Visiting Canossaville again brought back many nostalgic memories. I met Sr Margaret Syn, who had initially introduced the “Rainbow” programme in conjunction with the Help Every Lone Parent [HELP] programme at Canossaville. I was looking forward to meeting other old Rainbow facilitators and I met Susan Koh who had been trained with me, Sr Rose who was her usual jolly self, Jenny in her sarong kebaya and Anne Siew who was now the co-director of the Children’s Home.

It was a pleasant surprise to meet Ong Leng, one of my Rainbow children whom I recognised only when she called out. The five-year-old I had known was now fifteen years old. I learnt that she had been living in Canossaville since the age of two and was still living there! Meeting her brought back some sad memories of children waiting for parent to visit them; but also some pleasant memories of how we enjoyed ourselves at parties in the East Coast Parkway and McDonalds. 

The highlight of the celebrations was the Mass presided by the Archbishop elect, Nicholas Chia. Yet, what really pulled heartstrings was the presentation of a touching concert re-enacting scenes related to family situations that lead to children being brought to the Home. I had originally planned to leave after the Mass to go to the annual Novena procession but having watched the children performed, I decided that the “Queen of Angels” would not mind if I spent more time with her cherubs and angels at Canossaville!

Thank you, Sr. Rose for inviting me back to ‘Rainbowland’ again…