Week N°1 in AMAS Fonseca - Niterói RJ

Well it has been over one week already since I've been here in Rio de Janeiro and also one week working in the orphanage. I started my mission here on 22nd December, the first day was my induction day were I was introduced to the children I would be working with and also the other volunteers.

I work in a house, run by the state and the Methodist Church who are trying to deal with the terrible reality of thousands of children here in Brazil each day (amasniteroi@terra.com.br). This house can be considered a "safe house" as well as an orphanage as the children and teenagers living here are rescued from high risk situations induced by abandonment by one or both parents, child prostitution, child labor, alcoholism and drug abuse and even sexual abuse. The age of the children can vary , some are as young as 2 years old to 16 years old. In this house comfort is at a minimum but it is still a better standard than the conditions they would have lived-in in the favela.

I work here with another volunteer, a 21 year old French girl from the Paris region. Our daily tasks start a 9am with a wake-up call for the children, bed making and cleaning of dormitory. Then its bath time, where we supervise that all children brush their teeth & wash well. At the moment we have the joy of daily delousing sessions, the children are riddled with head lice and we use everything from vinegar to shampoos to try to get rid of the buggers, but all in vain as the children use each others combs and hairbrushes, towels, etc.., and because we are not present all the time to supervise, this makes it really difficult to prevent head lice infestations..........even we the volunteers are at risk....so its delousing shampoo for everyone....I should have shaved my head afterall...

As you can imagine it is very difficult to communicate with children too....first of all there is the language barrier.....but I must say I've never learned a language so fast in all my life...:oD secondly, some of the children have mental problems in this case they have to be taken by the hand and shown the morning routine of bed making, cleaning etc...everyday .......thirdly, some children are just plain lazy and disappear when there is work to do....so the volunteers also spend a lot of time running around looking for those who are hiding..

Personally my favorite time is about 11am when we gather the children for activities such as of course futbol (pronounced foo-che-bol), yep we are in Brazil afterall.. football is nearly a religion...then a favorite of mine, drawing and painting activities. I have discovered some very eager and talented artists....so talented that the volunteers have decided to propose a project to the director of the house involving the children. The plan is to paint the walls of the childrens playground, it will bring some colour to the play area and this will hopefully encourage the children to concentrate and work together as a team..This project we will start next week.....

My day ends usually about 1pm - 2pm when the chidren are fed and put to bed for a siesta, then other volunteers take over the afternoon shift...usually after the morning shift I need a siesta myself, between the heat and looking after the children, its like a days work done already.