Our Funday
On the 9thof July 2011, our LTCC youth organised a funday which took place at the “Kenton Recreation Ground” between 1.30 pm and 7pm. The purpose of our funday was to raise money for our LTCC youth project. This project was to support a theological student to finish her degree in Sri Lanka.
The youths arrived at around 1pm to organise the funday. Each youth was assigned to do a particular job therefore organising it was much quicker and easier. Along with the youths, our LTCC members who were there earlier also helped with the setting up. This includes marking out the starting and finishing lines, laying out the food and organising the team locations along with the entrance. We had four teams; rolls, kothu rotti, vadai, and the dosa team which all were colour coordinated. The youth at the entrance welcomed everyone who came to our funday and they were put into random teams with a colour coordinated ribbon.
We commenced our funday with a prayer and started off with the spoon race. In this race, you had to hold a spoon with a little ball on it and take it to the stop line without dropping it. We had a little allowance meaning that they could drop it once before arriving at the stop line. This race included one participant from each team and we had 2 rounds therefore 2 winners were announced. The participants were potharayya (from Madras CSI) and Pothahar Amma from the Rolls team; my self and Sahana from the Kothu rotti team; Raji Aunty and Angelo from the Vadai team and Amma and Mallika Aunty from the Dosa team. The winners of the spoon race were my self in the first round and Sahana in the second round.
The points were calculated so that each winner gained 5 points for their team, the runner up gained 3 points and the 2ndrunner up gaining 1 point for their team.
Our second race was the sack race. In this race, we used strong heavy black bags as sacks and participants had to work their way throughout to the stop line. Like the spoon race, this also included one participant from each team and we had 2 rounds therefore 2 winners were announced. The participants for the sack race were Kumar Uncle and Diluxion Anna from the Rolls team; Kirishanth and Charles Uncle from the Kothu rotti team; Aji and Angelo from the Vadai team and Thaya Anna and Kinthuran from the Dosa team. The winners of the sack race were Kirishanth in the first round and Kinthuran in the second round.
The third race was the 3 legged race. In this race, 2 participants from each team had one of their legs tied together and had to work their way through to the finish line. Some participants were practising amongst themselves running up and down the field; however the rules were then announced that you were not supposed to run and walk your way through. Our particular rules made the activities tough and more adventurous. This race included 2 participants from each team and we had 2 rounds therefore we had 2 pairs as winners. The participants for the 3 legged races were Pothahar amma/Thanusha and Kumar Uncle/Hamsha Aunty from the Rolls team; Kirishanth/Pothahar ayya and myself/Sahana from the Kothu rotti team; Premi Aunty/Anusha Aunty and Lucky/Rajan Anna from the Vadai team; Thaya Anna/ Kinthuran and Amma/Mallika Aunty from the Dosa team. The winners of the 3 legged races were Thaya Anna and Kinthuran in the first round and Lucky and Rajan Anna in the second round.
The next race was our adventure race planned by our youth members. In this race there was a water bottle emptied in to a bucket half way to the stop line, the participant was to run there and fill up half the water bottle using the water in the bucket with their hands. Then they were supposed to run from there holding the bottle in their hands where they found doughnuts hanging up on a string. The participant was then supposed to eat the hanging doughnuts without touching the doughnut and then finish off the race by running to the finish line. Like the first two races, this also included one participant from each team and we had two rounds therefore two winners. The participants for this race were Lavana and Kumar Uncle from the Rolls team; Kirishanth and Pothahar ayya from the Kothu rotti team; Shanthan Uncle and Premi Aunty from the Vadai team and Appa and Thaya Anna from the Dosa team. The winners were Kirishanth in the first round and Kumar unclein the second round.
