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30 November 2004
Us volunteers have a saying here at the farm. When things are really really hectic, you'll hear "typical day at the farm"
being thrown around. It's because most days are absolute madness. To get by here, you have to enjoy being busy, because that's
what it is. Almost every day, there's something else going on apart from the routine at the farm.
At the farm usually, you can just imagine, when you've got 17 kids it's quite an undertaking to dress, bathe, bring to the
toilet, feed and clean up after them. Especially as quite a few of them require full-on care. So, even with nothing else happening,
the day is jam-packed already. Between 7am and 9pm (at least) is flat out, except for maybe an hour in the afternoon when
the young kids have a nap (if there's no washing left to do). But of course, the phone never stops ringing during this hour.
So, in the middle of this typical day, when you throw a kids appointment in, it's extra madness. We seem to spend a lot of
time getting the kids into the car. That might sound easy, but believe me, it's a logistics nightmare.
Add into this, the fact that when you're rushing around doing the work, there are a bunch of kids hanging out of you, calling
your name repeatedly. They never get sick of saying it, I tell ya ;-)
Today, for example, Pat & Moira got up at 6am to bring some of the kids to meet people all over Melbourne that donated money.
They spent the day doing that, quite a feat given that 2 of the kids require full-on attention, as they cant walk, and the
3rd is only 3 years old.
When this was going on, I had a Somalian heart kid over at the hospital for a check-up, ECG, Holter monitor, and meds change.
T'was several hours later before I emerged. Meanwhile, other volunteers are at the farm looking after the rest of the kids.
Picking some of them up from school, doing homework with them, as well as the cooking and cleaning part.
While all this may sound horrible to a lot of people, I'm sure a lot of others, like us volunteers here, cant help but want
to be involved. I couldn't bare not be involved in all this, it's gonna break my heart to leave in January.
The kids just all have a spirit in them that you wont see anywhere else, it's quite humbling, and it changes your perspective
on a lot of things. Every now and then, one of the kids will say something or ask a question that either cracks you up for
a week or makes you want to cry... either way it stays with you forever.
One of my positive ones was when I got back from staying in hospital with one of the Somalian kids. He had surgery on his
2 hands, which were bandaged up. We checked out of the hospital & went back to the farm. We cooked lunch & handed the plates
out to the kids, then started washing the dishes. So there I am... this Irish guy washing dishes in the kitchen on a farm
outside Melbourne in Australia, surrounded by Iraqi, Palestinian, Albanian & Somalian kids who have missing arms & legs, heart
problems and so on... when the 6 year old Somalian kid with the hands bandaged chirps in the most polite, sincere, innocent
voice: "Excuse me, Cliff... can you please feed me?".
If you told me this story this time last year... I would've said "What the f..".
P.S. Tommorrow is the first day of Summer over here. It's been quite hot the last while.... TOO hot. It averages in the 20's
every day. Last Friday was 34 degrees. Just too make ye Irish jealous ;-)
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