The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Choir of Angels at Egmore Wesley

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 21, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Choir of Angels at Egmore Wesley

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: CSI Wesley Church, Egmore, played host to a Christmas programme on Thursday, where the smiles and laughter of 26 mentally challenged children, in the age group of seven to fourteen, and their parents lent a glow to the churchyard.

The children are being taken care of by Parivalaya, a rehabilitation centre for mentally challenged children. The programme was sponsored by Henkel Smile, the social activity group of Henkel.

The programme was held at the brightly decorated hall of the church, decked with ribbons, balloons, and a Christmas tree.

Dance performances by both the children and their parents were the highlights of the event.

Henkel’s managing director A. Sathish Kumar lauded the efforts of the volunteers, and drew attention to the secular nature of the group (22 of the children were non-Christians).

He also donated Rs. 5 lakh for the future projects of Parivalaya.

Parivalaya, which means ‘home of compassion’, was started on November 6, 1994, with six children by former vice-principal of Women’s Christian College Nithila Masilamani in the basement of the Broadway Wesley Church.

Parivalaya has since been relocated, and now carries out its activities on the Egmore Wesley Church premises, where daily classes are held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The children undergo training in behavioural, vocational and academic skills. The boys undergo industrial training, while the girls are taught vocational skills such as manufacturing candles and chalk.

The programme concluded with Santa Claus initiating a Christmas carol with the children swarming around him, a scene which lent truthfulness to one of the speakers’ words, “To hear them sing is, for us, to hear angels sing.”

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