Lebone Educare Center - South Africa

We spent a good part of our time working at the Lebone Educare Center in the township of Botshebelo, near the city of Bloemfontein. This daycare/preschool has a staff of 9 very hardworking, dedicated women who care for and feed about 100 children from the ages of 6 months to 5 years five days each week. All of the children have been affected by the AIDS epidemic; many have lost one or both parents to the disease and live with grandmas or other relatives. Some of the children have also been diagnosed with AIDS and receive medication at the center. But many of the children are healthy and enjoy playing, learning, and teasing each other - just like children here in the U.S.





The children receive two meals each day: a porridge in the morning and pap (made from corn) with fresh vegetables from the garden and occasionally a little meat for lunch. Sometimes they also receive a piece of bread or fruit just before they leave in the afternoon. It's hard to believe, but for some of the children that is the only food they eat during the day. When they left on Friday we were told that some children would not eat again until they arrived back the following Monday. There is just no food available in some of the poor homes, so the families are grateful the children can attend the center both to learn and to eat. I can't imagine going without food for a whole weekend! (I feel both guilty and grateful for all I have.)






After eating each child stacks his/her bowl and washes hands and face on individual towels hung on a rack. Then comes rest time.





They also have bathroom breaks throughout the day. The bathroom routine is begun with a chant: "Follow, follow, follow the leader" as they line up and walk outside: boys to a circle of rocks and girls to a series of colorful chamber pots. (The outhouses are only used by adults.) Each does his/her business and then returns inside. One of the projects our church is working on is adding inside bathrooms in the new addition to the building. Hopefully it will be finished next year.




My partner and I spent part of our time organizing a picture database of all the children. We took individual photographs of each child and matched them up with names and birthdates. I also spent a lot of time helping to care for the children. Other members of our team spent time painting the new office, reception area, and storage room. Still others were in charge of various construction aspects: laying out the areas for the new addition, repairing cracks in floors, putting together shelves and building a new desk for the director of the center. We worked hard and accomplished a lot. And I gained a deeper understanding of how hard the caregivers and cooks work. We ended our time at at Lebone by giving a party (braai) for the workers to show our appreciation to them. There was plenty of food, fellowship, and music!






I am so glad I could go and actually see and help out at the care center. I feel like I have new friends in Botshabelo and hope I can return to help again sometime. Unfortunately, the Sunday after we left a strong wind and hailstorm collapsed the original building at the care center (the building to the right). Thankfully the new building sustained very little damage, but now all 100 children need to fit in that single building (very crowded and noisy). That makes the addition even more urgent as it will double the space.




Before we left I wanted to purchase something for them to use at the center. The carpet the 2-3 year olds sit on was old and dusty, so I bought a new carpet and we set it up before we left on Sunday. One little boy was already using it after he fell asleep during the church service!



I have many memories and images in my mind of my time at Lebone. I'll end this posting with one of my favorites: friendship.