By Lily Paul | Director: Organizational Development
Festivals in India are celebrated with great enthusiasm; they symbolize the cultural heritage of our country and highlight various aspects of our society. They also help to promote solidarity and promote acceptance of diversity in religion and traditions. Our Centres use it as an opportunity not only to highlight the talents of children but also to celebrate the event and pass down the history and cultural heritage of the country. While some are religious and some are of national importance, all are celebrated colourfully and with great harmony and enthusiasm.
I would like to share with you a few of the important national dates and festivals celebrated at our Centres in the last 6 months.
August 15th is Independence Day and at our Centres, children dress up in costumes that represent heroes like Gandhiji, Nehru, freedom fighters and other national personalities. They tell stories of their heroes, the national flag is hoisted and the teachers share with children the stories connected with Independence and the lives of national leaders.In some centres, children join up with students from other schools for a joint celbration of the event.
October 2nd is celebrated as the birthday of Gandhiji and children come dressed up as Gandhiji. It’s a fun celebration and likewise we have had festivals like the birthday of Lord Krishna when every child in the Centre comes dressed as Lord Krishna. Stories and traditions associated with the lives of Gandhiji and Krishna are shared and acted out.
Another national day is November 14th, (birth date of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru) which is fondly celebrated as children’s day all over the India. The day calls awareness to the rights, care and education of children. The children come dressed up as Nehru, and other national heroes. Rani Chennamma, a well-known queen of a princely South India state who was a freedom fighter in the 19th Century is a favourite character among the little girls. The life of Nehru and the importance of Children’’s Day is shared with the children and parents who attend.
Among the festivals, Diwali, known as the festival of lights is celebrated with the festivity it deserves. Children come colourfully dressed, traditional Indian decoration and patterns made with coloured ground rice are drawn on the floor and lamps are lit to symbolize the victory of light over darkness.
Do enjoy the pictures of children from some of our centres dressed up for the different celebrations.
From the current 124 Villages, by June 2015 we aim to expand our work to 300 villages, having close to 10,000 children enrolled. As part of our program we offer scholarships to make it possible for even the very poor children to attend preschool. This June thanks to your support we were able to offer scholarships to 275 children. Next year we hope to more than double that number and need your generous support to make that possible.
The link to donate for scholarships for next year is uploaded at: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/send-700-children-to-school-in-2015/.
Do help us by forwarding the link to friends and family who maybe interested in supporting preschool education.
Happy Thanksgiving and warm wishes from Hippocampus for the holiday season ahead.
Lily
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