It was the day on which we were hit by the massive earthquake that shook our nation, that we had planned to visit the Disabled Newlife Center with the wishes of the kids which we had collected on our previous event. We couldn’t make it that day. And, we’re reuniting with these kids after such a hard time.
When Shikha, Surbhi, Subhang and me reached at the DNC, it was almost mid day. Some of the kids were taking baths and some were at the music session singing and playing different instruments like guitar, maadal, jimbe, flute, tangerine etc. We tagged along and I played maadal with them for a little while.
After that I carried around Pasang and she wanted to see the car we came in. I also got to visit Balu, the dog of DNC then we played football with the kids for a while. And, we gathered the kids around and talked about the wishes they had made. It had been quite a long gap since last event. Some of them could remember what they had written on their sketch book while some couldn’t. We had made a list of the wishers and the wishes. And, we distributed sketchbooks, colors, geometry boxes, storybooks, scrunchies, fun snacks, toys etc which they had wished for. They were happy to receive the gifts and were enjoying the goods. Then, We made them play Bingo, some were familiar with the rules whereas some were excited about this game which was new to them. We distributed the tickets to the kids and Surbhi became the Bingo master, explained the rules and started announcing the numbers. There was so much excitement in the air, all the kids were making noises and cheering the numbers so much that we couldn’t even hear what numbers were announced at that time. We played with the kids and marked the numbers on their tickets. Finally, we finished the game with 4 winners and distributed the prizes to them.
Then, it was time for some Ice Cream. It was a very sunny day and eating chilled sweet ice cream was the best thing to do. We treated all the kids with some ice cream. It was fun to watch everyone have fun. It was a Saturday well spent.
And, the time had come for us to bid goodbye. Even though the building was hit real bad by the quake, the spirits of DNC are still strong and high. The walls had big cracks in them but the hearts of the residents of DNC are full of hope.
-Tsering