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Kids just wanna have fun! |
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For all the emotional trauma children in developing countries must endure, (read Hard times – Hard Lives) they are amazingly resilient. At the heart of their buoyant nature is the universal thread that connects all kids: they just wanna have fun.
We believe every child should have the security and the love to allow their playful nature to come out. We tell the administrators of our homes to ensure the children receive a good education and learn the personal discipline they need to become well-adjusted adults, but we also stress the need for the children in their care to feel good about themselves and lose themselves in play.
We hope you enjoy the following photo journey, taken in our travels throughout India and emphasizing the children in the homes we support.
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The concentration on this boy’s face says this is his first yo-yo. |
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In several villages that bore the worst of the tsunami we asked school principals to identify those children who had lost one or both parents. Each child was given one teddy bear. |
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Following the devastating tsunami of 2004 we raised funds to help put smiles back in the hearts of children who lost everything: parents, brothers or sisters, playmates, home, and their sense of security and childlike innocence. |
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A sixth grade class at the Topanga Elementary School in Los Angeles raised funds to help children who survived the tsunami. The money they collected paid for this playground. These photos, taken on the day the playground was opened, show the joy on the faces of children who had never seen a playground before. Children helping children is a miracle of love. |
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Wherever we travel, the World’s Children staff likes to bring gifts of toys and sports equipment. Most go to the orphanages we sponsor, but some are spontaneously given to street children whose only toys are sticks and rocks. A pocketful of inexpensive rings can make a lot of poor girls feel like princesses. Note the ring on the finger of this street princess (center). |
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Girls the world over love to dance, but nowhere more so than in India, where the elegant moves of the ancient classical dances are imitated by girls of all ages. |
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Above, WCI board member Patrick Spiger gives a carom board and cricket equipment to the boys at the Methodist Rural Children’s Home. The boys try out their new cricket bat at the William Moon Hostel. The girls at Methodist Boarding Home for Boys and Girls are also trying out a new carom board. Dominoes was a game they had never seen, so David Purviance (who likes to have fun himself) taught them how to play. Jump rope and badminton are favorites for the girls. |
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Being an administrator of World’s Children calls for many unexpected skills, including knowing how to play the game of jacks. In India the girls know this game, but play it with a rubber ball and small stones. The star-shaped jacks we grew up with are a novelty to them. |
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