Tuesday 24th Nov 2009 - Back again, you don't hear from me for ages and then two days on the trot ………… thought I'd sit through another hot sticky afternoon at the Internet Café. When I finished yesterday, I hadn't realized that the weather had changed whilst I was at the Cafe. The sky was black and the rain was pouring down as if someone had turned on the shower. It took me about 15 seconds to get from the Café to the tuk tuk (local three wheeler taxi) and I got totally soaked……so I'll have to keep an eye on the weather today, don't want to get caught in it again.

Anyway moving on to the toddlers now…… there are 13 in total. In the three year old section there are 4 girls and 2 boys and in the 4 year olds there are 5 girls and 2 boys.There is one little boy in the last group, who is very aggressive, since the first day I started I've seen him bite the Carers and other kids. I guess its his way of getting the attention - I can't blame him or the others kids for trying it on ! I have to be keeping my eye on him as you never know when he's about to strike ! One minute he smiles, holds my hand and next moment he tries to move my hand towards his sharp little teeth - ouch !

The personalities of these kids falls varies between shy & placid (quite and get on with it) to happy, cheerful & smiling (they just love the attention that they get - who wouldn't) and then there are about 4 who are aggressive /disruptive (if they don't get what they want they go into a strop !)

When I stand near these kids, if one child holds my hand, then all the others rush over and want to do the same, I have to ask each one to hold a finger (some have to share my finger) !! I then sing some nursery rhymes to them and their little faces light up. The other day I sang "Ring a ring a roses" and when I sat down at the point "we all fall down" - they all burst into laughter and just watched me sat on the floor. I've since got them to follow my actions and now they sit down and jump up with me - how cools that !

There is one little boy who could be adopted soon, from the 4 year old section.Oh by the way, I mentioned yesterday that baby Sauri was going to be adopted soon, well today (Tuesday 24th Nov) the Courts gave the clearance and her adoptive parents took her home. They looked so happy together, and I believe they may adopt again in the future.

These kids will one day move into the Pre School section. At present there are 7 young girls here; 1)Sattahaa (slightly deaf), 2) Dilsha (very cleaver little girl), 3) Dinasha (beautiful smile, she's not long been there, her mum couldn't cope so she ended up at the home), 4) Nadika (very intelligent), 5) Sitara (doesn't have a birth certificate, so is unable to go to school), 6) Malikanti (she requires a lot of care and attention and the Mistress says that Malakanti is mentally unstable, could be she has autism) !

Then there are girls between 8 & 18 years of age.I haven't seen them all as they don't get back from school until 4pm.

All the kids and Carers call me Sister Dee, but the toddlers either call me "Sister" or "Amma" (which means mum).

So my daily routine (Mon - Thu) here in Yakkala is as follows, I wake up about 5.30 / 6am, say my prayers and go back to bed and snooze until about 8am. I then get out of bed and run in / out of the bathroom and go back into my bedroom to get dressed. I then run in / out of the kitchen to make myself a mug of black tea and return to my room, to have my breakfast (biscuits / fruit). Each time I have to go to the bathroom or kitchen, I have to plan exactly what I need to do and try to achieve the task in as few seconds as possible !

I leave the home stay at around 9.30 and walk to the orphanage (20 mins). The walk is really lovely, walking past coconut palms trees, jack fruit trees and banana plantations. I've started to carry a walking stick with me as there are too many stray dogs and feel safer with this in my hand ! There are a few local shops (stalls) and the owners and I exchange small talk everyday.

When I arrive at the orphanage, I head straight for the babies Nutrition Unit, where I am always greeted with a huge smile from Sewmini ! The babies are given a bath from 10am, so as each one has been dressed the Carer passes them on to me. I take each child outside for about 15 minutes, they look around in wonderment and smile - I don't think the Carers have the time to do this with the babies as they are so busy (washing, cleaning, cooking, feeding etc.) Sewmini is normally the last one to have her bath, but she just stands in her cot and waits her turn - she's so lovely !)

Once I've taken all the babies out, I move to the toddlers section.They are left to play up until 10.30, and then are given a bath (on mass). After they've had their bath, they are placed into the play area, which is basically a three sided room with iron railings at the front to stop them running out.

When I walk up to this area, they all come running and want to hold my hand. I've started a small game, whereby I pick each one up by their arms and swing them round, it's so funny cos they just don't want to stop. I was doing this today and wasn't sure who had had a turn as they all say "me, me" in Sinhalese, so I've taught them to stand in a line and I call them up one at a time, it works for a short while, then its mayhem again !

I also started to teach them the alphabet (up to G) and use shapes as we say each letter. At first there was no response, then one child started to repeat after me and very soon they all followed - yes, it felt good to have achieved this today !

I play with the toddlers until 11.30, then move to the Pre School kids. By this time, they are back from school and I teach them the alphabet and spell some words (e.g. A - Apple etc.), numbers and some basic maths. When I leave, they all say "thank you very much Sister Dee" and try to touch my feet to get my blessing, I'm not comfortable with this and try to move away. In doing so, they chase me round the room until they have done their deed !

Today I met a couple of older girls, Nayana (she arrived at the orphanage when she was a baby and is now 17 years old). The other is Chandrika (she was 4 when she arrived and is now 16 years old).

On the last two Fridays, Caroline and I have left Yakkala and checked into hotel about 1 hour from here. I really look forward to having a decent shower and reading my Friday prayers in peace ! It's also great to have a proper breakfast in the morning.

I've got loads of pics to download and will try to do this on Thursday together with a bit more on Sri Lanka.

Bye for now, Allah Hafiz, love Dee xxxx