A Day in the Life at Pyarimohan Sumanatissa Children's Home

A project of Mahamandal Welfare Organization, Bangladesh

4:00 a.m. The boys who are on kitchen duty get up. They make a fire and boil the rice. 5 a.m. All the boys, monks and novices have assembled in the temple for morning chanting and meditation. 6 a.m. After chanting, they do their morning chores: cleaning the toilets, sweeping the buildings and the walkways and preparing breakfast.

6:30 a.m Breakfast is served. 7 a.m. After cleaning the dining hall, the boys have time to take care of their personal needs

8:00 a.m. The older boys meet with their tutors to prepare for comprehensive exams at the end of year ten. If they fail even one subject, they will not be admitted for further studies. The younger boys go to the temple for Dhamma studies.

10:30 a.m. The boys and the students from the village assemble at the school and, after singing the national anthem, attend their academic classes. The boys grow their own food, so the schedule must often be modified to meet the needs of the agricultural cycle and the availability of water for irrigation. While some boys are studying, there will inevitably be others taking care of the fields. 1:30 p.m.It is time to take a bath and wash clothes in the village pond. 2:00 p.m.Lunch

After lunch, classes continue for some boys while others return to the fields. "All work and no play makes a dull boy", so... 4:30p.m. It's time put away books and tools and gather for a game. There favorite is cricket, but here they enjoy a new game from America 5:30 p.m.The bell rings for evening chanting. As the boys pay respect to Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, the light of day fades away.

On a good day there will be electricity to bring back the light, but homework and evening study must often be illuminated by the dim glow of candles because of frequent blackouts. 9 p.m. The long awaited supper is finally served.

10 p.m. More than twenty in number, the boys will retire to one small room crammed with steel bunkbeds. Lights out.