Kids “Day” camp at New Vrindavan
By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, a 2 day Kids “Day” Camp was made possible over the last weekend (Fri, Sat & sun morning). About 25 kids from ages 5 through 14 participated in this camp (5 kids from New Vrindaban and about 20 kids from nearby cities.Highlights of the camp were:
1. the tours given by Tapah punj prabhu in the organic garden and the opportunity the kids got to work with land
2. the stories told by Sankirtan prabhu
3. the musical performances by Krpamaya prabhu
4. the cow milking session by Jaya Prabhupada prabhu
Along with the above activities the kids enjoyed playing Krsna conscious games in the island and participated in the arti, Abhishek for lord Balaram, fun in the pool etc. One of the special events was the harinam sankirtan to the palace via “Gajendra the elephant” and :gaur nitai statues”. All the kids loved being in Srila Prabhupada’s palace and the culmination was the ecstatic kirtan in the samadhi room.
This was only possible by the blessings and guidance of all the senior vaisnavas. New Vrindavan’s wealth is the senior vaisnavas who have rich experiences in various areas and the kids were fortunate to receive their blessings by hearing from them and being with them.
All the children were so happy and excited that they did not want to go home.
We want to thank all the devotees who made it possible:
Malati prabhu and the GBC team for special tips, guidance and safety measures
Tapah punj prabhu for giving garden tours and ride to the children
Sankirtan prabhu for telling wonderful stories
Krpamaya prabhu for musical performances
Tejo maya prabhu, Chaitanya bhagavat prabhu and Jagganath Misra prabhu for setting up the pool
Nityodita prabhu, Rupanuga prabhu and Jayasri mataji for constant support and encouragement
Shanka prabhu and premabhakti prabhu for making tasty prasadam – In fact please note that this was a busy weekend. And along with all the other cooking services the cooks were excited and happy to prepare delicious prasadam for the kids. One of the kids Jagadish said, “This was the best prasadam I ever had in my life.
Dharmakala mataji for making burgers, cakes and brownies – the kids loved it.
Lalita gopi mataji for helping in snacks, cooking lasagna. Helping with taking care of the kids during the camp.
Ramlila mataji for organizing activities for the children
Jaya prabhupada prabhu for cow barn tours and milking
Shankarananda prabhu, Govinda priya mataji, laxman prabhu, Vijay reddy prabhu for clean up
Prasanna mataji for prasadam serve out
Atmarama prabhu, Sarita mataji, Gokul priya mataji, laxmi mataji for cooking various items
Annapurna mataji, Manisha mataji, Kamal gopi mataji, Anu mataji, Gokulpriya mataji, pujita mataji, Gopal prabhu for being the care takers of the kids during the camp
Sriram prabhu for co-ordinating games
And all those devotees whose name is not in the list but helped with the camp. Please forgive us for missing out any devotee unknowingly.
In short this was a wonderful weekend because it brought joy to the children and brought so many devotees together in the service of Srila Prabhupada.
We learnt many lessons on how we can improve the quality of such an offering to the children.
Srila Prabhupada ki Jai! New Vrindavan dham ki jai!
aspiring to be the servants of servants of Srila Prabhupada,
Gopals camp team (Radhika Sundari devi dasi and Annapurna )
