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Princess Grace orphanage in Kalutara
When the fun
bus drove through the gates of the Princess Grace orphanage
in Kalutara none of the children had been told what
was in store for them that afternoon. The arrival of the
Teardrop Fun Bus had been kept a closely guarded secret
by Father Julian the priest who runs the orphanage and
his staff.
It
wasn’t the roaring of the RMT diesel engine
that caught
their attention as Eshan released some throttle. But as they caught a
glimpse of the big red open-top London bus, the children instinctively
new that they were in for a treat.
To add to their bemusement, two familiar faces beamed down from the top
side panel. Isuri and Surangi, two girls from
the orphanage whose photo we had taken on a previous visit to Princess
Grace was now a feature.
As the children ran outdoors, they pointed and cheered but for Isuri and Surangi,
this was all too much. They could only gape
open mouthed in wonder at their bigger than life photos on the
side of a double decker bus.
I
was more relieved than anyone when the bouncy castle
inflated with minimal human intervention as this was
the first time the castle had been used. Buying it from
England and bringing it to Sri Lanka was money well spent.
Arosha and Anushika volunteered to supervise activities
on the bouncy castle. A task that is not as easy as it
sounds given that for safety reasons only a maximum of
6 “similar sized” children
could jump on it at any one time.
There were at least another 40 impatiently waiting and the
moment your back was turned they would clamber on and
jump as if there was no tomorrow.
The
castle was erected adjacent to
the bus where Flavian controlled
the masses as they ran around
on the upper deck. “Hemming! Hemming! …. Slowly! Slowly!” he
shouted, “No running! Duwana Eppar!”.
The children
giggled
at his
anglicised
Sinhalese,
but they
obliged
nevertheless.
Two boys
made
innovative
use of
the soft
rubber
balls
that
we collected
for the
ball
pool
as they
hurled
them
one at
a time
into
the air
from
the top
of the
bus.
Their
friends
down
below
were
getting
good
practice
at taking
high
aerial
catches.
I noted
there
were
at least
a couple
who would
make
good
cricket
out-fielders.
When
it came to setting up the parachute games I took charge.
I had been given a crash course in England on how to
run a parachute session so in theory I was prepared … but
nervous.
When I fetched the parachute from the bus those waiting at the back of the
bouncy castle line realised they had a quicker option.
They were my first clients.
As I
unfolded the parachute, I was helped by anticipant children,
who to my surprise seemed to know what they were doing. “Parachute balloon karamu!”,
requested
Dilkie aged 10 and she proceeded to place her
friends around the parachute and instruct
them. When I
asked how they knew what to do with the parachute
they explained that Manisha (one of
my fellow Teardrop trustees) had paid
a visit two weeks
earlier and had taught them. My training in England
was not needed.
The capable Dilkie ran the show.
| Teardrop Relief ...bringing back the Sri Lankan smile! |
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