RUDEC CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS PARTY 2012

Today was the RUDEC Christmas party for the 55 children in our "sponsor an orphan" program. The kids were obviously excited and eager to see what the day would bring as most of them were arriving much earlier than the scheduled 9am start.

Joshua took the opportunity of having all the children together to begin with a speech wishing them a Merry Christmas and reminding them how important it is to work hard at school and to make the best of every chance given to them. The kids are obviously very grateful to Joshua, RUDEC and its supporters for all his hard work in helping them to continue their education.

Then the Christmas fun started to the accompaniment of Christmas songs and popular Cameroon dance tunes. We made colourful party hats with shiny stars and glitter paper. The huge age range from 4 to 18 all seemed to enjoy the creativity. Lack of resources in schools means that pupils rarely have a chance to have a “hands on” arts experience and it was great to see them all getting stuck in.

Phil, one of RUDEC’s returning volunteers, was the “official photographer” and was busy capturing the event. He was also in charge of getting an up to date portrait of each child so we can keep RUDECs database current. Although the children here are super happy and always smiling and laughing, as soon as you put a camera in front of them they put on a serious photo face , so some singing dancing and tickling was employed to get these beautiful smiles on camera.

We have spent the past week making up parcels for the children, each was getting 2 items of clothing, pen, pencil, toothbrush and toothpaste, balloons, sweets and stickers for themselves and then 2kg of rice and 6 fish to take home to share with their extended families that care for them.  So after a group photo outside the RUDEC office, we distributed the gifts amidst much excitement. We had turned one room of the house into a makeshift “cinema”. We all crowded in, gave out drinks, roasted nuts and popcorn and settled down to watch the Lion King!!

It was a really nice experience having all the children together and there were many Happy Christmas wishes and thank yous to be heard when everyone was leaving. On behalf of RUDEC, thank you to all those who have helped us sponsor the children during 2012 and those who helped make this Christmas party possible.

Kelly – RUDEC volunteer - 17/12/2012