OSI - Wattegama
Wattegama
Christmas A
week before Christmas we provided a Christmas tree for the children to
decorate, a first time experience for them at the Wattegama home.
Shortly thereafter, gifts magically appeared underneath, much to the
delight of the kids. On Christmas Eve, our sponsor/guest from the UK
(Naomi) made Christmas hats for the kids and Christmas posters to decorate
the home. We then enjoyed a special catered dinner, by the kids'
choice of their favourite food, followed by plenty of ice-cream.
Finally, late in the evening, we gathered around the Christmas tree and
the children dove in to find the gifts with their names on them (though we
suspect they each had already discovered theirs days before). The
children had a great time opening their gifts, and at the end of the
evening they were loaded with more chocolates than they could eat (they
ate them none-the-less).
Below are a few photos to share our
Wattegama Christmas with you. Enjoy!
24 December 2006
Christmas
traditions are among the more positive remnants of Sri Lanka's British
colonial past. In December Christmas trees suddenly appear
everywhere in balmy Sri Lanka, with "Let It Snow" heard daily on
the radio, humorously enough. It is largely a children's holiday,
with moms and dads putting wrapped gifts for their children under the
tree. But for our kids, it can be a melancholy time. December
is also a one-month break between the end and beginning of the school
year. Many of our children go away to relatives, and for those who
remain behind, there is a feeling of being left-out, in addition to the
normal boredom of their "vacation" time. Thanks to the
generosity and care of OSI donor Connie Carlberg, along with gifts from each child's OSI sponsor, we were able to make Christmas a very special
and memorable time for our Wattegama children this year.
Click on the photo for a larger image...
 |
Decorating
the Tree
Sharmila helps the kids decorate their tree... |
 |
Balloons To decorate the home... |
 |
Our
Tree Posing by our tree... |
 |
Christmas
Hats
Naomi and kids... |
 |
Dinner
Time Digging in to our Christmas dinner... |
 |
The
Little Kids Enjoying their dinner... |
 |
Tree
and Gifts On Christmas Eve... |
 |
Looking
For My Name! Shanika and Malkanthi... |
 |
Opening
Gifts Dilini and Sandareka help a very happy Chaturika open her gift... |
 |
Sharmila
and Kids Posing by our tree... |
OSI-Wattegama Site Page - With more photos, maps, and information about OSI-Pamunugama...
We are very grateful to Mrs. Connie Carlberg of the US for providing our Christmas celebration. Mrs. Carlberg is also program site sponsor for our Wattegama program and assists our programs in many other ways, for which we are eternally grateful. Thank you as always Connie!
We also thank our fantastic group of Wattegama sponsors for the gifts their children were able to receive. As always, more than anything else, the experience of such individual care makes each child feel very special.
Thanks to Naomi for spending the evening with the children and entertaining them, and for the warmth you show them!
And of course a huge thanks to OSI-Wattegama liaison Sharmila Senanayake for buying and wrapping so many gifts, arranging the dinner, and coordinating the entire evening. We could not have done this without Sharmila's hard work!
Thanks to all of you and to the children's sponsors for making Christmas very special this year for these very special children!
Other Events - View other OSI events
Home About OSI Sponsor a Child Sponsor a Program Other Ways to Help Log-In Contact Us