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Welcome to our first National Child’s Day. A day given to us by His Excellency, the President of the United States, Barack Obama. A day to celebrate and recognize us for all our achievements and our contributions in our communities. To the kids, have fun and let us enjoy our day. Thank you,” said Janet Lagah-Bona, a twelve year old Sierra Leonean-American philanthropist and pageant royalty (Miss Virginia Pre-Teen Queen 2010, Miss Junior Sierra Leone USA 2008) at the first annual National Child’s Day held in Alexandria, Virginia.
Janet, pictured, admonished the children ranging from ages one to 18 to take advantage of opportunities to further their education and to serve their communities. She stressed to them the need to rise above their present circumstances and have hope for their future success and contributions to society.
In the various halls and rooms of the Patrick Henry Recreational Center pigtailed toddlers could be seen in one room playing with a kitchenette, colorful blocks and dolls, while in an another room further down preadolescent boys played pool and took turns at the soccer table. The pre-teen girls and their younger followers piled up in the face-painting room, drawing fantastic butterflies and other exquisite designs on each other’s cheeks, foreheads and temples. For the hungry bellies, hot dogs, potato chips and Capri-Sun drinks were served up in the main dining area. There was a moon bounce in the full-size gym where the more energetic and restless could jump and run around with lively abandon. In the same gym, a raffle was held and even I stood, head up high and unashamed, amidst a sea of little people, in anticipation of my numbers being called (I brought four kids from my own extended family) and, lucky for me, I did have one winning ticket. Now, how to share a single t-shirt among four wide-eyed, expectant faces?
http://www.thepatrioticvanguard.com/spip.php?article6333
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