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In August this year, Naomi Biden, the granddaughter of the Vice-President of the United States, Joseph Biden, spent a week volunteering at the Hogar del Niño, in La Romana.
Here Naomi shares with us her diary from her second day at the Hogar del Niño:
The second day we started off with the babies again. Today me and Sophia began to become attached to a baby we nicknamed “mushy”. We also were allowed to go back into the kitchen and help make the bottles. I had no idea that they made a different bottle for every baby depending on its age, and needs. The kitchen staff is incredible, and tireless! That afternoon we played outside on the playground with them. One thing I think would make it much easier for all of the nurses working with the babies would be diapers, I know many of the children’s families cannot afford normal diapers, but that may be a valuable investment for El Hogar. Especially because so many sheets are dirtied by leaking diapers!
We had also had the chance to work with in the kitchen a few times. I have to say it was much harder than it looked! Providing three meals a day to so many children is a large task. We put the food on the trays and then put them out on the table. We also helped some of the smaller children eat, and filled, and refilled their cups with water. After working in the kitchen I was always starving! I also saw a large difference in the way these children ate as compared to those in most American schools. They don’t leave ANYTHING on their plate! They are definitely not wasteful – my little sisters could learn from them!
To read Naomi and her friend, Sophia’s other diary entries, follow the links below:
Volunteering at the Hogar del Niño by Naomi Biden; Day 1
Diary of a volunteer at the Hogar del Niño, by Sophia Cantizano
For more information on Hogar del Niño visit their lovely website: http://hogardelnino.com/ designed and maintained by Silgon, Inc. the Dominican Republic’s best web design and management company.