The next race was the saree relay race. In this race, you had to run half way through, get the saree which was placed there, wear it and run to the finish line. This race was planned out to have two rounds with women only in the first round and then men only in the second round. However, because the race was highly liked by everyone especially the men, we had a third round with men only as well. Therefore, we had three winners for this race. The participants for this race were Pothahar amma, Kumar Uncle and Diluxion Anna from the Rolls team; my self, (Hamsha Aunty husband) and Pothahar ayya from the Kothu rotti team; Raji Aunty, Lakshman and Shanthan annafrom the Vadai team and Chandra Aunty, Appa and Thaya Anna from the Dosa team. The difficulties of the game were that even the men were supposed to wear the saree properly before running over to the finish line. This was the main highlight of the game and the fact that you had to run with the saree on also made it hard for our participants but they were really good. The winners of the saree relay race were Pothahar amma in the first round, Lukshman in the second round and Diluxionin the third requested round.
Next, in order to involve our children in the games, we had a race amongst the children, one participant from each of the teams. We only had one round in this race therefore one winner. The participants included Priana from the Rolls team, Sahana from the Kothu rotti team, Angelo from the Vadai team and Thushani from the Dosa team. The winner of the race was Angelo. The youngest amongst the four but as you can see the fastest. Sorry girls, I had to say that!!
Our football match was the next game. For the football match, we had two teams combined together to make a team and the other two which was the opposition. It was the Rolls team and Dosa team together opposite the Kothu rotti team and Vadai team. We had 11 players altogether for each team and Aji being the referee. We played 10 minutes in the first half followed by a 5 minute break and then another 10 minutes. The winners of the match were the combination of the Kothu rotti and the Vadai team. It was a very tiring match, however it turned out to be fun and under control. We had potharayya as our goal keeper and the combination of the Rolls and Dosa team had Hamsha Aunty as the goal keeper as well as Potharamma in defence.
Next, it was time for refreshments. All our participants were very hungry and out of energy therefore they needed something to boost up their energy level. All food was served at a reasonable price and we had a wide range of foods. There were short eats such as cakes, cutlets and biscuits followed by main meals which included rice and curry. We also had deserts. This was the time for our little get together where we had our meals and talked about our games so far. Not finished yet though!!
After our little break, our next game was Kilitattu. This is a Sri Lankan game; the game consists of two teams where one team tries to get to the other side of a box where as the other team trying to stop it from getting to the other side of the box. This game wasn’t team oriented, it was just a game that was played by everyone who knew how to play it and who wanted to play it. However, most of the young generation such as our youth who didn’t know how to play it were watching our members playing it having a laugh. The game turned out to be interesting which lead even people who didn’t know how to play the game then play the game with the others as well. We had no particular winners for the game but it turned to be a very fun and entertaining game.
Our last game was the cricket match. This was also a game which wasn’t necessarily played in team order. However, it turned out to be fun seen as it was separated with the youth against the “old” men. We played the game with 6 overs and Kumar Uncle being the umpire. The youth team fielded first whilst they batted. Everyone was tired but the game still was good and everyone still participated with their full energy.
On the other side while we were playing cricket, we had the children playing piñata. This involved all the children around where they were blind folded and told to hit the horse which was full of sweets in side.
Finally, we finished off our funday with the prize giving ceremony announced by our youth leaders Dilini Acca and Mathu Acca. All our winners of each activity had their certificates presented to them individually. Last but not least, the winning team of our funday was the KOTHU ROTTI team who received the trophy from Potharamma.
Finally, we'd like to express our sincere thanks first and foremost to the Good Lord for all his blessings, especially in making this event and our fundraising efforts a success. We continue to pray for continued blessings on the Youth activities and ask God's guidance and presence to be with us always. A huge thanks to the LTCC congregation and our participants. Every one of you have supported us in so many ways. We have worked as a team; a family and you have all contributed generously. So a huge thank you. This event wouldn't have been a success without the participation from all our friends and families. I hope you all continue to support us going forward as well. We also express our thanks towards Harrow Council for letting us use their premises. We thank every single person who has contributed towards the success of this event. Hope you had 'fun' and you're already invited to next Year's LTCC fun day as well.
By : Nishani Rajkumar