Saving the best for last....

I realized that through this years attempt at blogging I have not introduced the best part.... THE CHILDREN. Here is a day in the life at Coram Deo. Starting with the sunrise.

By now the children had been running around for a couple hours. The 13 children who lived at Coram Deo normally woke up around 5:00 AM and took their sponge baths in plastic containers. Every morning they would have porridge before school.

Across the street is the "lolly" or neighborhood school.

These kids noses ran like a drippy faucet

.

We just finished a dinosaur puzzle and they were acting out the animal.

There was hardly a morning schedule. School started at 8ish. We had morning time with singing and dancing, numbers, and centers. Then there was a break time, story time, and lunch.

After lunch all the children were finished for the day (Usually around 1.)

We fed all the preschool children (which was probably the only reason why they came so school.) Then the other older kids would return back home from school. They normally ate lunch and did their chores.

The rest of the day we would play, hang out and walk around the neighborhood. When the sun set, we normally had about 2 hours of light with the solar panels.

The boy in the middle (Tabo) with the white hoodie is E.T. reincarnated. He is one one of the funniest children I have ever met.

After lunch & dinner the oldest children always cleaned the house & washed the dishes.

The end of the night the mamas and the sisters serve each other coffee, tea, and sometimes biscuits. By now the light was normally off and we were on to oil lamps or candlelight. The night would conclude with rowdiness and singing while they put on their pajamas. flashlights to go use the outhouse & then someone "escorting" me to my renduval where I would read by candlelight for a few more hours.

Sutu's Family

L-R: two neighbor girls who have a combination of 4 children ( 2 each). Nobesutu's sister in law (who is the hair dresser) Nobesutu/ Veronica (who I teach with). Finally, Sutu's mother.

Nobesutu's parents (who had an arranged marriage.) I asked them how they met. Then, Sutu translated the question. They said no one had ever asked them that question. Sutu did not even know how they got together.

Sutu & her mother

Some neighbors (The little girl in the stripes was in our preschool.)

Are we having fun yet? The little boy never warmed up to me.

This is the other neighbor who was always hanging out. My market adventure day she had not had her baby. In this picture, her baby is probably 2 weeks old. Sutu ended up naming her about a week after she was born. In the Xhosa community it is customary for neighbors or relatives to name the children. (I cannot remember what her name is...)

I like this photo because it really just shows the family hanging out, they were just reading & cuddling (this day was a particularly cold day...)

Sutu's hairdressing sister in law. (She has 3 boys.) Her husband (Sutu's brother) lives & works in Johannesburg. He sends them money and only visits on long holidays.

These are her other two boys who were just showing up at dark, after dinner, (probably fed by their friends)... No one was worried/ and it also did not seem to matter.