OVC EASTER PARTY: 24th of March 2012

           On Saturday the 24^th of March, the Interact club organized an Easter party for the OVC children. The interact members spent two hours in the presence of AIDS orphans and vulnerable children. They wear donated clothes, eat donated food and play with donated toys. After arriving at ISK at 9:30am, the Interact group walked to a nearby place, which serves as a school for these Kenyan children. We led them to our school, where we had two hours of playing and interacting planned especially for them. Some of us had stayed at school, preparing and organizing all the toys, the books and the clothes, which we were going to give away. Upon their arrival, they entered the classroom full of donated gifts, and in small groups they all chose their favorite items. The elder children were overjoyed when they were given lots of books and the youngest ones had already started playing with their new toys.

          After that, the children were divided into different groups, while the Interact members were assigned various stations and roles. One after the other, each group spent some time in the different stations, which were the multi court, the playground, the pool and the eating area. We also had a few surprises for our new friends. Some of us hid candy and chocolate bars in the playground, and the kids seemed to have a blast looking for them and of course eating all of it. As for the multi court, we had booked lots of basketballs and other toys for the children to play with. That woke up the children inside of us, as we happily joined all of the games.

         The Easter party went a bit over time, which was a good sign. We took them back to their school and said goodbye at around 1pm. People were hugging, shaking hands and constantly saying "Asante Sana!" and "Kwaheri!”. The main purpose of this Easter party was to create a space where these vulnerable children feel safe, important and dignified. It was also a great way to make them feel loved and to share the joyous aspect of the festive season.    

    

         The kids we met that day are tough and resilient, without parents to guide them through their childhood. However, they are kind hearted and great friends. They seemed so thankful, which made all our efforts worth it. This proves that one simply needs moments shared with others to create happy and hopefully long lasting memories.