Lula
The meeting finished and we got in the car and headed out to Lula. This is about 10 minutes from where we were staying and is an example of what we hope to achieve long term in Belfast. It was a crèche which consisted of 2 buildings – one for preschoolers and one for toddlers. The children that attend the crèche are mostly from child headed households (ie children that have been orphaned and are now caring for their younger siblings). The children can leave their siblings at the crèche so that they can attend school. Once school is done they go to the crèche get a meal and often their school clothes will be washed for them. This means the whole family has access to at least 1 meal per day. We were told that most of the children there had HIV or TB.
The meeting finished and we got in the car and headed out to Lula. This is about 10 minutes from where we were staying and is an example of what we hope to achieve long term in Belfast. It was a crèche which consisted of 2 buildings – one for preschoolers and one for toddlers. The children that attend the crèche are mostly from child headed households (ie children that have been orphaned and are now caring for their younger siblings). The children can leave their siblings at the crèche so that they can attend school. Once school is done they go to the crèche get a meal and often their school clothes will be washed for them. This means the whole family has access to at least 1 meal per day. We were told that most of the children there had HIV or TB.
As we arrived we found about 30 children all lined up in a row having lunch. Lunch looked like rice and grated beetroot. Quite nice, I thought! It was kind of awkward they were all sat there staring and we didn’t know the language. So what to do? Gradually they all finished their lunch, went off to wash their bowls and play. Still what to do? Did they want us to barge into their games? They were staring at us, we were staring at them.
My confidence deserted me. So I wondered around the site and eventually came across two boys taking it in turns to swing on the one unbroken swing of a fantastic climbing frame. So I pushed them. They shrieked at me and I wasn’t sure if it was a happy noise or ‘get off’ noise. So I persevered. Then offered them my sunglasses to try on. They thought this was just the most amazing thing. Pete from our team came over and next thing they were jumping up and wanting to be held. These were no small boys. Probably at least aged 5 or 6. Arms aching I sat down and that was it. It was a competition as to how many children could sit on our laps at one time. They just wanted cuddles and to touch us. They were fascinated with our hair; they pulled down Pete’s T-shirt and screamed with laughter. The girls looked down my top with interest, perhaps they were looking for hair too??!!! They argued over who would wear our sunglasses. We had such a great time cuddling and playing with these children who just loved every minute of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment