The party was attended by 20 Senior Guests and about 100 youths – Boys and girls ranging between 5 and 19yrs old. The youths all had one thing in common, their mum…Rev (Mrs.) Dele George! A woman I have come to respect more and more in the last few weeks. All the young people were moved from the branches of little saints orphanages in Akowonjo (boys) and Ogudu (girls), all the boys could not make it because their bus could only take as much.
I arrived at little saints around half past three, to meet with Rev Mrs and the children ahead of when the guests would arrive. They had made all the arrangements for the birthday based on our previous discussions. One thing that nevers ceases to amaze me is how beautiful all these children look. If you didn’t come to Palmgrove to see them, you would not believe that they were orphans. Some of the guests were asking questions like, “it’s not all of them that are orphans or is it?” They are all beautiful confident children with a truckload of talents.
The party began in earnest, after we (Rev Mrs and Myself) selected the two ladies from amongst them who would be MC’s for the occassion (and before I forget…Oprah winfery would have been pleasantly suprised – they were excellent). The program moved from one smiles to laughter, as we moved from singing, to dancing competitions, to fashion parade and on an on. The Children had fun, and gave fun. We paused the event for a while to download some of the food that had been prepared for the event, this ended with a call of 10 adults to the hot seat.
The adults were tested, questioned and made to give the teeming crowd of youngsters and sitting adults some good entertainment. One would have wondered who coached this youngsters on what to ask and how to ask, but they did a beautiful job, all by themselves. Some adult guests sang, some recited poems, some danced and some were asked questions about life and what to do and not to do. Back there in the crowd, I had the time of my life. The children were happy, the adults were blessed. I celebrated my birthday, helped the needy and shared fun with others all in one blow. God was pleased with me, and I was glad. Yes, and people also learnt a bit about the power of giving, the visitors indeed came with their ticket fares, and we were able to make a little contribution to the orphanage.
It’s so interesting how some things are just dawning on me now…It is really better to celebrate your birthday with people who cannot give you gifts in return, this way your gifts do not come from men. It’s good to celebrate with people who really need the celebration. I can’t explain to you how it feels, but be rest assured that if you do yours in a similar way, feel free to invite me! It’s a feeling I’ll repeat everyday if I can.
We who have, have the responsibility to provide for those, who without a choice of their own do not have.
The only life worth living is that lived for others. What can you do to make life better for someone else?
