Koseli School- hold a hand...

Wai Wai Gyan Jyoti TV commercial

2012-02-05T00:10:00.000+05:30

Watch the talented Koseli duo (Niraj and Sajana) in the new Wai Wai TV ad. A recourse for students in Nepal affected by electricity shortage and load shedding, especially during exam time.

Jaamun Ko Rukh - A Success Story

2011-11-30T10:22:00.002+05:30

Doing a theatre production would be a life changing experience for all of us at Koseli was something we had no idea about. No matter what we did at the school, we could not really pull up the confidence of the kids. We needed a magic wand and while we looked around for the magic wand, we thought of introducing the kids to theatre workshops. The workshops were fun but nothing more. Then one day, while casually chatting we came up with the idea of doing an actual production.

Right from the beginning we were very clear in our minds that we didn’t want a sad story for our play. We already have enough of those at Koseli. It had to be a comedy with a message. The next day our director Rabindra Singh Baniya brought a story which was a political punch. We loved it in the first go. The auditions were painful. We needed to cast 30 kids in the play and here we had nobody who was even remotely close to any role. First three days into rehearsals and we thought it was an entirely wrong move. Least did we know that the final show was going to prove us all wrong.

Three weeks into practice the children were ready to prove to the world that if given the right opportunity children from any background can perform miracles.

Costumes were a big issue for us. The children were playing characters from everyday life and so they had to wear everyday clothes & shoes. But then most of our kids don’t have everyday clothes and shoes……

On the day of the final performance, two of our actors didn't turn up. They work on weekends to add to their family income, obviously acting in the play wasn't important enough. We searched for them and somehow managed to bring them just in time to "Gurukul" our venue for the day's performance. We then waited with nervous excitement. We had sold approx 500 tickets but were not really sure if people would actually come to watch the play. But then slowly the hall started filling up and the children gave an immaculate performance. The audience laughed, clapped and looked at the children in disbelief.

Jaamun Ko Rukh is an adaptation of a story by Krishna Chander. The play is a political satire reflecting the current socio-political state of the country. On one stormy night a Jaamun (fruit) tree falls crushing a man underneath. The man is still breathing when he sees the caretaker of the garden the following morning and cries for help. As the tree fell in a government office, we can imagine the complications involved in removing the tree and saving the man. The file (to remove the tree) moves from one department to the other, each one shirking its responsibility. Finally, a week later the man succumbs to his injuries. The play is humorous with lots of punches and a profound ending.

Jaamun ko Rukh is not just a success story of a play but a success story of what Koseli team is capable of achieving, a success story of opportunity and a success story of each child who lives in the slums or streets of Kathmandu.

Since then we have done two re runs of the play, one for the UN day celebrations and the other for Himalayan TV anniversary celebrations.

sharing the experience

If you want to invite our children to perform Jaamun ko Rukh at your school or organization, please call us at: +977 9849215533 or simply write to us at: nepalkoseli@gmail.com or look for nepalkoseli on facebook and send us a message.

Actors & Directors

"Jaamun Ko Rukh" - A play to be performed on 24th Sep'11

2011-09-18T15:37:00.005+05:30

"Jaamun ko Rukh" a play based on the story by Krishna Chander is going to be performed by Koseli children on 24th September at Gurukul.

It is a dream born out of a casual conversation which took more than six months to shape up. The play is coming along very well under the expert guidance of the director Rabindra S Baniya and asst. director Ram Hari Dhakal.

We are hoping that lots of people will come to watch the show and encourage the kids on their debut performance as actors. The actual reviews will follow after the show so continue to follow this space.

For the time being the details of the show are as follows:
Title of the Play: Jaamun ko Rukh
Date : 24th September
Show Time and Tickets: 11am (Rs.300), 3pm (Rs.300) & 6pm (Rs.500)
Venue: Gurukul, Old Baneshwor

PRACTISE SESSIONS

Art of Living - Tulika Agrawal

2011-09-14T07:09:00.001+05:30

Children meditating

Each and every child at Koseli had an overwhelming background story which touched my heart yet sent shivers down my spine. I walked in, not expecting beautifully well- mannered and polite kids.

As one of the twenty million ‘Art of Living’ volunteers all around the world, I was here to take a five day program called ‘Bal Chetna Shivir’. This workshop is a practical week of experience and knowledge.Through play and fun and laughter, children learn to enjoy every moment, being in present moment.Yoga and breathing techniques help to eliminate fear, anxiety, depression and negative emotions.Meditation taps the hidden resources. They learn to share with others, work and play in harmony and develop sense of belongingness.

Playing guided games

A chorus of voices welcomed me with warmth. We took off with ‘fire in the mountain’ and ‘birdie dance’. It was a huge hit amongst the kids. The natural and joyful nature brought out the child in me. Their eagerness to learn made me more sincere. Sixty smiling faces listening attentively made me a better speaker.

The game times made me more alert than ever. When asked to close their eyes and remain quiet during the Pranayam and Meditation, they become as still as rocks, so peaceful, so calm. The children’s creativity showed up during our drama sessions. They acted with such enthusiasm and profound detail that it amazed me.

