Crèche is a word used to describe a gathering of foundlings
(In this case infants or children) in one place to be cared for my one or more
adults. It is thought of to be a day care or nursery for those who can’t care
for themselves. Too often In SA infants and children are left in the care of
non-trustworthy people or children barely older than themselves in order for
the parent(s) to go to their job or look for a job. The Crèche supplies
responsible adults to care for children who are about two years old, and are out
of nappies (diapers), to children of five years who are then able to attend
government schools. The Crèche is set up with supplies to teach preschool
basics such as counting, sound, letters, naming, shapes, colors, days of the
week, months of the year, and the starting of learning to speak English. It
also provides the children with some health care and a hot lunch every day of
the week. Most importantly the children are taught how to pray before starting
the day of school/events, before they eat their meal, and bible stories are
read and taught to them! The four women who work at the Crèche every day of the
week are very dedicated to teaching the children, caring for them in the best
possible way they can, and playing and loving on them during the day.
The
children who come to the Crèche are all from homes who cannot afford a nanny or
do not have extended family to care for them while their parent(s) are working.
The current Crèche is filled to its limits and therefore has had to turn away
parent wanting their children to attend. There is not only a need for a bigger
building for the Crèche but also for new Crèches established in other villages
around Richmond. Emmanuel’s Wish Foundation is in the process of doing exactly
this for the town of Richmond and surrounding areas through the financial
support of a great many people.
I want you to picture for me a
room, roughly one hundred square feet, filled with forty-four children. They
have lots of energy, are busy eating their snacks, and will not stand still
long enough for either me or the Crèche workers to count how many children have
come to preschool/daycare today. This is what a typical morning at the Crèche looks
like but today we had some visitors come which made the morning slightly
different than normal. The children were very excited to see the visitors,
eagerly went outside to greet them, and joined in singing with one of the women
when she prompted them to. Things soon changed though as the four workers from
the local clinic came inside, set up their equipment, and we started having the
children roll up their sleeves and line up for a needle. Once the crowd of
children realized what was going on the excited faces turned blank, some tears
started rolling, and soon enough we had a group of upset and worried children,
some were bawling, and others just trying not to.
With children this young it is
hard to explain the necessity of the shot and once one child starts to cry the
reaction quickly spreads. Once a few had received the shot it was harder for us
to reassure the remaining children and though there were some very brave little
people we had to hold many still, while they cried and squirmed, in order to properly
give them the shot. Thankfully after the shot most of the children were not
upset and the tears where quickly dried up.
In SA (Or it might just be
Richmond, I’m not really sure) the clinic workers identify children who have
been given this shot my putting marker on their middle and pinkie fingers on
the left hand. So a few children who already had their fingers marked were
identified and not given the shot. There are no record books or immunization
sheets just a mark on two fingers. The Crèche staff and I had a good laugh when
a little boy, who had been pretty brave during his shot, could not stand the
marker on his fingers and was quite upset and crying about it. We tried very
hard to distract him but he just kept staring at his hand and then looking at
us and getting teary eyed. I ended up holding and cuddling him for a while
until he left to go home.
Tanya, the South African Manager
for Emmanuel’s Wish Foundation, picks up and drops off the children each
morning and afternoon in a five seat jeep. This afternoon when we were bringing
them home we had 18 children plus three adults in the jeep. Thankfully the
first stop to let some of the children off is only about 10 minutes away and
then there is a little more room for the rest of the drive. The plan for the Crèche’s
is to keep one locally in Richmond for those who live relatively close and then
build more in the surrounding communities so that the children can be brought
by their parent/caregivers instead of being picked up and dropped off every
day.
I was
given the opportunity this week to teach the older group of children (four and
five years old) as one of the teachers was not able to come to work. This was a
challenge for me as we had to work through the language barrier, there were 25
of them and only one of me, and I have never done anything like this before. It
was a very exciting experience though and I hope I will be able to do it again
during my time with them. Next time I teach I think I will be more comfortable
as I am learning a little bit more Zulu every day and the kids are now familiar
with me and respect me as one of the staff. Also I am now accustomed with the staff’s
pattern of teaching and the day’s events at the Crèche and can keep a similar schedule
when I am teaching the classroom.
Overall the Crèche is a wonderful
project for this community and its need and benefit is undoubtedly seen. As
prayers and reading of the bible has recently been eliminated from public
schools this is also an ideal way to teach the word of God to children who
might otherwise go through life never being told the stories of the bible or
that God loves them. Bible stories, life lessons, prayers, and songs can stay
with children for a long time. I believe it is important for children even this
young to hear about the love of God and to be given the opportunity to learn
what the bible is about. Please pray for the continuation of the staff to be
dedicated to teaching the children both in education and in the knowledge of
God and for the future plans of Emmanuel’s Wish Foundation as they look to
create more projects such as this.
uNkulunkulu busisa nina (God Bless You)
Laina Kiezebrink
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