Something a little different for children at Safata

By Vatapuia Maiava 28 December 2016, 12:00AM

Every time there is a celebration of some sort, it’s become somewhat of a tradition to have a day of fun at a beach or a river.

But for Feata Perelini, a reverend from the village of Lotofaga Safata, it’s come to his attention that the children are probably sick of going to the beach all the time.

He feels that in the rural villages, they have access to the beach and other swimming spots all year round so trips to those places has lost its special touch.

This birthed a new idea, an idea of giving the children a voice to see what they actually wanted to do this season.

Children could not hold their excitement when seeing their ideas being realized with jumping castles, a bunch of games and a whole lot of fun right in their village.

“I am sure the children are tired of swimming in the sea or the rivers so this idea of a fun day is awesome,” Rev. Feata said.

“Just like the children’s Sunday earlier on this year, I think that Christmas is also a day that we can spend to give our children something to smile about.

“My only wish is that all the Children of Samoa had a very joyful Christmas and for them to keep in mind the reason behind Christmas; the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.”

Rev. Feata explained that this year is different from last year so something different seems fitting.

“Every year, we organize something for the children of the village to go out for a day of fun where they enjoy a number of different activities,” he said.

“This year we decided to do something different, we gave the opportunity to the children to come up with something for everyone to come and enjoy so that the fun we share here will be just like the fun in Apia.

“Now that we have given the children what they want, you can see how happy they are. It shows that whatever is great for the children of Apia is also good for the children of Safata.”

And nothing gave Rev. Feata more joy than seeing the children running around with the biggest smiles on their faces.

“It’s great to see so many smiling children,” he said.

“We have set up some barbeque for them, a few games, we have some bouncy castles and then we have some movies that we are showing for them.

“This time of year, it’s great to give the children what they want. I mean, we have just started and as you can see, many children have already made their way here to make use of everything we’ve set up for them.”

With the only issue being the time they had with the bouncy castles, that didn’t stop the children from making the most of every minute of it.

“The only sad thing is that we have the bouncy castles for only five hours today,” Rev. Feata said.

“But we are grateful that we have these items to make the children happy and to give them joy. 

It’s good to start something new this year other than the usual trips to beaches and other places for the children to enjoy.

“This new idea of giving the children something fun to do here in the village is great and I can’t wait for what next year will bring.”

By Vatapuia Maiava 28 December 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>