At the end of the ‘shivir’, I tried to find the answer to my question. Was I here to teach them something or were they teaching me?

by- Tulika Agrawal (volunteer Art of Living)

What an amazing place - Koseli School!! by Isabella Joubert

2011-09-08T20:12:00.000+05:30

Isabella with Santosh and Anita

What an amazing place - Koseli School!!

During my time as a volunteer at Koseli, I realized that everything in life is a gift and this wonderful school, safe haven, is a gift to all these children whose needs are most basic in life. These kids do not ask for much. It is amazing how easy is it to please them – only a smile and some attention, that’s all they ask for!

Incredible! this experience was definitely an eye opener for me. I assisted three kids with their skills on one - to - one tuition bases and also taught English to Class 3 students. I was amazed at how well some of the kids could read, write and spell words in English and how eager they were all to learn.

One of the kids Santosh Pariyar, I supported is an incredibly enthusiastic student. Santosh is 12 years old and finds the English language quite challenging. I supported him with his reading and writing of English. On the first day I could see he struggled with reading, he had to spell the words out to pronounce them and even then he pronounced them wrongly. I helped him with his pronunciation of words and also with the spellings. It was awesome to see how positive and willing he was to learn.

with Class III students

In between the lessons if he was asked if he wanted a few minutes break, he always replied “No Thank you”. What a satisfying feeling it was to see his face lighten up every time he pronounced words correctly.

Santosh was a rag picker till he joined Koseli. After his father’s death he took to picking rags from piles and piles of filth and sell them to scrap buyers in the valley to buy some food. Soon this became a habit and even now so many times he leaves home to go to school but gets lost some where mid way and then he can be spotted with other street kids picking rags. The school makes sure that he reaches school every day for once he reaches school he is like any other happy kid with dreams of a better tomorrow in his eyes.

It was awesome to experience the improvement in Santosh’s English reading and writing skills. I wish him all the best for his future.

A High School Student’s Volunteering Experience at Koseli-Trisha Vijay, July 2011

2011-08-12T12:05:00.000+05:30

I came to Nepal with a notion of doing something that would be meaningful to me and perhaps significant to others. My visit has taught me to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. Renu - you are an angel and your ‘angels’ are lucky to have you in their midst! We decided that teaching Upendra to read English, one-on-one, would help him catch up for he was illiterate at fourteen. With a crash course in English reading he would qualify for first grade!

Trisha n Upendra engrossed in reading

On my first day of tutoring Upendra, I was very impressed on how easily he understood the rules of reading English. I tried to remember my phonics lessons from pre kindergarten and decided to adapt the rules. I slowly learned that his initial success wasn’t lasting. Every single morning it was like the first day all over again; re-teaching the same long and short sounds for each letter again and again. For the first five days we went over the same rules again and again, not adding anything new in case he got confused. It was slow and frustrating progress. After those first few days I realized that I would need to make the class more entertaining if I wanted Upendra to respond. I started to create little rhymes for him to remember what sound each vowel made. Immediately I started to notice that this augmented his understanding and more importantly his memory! He was improving, but I knew he could do better. The next day I gave him a large chocolate bar hoping to make him focus more. Later that day I tried to ask him if he liked the chocolate bar, but he couldn’t understand me. Later I found out that he had saved his chocolate bar to share with his younger brothers! His focus did pick up and his interest seemed to kick in too.

kids outside their homes

We progressed at a steady pace and our two-week session culminated in Upendra being able to read short story books (second grade level in the US). I left him with an Enid Blyton book at Chapter three with a promise from him that he would keep the book and practice his reading. The part that will be challenging for him is that he will have to learn and understand what he is reading in English by context. Upendra phonetically has learnt to read English but has to slowly learn to appreciate and understand what he is reading. It will be a challenge for him and his teachers at Koseli. I hope he keeps at it, for I sincerely believe it will open up a lot of opportunities and avenues for him in his future.

Trisha gifting a book to Upendra

During my stay, Renu suggested visiting the slums that the kids came from. I had some idea of what the slums would look like, but even the twenty minute walk there was unbearable. . We had to cross over a one foot wide stack of bricks over five feet tall to avoid quick-sand like yucky sludge. The huts were very close together and going down the dirty walkways between them was like a maze. Reality hit me further when I went into one of the student’s home - it was dark, small, stale and cold. This was certainly an eye-opener and my visual memory of this visit is an added incentive to continue helping Koseli in the near future.

I was surprised to see Koseli’s methods to encourage the children to attend school - luring them with the promise of the basics, a bath and a meal. This concept did not even occur to me; that children would need to be enticed to attend school for reasons other than to do something “interesting.” Perspectives! Koseli’s kids and teachers have hope. It is indeed true that to be without hope is to be without purpose. My experience has given me renewed hope.

Upendra with his siblings

I sense I have embarked on a meaningful journey and wish to continue it. I have some fundraising ideas for Koseli at my high school and neighborhood. Will keep you posted as they evolve. Good luck Koseli!

