February 23, 2010: Every traditional society around the world has its own special way of welcoming spring's arrival. Hindus living in India and elsewhere await their holiday, called Holi, or Festival of Colors, with great anticipation.
Why? Every year on the day after the full moon in the lunar month of Phalguna, which falls in February or March, children and adults get to let loose with color. Marking the end of winter, they douse their friends and family with colored powder and buckets of dyed water.
Holi, one of the most joyful festivals for Hindus, affirms spiritual harmony within families and communities. It helps revitalize relationships and strengthens emotional bonds between children and parents.
SOS Children's Villages Makes Holi a Special Time for Children
Holidays can be sad events for children without parents or for those whose parents are unable to care for them. SOS Children's Villages, with 500 villages in 132 countries, makes a point of celebrating Holi and all the local festivals that mean so much to the orphaned and abandoned children under the organization's care.
In SOS Children's Village in Bhopal, India, children and their SOS mothers have great fun on Holi. In the morning they gather on the village common and drench each other with colored water. They sing and dance, and within a few hours turn the playground into a pool of colors dotted with children flitting about like vibrant butterflies. Children throw water balloons at each other. Holi is the only day of the year they are permitted to do these things.
In one family house, the children insist that their SOS mother prepare their favorite dish, podopitha, a sweet concoction made with lentils, rice, sugar, dry fruit, and ghee. The children work together to help their mother prepare other holiday dishes. The mothers and children then go from house to house, sharing with the other SOS families their homemade sweets and other goodies.
Holi brings color, fun, and love to the children living in SOS-Bhopal.
The Wish of Children Everywhere
"How I wish for the day I am allowed to do all kinds of silly things, like throwing water on adults, without it being bad behavior," says a four-year-old girl in SOS Children's Village-Bhopal. What children across the globe do not share the same desire to let go in a playful way without punishment? SOS mothers ensure that the Hindu children under their care get to celebrate the Festival of Color, creating memories they will cherish their whole lives.
Please, help an Indian child today. Visit www.SOS-India.org for more information on how you can sponsor a child or make a donation to support SOS Children's Villages' work in India.