Of the five things I shared about myself on Instagram, the first was that I volunteered at a shelter for abandoned and HIV-positive babies while I lived in South Africa. It earned top billing because it was the experience that started me on my journey to building Beyond Books Parenting.

A little background…

Prior to the shelter, I was just a young woman who had been babysitting since the age of 11. My first regular job was for two children, ages 2 and six months, and, no, I can’t believe anyone allowed an 11-year-old to take care of their little ones, either!

I’m from the South and my maternal grandmother was one of eight children (farming families, you know) and that means I had a big family; big families always have lots of babies. For me, being around infants and small children was such a constant that I honestly do not remember a time when I didn’t know how to change a diaper. So it made sense that when it was time to earn money, I babysat and took jobs with young kids because, well, that’s what I did.

You know how - when you’re really young - you think everyone has a life like yours? From a psychological standpoint, egocentricity is a fundamental stage of development, but that’s just a side note to explain that I thought everyone babysat as much as I did because my older sister had done the same. Me + my older sister = everyone. That’s just basic math when you’re 11 years old.

The view over Pretoria from my apartment

Taking care of children was second nature to me, and I didn’t think much of it because it didn’t seem especially important or unique.

Fast forward several years…

In 2008, I was in my mid-twenties and I moved to another new country and new city, Pretoria, and into a new culture, and in all that newness I sought the familiar: spending time with babies. I found the shelter for abandoned and HIV-positive infants, went through a rather intensive interview process, and started my shifts.

I kept a blog at the time (so very mid-aughts, I know), and I recently resurrected the posts from the depths of the internet. At the time, of course, I had no idea that my volunteer experience would become a core part of who I am or that it would spur me on to graduate school and, eventually, forging this new career. I could write many things about my experience in South Africa with the benefit of hindsight, a Master’s degree in Counseling, and maturity, but instead I’m going to let my younger self (all of 25) do the sharing.

In the next entry, I’ll share a blog post I wrote (waaaaaaay back) in 2009…