An Indian Festival - a school holiday, new clothes, special food, visitors and fireworks at the Children Home!
I've just returned from a short visit to see the progress of the new Boys Home which happened to coincide with Divali. It was a special day, much enjoyed by all the children.
Many local families support the children by providing a meal, or even all the meals for a whole day. Sometimes the family cooks and brings the food, sometimes it is provided by the family and cooked at the Children Home. This is usually a special celebration for the family (perhaps a birthday or other anniversary) which they choose to share with the children. The family will serve the meal to the children and then eat with them. Several groups came to share Divali. The children enjoy the company of the visitors and there are usually many formal and informal photographs taken! Included amongst the celebrations were birthdays of two young (20 and 22) Taekwando instructors who brought some of their college friends to celebrate at the Home - this part an outing to a favorite nearby banyan tree.
Divali is one of the times in the year when new clothes are purchased for the children. Again the cost of this is often supported by local families and by local shop keepers who can make small discounts. All the pictures on this page were taken on Divali and show the children in their new clothes.
Fireworks, especially firecrackers or 'bangers', are let off in the Home and in the village through the day - so it's quite a noisy celebration! Boys and girls both enjoyed letting the fireworks off and as evening fell there was a renewed burst of activity with sparklers, catherine wheels and the like, as well as more bangs.
