this was gonna be a physical challenge a month ago, it was some fantastic foresight or what!
Firstly, my immune system gave way and I fell ill, first time ever overseas! It started with a tummy ache and evolved into a fever. Don’t ask me what I had. I’ve no idea. My guess is mild food poisoning? Or according to a seasoned volunteer here, I probably caught some virus from one of the kids here. They’re so used to dirt and dust they’ve got super resilient bodies, not like our supposedly “healthy” ones which are so susceptible to viral attacks and infections unknown in our “sterile” environments. I was told that everyone here, all staff and volunteers, get sick from time to time, so I guess I just had my turn earlier than expected. So anyway I recovered after 2 days and I was again ready to deal with these kids, which pose an even larger physical challenge.
Being kids, they’re always jumping onto you from behind (piggyback ride!) or sitting on your shoulders or hugging you from all directions possible. I swear I’ll develop some huge muscles by the end of the month. They are full of energy and never seem to tire at all! Besides painting and lunch when they’re actually seated down, they spend all other times running around, playing ball, chasing one another or even fighting. Yeah they fight all right, sometimes several times a day. The staff and volunteers have to step in to stop them from punching each other. It’s largely because of the tough environment they’re used to growing up in as beach children, so it’s quite common around here. But it’s usually petty fights and they get over it quickly. Although my duties here are far from being labour-intensive, it’s playing and looking after the kids that quickly drains you of your energy. That, and not forgetting the punishing heat as well. But we volunteers work on half-day shifts of 4 hours, 6 days a week, so we’ve free time to do whatever we want off duty. I have to say that I’m still trying to get used to not having much to do (what a contrast to my hectic 10-hr workdays) but so far I’m enjoying my time here.
