INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA

going through similar art activities. The girls noted a similar range of emotions as the
boys, with the majority of them saying that they were typically happy.
We asked them to draw pictures of things that made them happy, or things that they
remembered from the past. Special things were difficult for them to think of, and initially,
we found that they recollected very specific things from the past and drew their early
childhoods very literally, most often trying to draw self-portraits. Again, this suggested a
matter-of-fact attitude about past incidents, and a difficulty to recollect outstanding
events, even positive ones.
After a bit of prompting, suggesting that they may perhaps remember a pet,
suddenly they began to remember past Christmases. This seemed to flip a switch
regarding their memory, and they began to talk about Christmas. Most of them recalled
Christmases that were celebrated while living at the center, but they had a particularly
strong memory for Christmas presents. The girls began to tell us what they had gotten for
Christmas last year, and the year before. In little time, each one began listing presents by
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