hello y'all!!! today was my first day at little angels and woah quite a day... we arrived at 9, we sorta knew what to expect cos we'd been on those visits before but it wasn't really what you think even tho u dont really know what to think before you go there to be honest (if that makes any sense lol)! all the staff there are mainly afrikaans speaking except thea (pronouned tia) who speaks very good english so that was a bit of a challenge but in fact two out of three of them had good enough english to be understood quite well and talk to a bit... these two were called sophie and valerie and were both the mumsy/kind granny type who obviously just love these kids and have their love back and its just so comfortable and comforting to watch! they know each kid backwards - their likes dislikes etc etc etc... there were 8 kids there today: denzil, sima, kelly, christopher, aphiwe, wynand, lauren, jerome and another whose name i didnt catch... there are more kids but those were the ones in today. each kid has a very definite and different story all very sad... sima: i spent a lot of time with her today and she is GORGEOUS. she is 2 years old and was born with hydro cephela (fluid on the brain). she was abandoned by her mother at birth and her father can not afford to look after her therefore she is in foster care with little angels. she really is the entertainer of the place lol... she never shuts up i swear, she cant really say any proper speech but she is always going la la la along with the songs they play (which she knows all of them perfectly) or blowing raspberrys and then giggling or whisteling is another fav pastime of hers or going wooooooooowwwww; this wow can variate from a low husky woah to a high pitched wOw!!! very cute indeed. we've recently developed also "what is dis" and "aphie" (meant to sound like aphiwe) then comes denzil... another cutie. he is also two and also has hydro cephela. both his parents abandoned him when he was born and have not been able to be traced by social services or the police so he lives at little angels... i didnt get to spend as much time with him so i dont really know all his little habits yet but very sweet never the less! christopher: i didnt really have any communication with him at all today - in fact it is hard to at all cos he has very severe cerebral palsy i believe. he is 13 but his body is very small and quite curled up and contorted and all he can say really is mummy and make shouting noises... quite sad. jerome: i'm not exactly sure whats the matter with jerome, it maybe cerebral palsy but again whatever it is its pretty darn serious... he was collected by social services from his home a while back as he was being badly neglected - he came to little angels and now is getting much much better and will sometime scream out with joy when being played with or doing his exercises! he doesnt talk at all and cant really close his mouth (like christopher and aphiwe), maybe its a symptom of c.palsy - no idea, so wears a bib all the time and is hugely twisted up and stiff... his arms are completely tightly curled up to his neck and his legs completely twisted round and again bent. i was doing his exercises with him and i was actually having to try really hard to open and straighten his limbs. aphiwe: he has some of the same symptoms as christopher and jerome but not as serious. he is 8 years old i think and his mother is a single parent and cant afford to keep him at home as she has other children to look after... she sends R300 a month (if she can afford that) and visits him once a year at christmas. he is actually a very bright boy, he can recognise colours and answer questions - he understands a lot its just that because he cant close his mouth he cant talk clearly but he managed to say my name and shook my hand etc... they do a special exercise with him to try and help his speech - they give him a bowl of water and a straw and make him blow bubbles, then they manoevre his lips around. who's left... kelly/wynand/lauren/the mystery kid. mystery kid: all i know about him is that he can eat himself (oh they have such lovely meals NOT) kelly: she doesnt appear to be able to sit or speak and i dont konw whats wrong with her but she's very smily never-the-less and very sweet. wynand: i think i mentioned him in an earlier entry... he is thea's nephew and very very very severly brain damaged - his caused by starving his brain of oxygen for two long after a car crash when they tried to revive him. he literally can not do ANYTHING! has to be fed through a tube, his airway has to be cleared, he is VERY twisted and tense and cant speak talk or anything - very sad to see. lauren: not at all bad compared to the rest - i think she's 7 and her prob basically is ADHD thats it on the kids. what we did: well to summarise, as i can tell i'm getting long winded lol, we helped the kids with their exercises which i'll explain in a bit (special pressie for u mum ;o).) and we played with them, put them down for their nap, prepared their food (this is cut up banana in peach yog and mushed up weetabix with hot water and milk for mystery guy) and bathed them at the end (this was harder with some than others!). oh and we assembled this mobile for wynand - apparently it was his bday. just got back from a latino dance class at the gym - we did the jive this week, if i go next week it'll prob be the cha cha or salsa?!?! to be honest it was quite a bit too easy for me but it was fun anyway. there is a modern dance course u can do 1nce a week but its a course u pay for and its already a month in so we're not sure we want to spend our money on that when i can do it at home, but tonight was a laugh in any case! thats about all i can say for now. lots lof love and hugs to you all. miss you cant wait to see you in what 7 weeks?!? emily xxxxxxxxx