Arriving in India, I remember the temperature being 40 degrees Celsius nine o’clock at night. But even in the heat I had a great excitement to meet all the little guys at the orphanage. As the van stopped, 80 kids were already standing outside, waiting for the aunties and uncles that they knew were coming just for them. To me they were just a sea of beautiful faces, but every day their faces would become stories, the stories would become personalities, and the personalities would become pieces of my heart as I came to love and cherish every single one of them.
Each of us recieved three special friends, who would get special attention and care from us. My special friends were Arti, Reena and Jugni – the three most adorable little girls in the world! So many memories still clamour my thoughts as I think upon all the fun we had, the games we played, the English lessons, the Pizza Party and just simply being together. I can write pages and pages about my time at the orphanage, but here is just one story:
After being confronted with numerous “When are we going to the outside, Auntie?”, the Pizza Party day arrived. With the teams waiting at Pizza Hut, two van-loads of kids arrived with expressions of awe and excitement. Inside the restaurant they were greeted with lots of balloons, cookies and candy. Everyone was running around and chatting happily as the nervous waiters tried to figure out who is sitting where, and what who ordered.
The glasses of Pepsi with ice were eyed with suspition, and Arti was the first one to be bold enough to taste it. Liesl Auntie ended up drinking 3 glasses of Pepsi as both Arti and Jugni didn’t like this very cold, very sweet drink, compared to the lukewarm water they’re used to. The garlic bread were luckily enjoyed by all! When the pizza came they didn’t quite know how to eat it, but after showing them how, they enjoyed it a lot! Then the best part came – ice-cream!! But yet again Liesl Auntie had to eat one extra ice-cream as it was too cold for Jugni to eat.
In Pizza Hut there is also a small playground. No-one thought that the small playground could host about 40 kids at one time… But everyone had a great time! An amalgamation of balloons, smiles, feet, hands and cookies was all to be seen.
When the time to go home arrived, the kids were still hyper-active because of the sugar in the Pepsi, cookies and ice-cream, so the ride back was quite interesting as they bobbed around, shouted and sang. The excitement of the day was too tiring for little Reena, so I could only smile as she fell asleep on my lap on the way back to the orphanage. This is truly a day neither I nor the kids will ever forget…
I already miss every single child I got to know in this amazing orphanage in the sun-scorched coutry of India.
