A Sunday Tea Party With Lovely Flowers…
We were quite a big bunch of JCI Curepipe members and friends, all geared up to spend a Sunday afternoon at the Shelter for Women & Children in Distress in Icery, Forest Side. Our motto of the day was “Let us all contribute to bring a smile in the lives of these children.”
We started the day with the setting up of the premises and a small dancing floor under the observation of curious and eager children who also joined in to help us. The Tea party kicked-off with a donation of clothes to the shelter. We then proceeded with a face painting session with all the kids already having their own ideas about the designs they wanted. They were really excited at the thought of having their face painted. Our face painter expert, Annsee, and other JCI members had lots to do…
During the Tea Party, our two Local Members, 2011 Recruitment Director, Sabrina Hanoomanjee, and 2011 Local Vice President, Yudish Ramsaha, geared up in their jolly clown costumes and mingled around with the children who were quite amused with them. While some kids were having their face painted, others were invited to participate in fun games. They were all divided into teams and they looked pretty motivated to win.
As rightly said by Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The soul is healed by being with children.” and that day we felt better by playing around and sharing love with these lovely children. We were also graced by the presence of International Vice-President, Rania Haddad, and National President, Ryad Subratty, along with members of the National Board and other Local Chapters.
After some sweating and lots of fun, with some teams winning and some trying their best, it was time for highly deserved refreshments. Then came the most awaited moment, the Prize-giving ceremony!!! The kids were so excited at the thought of receiving medals and gifts. They proudly marched with their shinning medals around their necks and there was no greater joy than watching them.
Of course, every hard work should be celebrated and we all danced to some nice Sega songs. Some of the girls of the shelter even prepared a dance for the occasion and invited us to join them in their choreography.But unfortunately came the time for us to say au revoir, we did feel a pang of sadness since these children would go back to their daily routines inside their highly-protected shelter. It felt so weird that we were allowed to go outside and see the world while they had no other choice than to stay inside the walls of the shelter. It is important to note that these children are the survivors of violence most of the time perpetrated by their own people. They live in the shelter far from their aggressors and cannot go out without hiding and protection. It can be difficult to imagine that people can hurt these innocent children but yet many are dying out of violence.
I would like to thank my project team, fellow JCI Curepipe members, and other JCI Chapters and JCI friends in helping us achieve our goal in bringing some sunshine and smiles into the lives of the children.
Lenita Sooknah
Tea Party @ Icery Project Director
2011 JCI Curepipe Local Secreatary
Please note that no photos of the children were published in this article. This was done on purpose so as to protect their identity. Thank you.