Eaten alive

Yesterday was the day of many mossies (or one extremely active one). Two of us have been bitten on the face and the rest of us have just been generally feasted on. 

But yesterday was also a great day as we started working with the children at Rainbow House. Most of the residents go to school during the day, so the only residents here were Don and Naung. They were joined for daycare by residents from the government homes and the day kicked off with singing the national anthem, a prayer and morning exercises (led expertly by Don). Then we played some songs and made some music with them, dancing about and doing the actions. After a quick snack we divided into two groups, with some going to the classroom and others to the soft play area. In the soft play area Matt, Tim and I spent most f the time being pelted with balls from the ball pool while Jim spent an hour rocking Naung on a big soft upside-down rainbow – Naung loved perching right on the edge so it looked like he would fall off at any second. 

After lunch all the children have a nap and then a quick snack followed by a shower, before it’s time to head back to the government homes. It’s a good solid routine and Sarah, a speech therapist volunteer who is here from Ulster, is planning to spend her month working out how to integrate decision-making into it, so that each child has to make at least one choice during the day. 

The little girl I spent most of the day with, Fon (sp?) was mostly interested in playing with my hair. She is blind and enjoyed rubbing her face in my ponytail – a very good reason to have a bad hair day! She was also very sleepy and fell asleep on me three or four times, which I found a little worrying. As she is very new to the centre, the guys at RH don’t know an awful lot about her or her needs, so it will take some time to figure out how best to help her develop. 

The clouds have finally cleared and today is much hotter and very humid – the ipad is steaming up as I write this. Today we are off to Baan Feung Fah – a government home for younger children with disabilities. This morning we are to put on a concert for some of the children there (or at least those of us who are more musically inclined – the rest of us will dance and muck about with the kids). In the afternoon we’ll be working at the daycare centre there, where some of the residents come for physio, general care and lots of fun. 

Really looking forward to it, but very aware that some of the conditions we witness may be upsetting and challenging. Praying that God will give us wisdom, understanding and strength today.