Hello, my name is Kayley and I am a Volunteer from Germany. I will be living and working in India for one year to participate in an intercultural program with AFS Germany and FSL India. Currently I am in my third month here.

 

Normally I work in an integrated school as an English teacher but during the winter holidays I worked in the De Mercide Orphanage in Deralakatte for two weeks.

There are about 80 children living in the Orphanage at the moment and it is all run by nuns. Although I wish that the relationship with some of the staff members would have been better, I had a great time.

There were many different things I could do and I really enjoyed my time there. The activities I did included playing, bathing, drawing, learning English and just spending time with the children.

I was nervous to meet the children for the first time but to my surprise, they are all really nice, well behaved and a lot quieter than I thought they would be. I can safely say that I have already taken them into my heart.

As we also slept in the Orphanage, it was much easier to understand, care for and be a part of the children’s lives.

But one of the things that never ceased to amaze me was how the food was being served: I’ve never seen so much rice in one HUGE pot in my life! And still it always managed to be empty five minutes later.

So finally I can say that I am very happy to have experienced this all and I hope to be able to come again soon!

Kind regards,

Kayley Randles