I met Celine, a Dutch aunty during my stay
here in the ashram. One day Celine asked me if I would be free to help distributing
ice-cream for the children here with her. So when that afternoon came, hundreds
children were all sitting quietly in the hall, girls one side boys the other
side, waiting patiently for the time to come, seemed that they were going to
get something very special and unique for the first time in their lives.
When the motorbike guy came, there sat a
huge box at the back of his motorbike, with all the ice-cream treats the
children were waiting for. Standing in front of all the children, Celine held
on her hand with the picture of Nanou, the little Dutch girl which made all
these happened, explained the whole story to the children, with one Indian lady
helped translating, so that the children knew why they were getting the
ice-cream treats.
After the explanation finished, the Indian
lady asked all the 9 years old children to raise their hands. To me it was such
an important moment to show that such a young age could also do something for
the others, if they want to.
Then the children came out one row by one
row to receive their treats, with sincerity and thankfulness on the faces, they
went back to their seats quietly to enjoy their treats with great satisfactions,
like ice-cream was something they rarely get in their lifetimes.
To understand Nanou’s story in details, I
asked Celine to tell me the whole story after we finished our service.
Nanou was a 9 year-old Dutch girl living
behind Celine’s block in Holland. One day, Celine’s doorbell rang, there stood Nanou
and her girlfriend, one holding a box of cards and one holding a box of pennies,
explaining they were doing a fundraising for the poor children in India by selling
their handmade cards. Celine never met these 2 girls before, although they all
lived in the same neighborhood, asked them how they were going to send the
money to India. Nanou and her friend didn’t know how, said they just knew that
there were a lot of poor children in India. Celine then told them she actually
knew a place in India with 500 poor children and orphans staying, and she could
help them to use the money to buy treats for the poor children. She took out
her folder from the ashram, showing them pictures of the ashram and the
orphanage, explained to them in small details what the ashram did. The girls
were very excited, took the ashram folder with them, and decided to go home and
told their parents about it.
Nanou started a project in her school, used
the ashram information as the subject, explained to her fellow schoolmates her
new fundraising campaign. She wanted everyone to help bring back old plastic
bottles, so that she could raise money by refunding them. In Holland, refunding
a plastic bottle worth 10 cents, and Nanou finally managed to collect 300
bottles which gave her 30 Euros.
Nanou went to Celine, wanted Celine’s help
to send the money to the children in the ashram. However, Celine told Nanou may
be they could use the money to buy treats for the children instead. They then
decided that ice-cream is something very rare in the children lives here. With this
kind little move, Nanou made the day of the hundreds children here. Although
Nanou was born with a left blind eye, Celine believes that people born with
disability are actually keepers of the light, they are born to be a special
person with mission. And she was glad that she could be the bridge to help this
9 years old soul to achieve her dream here in India.
28/03/2014
written in Sri Premananda Ashram volunteer
quarter
在這間修道院，我認識了一位來自荷蘭的阿姨Celine。有一天，Celine問我要不要陪她一起給孤兒院的小孩子派雪糕。當那個下午來到，幾百個小孩子安靜地坐在禮堂的地板上，男生一邊女生一邊，耐心地等待著，像要迎接人生中一個重要時刻的來臨一樣。
一位駕駛著電單車的司機來到，他的車尾上綁著一個大箱子，裏面裝著的就是小孩子們期待已久的禮物。Celine舉起一位荷蘭小女孩Nanou的相片，走到全部小孩子面前，透過一位印度女士做翻譯，跟他們解釋為甚麼他們當天會有雪糕吃。
講解完畢後，那位印度女士突然叫全部九歲小孩子舉手，那是一個很重要的時刻，因為原來只要有心，九歲小孩子也有能力做一些善舉。
然後小孩子們開始一行一行走出來接受他們的禮物，臉上掛著誠懇和感恩的笑容。他們回到自己的座位，安靜地、滿足地享用著他們的禮物，好像一輩子從來沒有吃過雪糕一樣。
當活動完畢後，我向Celine了解整個故事的來龍去脈。
Nanou是一個九歲的荷蘭小女生，住在Celine家附近。有一天，Celine門鐘響起，門外站著Nanou和她的朋友，她們每人手持一個小盒子，內裏盛載著一些手作賀卡和零錢，說她們正為印度貧困的小孩子籌款。雖然是鄰居，Celine卻從不認識她們，Celine好奇地問她們兩個打算怎樣把善款送到印度呢？Nanou和她的朋友卻回答說不知道，她們只知道印度有很多貧困的小孩子而已。於是，Celine跟她們說她知道一處在印度的地方，那裏有五百位清貧小孩子和孤兒，她可以幫忙把她們籌得的善款給小孩子們買禮物。Celine拿出這間修道院的資料，給她們看這間修道院和這裏小孩子的相片，並解釋這裏的運作。Nanou和她的朋友聽畢後非常興奮，她們拿著修道院的資料，決定回家跟父母商量。
Nanou用修道院的資料，在自己的學校做了個演說，還舉辦了一個膠樽回收活動。她希望同學們能幫忙拿取家裏棄置的膠樽回到學校，她可以把它們拿去回收來籌款。在荷蘭，回收一個膠樽價值一毛錢，Nanou最後收集了三百個膠樽，籌集了三十歐羅。
Nanou把善款拿給Celine，希望Celine能幫忙把善款用在修道院的小孩子身上。Celine提議說可以用善款給小孩子們買禮物，最後，她們決定給小孩子們買雪糕，因為這裏的小孩子不是常常有機會吃雪糕的。一個九歲女童的善舉，令修道院幾百個小孩子樂透了半天。雖然Nanou先天左眼失明，Celine卻相信，每個先天殘缺的人都是光明的使者，他們都有特別的任務在身。Celine很榮幸她可以作為橋樑，幫助這位九歲的小天使達成她在印度助人的夢想。
28/03/2014
寫於Sri Premananda Ashram宿舍內
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