generally when I don’t get my way, I’m not happy but I can easily be soothed. I can also say “teacher” and I’ll show you the ropes around here.

Xabiso is a character. He loves being picked up and will cry unless you either walk away or pick him up but he is too cute. It’s awesome to see him progress because he only started walking last year!

Next up we have Lisa Khanya. The only girl among the babies. She is a hand full! Enjoy her star studded profile:

My name is Lisa Khanya and I’m a diva. I’m pretty happy if I have a bottle in my mouth but if you take it away from me, watch out! I will not be a happy camper. I can sit on my own no problem but I need a lot of coaxing to crawl. I like blocks and listening to stories. Generally, I’m very shy and quiet unless I don’t get my way.

I worked with Lisa Khanya for a few days and for the life of me I couldn’t get her to crawl. Thankfully she has made lots of progress since the holiday and is crawling around and even walking with some help. She is a great big tub of love 🙂

Last but certainly not least in baby Anathi. I think he could definitely pass for my child and no one would know the difference. I absoultely love this picture of me and him and more importantly his sister, Nugget took the picture (more on her later). Enjoy his profile:

My name is Anathi and I’m probably the cutest baby you’ll ever meet. Plus I’m generally a very happy baby and I love playtime! I’m teething right now so I will put everything in my mouth. I can crawl and stand up with your help. I love to cuddle but be careful because I have very sharp nails and I will scratch you. I’m very curious about the world and love playing with toys that make a lot of noise. Give me a rattle and I’m set!

Seriously have you ever seen a cuter baby? It is going to be so hard saying goodbye to all these beautiful little faces 🙁 But I won’t think about that now. For now I will cherish every single second Friday that never comes soon enough and is always over before I want it to be. Next post we’ll talk about the older kids. They will rock your world.