Annual School Day

Saturday was the ‘Annual School Day’, which, I discovered, was the equivalent to our ‘Speech day’ or ‘Prize Giving’.  The school year ends in a couple of weeks & the children are looking forward to the holidays already.  All functions take place in the evening at this time of year to avoid the heat of the day.  The children were all very excited about it, as there were to be lots of performances by different classes & groups.  Saturday is usually a normal school day but this time classes were cancelled, so that the children could rehearse & everything could be prepared.  I’d been given a written invitation but it was a great shock to find myself sitting on the stage in the evening with another guest & then delivering a speech (hurriedly put together in the afternoon!) & giving out prizes!  I’d been casually informed of this expectation only earlier in the day!

As this was a special occasion, the children were all dressed up in beautiful, colourful clothes & I’d been given Indian clothes to wear too, as you can see!   (I usually have to stick to full length trousers & short sleeved t-shirts, as I mustn’t show any leg at all & must always have my shoulders covered – not easy in this heat!)

The evening was conducted in English & the children were extremely impressive.  They sang, danced & performed dramatic stories, some of which were in English too.  They are a credit to Aarti Home, as they are happy, well mannered & confident youngsters.

While talking about their behaviour, it’s interesting to note that there is no television or radio in the orphanage.  Some youngsters are very interested in current affairs but their knowledge comes from daily newspapers.  I’ve not seen many toys, mostly just worn school text books.  There are some educational toys, which they are trying to build up at the moment for the youngest children, such as shape sorters, stacking cups etc. The slightly older children don’t really have toys but the staff are keen to try to get them a soft play area, which they would love.  I’ve been told that there are some story books in boxes in the library but I need to dig them out, as Sundays are free & the children seem to have little to occupy them.  However, they don’t complain, as it’s the norm for them & they play happily together without material things.

There are very few children in Aarti Home, who have special needs as we denote them in the UK.  Obviously most of these children have strong emotional needs, due to their backgrounds but great care is taken re. their wellbeing.  There is good access to hospitals for any physical problem & one little girl is being moved to a specialist school / home, as she is deaf & has no speech.  There is a strong spiritual ethic here too, as you would expect, & it’s enlightening to see the children at prayer in the evenings, when they chant together & do a short meditation.