El Dios de Amor

Tuesdays and Thursdays see me working in Nuevas Fuerzas and Wednesdays during my visiting... so what do I do the rest of the week? Well on Fridays (3pm - 6pm) and Saturdays (1pm - 6pm) I work in El Dios de Amor which is a children's home run by Jose and Gloria Ingalls.

There are 20 kids in the home aged between 8 months and 15 years old - they are all so different and like Nuevas Fuerzas no day is the same. There are 13 girls and 7 boys. As well as having 20 kids, there are also 3 Cats, 2 Dogs, 5 Chickens, 2 Turtles, 4 Parrots and 21 other birds - so it is a very lively place. 

One of the dogs hiding  - in need of peace!!

On Friday's I go to the home and help them wash their clothes - this is an interesting experience as it is done by hand and there are more soap suds over the kids and the floor then there is on some of their clothes! I have to make sure the clothes are washed properly and all the dirt is off them and also to make sure then they are washed, they are rinsed and hung up properly. As you can imagine with 20 kids the washing line is very full and sometimes there is no where to hang the clothes up so clothes can be found in interesting places.

Then on Saturday when I go, I have to make sure said clothes are now in order in the bedrooms, folded properly and put away neatly  - if not folded properly then they have to be folded again. I have to also make sure all the uniforms are in the right places so on Monday there is not a struggle trying to find a skirt or pair of trousers. 

The boys are chancers at this and always try to tell me that their clothes are not theirs etc.. but actually the boys are the tidiest - their room is always tidy and usually no problems whereas the girls are so messy - I was expecting this to be the other way round. 

I also help them do their homework, which they love when it comes to their English work and expect me to give them all the answers - this is for me the easiest homework to help with - tried to help a girl with her Maths and was useless at it - Maths was never my strong point. I am also meant to make sure they have done all their homework before we go to the park, but again they are chancers at this and say they have done it or have none to do!! Typical kids, I was never like that.... I always did my homework!!

Lunchtime is always a laugh as you can imagine with 20 kids at the table.

Lunch Time

I have managed to get all the boys names correct but still struggle with the girls names, hopefully one day I will get them right... now I understand why my Mum calls me ChrisJo Anne...as am calling the girls different names to get to the right ones, but like me when it comes to my Mum, they correct me very quickly.

Last Friday night they were taking part in a dancing competition (unfortunately my camera died on the night so have no photos) so they have been practicing while I have been there - they did not win, but they were excellent (They won last year).... really really good dances, especially two of the boys Alfredo and Jossep, excellent.

Practicing their Dancing

Again am looking forward to what the next few months brings from the home and getting to know the kids better.