Saturday, September 11, 2010

Shikshantar Outreach Program's "Koseli"

Dear Friends,
Greetings and Namaste!!
The month of August started on a very positive note with the introduction of the hot mid day meal from the 1st itself.  The excitement of the children knew no bounds and the tangible result was that absenteeism dropped dramatically right in the first week. There was a perpetual state of euphoria in the whole school. We would like to thank the group of women, headed by the Bhimsaria ladies who took charge of the kitchen. They not only sponsor all the kitchen expenses but also decide on the menu broadly. A special mention to Namrata Garg for the treat of Miho noodles.
“The children of Koseli would also like to thank them for the beautiful raincoats they sent for them”.
In August, we also ran the drive of collecting second hand stationery and loads of people came forward with their support. A special thanks to Jeanette Sollen who sent us stuff all the way from Switzerland and her friend Eumir, who carried it for us. Eumir is on an expedition to  Mt. Manaslu, we wish him all the very best in his edeavour.
This month also witnessed the heavy downpours of the monsoons which had a very heavy impact on our kitchen garden. The garden got flooded over and over gain until all the veges we had planted died. The children were next to feel the impact of the monsoon. The water entered their homes, toilets over flowed and eventually a whole load of them fell sick. Thus we once again observed high absenteeism in the middle of the month. Thankfully, towards the end of the month normalcy started to resume in the premises once again.
In the second week, Koseli went abuzz with nervousness of the first term examination, the pre primary children excelled in all the subjects and the results of the primary kids were satisfactory but they need to work harder. The results will be formally distributed in September.
In our monthly round of medical checkup, we had Maria going for her follow up. Chandrakala who had been complaining of a chest pain since she had joined was actually diagnosed with worms in her stomach and was treated for the same. She is fine now. Yogesh and Januka both were treated for eye infections and have fully recovered. Sanjib and Sabin were treated for ear infection.s Sanjib has recovered but Sabin needs another visit to the doctor.
To our delight, Ritu and Junu have joined us as a volunteer English teachers. Ritu works with grade Six kids on creative writing skills and Junu with grade one and two. We welcome them to Koseli family and also thank them for their services. We would like to extend a hearty welcome to Ms. Monica who has joined the teaching staff at school.

Finally, we would like to thank all our sponsors and well wishers for believing in us and supporting us.

Have a great month!!