A Day in the Life

Weekdays the truck leaves on the school run at 7:15am. Activity starts in the kitchen (adjacent to our bedroom window) sometime between 4 and 5:30am. By 7:15 am everyone is fed, clothed, has everything they need for the day, completed duties if they have them and are on the truck....usually.

The dek dek (children) go to different schools depending on their age, where they were originally enrolled and sponsorship. Of a morning the truck will stop at five or so schools and is back around 8:30am. It leaves again around 3pm and most of the children are home by 4 to 4:30pm. Depending on their ages some will get home earlier, and some have had a sleep in the middle of the day.

There are supervised homework sessions after school and freetime before dinner around 7pm. After dinner there is more freetime except for those on cleaning up, then around 8:30pm there is often a communal get together, with discussions, activities eg singing and prayers before bedtime which is usually around 9:30 -10pm.

Weekends are less structured though meals are at the same times except for breakfast which is around 8am. Sometimes there will be a communal activity such as a trip up to the rubber plantation.