St. Joseph's Home for Children by Leah

Many of us (Mike, Taylor, Anita, Arianna, Fei, Kelsey, and Tayler and I) have been placed at St. Joseph’s home for children which is a home for chronically ill children. Many children are HIV positive, have had cancer, or are diabetic. We had a very warm welcome from Luis who is in charge of fundraising. He had very interesting stories for us and was very grateful to have us volunteer.

Mike, Taylor and Anita worked in the Sunflower ward which was home to infants and toddlers who were all HIV positive. I know they enjoyed their time at St. Joseph’s and learned a lot. Mike kept telling our class how much he has learned and how he fed a baby for the first time! Anita and Taylor would come home talking about their favorite kids and I know it was a very sad good-bye for them.

Arianna, Fei, and I volunteered in the Daisy ward. Daisy was home to girls who ranged anywhere from 2-10 years old. We all had a blast in this ward. Arianna and I taught them songs and dances almost every day. Their favorites were the banana song and the macerena. We even got this mean nun to do the dance with us and the kids. We went to the toy library or the park everyday until the girls went to school.

Kelsey and Tayler worked in a ward called Sweet Basil which housed boys anywhere from 2 -11 years old. I know they always came home exhausted because the boys have so much energy. I don’t think I ever saw either of them without a boy crawling on their back. Many days Sweet Basil and Daisy would play together in the toy library or at the park and it was always a fun time.

St. Joseph’s was very warm to all of us and we all created bonds with the children and each other.