5am: A day at Sanyu Babies’ Home starts with the feeding of our smallest babies. They are then changed and taken back to bed to complete their morning sleep.

6am: The toddlers and older children are woken up and taken to the potty/toilet. They wash their faces and have a cup of porridge. Then they brush their teeth, are bathed and dressed, ready for the early morning devotion at 7.30am. Our morning devotion time involves praise and worship, sharing the Word of God and prayer.

8am: It is bath time for the babies. The smallest babies are then bottle-fed and taken out for sunbathing and cuddles with the Mamas and volunteers while the oldest babies are taken to class. The toddlers and oldest children are taken to school.

8.30am: School time for all!

Sanyu Babies’ School has three classes: Joy Class, Peace Class and Faith Class.

Joy Class caters for babies between 6 months and 18 months and involves interacting and socialising, learning how to be independent, learning how to crawl, sitting, playing with toys, feeding, and talking.

Peace and Faith Class cater for children between 18 months and 4 years. The younger of the two classes (Peace Class) learn toilet manners, toothbrushing, socialising, shading, story reading, singing and finger printing amongst other things. Our oldest class (Faith Class) continue to build on these skills and start learning to count, write, and spell too!

9-10am: Snack time for all.

12pm: The school going children go back home as school time has ended and it is lunch time for all the children. Then it’s potty/toilet time and the children put on clean comfortable clothes ready for their nap.

1pm: It is naptime for everyone! The Mamas use this time to catch up on jobs, eat their own lunches, socialise and have a well-deserved break. If any of the children wake up, they will often bring them out of their beds, so they don’t disturb those who are sleeping!

3pm: The babies take a bath, while it is potty time again for the toddlers and toilet time for the older children. Everyone enjoys a drink and snack too; for the babies this is milk or porridge while for our older children it is porridge, chai or juice as well as some fruit. Then it’s guided play time and an ‘outing’ within the home’s compound (normally to the play area).

6pm: The children come back from playtime ready for dinner. The mamas working on days and those working the night shift both help with dinner before the night teams take over. Once dinner has been finished, the babies are changed and put to bed. The toddlers and older children have potty/toilet time then are bathed. The toddlers and younger children then go to bed.

8-9pm: The oldest children can stay up a little later. They watch the TV, say their prayers, have a snack and then use the potty/toilet before bed.

Midnight: The babies are woken up for the final day’s feeding and their nappies/clothes are changed before they are put back to bed.