Shortly after arriving out in India with Lorna (my sister), it was time to start work and decorate and set up the venue for around 170 children to experience their very first Christmas party. A group of willing volunteers had travelled out from the UK to help with the party. The children were from about 14 Mercy Homes. The setup of a Mercy Home, is that Christian parents look after up to 10 children in their home.; either orphans or from poor backgrounds. The outcome is that the children get to be brought up in a ‘familial environment’, rather than the cold and stigmatized environment of an orphanage.
The preparations for the party involved decorating two rooms; the main hall and the dining hall. We erected a Christmas Tree, Crib – streamers and stars. In India, there are hoops embedded into the ceiling where bulbs are hung from for lighting. Fans are also hung from them. The room height was approximately 15 feet, with the only aid to reach the roof being a 12 foot steel straight ladder.. I got Brian and Carlo to hold the ladder as I climbed up it – however, once I reached the top it moved aplenty on the tiled floor, so I wasn’t able to attach the streamer. Instead, I descended, got a big piece of blu-tack.. put it on a stick with string attached to it.. and poked it through the hole. It took a while, but we got the job done!
The first day of the party I was up and ready at 6 am. Drivers in their auto-rickshaws were driving around like moths to a flame, with buses rocketing around corners, slowing down – but not stopping – to allow passengers to alight and board. Motorbikes flew past, carrying anything from 1 to 5 people with about 1 in 20 of them wearing helmets. Feral dogs moved in packs on the far side of the road, scavenging for food from the piles of rubbish blown to the empty field from the sides of the road. It was a different world.
We got on the minibus and headed to the campsite. We were greeted with the news that at 8am, all the children had arrived and were accounted for. Shazetta jumped out of the bus in her clown outfit, and headed to the throng with balloons and a pump, immediately impressing by making a sausage dog and passing it to an eagerly awaiting child.
Once we’d got all the children into the hall, we were asked by our hosts, Lily and Pastor Daniel – to do an icebreaker. Though I’d planned it for later in the day, Dr Mary suggested that I do ‘Simon Says’ with all 170 kids.
I’d thoroughly recommend playing “Simon Says” with 170 children + a translator! It was a great kick. The kids got it after a couple of examples, and I have a fantastic photo of where one of the Mercy Home mums is doing different to everyone else. It really got the kids moving and chatting- something that they don’t normally get the chance to do. The applause that they gave each other was staggering. I hadn’t heard such an intense applause before. It was superb.
The next part of the day involved singing. I got on the keyboards, with Dr. Mary and Carlo leading the way on two acoustic guitars. The children loved both the English and Malayam songs... particularly with actions!
We took a break and the UK team served out the chai and coffee. It was the only way we’d get one to one contact with all the kids, and over the whole two days – became a pretty moving time. The children were awesome. They’d come up and either impress us with their English, or we’d break the ice with a little Malayalam. It was a reciprocal exchange of pidgin-language – but a fun one, and that pretty much shaped the whole event.
After the chai, we had the games session. I’d volunteered to be the organiser for the older boys group. That was fun. We had water games, team games, musical chairs and Dodge Ball!
After tea we had a competition in the main hall. The kids each did a story as a mime, with costumes... with a panel of judges at the ready to award points to each Mercy Home. After tea we all sat down in a big circle in the main hall, in family groups, and enjoyed some carols by candlelight around the Christmas tree.
An evening film was a happy end of the day before bedtime.
The next day began pretty much the same as the first, starting with the singing. By this time I’d managed to learn the actions and words to one of the Malayalam songs. I jumped up on the stage to help with the actions and managed to coerce the front-line of kids to come up with me too. It was great fun!
After chai and coffee – we held a talent competition.. X factor style. The kids loved it. Some of them danced – most sang. However, the best group were a sextuplet of girls from one of the girl's mercy homes. With bells on their ankles, they sang and danced a traditional Malayalam story. It got a rousing applause from the audience; I was thoroughly impressed.
We then came to the prize-giving, and present giving. When I was at school, we did something called the shoebox appeal. I’d collected a few toys, put them in a shoebox and wrapped them up for kids in Romania. I remember looking at the pile in the school reception, and failing to picture their final destination. I was fortunate enough to be listed as one of the volunteers to give out the presents. As each home came up, the Mercy Home parents were given a present each, then each of the children were presented with their own presents. Smiles all round, as the sparkly packages were delivered to welcome hands. Inside each parcel was 'useful' items such as toothbrush and paste, soap, pen and note book etc, but also some little treasured gifts of hairslides, cars and teddy bears and so on. Each home was also given a couple of communal presents – a traditional game (Carrom) for the girls’ homes, and a full cricket bat set with stumps and balls, plus a football for the boys. The most moving thing though – after all the presents were given out – the children were there, and not a single present had yet been unwrapped as they were showing respect for those who’d yet to receive... we’ve got much to learn from this in the UK.
We then took the kids through to a newly decorated dining hall – we had crackers, streamers, and tablecloths.. and the childrens’ favourite – Chicken Biriyani. . followed by cake and icecream! Smiles abounding, joyful singing, the soung of laughter and the smell of biriyani filled the air. Not what you’d call a traditional English Christmas Lunch – but a superb atmosphere. Shortly after the children departed.. a few of the Mercy Home Dads came up to shake my hand, others came up and gave me a hug. I couldn’t speak much Malayalam before I went out there, and now I can only muster a few words.
I really enjoyed my experience looking after these children, and the mutual learning experience. I’ve not yet written about the other 6 days of my trip. They were probably the most ‘real’ – in that we went out to visit peoples’ homes and situations. I'm looking forward to returning...