The world of JULIANA

When we were teenagers, our parents were our worst enemies. I remember havin’ an argument with my dear Mom at least twice a week !! Parents. When one’s a teenager, one looks at parents as those nasty people who put curfews and prevent one frm stayin’ over at friends’ place, watching one too many movies in cinema with buddies, loitering in malls,etc. Sometimes, it’s hard to try and remember the goodness of parents and for some, it may be too late by the time they realize it.

Approximately fifteen of us frm our church had an opportunity to visit an orphanage on Saturday. We had planned this trip over the last one month. Appeals and announcements had been made in church for members to contribute donations in cash /kind,eatables,clothes,etc. The response frm church members was excellent and by the day of the trip, a heap of bundles of biscuit tins,Milo packets and clothes had formed in our ‘collection room’. A few ladies in church got together to prepare lunch for these kids. They had delegated work and the menu for the day included : Ghee Rice, Chicken Peratal, Stir-fry vegetables with mushrooms, Papadam,Watermelon and drinks. Oh, and they even prepared tea-items such as chocolate cakes,jelly,etc.

We met in church and set off to the Orphanage in the church van. Upon arrival at this orphanage, we met an aging, septogenarian who greeted us with a warm smile of appreciation. He then summoned some of the older children to help us with all the heaps and bundles of items that we had brought for ‘em. We were given a li’l tour of the centre and walked four flights of stairs up to their main-hall.

There, slowly , little innnocent faces emerged frm rooms. Some were shy, whilst some were curious. Some were excited, whilst some still remained fearful of our presence. Being the co-ordinator of this event, I started off by askin’ our church-priest to do an ‘Opening Prayer’ with the kids. There are 20 of ‘em in total in this orphanage and prior to this trip, I had called up the supervisor to obtain their names. I’ve always enjoyed making cards and hence, using my ‘creative handiwork’, I came up with 20 cards for this kids.

After the prayer, we played a li’l ice-breaking game. Each child had to come forward and pick one of us, frm our church. Once they had picked their ‘partner’, they had to go thru’ a 10-minute interview with each other. Subsequently, all ‘groups’ took turns to come forward to ‘present their discoveries of each other’ to the rest of us. My ‘partners’ were two teenaged girls. One’s 13 whilst the other’s 14. The 14year old was so thrilled to meet me as she’s always wanted to become a doctor since she wuz 7 and had a truck load of questions to ask me on my job! The 13 year old’s ambition is to become an English-lecturer and hence, she described her fascination for English novels. Shy and conscious of surroundings, they were . . and soon they became more forthcoming as they warmed to us.

We arrived around lunch-time and hence, it was time to serve these new-found friends with food. The organizers of the event (me and some of my commitee members) stood in a group and helped scoop out various dishes for each child. My personal task was to scoop out Dhall curry onto each plate which had already been filled with rice and Chicken by my other counterparts. We then sat next to these children and happily ate with them, whilst sharing stories with each other.

One of the children is a petite cute adorable kid who turns seven this year. Due to poor socioeconomic background, (she was neglected as a baby by her parents who are both drug junkies), she has turned into an under-nourished scrawny child. She enjoyed munching on the crispy papadoms and couldn’t stop smiling. Shortly after lunch, these children presented 2 items for us! One was a sketch whilst the other, a group-song. One of ‘em, an 18year old strummed the guitar so beautifully and had a very very melodious voice. Listening to them singing so beautifully was heart-wrenching.

Next, we moved over to the sanctuary of the main church building to conduct a li’l sing-along-session. I had prepared song-sheets for these kids the previous night and was pleased to note that each one of ‘em insisted on keeping their song-sheet as a personal souvenir of our trip. Robz led the sing-along session whilst I gleefully worked my ‘magic’ on the keyboard! Hehe…my li’l angel of a friend, (the scrawny 7-year old) grabbed my hand and tagged along with me the rest of the day. She happily sat next to me whilst I played the keyboard and offered to hold a song-sheet for me so that I could sing along with ‘em whilst playin’ the keyboard. Robz made ‘em hold the mike and sing in front of the rest of de kids during the sing-along to which some voluntarily came forward. They sang with much zest and enthusiasm that almost made you forget for a second that these children all had a sad story to tell of their childhood.

Once singing session was over, we went back upstairs to have tea. Again, with an abundance of food, we feasted on some jellies,cakes and teh-tarik. The children seemed to enjoy the chilled jelly on the hot hot Saturday afternoon. After this, it was games time. I figured that diving these kids and our church members into two groups (each consisting of members of both centres) would be a nice idea. We played a fun-filled game of charades. These kids are so intelligent and their Bible knowledge was simply amazing!

We had prepared a present for each child and hence, after games session was over, our church Priest presented each child with the i) card ii) present iii) goody bag consisting of sweets,chocolates,etc. They were so thrilled and had broad smiles on their faces. During the prize-giving session, one of ‘em ran up to me and asked, " Does this mean all of you will be leavin’ soon? We thought you’d stay with us here at least up to late at nite ??". Once I told her that we’d have to leave shortly, she frowned and sadly walked away. I assured her that we’d come back before Christmas to come see them.

By the end of the day, the fifteen of us who had gone there to see ‘em were exhausted physically. All of us had spent some time preparing for this event and the last nite prior to this event was spent doin’ 11th-hour preparations which meant that most of us only slept past 1am the previous night.However, each one of those kids had a sad story to tell, and they had touched our hearts in many many ways. As much as we had put a smile on their faces for those few hours of havin’ been there in their home, we knew that deep down inside our hearts, we ,too, had been blessed. Indeed, it was soothing to the soul to have been amidst these humble innocent beings, who have gone thru’ so much difficulties in life at such a tender age. Silently, we promised ourselves that we’d definitely come back to this Orphanage,perhaps during Christmas season. That evening, I said a prayer for all those children in the Orphanage. Felt so rotten for havin’ taken my parents for granted all these while. I suppose everyone goes thru’ a moment of realization that is triggered off by an event. For me, this Orphanage trip was not just another ‘project to be accomplished’ by my committee for the year. We, the fifteen-members-of-the team had truly been touched in ways we could’ve never imagined. Touched by li’l angels on earth. Angels we had a chance of meeting. Angels who have the prettiest smiles on their faces. A N G E L S .