The kidlets

There’s four pre-schoolers here at the orphanage and they provide many laughs and quite a few scares as well with the occasional illness.

Cynthia

Probably my favourite kid on the farm – this little girl was brought to the orphanage as a baby by her grandmother after she was left to die in a gutter by her mentally ill mother. She was very malnourished and weak. Due to this her legs were not very well developed and even up to a few weeks ago there were fears she might not walk. Due to special attention from the staff slowly her legs have strengthened and last week she began walking – this has made many of us very happy. She’s such a cute kid that can make even the hardest of heart melt with her facial expressions and

propensity for talking in part Hindi, part English and part babble. The photo is of her taking a bath – this is quite the normal procedure I assure you!

Raymond

Raymond is a bit of a bloke – his favourite word is “NO” that starts with his head high in the air and dropping it suddenly throughout its utterance. He likes bashing things together like the tricycles, toy cows and pretty much anything else. Whilst a bit of a loner - he has a soft spot for “Grandma” (Maxine Shipway) and without fail every morning toddles over to our breakfast table for a hug from her. He recently caused a commotion when at breakfast the girls in charge of him declared him missing and there was a scramble from all of us to find him. After a few minutes of frantic worry he was found playing contentedly in the small girls garden, unaware of all the fuss

he had caused. This photo of him was of when he found a new thing he could crash – the chairs in the computer room…..

Kevin

I like Kevin – he’s older, but a bit more low profile than his younger brother Raymond. When they came to the farm he was so malnourished and starved that he almost didn’t make it. After lots of care and special attention he has recovered well and now tries to emulate everything the oldest pre-schooler, Danny, does. This of course gets him in lots of trouble but when he smiles at you it’s hard to stay angry for too long. Due to his initial condition it is felt that it has put his mental and physical development back a year or so but he should turn out just fine.

Danny

This little terror is one of the cutest but most annoying kids I’ve ever met. Mollycoddled by the nursery staff, he is spoilt to the point where he thinks he can get away with anything – and usually does. He is very well developed for his age (which we are guessing is around 3), he can speak very clearly and articulately. He is openly defiant to anyone who dares to tell him what to do, I find him very frustrating and hope that he gets taught some of life’s lessons early on before he turns into a bigger monster than he already is.