Children and volunteers change appearance of House of Kathleen with hand made posters and paintings
March went by in a flash. So many activities kept children and staff on their toes. The little ones enjoyed every minute of every day. Although they did not go to Big Banana Shack beach outing, they made the most of the Baga River End beach visits. They are so well behaved that people wish their own children were half as well behaved as the children of House of Kathleen. Three new ones have been added to the Home and have made friends and are so happy with the quality of life here. From a situation of lack and want, they have found themselves in an environment that is so beneficial to their growth. Three new young lives have been touched this month.
The boys of House of Kathleen spent their evenings at Shekinah House playing football with the boys there. Every evening they would pull on their jerseys and march of to SH. They spent happy evenings there. All children visited the beach this month. The weather was good except for a week towards the end when it rained and our children remained indoors. Paul and Margaret the sponsors of Dev and Vishesh donated a bicycle to the Home and every child has had a ride on it. It is really a joy to see these children enjoying life.
The staff too has had a busy month. Some of them attended a Caregivers workshop held at Panaji. This workshop was organized by Child-line and funded by El Shaddai. Many caregivers from different organizations in Goa took part. Saileja has been moved next door to Rainbow House and we have a new face with us. Her name is Lynette and she is currently on training. We hope she will have a long tenure with us. Lucracia is at the helm followed by Sureka, Lata, Kalpana and Lynette. Management has been a great support and many from the office have visited us on a regular basis assisting us when needed.
Volunteers Pat and Catherine have done a great job with children this month. They gathered all the paintings, drawings, sketches, posters etc which children had dome over the last few weeks and decorated the entire Home with them. They literally changed indoor look of the Home. The children enjoyed the time spent in helping the volunteers and now they keep pointing to their work of art whenever a visitor comes to HOK. We thank the two volunteers for all the efforts and for putting a smile on the faces of children and staff alike. These same volunteers also brought drums for children to learn to play and loads of colorful clothes for them to wear. These volunteers also helped children make cards for the sponsors. Over the period of a couple of weeks the children and volunteers developed such a strong bond that nearly all of them cried when it was finally time to say goodbye and go back to their own lives.
The summer vacation is coming by and most of our children will go to their parents or guardians. The ones who have nowhere to go will remain with us and we hope to make this vacation a special one for them. The children are very excited about the oncoming vacation. We are hoping and praying that they will have a safe holiday and come back to us in June.