A Typical Day- Meghan

On an average day... if there is any such thing.... I wake up around 6:30 or 7:00AM (right around the time our east coast friends are finishing up dinner and winding down for the night). I make coffee and settle in for breakfast and quiet time.  As I look up from my seat at the table, beyond our wooden railed porch, I see colorful roof tops and enjoy watching the fog lifting between layers of the mountains.  I'm an early riser. The house is quiet and still.  Sometimes, our home's caregiver quietly comes up the steps onto the porch to sweep and gives me a quiet and respectful, "morning, po" before carrying on his way.  After doing a few household chores and having a brief planning time with our housemates who help do play therapy, art projects and activities, I gather my supplies for the day.  I don one of my Helping Hands shirts, pack a bag of a few learning and fun activities in my bag along with an umbrella and walk out the door.

To leave our house, I go down a short flight of wooden stairs as our house is raised with a semi open basement and carport area below. Next I walk up a driveway lined with an assortment of fresh herbs growing. The home the ministry rents as the Helping Hands Mission House was built in the 60's and has probably had a garden ever since. The home's current caretaker does an excellent job maintaining the many mature and maturing plants on the grounds from flowers and herbs to avocado, coffee, and macadamia nut trees... I feel like we quite literally have a little bit of everything.  I exit our home's high brown metal gate and turn up the road.  It is only about a 1/4 mile walk to the Children's Home. The street is lined with various houses. One particular is a house that is also a plant nursery. The gardener is always busy with some project such as slicing pieces of bamboo for a new project or doing maintenance on his property.  I cross a small bridge that goes over a water runoff and past another nursery. It is incredibly easy to grow things in this rainy, mild climate. Every day, beautiful yellow, orange and blue butterflies flutter past me on my commute.  Finally, I round a corner and the Children's Home is the house on the right.

A tall 3 story yellow house, the Children's Home has a bright sunny appearance.  As I enter the home, I am greeted in numerous ways depending on the day.  My favorite way is when a little one runs up and into my arms for a big long hug. The kind where their little body just relaxes and soaks up the comfort of just being held before asking you to sit and play with them.  In the mornings I usually work with a young woman in the home whose mental age is said to be around age 3. We have been working on letter identification, formation and sound along with counting by 1's and 5's up to 100.  She is really enjoying learning and having a task to complete with my complete attention on her.  During our lessons, or when we are tired of singing the ABC's, we break into Christmas songs or an occasional mini dance party (dancing is her favorite). :)  Next, I gather the half day kindergarten group (4 kids) and we see if they have any homework or memory verses to work on.  Their teacher has asked me to work on their writing skills so we often practice writing their memory verse then do an activity with it such as draw a picture of the verse or play a game to help memorize the verse.  Other days we practice letter identification with a game like ABC Bingo and practice coming up with words that have the letter called in it.  The kids then go to change and have lunch while I play or do puzzles with the toddlers then attend to administrative duties.

I am in charge of education and managing activities of the children in two houses but I also help in assisting Claire, the director of the ministry when I can so there is always some kind of planning, editing, or composing to be done.  Some days I go home to work on this and have lunch. Other days I stay and eat at the home.  I do try to get home at some point in the day to take a break so that I am not exhausted by the time the kids get home and need help on homework.  Homework tends to get done between 6-8 pm.  Depending on the tasks that need to be accomplished, I may spend time in the afternoon playing with the toddlers.  They are precious and are happily entertained with a walk, bounce on the trampoline or sitting on your lap coloring a picture. I have enjoyed filling the home's walls with the kids' masterpieces.  Being in a home with so many children is teaching me that at any given time, the sweet child in front of me who wants me to just sit and color with her is more important than the computer and paperwork in my hand. At the end of the day, everything that needs to get done, gets done... or gets put off till tomorrow.  Afternoons may also be spent planning and preparing activities for the following day or afternoon, mentoring our volunteers in their life and work here, and connecting with the caregivers in the home. I also enjoy visiting the CRU to talk with one of their older girls there. She is interested in design and crafts so I have taught her how to knit.

Depending on when (or If) I decide to go home, I may be there for dinner, in which case I help out wherever possible. Feeding the young toddlers, passing out food, wiping dirty faces, or cheering on the kid who is trying to gag down their vegetables... true story.  After dinner, it's homework time. I try to keep a special eye on the ones I know are struggling in school and am sure to make time to sit one on one with them and help in re-teaching then practicing through their assignments.  Lately, I've been doing a lot of multiplication practice and English grammar.  By 8:00 we are finishing up and it's time to walk home.

By the time I get home, some days I'm in a state of utter exhaustion other days I have the energy to clean, blog, keep up with relationships from America, or hang out with Craig and the girls at home. Other days, I shower and collapse into bed.  If you work with kids, you understand that your level of exhaustion depends on the neediness of the kids that day.

Various days involve other things such as teen devotions, a meeting with a child's teacher after school,  preparing for the arrival of adopting parents, taking a child for a haircut, having a teen over for a cooking lessons, shopping for supplies for the home/children, taking children to the park, having morning school lessons with children at CRU etc... No day is ever the same as the one before.  I love this.  It can be exhausting at times but when you've spent your day pouring yourself out for children who greatly need your kind words, affection, gentle touch, genuine interest and careful guidance you can't regret a single day.