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August 8, 2003
Hi everyone, I really need to find a new entro to my letters but I cannot
think of anything. Well I just finished my third week here in SA yesterday and
am starting my third week at the home on Tuesday. I haven't given you a very
good explanation of what St. Mary's is or what it is like there so let me try
again.
St. Mary's Children's Home is a place that children have been sent by the court
system or other reasons. Some of the children have been abused, others have
parents who just cannot look after them because they are sick and then there are
the kids who are orphans. The children range in age from 8 to 19 and they are
about half white and half black. The home is in one of the suburbs of
Johannesburg. They stay in three different cottages and in each cottage there
is a mixture of ages so that not all of the rebellious seniors are in one
place. Also in each of the cottages there is one childcare worker and also one
helper. These women take shifts during the day. One does the morning shift and
the other does the night. Most of the woman is called Mamma and then their
first name so in one cottage there is Mamma Elizabeth. Each weekday morning the
children get up and go to school. They do not all go to the same school some
go to special schools for there needs or others have been expelled from others
so they have to go to a different one. They either take the bus or the combi
and both are driven by employees of the home. School gets out early afternoon
and most of the students are home by 2:00pm except for the seniors who don't get
home tell 3:00pm. The kids have to change out of their uniforms, clean their
socks and polish their shoes. Then lunch has been prepared by the Mamma or soon
to be myself in each cottage. The younger kids have to do their homework from
3-4 and then are free to do whatever until 6 when supper is. The seniors do
their homework from 7-8. Bedtime for the juniors is at 8:30pm and the seniors
are at 9:30pm. Breakfast and lunch are made in each of the cottages with
supplies that are received from the kitchen. Dinner is made for everyone at the
home and some nights it is good and other nights it is not so good. The kitchen
runs a 4-week meal program but will vary depending on items donated. Most of
the food is donated to the home except for the meat, which has to be bought.
Every Friday the kitchen puts together a box of food for each cottage it
contains onions, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, chicken, eggs, milk, and anything
extra. As items come in during the week they are also sent out to the cottages.
Weekends are a little different. Friday afternoon some of the children are
picked up by host parents who will keep them until Sunday night. The children
who have to stay get divided up between two cottages and the Mothers who are on
duty. They can play and do basically whatever they want. The kitchen is only
open two weekends a month so the other two we have to fend for ourselves. Like
this weekend it is closed so I have to make all of my own meals. If we want to
make anything that includes ingredients that we do not get from the kitchen we
have to buy it our selves.
The home is surrounded by a concrete wall that has barbed wire at the top
somehow the older children are still able to jump this. It might seem harsh to
us Americans but it is a surprise to see anything not surrounded by barbed
wire. There is only one official gate that you can use to get in and out of the
compound and it has a security guard 24 hours a day. Like I have said before
the neighborhood is not a good one at all. I am not allowed out by myself at
any time especially at night. There are a lot of drugs and prostitutes around
every corner so you always have to be on the lookout.
Okay that is the kids basic schedule mine is a little different. Each morning I
wake up and I am either in the office or kitchen by 8:30am depending on where I
have been assigned. I am to stay there until 12:00 noon when lunch is served
for those who have worked. We get a break at 10:00am when it is teatime and by
the time I leave here I will either be
hooked on tea or hate it. In the office I answer phones (right now to the best
of my ability) and also we are in the process of cleaning out the stationary
room, which was in need of some desperate help. In the kitchen I help put
together platters if there are any meetings or interviews. Lunch is till 1:00pm
and then I am in the cottage that I was assigned to for the day. Sometimes I go
with the bus or combi to pick up the children from school. Once the children
have eaten there lunch I help them with homework and then play with them until
supper. If anyone has old game that they want to get rid of and are willing to
send them to me that would be great. The kids have asked if I have brought any
with me and I should have. I think Twister would be a good one and any others
where you can play with two or three people but also up to 6 or so. After
supper is over I am off unless both of the Mothers are off and then I will stay
until 9:00pm. It is sort of a schedule but it might get more structured as time
goes on.
My cottage is doing okay. I have one guy who is looking after me which is
really nice, the only thing is that he is looking for a cottage to by of his own
so he and his girl friend can move in together and then eventually get married.
He is the only one I can really talk to and feel like what I say will not come
back to haunt me. The two oldest men who live in the same cottage as me are the
only ones besides Thomas and my self who are working at the home. The rest are
past children of the home but do not have a place to go. The sad thing is that
most of them complain about not having money or a job but they have been given
several opportunities to work at good places or even had the chance at
scholarships but have not taken them. They are basically getting a free room
and bored when the home could have kicked them out on the street a long time
ago. This makes it hard for me because I know that the home is not doing well
as far as money goes. Also it is a bad influence on the other children in the
home because they see that they can stay as long as they would like.
Almost all of the people that I have met have been very friendly. Last night I
went to a house warming party for one of the old volunteers at the home. She is
from Germany but fell in love while she was here so she lives four months of the
year in SA and the rest in Germany at school. It was a real South African
experience. Everyone was dancing and having a good time. I came home early
because I knew I was getting up early this morning in order to email. Ian picked
me up this morning and it took me almost 1 1/2 hours to check all of my emails
from everyone. After I am done here I am going to the McBride's for a party.
Horace baptized his grandson this morning and they are all celebrating this
afternoon. It will be nice to see them again and there nieces.
I did get my cell phone this week but it is two expensive for me to call you on
it. I checked with the service provider and it will cost me over $2.00 a
minuet. However if you want to call me it doesn't cost me a thing. The best
thing to do is getting a calling card and use it. It is still is not cheap
though. The bad thing is Gabe is the only one who has called me and it took
several tries to figure it out so I will have to get the exact number from him
and then get it to you guys.
I only have a few things to complain about so far. The salt, soda, and
chocolate tastes funny. The salt leaves a really bad taste in my mouth and so
does the soda but not as strong. The chocolate just tastes funny. Also the
drivers here are crazy. I have only ridden with one descent driver and he is
the guy looking out for me. Everyone else drives way over the speed limit, all
over the road, through red lights, and everything else. I have to say that the
drivers seem more friendly though and do not have as much road rage as in the
states. Also there are not very many policemen around to control the drivers.
I made my first batch of cookies on Friday night but they did not turn out
really well because I did not have any brown sugar (what we call brown sugar) or
vanilla. All of the cookies were gone by the morning so they could not have
been too bad.
I still cannot find a curling iron over here. I have a blow drier that the
McBride's lent me but I have not found a curling iron. I have started to cry
less and less each time I read your emails so I think I am getting a hold of my
homesickness a little. It would be easier if I could just walk out of the home
and go do things without having to impose on someone else to come with me or
take me where I want to go.
Well I had better stop this has gotten pretty long again sorry. I have gotten
questions from many of you about posting my letters on a website or putting them
in the paper and I give you permission to do whatever you want with them. The
more people who want to hear about my trip is fine by me. The only thing I ask
is that you do not give out my email I am having enough trouble keeping up with
it as it is right now. I miss you all very much and please keep emailing me
with what is going on in the states it is hard to keep track.
Love,
Katelyn
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