The good and bad of love

The morning started a little rough since Shep's car wouldn't start and we ened up having to take a taxi out to Rosebank but I arrived in time to get out to the creches for what would be another great day (and again, despite the terrible weather)! I spent the day with Sarah who is a student at the Clinton School of Public Service and is working on compiling a five-year review of SAEPs work in the creches. We were supposed to interview the principals of two creches but Quamani's was off in a training so we just spent the day at Noncedo. I was originally disappointed since Quamani is one SAEPs bigger and more successful creches (like Zamukhanya is) where they've managed to actually build a two story brick building and pull in lots of funding. Yet, our welcome at Noncedo immediately erased any disappointment as they went through a slew of song and dance in which the kids were so enthusiastic that it realy took my heart (plus, many of the songs focus on counting or learning key words in english or developing motorskills that it really exemplified how this creche is doing so well). The creche has two containers (rectangular structures) and one relatively large concrete main building, all of which are now in tip-top condition. When we arrived, we learned the principal was out so we played with the children for most of the morning. They were all very active and kept Sarah and I contanstly going. From early on, a two-year-old girl named Avewa shyly held onto my fingers through the morning songs and she would stick to me like glue for the rest of the day. We spent most of our time with the 2-3 group which was full of characters, some who would vivaciously spring between me and Sarah, sparking up new activities for us to follow them in. Avewa was such a serious little girl and she would sit on my lap or hold my hand quite stoicly. During snack time I had a revolving lap of other visitors and eventually Avewa and another little boy started using me as a recliner, snuggling into me so sweetly I didn't dare move even though I felt like my abs were going to snap at any minute (i figure that's my ab workout for the week). When it was time for clean-up we moved to the rug and the play got more active (I could overhear the 4-5 group, or what's called Grade R going over some exercises in the room next door and it seems like the whole center has a good mix of active and curricular schedules). Avewa stayed with me, of course, and I had started to notice she was very protective of me to the point that she was pushing away other kids so I would try to get her to warm up to other kids but I have to say I could see she was a very clever girl because if I gently corrected any other kids for either being too rough or trying to get into my pockets too much she would reinforce this. Then, one time the boys were going around in a mix of a game of tag and duck-duck goose, tapping me as they went by and Avewa started to try to stop them until she got up from my lap (the only time she voluntarilly did this all day) and chased after them in her toddler sort of way. She didn't catch up and she soon came back over to me but it was the most adorable expression of care!!! At one point I was able to get her laughing through little games of peek-a-boo and airplane and then she would sneek me a smile off and on. For a little while, she even willingly let us play with her twin brother who was quite a smiley little character. It was such a touching connection but when it was time for Sarah and I to meet with the principal, it completely broke my heart the way she looked at me. Oh well, at least I know that she is taken care of and has a brighter future thanks to the Noncedo creche and SAEP.
Our meeting with the principal was so interesting because Sarah was quite practiced by now in the interviews and despite the challenges in communication, we were able to get a unique perspective. She went from asking more straightforward questions like are you registered with this agency or that (mostly for them to get state and other funding but also to get further established as formal educares) and moved into qualitative questions like what challenges have you faced and how do you feel about the involvement of your management committee. At times, the principal took some of the questions a little bit definsively, not understanding that we weren't evaluating her management as much as her relationship with SAEP. When we tried to move into questions about how SAEP could improve (Sarah was very good at posing the question in terms of feedback being like helping a friend) but all the principal would say was that she loved SAEP and that Jane did so much for the creche. It wasn't that she afraid to be critical but just that she couldn't think of SAEP in any remotely negative way why is flattering to the work of the organization and says a lot about the relationships it builds but isn't very constructive in the ways that SAEP can continue to improve itself. After these questions, it took the prinicipal a little while to get warmed up again but when we got to talking about the history of the creche in terms of how far its come, the principal again became warm and emphatic. She said the difference was huge (accompanied with a facial expression that relayed just how incdredible the transition has been) and that five years ago when the creche was taken on they had been so poor - so poor that her husband had to buy the food for the children and she could hardly pay the teacher she had. Yet she had around 30 kids but many of their parents couldn't pay the fee (which was only 40 cents per month at the time) and she would continue to take care of the children because she felt she had to help them develop and get education. She got out a photo album that showed pictures of the original creche and I could not believe how much of a shack it was, especially compared to the remarkable complex they have now. She described how SAEP first got the new container (now used for 2-3 group) and then built the main building a year or so later. These changes are obvious but more importantly the teachers have been trained properly, there can now be a curriculum, the organization is registered with several agencies that can help subsidize food, teaching supplies, utility bills, and even provide funds for special projects. You could tell from the confidence of the principal that her creche was reaching another important goal, independent sustainability. It's important for SAEP not to take on charity cases but to focus on ways that allow the creche to fully take care of itself so that SAEP can move on to providing these services to other creches. By the end, we all exchanged big hugs, though it had never really gotten unpleasantly tense - they actually served us lunch and tea which was very generous of them. I would have tried to decline the lunch since my hands were dirty from playing with the children and it's not always the most sanitary of conditions but it would have been incredibly rude especially since the cook had made the soup and bread for us so Sarah and I tried not to think about the germs and ate it on up.
That's probably the most important highlights of the day - aside from I had a traditional meal of Pimliya stew for dinner tonight and it was quite good. I'm working on putting together a demo of the fundraising database for the directors tomorrow (fun!) and it looks like I'll have to get up early to take a taxi again so good night!