First Afternoon at Rogpa Childcare Center

The manager of Rogpa Childcare Center seems stressed and hungry for a moment of peace when I knock on her door: interrupting, but not meaning to interrupt. I do not want to be late for my first day volunteering. The manager's lack of cheer and sweet-tea hospitality does not shake me; traveling makes one aware of her own cultural socialization and hopefully makes one mindful to understand distinct cultural norms with humility wherever she goes.

And so, I enter the Child Care Center with a quiet smile and immediately feel at ease amongst the sleeping children. Sleeping children, all in a row, like an Anne Gedde photo or a can of stuffed-animal sardines: babies snoozing sweetly and dreaming of who knows what as their little limbs jolt and quiver.

First order of business: apron on, hair tied back, hands washed. Then, to wait for the sweet sleepers to wake up for potty time and diaper change. The Child Care staff and parents are resourceful, choosing to reuse disposable diapers by lining the inside of the plastic shell with a cloth. One disposable diaper may be used a hundred times before the tabs finally break.

Resourcefulness is a choice and also a survival tactic. The Rogpa Child Care Center provides free childcare for Tibetan families who come to Mcleod Ganj as refugees. The hope is, by providing childcare free of cost, the young mothers and fathers will be able to work and begin a new life here in the mountains of northern India.

After diaper change is free play. The children, between 8 months and 3 years, have ultimate playtime freedom. The staff conducts the afternoon in 15 minute intervals, cycling the toy sets often in order to keep the children interested and to stimulate different types of play. It has been a while since I have been part of creating a structured learning environment for children under 3. Structured feels like an oxymoron. My first observations are positive: a young, energetic staff who clearly love what they do, and a gorgeous, rambunctious and blooming group of 35 toddlers who feel safe to explore in this space.

As the afternoon unfolds, from one 15 minute play-set to the next, I find myself wondering what kind of structured play might work with these toddlers. Songs in a circle with motions and scarves? Or are these toddlers so tiny that even circle time would be hard to come by? So many different ages, so many different developmental stages. At less than three years old, each day is practically a new developmental stage.

The background music is playful but loud. In my experience, the heavy drumbeats feel over-stimulating and make the children hyper and more ready to slide-tackle their neighbor. Just this one afternoon of play makes me realize how much I have to learn about the first years of life. Birth to 3 years-old is fundamentally different than 4 and 5 years. Luckily, I have got the diaper change down. And even when the diaper change means an atomic blowout that soils two layers of clothing, I change the sweet, unassuming children without a grimace.

I look forward to spending two weeks with the children at Rogpa. I open myself to all the learning, even on the hundredth diaper change.

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Basic Tibetan Vocabulary given to me by the staff members at Rogpa.
Hello - Tashi delek
Stand up - Ya lang
Sit down - Ma Dei
Open your mouth - Kha Dang or Aa chi
Don't - Ma Chi
Count 1,2,3 - Chig, Nyi, Sum
Come here - Dei sho
Thank you - Thuk je Chey