House warming ceremony at CV Alibaug
The presence of many children of neighbourhood school and their active participation in the house warming ceremony of SOS Children's Village Alibaug made it a memorable event.
On August 21, 2010 all 27 children (in 3-10 age groups) with their friends from neighbourhood school decorated their homes for the house warming ceremony. They made beautiful floral designs at the entrance with the help of their Mammas.
People in India worship Lord Ganesha before commencement of any work as he is known as the lord of good beginning. Here at SOS Children's Village Alibaug also a special Ganesha puja was organised and everyone participated in the ritual. The priest chanted mantras before the holy flame for about two hours. Then the holy water was sprinkled in all the houses to make the place pure and also to ward off the evil powers.
Now, the good beginning has been made and it was time for the guests to visit family homes. The children were really enthusiastic to show how they decorate their homes. The guests interacted with mothers and got to know about the normal Village life.
Children were waiting for the big draw of the day- the cultural programme. They presented beautiful folk performance known as 'Tamasha' in the local parlance.
Ashish Bansal, the Continental construction advisor informed that the design of SOS Children's Village Alibaug has symmetry to the local Marathawada architectural tradition. All family houses are two-storied with living rooms of children were built at the first floor. The rain water harvesting and green initiatives also have been taken into account. Beautiful courtyards have been constructed inside the family houses on the lines of local housing patterns which gives mothers and children a better space.
"The courtyard is somewhat a boon for us as we have a much better space to do some household work sitting here and also we sit often in the open with our children and talk. Children also like very much this space to play in the open," said SOS mother Geeta.
When construction would be finished by September end the SOS Children's Village Alibaug, which built on the 10,000sq meters of land, will have 14 family homes and an SOS Kindergarten for 60 children.
The director of this 32nd SOS Children's Village in India Amarjyoti Sarmah said that "Many of our children go to the neighbourhood school and the small children at the moment attend classes inside the Village along the children of workers who are indulged in the construction activities of the Village."
A beautiful example of community participation it is and also the workers' children have rare opportunity to have education which in the normal case is perhaps not available for them.
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