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Originally Posted by RBSVARCHER
There was one more question I have for you......
What does the orphanage worker(s) do for their specific group of children? Are they responsible for the upkeep of the room such as mopping and general cleaning as well as care and feeding of their children....pottying and such? What are their job duties? 
Also, do the children brush their teeth? One great thing about DS is his baby teeth are in great shape. Do you have any ideas?
Susan |
Yikes - it's been so crazy around here...I'm sorry for not answering your question until now!!! Please forgive me - and thanks for the reminder, Susan! Amazing how busy things get in this country right before Christmas....
Okay, so onto the answer...
The orphanage workers are broken up into several different categories. First - administration (Director, assistant director, secretary, people in the finance office, etc.) - they do all the paperwork, etc.
Then there are the caretakers. Their main job is to see that the kids are well-taken care of, and that any problems/issues (in regards to health, scholastics, behavior, etc) are reported and taken care of.
In baby homes the caretakers are those who do things like feeding and diaper/clothing changes (depending on if they use diapers...some baby homes do, some don't), supervise playtimes, put the babies down for naps, etc.
When the kids are older the caretaker's main job changes slightly - they are responsible for keeping the kids out of trouble, making sure they've gotten all of their chores/duties done (like homework, made their bed, put their things away, etc.), and overseeing meals, bathtime, bedtime, etc.
Caretakers do not (and wouldn't ever stoop so low as to) clean. Sweeping and mopping floors, cleaning the bathrooms, cleaning the dining rooms, picking up after the kids, etc. - those are all duties of cleaning ladies, known in Russian as 'sanitarka' or 'technichka'.
The cleaning ladies are also usually night-nannies; they have a very low salary, and therefore they'll usually pull a double-shift and stay all night with the kids, to make more. Night-time there's usually only one or possibly two nannies on duty. THey're not quite like caretakers, in that they show up when the kids are already in bed and stay until the caretakers show up in the morning to wake the kids up.
Unfortunately the caretakers will spend most of their time either watching TV or gossiping with the other caretakers over tea. I don't say this only because it's the way many of them are in our orphanage, but because I've visited many orphanages - and I have seen this in nearly all of them. Once the kids are past the 'toddler stage', they're pretty much on their own, until something gets broken or they're too loud - then the caretaker will come, yell at them for a while, send them outside or something, and return to her soap opera.
There are great caretakers out there, though. They are few and far between, but they exist. We have a couple, and it's a joy to see them come in to work!
Anyhoo, hope that helped. Thank you all, for allowing me to be a part of this forum!
RussianJen <><