Articles - Miscellaneous

Greetings from Paraguay

I have now been in Paraguay for two months, sometimes it feels like a lifetime but, when I have time to take a step back and think about it, it has rushed by and now my time here is running out!

My gap year so far has been brilliant, I have done and seen so much it is quite hard to believe. My gap partner and I have been living and working at El Redil an orphanage in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. We have really become a part of orphanage life now, and find it hard to imagine being anywhere else right now.

Our day begins, well my day begins with my getting up to take a little five year old girl called Silvia (who is by the way adorable as most of the children here are) ready for school. After getting her ready, it is then time for her daily piggy back ride (from me) to her school. From then on Luke and I help out at the home, playing, helping with homework, doing activities etc. We have recently acquired a new little boy, who has just turned four today, called Alexis. He is blind, and very demanding, so most of my time in the morning is taken up with looking after him, especially as he is not potty trained! A little fact that keeps me sat beside him on the potty for hours on end, but also ensures that I wash my clothes regularly, although a little too often at times!

We get onto the school pick up at eleven, where I go to pick up five little girls, and then it is time for lunch. That is after I have dropped Librada back at school! Librada is a lovely little girl who unfortunately has problems with her liver and a hole in her heart, which is why she comes home from school for lunch, as she needs special meals.

After lunch we drop off more children who go to school in the afternoons, then it is time for those wonderful hours between one and three, where we are free to sleep, relax or e-mail! However, easier said than done as we live in the home, and the children are constantly coming to our windows and asking us to give them stickers, or play with them.

Then after our break it is time for more school pick ups and more playtime! Then comes the most stressful, but also the most fun time of the day - bath time! I have to bath all the girls, and there are only three showers, it is a completely crazy time, I usually end up in the shower, and probably get more wet than they do, but we always end up having a song and dance in there too! They now know some of the Lion King songs, which I take great pride in!

Bed time, or La hora de la cama in Spanish is yet another chaotic moment, or moments to be precise, as it would be anywhere trying to get twenty-eight children who insist they are not tired, despite the fact that some were falling asleep at the dinner table! After emerging from the girls room, covered in toothpaste, I am usually ready for bed too!

Well that is my typical day, give or take a food fight or injury here or there, or in fact a parents evening and a black out as I found out yesterday! Hectic and tiring - yes, but utterly brilliant, and I wouldn't change what I am doing here for the world! I still cannot really believe I am here, living and working in Paraguay!

The home is a fantastic place and is run by the Salvation Army, so religion is truly at the heart of the home and the children's lives! They have very little of everything but, the children are so happy you would never know! It is such a humbling experience working here with the children, some don't have shoes, school bags, there is one hairbrush for all the girls to share, they fight over the amount of shampoo, toothpaste you give them and have one pair of going out clothes each but at the home they are happy and carefree as they need not worry about food, water or where they are sleeping, they really feel lucky to be here! Quite a lot of the children go home at the weekends as many who come here are here because their parents cannot afford to keep them, and can only afford to have them for a few days! They are considered the lucky ones, what makes me really sad is watching the children who have no where to go, those who are permanently here, watch the others leave!

I only hope that we are helping by being here, and that the children carry on being as happy as they are now! I am having a wonderful time here, it is an amazing experience and I will hopefully do some good whilst I am here.

Thank you for all your support and prayers, they are very much appreciated.

Sarah Milburn.

31 May, 2005