Mumbai: Two dozen schoolchildren from a village in Lonavla had the time of their lives paddling boats and enjoying Europe’s robust cuisine during a 11-day trip to Belarus last month. The govt of that country had actually invited the affiliate orphanage to join, but those children were unable to get passports owing to lack of “parental consent”. So the schoolchildren got to visit instead.Aliaksandr Matsukou, consul general of Belarus in Mumbai, said, “People only know Lonavla as a tourist destination. But there is an orphanage called Samparc and Lily English Medium School in a cave temple town called Bhaje. In August at the invitation of the President and the govt of Belarus, the National Children’s Centre ‘Zubrenok’ hosted 24 young representatives of India and two accompanying adults from Lily School. All the expenses were borne by the govt of Belarus.”Amit Banerjee, founder of Samparc and Lily School, built the orphanage in 1990 at the foothills of Bhaje caves near Lohgarh Fort. He said, “This excursion was facilitated by the education ministry and our trustee Lalit Chokhani. The Belarusian govt and as well as we wanted to take children from our orphanage but procuring passports for them was a challenge, plus govt would give sanction only after parents’ permission. We wrote to CM Devendra Fadnavis who allowed the trip for schoolchildren albeit not orphans.”He said, “We reached Aug 3 where we were welcomed by 400 children of other CIS countries. The trip provided such exposure. Our children who had never eaten with a spoon were now dining with fork and knife.”One student Ruchita Dhage said, “This was the first time we represented India abroad. It was our first time in an airplane. And the children were so friendly, they taught us their language, songs and dance. Belarus’ WWII history flashed before our eyes in a composite museum. We visited a vast children’s park, Tarzan Park with adventures like roping and pedal boating.”The school’s officer Satish Mali who went too, said, “We are noticing a marked increase in our students’ confidence levels now.”
