Yesterday at 9.30 (an auspicious time) we went to the new centre to have an opening ceremony. The three teachers; Sister, Mrs V and Rosemary were there, as well as some of the children who didn’t have school, a few of the trustees for Asha Foundation, the architect and the builders. We did the boiling of the milk, a tradition when you move into a new house, we had to wait a while before the milk actually boiled over. Then we had a few hymns and prayers before lighting a traditional lamp. Everybody ate kiribath (milk rice), a meal eaten on special occasions, and one of the local women brought some lovely home-made ginger tea and sweets. It was a very nice ceremony and hopefully the children will be able to move in there soon.
We went back to Athidiya today for a special needs programme that happens in the centre. Some of the teachers from RCCI, a special needs school we work with, go to Athidiya every other Saturday to work with some of the special needs kids there. Sister also has what she calls a life education class on a Saturday with the kids that go to her lessons during the week, and when we arrived both groups had merged together and everyone was singing and dancing. After watching a couple of the inevitable performances we left the RCCI teachers with the special needs kids in the old centre and took the rest of the kids to the new centre. There, they played lots of running around games that could never have been attempted in the old building which was lovely to watch.
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