The Work I'm Doing

Each day we go to the wards and pick up a number of "children" (the guys we deal with are aged 7 and upwards. One of ours is 32) and bring them to our day care centre. There's about 10 that we take and it's pretty much the same ones every day. We try to provide a friendly and relaxed environment that is very different to their experience on the wards. We play games with them both individually and as a group and basically give them the stimulation and affection that is so important to them. Here is a picture of a few of the guys playing Dominoes with Jeff (the American volunteer who lives in the same house as me):

I will introduce you to a few of the guys in later posts.

Their disabilities fall into 2 broad categories: most of the guys have cerebral palsy, they are physically disabled but mentally pretty aware (so when we play Connect 4 for example they understand the rules and know how to play to a reasonable level but they have to tell us which piece they wish to play). Here is a picture of Nin (on the left) playing Connect 4 with Chord (on the right) who works for CCD. Nin is able to point at the column he wants to play and is actually pretty good.
The other guys have a mixture of autism and learning disabilities as well as some physical disabilities. So, for example, if we play Connect 4 with them they can put all of the pieces into the grid but (at the moment) they don't really understand the point of the game. There's one guy called Chork (wearing the orange T-Shirt in the picture below) who is like this. I have been able to teach him how to separate the pieces before the game and get them out afterwards and I'm working on getting him to take turns.


One day a week we go out onto the wards and provide a bit of entertainment for a slightly wider audience. We set out a couple of mats on the floor and the children come and sit or lie down. We play games and sing songs (I'm learning the guitar btw!) and have a box of instruments that they can play. I think it makes a nice change for those who are able to take part and even those who are only able to watch and listen from a distance.

Going to the wards (to pick up the guys and to do our visits) has been the hardest part of the job so far. I can't say too much and I can't show you pictures as we're not allowed cameras in the orphanage proper but let's just say that the conditions aren't the best. There aren't enough beds and there aren't enough members of staff and I just can't imagine what life must be like for most of the people there. The couple of times when I have thought about it I have had to stop myself - the last thing they need is someone breaking down. They need us to be a ray of sunshine in their lives. So when you are there it's almost like you have to switch off a part of you emotions.

When we're there now I try to have a walk around and spend a little time with a few of the children - saying hello and holding their hand. I can't spend long but I hope it means something to them.