Erfahrungsbericht von Shoshanna van Dijk (Canadian Volunteer)
		I feel that going to TLC was the most rewarding experience I have ever had. l have also never worked harder. . .The days are long, loooooong; the days test you not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally.
		I have spent the past two summers at TLC and an average day in the nursery is 10-12 hours a day, six to seven days a week; however, as I said earlier I have never had a more rewarding experience!
		We as volunteers spend our days feeding, changing, bathing, medicating, snuggling and loving these many little angels. We see babies arrive who are very sick, malnourished … and then watch them grow into happy healthy babies who find a forever family and fill a home with warmth and laughter.
		Then come the times when babies don't get better and we have to learn to love them, and then let them go. I don't think there are many things in life tougher than saying goodbye to a baby you have spent the past months loving and caring for, the only way we can deal with it is by reminding ourselves that at least we know these babies had love to the very end.
		On to happier times, we as the volunteers have the privilege of seeing first smiles, first crawls, first steps; of hearing first laughs, first words ...

These are "firsts" which Mother's usually ooh and aah over, and at TLC, it is us volunteers who do the oohing and aahing. We get a glimpse into the joys which are usually reserved for Mothers and Fathers. I can be having a tough day at TLC, and all it will take is an ear to ear smile from a baby who we'd never seen a smile from a week earlier, and suddenly my day is ten times brighter.
I will be returning to TLC the end of April 2006 for three months, and am counting the days till then. Next year, I will be finished my Music Education degree, and am planning to return to TLC for a couple years. I don't know how to put it, except that TLC, it's babies, the county and it's People have completely stolen my heart. I don't know what the future holds for me, but I do know my life has been made far richer through the love I have given and received from the many babies who have passed through TLC. May God richly bless all who walk through TLC's doors.
Having spent the past two summers at TLC I know first hand how much they appreciate the help they receive from all over the world. It still amazes me what one family can do when they have the prayers and support of people far and wide.