A Day in the Life...

By Scott Gordon of Team Hope

Here is how the children have been spending their days.

This place is a smooth running machine even with 3 times too many children.

Wake up as the sun rises. There is really no motivation to sleep in when you are on the hard stone floor! Once the children are up they run around and play for an hour or so.

Morning bath time, the children take off the clothes they have worn for the last 24 hours and dump them into a pile for the laundry crew. Then they stand in line for a bucket bath with boys and girls all mixed together (they are perfectly OK with that). Once each child is scrubbed down they find their outfit for the day. First come, first serve, if you are at the end of the bath line your wardrobe selection might be limited.

Play time - for an hour or so while the bathing crew starts cooking breakfast. When breakfast is getting close all the children take their appointed position in either the chow line (oldest), seated (middle), up stairs (toddlers), and wait to be served. I have seen oatmeal, cornmeal, and some other kind of mush. This whole process takes over an hour.

Play time again. Kool-aid and cookies/crackers at about lunchtime. Play time for a few hours. The children are very creative and stay busy with good clean fun. Jumping rope, sitting around in small groups talking about politics, and trying to pick my pocket. These little people will do great in life because they are a resourceful group. If there is food or water to be found they will figure out a way to get some. They will chew on a paperclip or a piece of plastic like gum to keep the hunger pains away. They poke and run, they do all the things children do best.

Between breakfast and preparing for dinner the ladies in the back are keeping up with the laundry.

Meal time - late in the afternoon (well before dark) the main meal is served. Each child gets an age appropriate serving and each is left to feed and clean up after themselves. This whole event also takes well over an hour.

Dusk- play time as the sunsets, cheers as the generator fires up and a very small number of florescent lights come on. They run around and play night games, watch TV, get into trouble, and get ready for bed.

Bedtime - we have all kind of staked out our territory when it comes to sleeping spots. The children from Hope are divided pretty evenly into two groups. (with a few exceptions). I took JT, Darlene, Abbi, Joey, Jordan, Fabrice, Nerlande, Vania, Destina and Avrie and have them settled on a large covered deck. They have all gotten along great and you would be proud of how well they get to bed every night.

There are a few individual cases:

Zambrie - she is so low maintenance its hard to believe. She has been crashing out early on the floor inside the main upper area with all the toddlers. I like her there because she has all the teenage girls watching her and I can check her every time I go anywhere because she is right outside the door to the main bedroom where we have all our stuff.

Yonelson - sweetest boy on earth - he likes a little more love, bless his heart. I took him with me and Avrie the first two nights and Chareyl has had him the last few nights.

Darlene - floats back and forth from the deck with the group and the master bedroom. It takes her a little longer to fall asleep and she is so quite she can sleep wherever she likes as far as I'm concerned.

Vania - is such a tiny little thing I can't stand not keeping her close. Some nights she has slept on the deck. Other nights I put her down with Avrie.

Avrie - the spoiled one. I am so glad that she has been in foster care because it has kept her alive. However she doesn't follow any of the regular rules. Her legs completely fail her when Scott, or Uncle Brent are close. I won't go into details but she goes to bed like a drama queen/princess.

All the others, are in the main courtyard with Chareyl and Brent. They get to sleep a little later and I don't think Chareyl and Brent are getting as much sleep at night.

I think the routine I have laid out is pretty close to what they have been doing while over at Hope. 

I am happy to say that they have days with a nice routine , close friends, food and water, and a safe place to live. I want to raise my children at home so I can enjoy them every day and spoil them beyond belief but they have been in good hands while they have been here.