As the majority of our beneficiaries do not know when they were born, on 25th December of every year The Sreepur Village celebrates the birthday of every mother and child living with them.
This year on December 25, all our mothers and their children gathered together at 9:30am to cut their birthday cake.
As Pat, our overseas director could not be with us, she joined us via Zoom along with some other well-wishers of ours. After cutting the cake, all our beneficiaries received birthday gifts which they eagerly awaited to open. All our children were given a selection of chocolates, toys, and clothes depending on their age. Our mothers received new clothes and cosmetics.
Lamia, a 11 year old girl told us, “At our birthday celebrations I was given a parcel and inside were clothes, chocolate and some cosmetics. When I lived in my community, before coming to Sreepur, I never ever had a birthday celebration”.
After they opened their gifts they sat down for a special celebratory lunch. In the afternoon all the beneficiaries got together to watch 'Sreepur's' cultural programme during which some of our mothers and their children performed various songs, dances, and plays, all choreographed with the help of The Sreepur Village staff. In every cultural programme organised by The Sreepur Village, the children always perform a stage drama, which was one of the highlights of the birthday celebrations.
One of our mothers who has one daughter and one son said,
"Since 2019 I have been living in The Sreepur Village with my two children. Every 25th December, we celebrate our birthdays. Like last year, this year me and my children received gifts which made us very happy. My daughter participated in a dance with some other girls. We are very thankful to The Sreepur Village because I couldn’t make my children happy like this in my community”.
Once again it is thanks to YOU our donors for supporting The Sreepur Village - your support was pivotal in enabling more than 100 mothers and over 250 children to celebrate their birthdays on 25th December 2020.
We share with you a story of Sharifa, a mother who has had her fair share of struggles in life and who recently, along with her family, visited Sreepur to share with us her successes in life.
The sudden death of Sharifa's husband in late 2004 left her as the sole provider for her four children. With no one to turn to for help, Sharifa felt lonely, scared and desperate for her family's future survival.