Toddler Care 101: Day 1 at New Life Orphanage

Awkward.  That’s how I felt when I walked into the room for babies from 1 to 1 ½ years old.  I had hardly ever helped with babies before, especially when there were eight of them and only 3 actual workers helping.  During my first day helping at New Life Children’s Home, I didn’t know what to do.

When we first walked in the door, we were introduced to Maria, the administrator of this home, one of the 4 locations in the New Life family.  She said that they were celebrating their 25th anniversary, during which they had saved over 2000 babies.  This particular home was the first home they had acquired, and it can house up to 55 babies newborn to three years of age, although right now it only has 35.  Still, 35 babies is a lot of mouths to feed when you’re operating strictly on donations.  It's also a lot of clothes to wash, and we could see that in their laundry area, with three large washing machines and many lines of clothesline strewn around them. (people do not buy dryers in Kenya)

After we took a quick tour of the house, we were shown up to a room with eight babies ranging from 1 to 1 ½.  There were only 3 assistants, so we were a welcome addition.  Right then they were getting their “fruits”, which was pureed orange goop that I wouldn’t have touched if I was starving.  I’m sure the babies liked it though, because they clamored at the person feeding them to give them more.

After they were fed, we played with them.  I don’t know if you’ve played with a baby lately, but they sometimes lose interest in something just a few seconds after they’ve started holding it.  However, other times they will play with something until you have to take it away from them when it’s time to go.  For example, I gave one of them a pink plastic cash register to see what he’d do with it, and he picked it up, dropped it, and did it over and over for the next 10-15 minutes.  Another kid would hold something for three seconds, but then lose interest in it and want something different.  All included, babies have an attention span for only certain things, which, in my opinion, is something we all have in common, from time to time.

The play area is off to the left

Finally, we took the babies outside and they played around there.  Some of them were starting to learn to walk, so they would take pushcarts and push them all around the lawn.  Others were content to swing in a baby swing and look out at what everybody else was doing.  I put two in a plastic wagon and pulled them around in a circle for five minutes, and they were perfectly happy just to sit there, until they weren’t, and they started getting squirmy.  I was amazed at how the regular workers could keep track of everything that was going on when there weren’t five extra sets of hands to help them.

As we were sitting at dinner later that night, all of us kids expressed having felt awkward that day, especially when we were playing with the babies.  However, I feel certain that we will all be very comfortable there before we leave.

-Kyle Wilson and Family