Have you ever seen a bunch of kids scrambling in an absolutely frenzy?

I witnessed a mad event near Antigua in Guatemala where I had been volunteering for some time. I was fortunate to be in Guatemala for a special day of the year known as Children’s Day... the one day of the year which is devoted to the happiness of children in the country. Wealthier city people donate presents and toys to be given to the kids out into the country.

As for me, I brought my offerings to a tiny run down school in the countryside, my bag laden with sweets, colouring pens and little knickknacks. As our taxi drew into the school, the kids came running up, laughing, pressing their little noses against the window to see what we’d brought. Needless to say, they were extremely excited kids.

We started by playing a few games, egg and spoon racing and games with balloons, soon enough the kids were running around wildly.

The high point of the afternoon came when we got out the piñata… otherwise known as a huge paper bag in the shape of a duck or whatever animal takes your fancy (ours was actually a scary clown) crammed full with sweets. It’s THE thing to do on Children’s Day.

We tied up the piñata whilst the kids yelped with excitement , hopping up and down around us. Then they took their turns in bashing it whilst blindfolded, after having been spun around several times.

Disaster area? Danger zone? Yes, and yes. These kids were hyper, and getting vicious with the bat, we ducked and dived to avoid meeting the wrong end of the bat with our heads.

Once the bag started to tear, finally the piñata gave way and the kids dived in, screaming with pure delight, sweets falling everywhere...

By this stage, we were exhausted, and left the kids to their own devices whilst they formed a human pile up.