March Update

Once a year, Opportunity Foundation puts together a picnic for the children. Only a month after we arrived in India, and even before we even knew about the picnic, the children were asking when and where it was going to be...obviously the children had a great time last year and were looking forward to the one this year as well. Since these children are from the slum, they don’t get that many opportunities to venture very far from where they live. This is one of the many reasons behind this annual tradition at Opportunity Foundation.

What I had envisioned was a park...a playground and a grass area for the kids to run around and enjoy themselves for a few hours. Well what they chose was more like a theme park. It had everything from puppet and magic shows, camel rides, boating, carnival games, and even a rain dance (which is pretty much standing under sprinklers and dancing to load music). We knew the kids would really enjoy themselves so we were definitely looking forward to it.

First, we had to figure out how to get 160 children and teachers to this park in a bus that only had seats for 40 people and our 8 passenger SUV. We piled in the children and fit as many teachers and children into the bus and car as possible. We had about 15 in each car trip and the rest divided in two bus trips. It might not have been the most comfortable ride for them but the children were bouncing off the walls with excitement and everyone made it there safely.

The picnic was a success! Throughout the entire day at the park, the children couldn’t stop smiling and running around with excitement. They loved the magician, the food, and the especially the rain dance. The children are already talking about the picnic for next year!