You're Beautiful...

Contributed by Rtr. Timmy

Visit to Philea, home for children - part 1.

You should see them smile and hear their laughter. Children's laughter is the best medicine, don't you think so? However, how long will the happiness lasts? Maybe only while we were there, maybe only while they are alone or even maybe for a few more years, before they lose their purity. There's nothing much we could do to help them, but my fellow friends and myself are trying hard that day.

They always wanted to see Peter Jackson's Kong and we tried our best to bring them Kong. No pop-corns, no air-conditioned room, no DOLBY sound system and no comfortable cushion sofas. There were only a Compaq laptop, a pair of old speakers and a projector in a hot and stuffy room. It was a warm afternoon..yet the children started to chat and laugh while waiting for Kong to appear on the wall. I can't understand a single word the children say (as they communicate among themselves in Tamil) but I was pretty sure they were happy and looking forward to the show. You see, laughter and the happy tone of conversation are universal, you don't have to understand laughter to know happiness.

OK, forget about the dentist. You are going to have all the tidbits you want, kids! The kids started to shout as they saw the chocolate candies and mini-jelly cups we have. "Auntie! Auntie!" "Uncle! Uncle!" they shout, trying to catch our attentions. "I want orange!" "I want strawberry!" No, we didn't bring exotic fruits during the visit, the kids were referring to the jelly-cups flavours they wanted. With all the tidbits in their hands, the show started. Oh dang! The pictures weren't clear at all. We can't hardly see Kong's stern face on the wall (the pictures were projected to the wall). Well, low quality pictures on the wall but I guess the kids still enjoyed all the actions that involve Kong and the mighty T-Rex. (Yea, it was a edited version of Kong: we started the movie from the 50th minute; that's when Kong starts to kick-ass)

To be frank, the movie session didn't went really well. The kids were feeling hot and sweating. I can't even stand the stuffy room myself! I made a retreat to the porch and found 5-year old Nana (this is not the real name but I shall call her Nana here) on the swing by herself. Nana has large and sparkling round eyes, she's a little bit spoilt but she's very very cute and like to ran about without her slippers.

Nana then started to talk to me..in Tamil. She spoke non-stop for 20 secs. I stared at her and I started trying to give her the impression that I understand (which I failed badly). Minutes after that , a few more little kids came out from the room and one by one they jumped onto the swing. They started talking to me...yes, in Tamil. I know they have been wanting attentions of others and they have been wanting someone to listen and talk to them. Language is a barrier, heart-felt feelings are not.

To be continued...

Rtr. Timmy is our club's community service director and also our incoming president-elect. To read more of his articles please click here.