Nanna and Nonna visit the brood

Having mum and Janelle at the baby home this week had a really interesting effect on me. The most valuable contribution they brought with them (in addition to the mountains of nappies, toys, clothes, dvds and even a dvd player!!) was the many many wonderful ideas for great activities to do with the toddlers. They gave also Mama Ju some really helpful feedback for making the nursery school a little less hectic for her.

However, seeing their reaction to the mayhem that is mealtime and changing time brought back memories of just how traumatic the first few weeks here were for me. All of a sudden the screaming children, dirty faces, and stinky nappies were distressing to me again, as I was looking at the situation from fresh eyes.

The reality is that we work in one of the best orphanages in Africa. The babies are well loved, well fed, and for the most part very well adjusted. But obviously it is not possible for a handful of nannies and volunteers to give 30 children the same level of care that you could offer your own baby in your own home.

Back at home, I used to gag if I was present in the same room as someone changing a disposable diaper. You think that's bad?? Try changing a cloth nappy which is drenching wet, with poo seeping up the baby's back because it's been squelching around in there for a good hour. It's particularly bad when the babies are fed dark brown malted porridge for breakfast (by God, it's BAD!). Then you finally take the ripe, stinky nappy off the baby and find that there are no wet wipes. So you have to use the outside of the dirty nappy to wipe the excess poo off, then you have to use a clean rag to tidy them up properly. More often than not I sneak the babies under the tap and give their bottoms a good wash. But the nannies get stroppy about this cos it takes up too much time, and there is already a queue of 10 other stinky, ripe, squelching nappies to change!!!!!!!!

I'm getting used to it now (in fact, the first moment I really fell for Rosie was when she had a disgusting stinky nappy on, and when I went to change her she refused to lie down, and then grabbed my arms with a vice-like grip and started dancing naked on the change table with a big grin on her face and did ANOTHER big poo!!!! I thought 'this stinky kid's got character!') - but imagine mum and Nelly's reaction the first time the squelching babies climbed into their lap for a cuddle!! ;-)

Anyway, I apologise for giving far too much information...but it's very very difficult to describe the daily scene of chaos without being a bit vulgar from time to time. Despite the chaos, mum and Nelly each fell for many little munchkins and had a great time with the babies singing, dancing, nursing and feeding! Though they did remark that they would go insane after just 2 days of the madness, let alone 3 months like Mama Rebecca has put herself through!!!!!