Foster Home Christmas Concert| 2 min read
From the moment of entering the hotel lobby, where it was held, greeted by a gust of warm air, to the very end of exiting the concert hall with many smiling faces and warm goodbyes, the experience was beautiful. At the back of the room stood four or five tables selling assortments of products from paintings, to eggs, to jewelry. Everything sold was either made by the Children or came from the self-sustaining farm at the foster home.
The environment was very relaxed and fun. No one was rushing around in a fuss worried about the absence of a performer or something starting late. The program started with two lively and lovely announcers, happy as they could be. After thanks to those attending and some jokes (I did not understand as they were in Chinese, but I am sure they were quite enjoyable) the show was off to a great start.
The first performance was led by Tabatha, one of IESG’s previous volunteers who stayed on at the foster home as a pre-school teacher, she had taught her kids a routine to Jingle Bells. Then after the first stage fright wore off the children found their confidence and the next shows of talent were even more wonderful. There were dances of the kids spinning and clapping and hopping around, solo singers, magnificent Erhu (二胡) playing, even a poem read by the author, which brought many of our staff and countless others in the room to tears, and of course many joyful Christmas carols were sung.
In the end all those who helped out with the performance were brought on stage and thanked. We were so proud to see Tabatha and Priscilla, our volunteers up there, and were pleasantly surprised to get a shout out from Matt, one of the foster home staff. After the concert there were tables of different activities and games to play with blindfolds on. It was an enlightening experience to feel around for blocks on the table and try to create a tower or wall by only ones touch.
It is such a great opportunity to be able to interact with such talented and joyful individuals and we were happy to support our volunteers as well. ImmerQi is privileged to be apart of their life and to help the orphanage by providing international volunteers.
