The children were finishing lunch when we reached there. We could see immediately that the children were mostly older than the ones we had met at the construction site in Whitefield, for the Onsite event. After lunch, the children assembled into the main hall upon Father Cyriac's beckoning. Father oversees the Mane and is the prime disciplinarian and guardian of all the children housed there. A number of volunteers, Anna included, had reached the place earlier. In all, around 20 volunteers had turned up for this event; some of them part of the iVolunteer Shiksha Mitra initiative, and some of them coming for the first time.

The first order of business we had planned was a small talk of sorts, about basic hygiene, followed by a session of asking questions about what was spoken. Jyothi Venkatasubba, who graciously volunteered to handle this for us, did an excellent job, to say the least. She's a regular volunteer who has worked with children in Government schools before. A complete natural with the kids, she had them chanting a rhythm and shouting answers to questions. In fact, the children were becoming so engaged in the talk that Father Cyriac had to admonish them to remain disciplined.

After the talk, the children filed out of the hall into the ground outside. We had planned some games for them - some running races, Kho-Kho, a Jalebi race, etc. When we announced Kho-Kho, a number of children suggested that we do Kabbadi too. This was new - at the Onsite event, the children were mostly passive, and had to be motivated a bit to take part in games. Here though, we had the children themselves suggesting possible games!

After a few minutes of chaos, us volunteers sorted ourselves out and started grouping the children for the games. Teams were formed for Kho-Kho, and it was clear that the children had their own close-knit groups of friends who they wanted to team up with. Once the teams were formed, the competition started in earnest. The children were used to playing Kho-Kho, it appeared. That made the job of the referees simpler.

While the game was going on, the rest of the kids were engaged in other activities as well. We were interacting with the kids throughout - talking to them, taking photos, etc. We had also brought along a basketball, which kept a bunch of children engaged.

After the Kho-Kho winners were decided, we started grouping the children for the running race and Kabbadi. The groups were formed briskly for the races, and we soon had heats going on in the ground, small as it was. We had races with the winners from the beginning rounds, and finally zeroed in on the overall winners. By now, everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves - the children as well as us. We got to interact more with the children, and they opened up a bit more, actually letting us into their worlds. Some talked about the homes they left behind, some played small games with us and made us laugh, and some wanted us to lift them up and whirl them around! That was a major hit. We had a bunch of volunteers doing just that, for a while!

Finally it was time for the Jalebi race. This event is a favourite for us as well, because we got to "demo" it for the children at the last event at Onsite. This time, though, we reckoned the children were smart enough, and skipped the demo bit - albeit to groans of disappointment from the ranks of volunteers. We had earlier tied strings to Jalebis, and now took them out to the ground and hung them from a rope. The race started then - though it was not as much a race as the kids getting to eat Jalebis! It was a noisy and messy affair, as it always is, but loads of fun. Some of the smaller kids were sulking about not being able to reach the Jalebis strung on the rope, so we obliged by actually pulling the rope down for them! We had a number of rounds of this, with the children jumping with enthusiasm.

The Jalebi race wrapped up the events for the day, after which the children assembled back in the main hall for tea. Half-way through tea, we started announcing the prizes for the children. We had arranged for special prizes for the toppers in each class at the Mane as well as each student of the higher classes - a packet containing a notebook, pen, pencil, eraser and sharpener. That went well as the chocolates for the winners of the various events were distributed amidst enthusiastic applause.

After the prize distribution, the volunteers got together on the terrace for tea, and Father Cyriac spoke to us about the Mane and about street children in general. He expressed his thanks for organizing the event, and also gave us a fascinating tour through the Mane. There is a computer lab, a carpentry/metal work/grill work workshop and a paper press within the facility, where the children learn various trades as part of vocational training.

All in all, it was a good day of fun and work for us volunteers. The children at BOSCO Mane were entirely different from those we met at the construction site for Onsite. Here the children were smarter, more active and more independent. Most of them had left behind a harrowing past on the streets, and the loss of innocence clearly showed in them. However, they were quick to relax in our company, and we were happy to see that they were interacting freely, and having fun. We left satisfied that we could make a day special for the children there, and with the desire to come here again.