23rd October 2010 "They showed us some Grace"

OceanStars :: Saturday 23rd October 2010 :: This Story

So today we had an early start to Grace Childrens Home in Vavuniya, which is a currently the furthest north that foreigners can travel. What a welcome we received! The boys at the home had been looking forward to having another visit from Ocean Stars, who are their main sponsor. All the boys at the home come from difficult backgrounds - they are either orphans or their parnets cannot look after them. Alternatively child services place some children at the home. There was such a happy vibe, and the boys were so enthusiastic, and happy and well disciplined. This is a testament to Mrs Nadarajah who has become to be seen by all the boys are their "Mother".

Lots of games ensued, starting with the great favourite, and much enjoyed, parachute games! Then we handed out the frisbees and tennis balls and about 20 games started at once with the Sri Lankan team putting the English to shame with their catching skills! After much physical endeavor under the hot sun, the Ocean Stars team started to wilt and we ushered the boys into the study to do a sea-scape collage. Some fantastic artistic skills were shown by the boys in decorating their fish, octopus and whales and the OST team demonstrated their originality with clingfilm!

Whilst the rest of the team sheltered from the sun, the driving team of Ranga, Janaka, and Sudha, overseen by Danny, fixed and renovated the see-saw and swings which now boast a shiny new lick of paint, and new seats. What a great job!
The boys showed their budding photography skills by borrowing several of the team's cameras - so instead of having lots of photos of the boys to show for today, most of the team will have about 300 photos of the OST team, especially of Kat, who several of the older boys took a bit of a shine to! Amongst the boys there were some budding male models, posing for the cameras with great pouts and borrowed OST sunglasses!

The day finished off with some presents being presented to the boys & the staff and a rousing chorus of tunes from the boys, who showed their proficiency in language by singing songs in Tamil, Sinhalese and English.
Just as the OST team were about to bundle into the minibuses home, the drivers instigated the second OST vs Sri Lanka Test Match....thankfully the sun set and bad light stopped play or the OST would have been in for their second thrashing of the day!

What a great day and fantastic hospitality from everyone at Grace, and the OST left with renewed respect and thinking what a great job Mrs Nadarajah and her helpers are doing for all the boys at Grace.
Ben and Suzi xx