Christmas started early this year for over 300 children from orphanages, remand (detention) homes, handicapped centres, and schools throughout Lagos State. We hosted our seventh annual Christmas party at Fantasyland, Ikoyi on November 30th, ushering in the Christmas season with fun, games, food, day-long excitement, and non-stop action! Children from eleven centres and schools for the underprivileged were the guests of honour and the invitations and transportation of the children was organized by the first lady of Lagos State and the president of New Era Foundation, Her Excellency, Chief (Mrs) Oluremi Tinubu, who also participated in the action for the duration of the party.
The day began with party games complete with plenty of prizes for winners, near winners, and almost near winners—guaranteeing that no one walked away empty handed. We moved from the games into a nativity play, performed impromptu by the children themselves, with each actor re-enacting the first Christmas with enthusiasm and gusto. After welcoming baby Jesus once again to Earth, we feasted on noodles, tuna sandwiches, cupcakes. and soft drinks for lunch.
After a short period of rest, the afternoon commenced with more outside games, indoor arcade rides, train rides, and bouncing-castle fun, culminating in a crowd of happy but exhausted children once again settling down to ice cream and cake.
As the afternoon waned, Father Christmas made his first appearance of the season and together with Mrs. Tinubu, we gave each child two bags filled to the brim with toys, biscuits, stationery, sweets, toiletries, chips, juice, and lots more, all donated by various companies throughout Lagos and Ibadan.
In addition to this (and most valuable of all), we gave each child the gift of Jesus' Christmas love and friendship and left them with the assurance that with a friend like Jesus, each day can be filled with the joy and happiness that Christmas brings.