A day in the Caritas Town

I am not a morning person, that’s a fact. Every morning (as many others) I fight my battle with the alarm of my cellphone. But on Saturday morning I was already up, sitting on the bed when the bell rang.

It was no wonder I couldn’t sleep as it was the day of the “Caritas Town” which has been filling up part of my thoughts for weeks. I was rather full of envy on my walk towards the Town Park, wondering that when I was young there were no such programs. I wanted to write programs for children but that is not the term for it, as these few hours aren’t just about children. There were present elderly folks too, singing, reciting, making us laugh. Parents weren’t bored either because besides a cup of coffee or tea they could talk to professionals, they could even try if they were able to pass through a field full of obstacles drunk or stoned (it was just a game), but they could act like Caritas Town inhabitants. We, the volunteers had the best time ourselves, though sometimes we had to take cold showers in the shape of rain pouring from the top of the tents.

It was pleasant to watch the kids running from a skill game to the other, in order to gather more paws (the currency in the Caritas Town), which they could exchange to tasty food, artisan work, movies, interesting experiments or to a ride with the CariBus which in my opinion was the most attractive means of transportation on that day in Udvarhely. I attached to the wrists of nearly 200 children the registration wristlet, sometimes twice for a few kids, who returned back playing after a break of rain or lunch.

I imagine the Caritas Town as a huge social game where everybody wins and where the term “social” is as important as the “game”.

Dimén-Varga Fanni, volunteer in Odorheiu Secuiesc