SECOND DAY

Today Marijam rode with me because she already submitted her article and had nothing to do. Maria has been riding home with me, I am so grateful I am in a home with other volunteers who are so helpful - God is good!!!

This crew is night and day from yesterday. They still do the same kind of feeding, changing etc (no open diapers at nap) but they sing to the babies and occasionally pick them up for a hug. It boggles my mind sometimes, for example, the playroom (which is a room with mattresses on the floor and only a few toys)is where we take some of the children in the morning or the afternoon. You guessed it to lay on their backs. Anyways today there were ten babies playing and one of them was crying so the worker put a bottle in his mouth and went out of the room. I picked him up to feed him in a better position and she came back in the room with a blanket to prop the bottle up. I am amazed that since no other child was eating why her first course of action was to prop the bottle rather than pick the baby up. I have determined it is a lack of education. So I am planning to talk to the projects abroad director next week about teaching some child development courses. I forgot to tell you that any time I roll a child on to their stomach they are quickly flipped back over. They have no muscle tone and a lot of the problems the toddlers are experiencing is because normal development has been hindered. Yes they all have flat heads. This is a lot to take on as I said I was not coming here to change things but really only God can. They are not open to change, I have been told but God is in control.

I was asked if I would like to teach English to the older children but took a pass for now. One of the nuns Sister Ludgarda had me help her in the afternoon with some paper work. I am trying to earn their trust so they know what I want to implement comes from the right place. Please pray about this as well.

Tonight we went out for Jo's goodbye dinner and I had roasted chicken, it was dry but I was so happy to get some protein.