A day in the life - volunteer in a orphanage India - The Land of Spitters

---

A day in the life - volunteering in a orphanage India

I thought that only China was the land of spitters - not so - India is up there too. Finally after one month I am getting somewhat used to the sound of the children brushing their teeth. The girls and boys have a separate “wash” area (the place where they bathe, wash their clothes, brush their teeth, and rinse their plates and cups after eating.)

The girls area is virtually under my window. At 5am the bell goes to start the day and then I cringe as the teeth brushing starts. I have no idea what they are trying to expel from their lungs but man there is a lot of course “guttural sounds” emanating from such small bodies. Culturally too it is very common to see people wander around the yard while they brush away. I just can’t get used to it. I have taken to rising after the brushing is finished just so I don’t have to participate in this morning ritual.

We have a very strict routine here at the orphanage. I think it is important, just to keep control of 150 children. The structure is fantastic. I love it that Rob's girls have good structure and discipline in their lives - they have a good mother and father.

A typical school day Mon-Sat looks like this:
• 5am-5:15 Teeth brushing (yuck)
• 5:15-5:40 Morning mantra (prayer)
• 5:40-6:00 Exercise in the yard
• 6:00-7:00 Soyamilk, mandatory bath for all children and dressing in school uniform
• 7-8am Breakfast and playtime
• 8-8:30 Study, attendance and older children begin the 20min walk to school. The younger children catch the bus which is sole use for CHI kids. 95%!o(MISSING)f our children attend full English schools.

For the balance of the day, we clean - sweep and damp mop all rooms, kitchen complete wash down, prepping vegetables for lunch which is assembled in small tin containers (tiffin boxes) and delivered to the schools daily by our dedicated auto driver Shrikaan. The afternoon we prep for dinner and sometimes there is time for the aunties to take a well deserved nap before the wee children start to arrive at 3:45. The kids trickle in from school right up to 6pm.

A lot of people have asked what I do all day - I have no idea really but I am exhausted at night. I always start the morning with 25 mins of exercisse and yoga and then it varies. Typically I help the small girls bathe and dress for school. Then I open my room for the kids to come and read, play games and draw/colour. Not all volunteers share their room - there are pros and cons - but I love the time with the kids one-on-one and typically it is the boys who make it to my room prior to breakfast as the girls wear their hair quite long and spend a huge amount of time braiding it everyday and fastening colourful ribbons tied like flowers. Very feminine.

• 4-5pm Snack time, soya milk and playtime
• 5-6pm Study
• 6-6:45pm Playtime
• 6:45-7pm Evening mantra
• 7-8pm dinner and free time (typically spent strolling the yard outside hand in hand telling stories)
• 8pm Bell rings for small children to go to bed. This process typically takes 1/2hr to get the rooms swept and mats put down. All the children sleep on the floor with a simple straw mat. Only managers and volunteers have a proper bed here. Thank goodness as I look forward to mine every night. Oh India has horrible pillows - so hard and uncomfortable.
• 9ish Older children off to bed but the real studious ones will stay up in to the night to study.

Everybody has a story. Unfortunately here at Child Haven most family stories are quite sad. We have pair of sisters 4 and 5 who lost both of their parents to TB earlier this year. They have a single uncle who comes to visit but for the most part, CHI is the only family they will ever know. In a way they are very lucky because the immense amount of love that is spread around this home by both adults and other children. It lights me up when I see other children reach out to help tie a shoe, wipe a tear, grab a hand to skip up the stairs or console an upset child. I personally have not seen outright kissing from adult to child or child to child but I kiss and play the game of blowing kisses often. Probably why my head is full of lice all the time because I don’t mind to pick up a small child who is in tears and huge them close to show that I care. One other small girl (4yrs) cries every night for her mother who has placed her in the home so that she can work to support herself. Her husband is dead - like most of the family stories here. Most are widowed women who give up their children…..oh how painful that must be.

I ventured out to a massive clothing bazaar frequented by locals -near Koti bus stop. This place has no mention in any of the guide books so it is strictly locals. The market was teaming with a mix of permanent stores and street vendors hawking their wares. A place where bargaining is mandatory, even for the locals. I didn’t dare ask a price because I saw the locals hard bargaining, I knew mine would be worse. It really helps to shop fixed price so you understand how much things should cost. A small girls dress started at $240R ended up at $60R - how would I even know where to begin - and I am a seasoned traveller used to markets. I have never seen anything like this. Typically I would have started at ½ price maybe 1/3 but this place was so unpredicatable. I have shopped fixed price so I had an idea what some things should cost but I was trying to buy a mat for me room - no clue.

Once past the art of bargaining, there were some pretty spectacular deals. I ended up buying two tunic style tops for approx $3 each at FabIndia the same quality of shirts are 8x the price. Oh and buying readymade clothing is only good if you are small. I am 5’3” and 128lbs and wear an XXL in Indian sizing. No worries if you’re staying a while in India, it is soooo inexpensive to have outfits made to measure here. I’ve purchased material for 3 separate Salmar Kameez - the local Punjab style dress with a long tunic top, baggy pants and shawl. Total cost with custom tailoring is coming in around $15. Can be had cheaper if you opt for polyester fabric. The girls bought material at the above market for the complete outfit for ~ $4. For another $4 they can have it sewn. Shop around if you can for a good tailor - mine well - nothing fits exact but he is considered one of the best. Because I am living here, I can have it altered if you’re traveling around, timing doesn’t usually allow for it. Most tailors want a couple weeks. Although in Hampi, there were so many tailors hustling for business that they were offering to sew complete outfits overnight. Bring your own material if your after a Salmar Kalmeez dress, as the selection that I saw there was pretty basic. Great if you want a simple shirt, skirt or pants though.

Creatively I am inspired. Check out the pics of the murals that I have created on the drab walls of the home. Sure brightens things up and the children were delighted. 😱

Cultural Observation: People have what appears to be huge black bruises on thier ankles. At first I wondered why? But now I know it is from sitting cross legged. The skin wears down pretty quickly and what clued me in is I started noticing it on the children as well as adults.

Check out the NGO website Child Haven

---

Photos

Market in Koti
So many people all the time

Boys riding a typical bus
Insane skill to learn how to jump the bus while it is in motion.

Children
Taken from my favourite story books - Bella the Elephant.

Comments

[Monique]

So much Love
Hey my most amazing girlfriend, love what you are doing and especially love that you are sharing your experience with us. I knew you would jump in with your heart wide open and am so proud of you. Sad about your hair though.....lice ughhhhhhh.

[Pratik Rach]

Voluteer for orphans
Very nice article and I am sure you had a good time with the kids.i'll like to share this wonderful event I came across and also was a part of. (http://www.jaagore.com/project/ready-go-mad) all you need to do is Spend two hours at an orphanage near your residence to teach English. Make your weekends special and productive!