The RSCC

My site is the RSCC is about 30 minutes walk or a 7 min trike ride from my new host family. It is also about a 25 min trike ride from my training site. It was started 30 years ago to help abandoned children from the ages of 0-6 years old. However children who are abused, neglected, and street children are also among the residence. They still try to support the 0-6 ages however it is a governmental organization and so they have some kids as old as 20. They also care for “special” children, those with physical or mental disabilities. Right now they have 4 children with cerabalpalsy and 2 of them are under 2 years old. Most of the children in this facility are boys (80%) and this seems to be the trend throughout the centers in the country.

The facility itself is beautiful and well cared for. It would put some of our group homes to shame. It also gets financial support though an organization in the Netherlands. They have build additions to the facility and even put in a pool for the “special” children. Right now they are funding a physical therapy building for these children. The agency has a capacity for 80 children however they are housing over 100.

There are about 50 staff members in total which is a heavy burden. The house parents work a 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week and handle between 8 and 14 kids. In one of the cottages they have 3 staff members because of the needs of the boys. Most of the children have behavior problems, which is expected and it does make it difficult. One of the house mothers said that her first few months were extremely difficult because she did not know how to care for these children however she is comfortable with her position. In her cottage there were girls from 6-14 years old.

The nurse I spoke with was there for 20 years and is not the oldest staff member which was incredible to hear. She has worked in most of the direct care positions except as the social worker throughout her career.

I played with the infants in the nursery yesterday and in this room they had all the 0-2 children which made up about 25 children and the other wing had the 2+ and numbered around 15. They also keep all the “special” children in this wing until they are 7 years old. I played with these boys (all of these children are boys) for about 2 hours and had them crawl all over and want to be cuddled at all times. They would even push each other out of the way to get cuddles.

In the culture a way to show respect is to take your hand and put it up to their forehead because it is a blessing. Most of the children do this to every adult they interact with. On my first day I was in the head social workers office when a group of elementary school children arrived home from school and almost every child did this to me.

Since the first day I have been working on my computer in the office. Children come in and out all day and want to listen to my earphones and tap on my keyboard. The coolest part is they are willing to share the experience with the child who comes in the door next. They also love looking at my photo’s on the computer. Right now I am a novelty. I am so excited to work here on a regular basis!!!! One more month.