Dilmaya by Sakshi

2011-08-01T17:26:00.000+05:30

Sakshi, a volunteer at Koseli

Dilmaya, when we first spotted her

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing him or herself. The world has come to such a point where materialism is the sole doctrine. Materialism has “Sucked” the humanity out of people making them forget that the best “things” in life aren’t just “things”. Regardless to say even I like everyone else like the materials of life but the part of the day that I look forward to, is spending time with the kids at KOSELI School.

And in just one of these happy moments, I discover a new face in class two. There sat Dilmaya perplexed finding her sense of belonging amongst all the new faces. Seeing her that way made me feel the need to interact with her so she could come out of the discomfort. The 15 year old, since she was 12 has been doing menial jobs at the construction sites to help her father earn the amount (RS 200, a day). Her mother used to earn before she fell from a three storied building and damaged her leg permanently.

Dilmaya leading us to her shack in the slum

Being brought up by alcoholic father and not getting enough to eat, Dilmaya realized what a proper meal is after coming to Koseli. She was quite surprised to know that a meal consisted of lentils and vegetables too. Her meal prior to joining the school was Rice with salt and chilly powder.

For Dilmaya coming to Koseli is a bliss and one of the best things that has happened to her, because the school is one place where she can leave all her worries behind and can live a life that children of her age live rather than living a life of an adult.

Dilmaya in the school library

Mother Teresa once said “ If you cannot feed hundred mouths, at least try feeding one”, and koseli aims at doing just that, making a little difference in these children’s lives.

- Sakshi Agrawal

Admissions

2011-05-15T21:50:00.002+05:30

Sukhumwasi Slum

Inside view of a shack

We took a head count of the new children who joined school this term (April), only to realize that the numbers were more than our list. We had admitted 22 new students out of 60 on the wait list, after a very strict screening process but we realized that there were more than those coming to school.

We all started talking and thinking about how this happened and realized that a few guardians/parents had duped us. Even though we had refused admission to their child, they still decided to send them, thinking we would not realize that. This was an eye opener as it made us become aware about desperate they were to send their child to a secure environment.

Screening in progress

It was very important for us to screen the kids as we had more than 60 requests. We made home visits to assess their financial status and only then decided on the final admissions. Easier said than done. Their financial status was decided on owning their own shacks, few pieces of broken furniture etc, which made them more affluent then the others. Even though I was trying to be very practical, I felt sick inside. I kept doubting my sense of judgment and so it was Krishna, who ultimately took the final decisions. All 60 cases were living in conditions not deemed fit for human survival and from these we were trying to differentiate the “haves” and the “have nots”.

Arjun, his mother donated his 3 brothers

The other parameters and preference were the girl child not going to school, the older child in the family out of school or the child who had been missing school for a year or more. And believe me there were plenty of those.

We lost control over all the criteria we had set for the admissions when met a mother of five who was living with her brother’s family. Her husband had abandoned her for another woman. She had no way to bring up her children so she had donated three of her older kids to a monastery. Our sense of judgment collapsed. I was shaken and didn’t have a choice but to confirm admission to both her remaining kids. She is now looking for some kind of work (obviously she is uneducated and unskilled), which will pay her enough to move out of her brother’s shack.

It wasn’t much later when we met another lady in that very same situation. All my theories about donations fell apart. What could be a bigger donation than a mother giving her children away.

Ikesh

Consoling a grand mom

Soon after that we met eight year old Ikesh, who looked no more than four years. This tiny little thing had seen more life than most of us. His father is an alcoholic and for no reason beats him and his mother up. The mother on her part is so frustrated that she too beats him up. This act is randomly repeated during any time of the day. Ikesh’s three older brothers have left the parents and live together on the Koteshwor crossing and have taken up begging as their full time profession. Ikesh was not taken with them as they thought he was too much of a burden to go with them and this made him very upset.

The newly admitted younger group

All this makes me think that admissions are going to be the most agonizing part of running Koseli. The parents/ children wait very patiently for us for months to start the admissions and all we can do is open admissions to some but still close doors on most of them….

Photography Workshop

2011-05-06T08:38:00.000+05:30

Stephanie Roberts is a familiar and a very welcome sight at Koseli. From April 13th to April 19th, she was busy teaching what she is best at doing - photography. Stephanie conducted the photography workshop for the children of Koseli.

Stephanie is a documentary photographer and author by profession. Her work was recently featured on Forbes.com and LIFE.com and she recently published a new book, "The Art of iPhoneography: A Guide to Mobile Creativity." Stephanie runs a non-profit organization called Lens on Life, through which she conducts photography workshops for

underprivileged children in different countries.

The idea behind the workshop was to expose the children to photography as a career option. We plan to conduct workshops in various fields. So when they grow up, they will know which field suits them best. And the photography workshop was the first in this series.

Almost 20 children were initially introduced to photography and finally 8 of them were selected for more in depth instruction. These children then, under Stephanie’s guidance, each shot and processed hundreds of photographs using iPhone cameras and apps in a variety of settings, in the days that followed. Each day was a better day, each idea was a better idea, and each shot was a better shot.

The children developed keen interest in the subject and they absorbed every word that was said during the 7-day workshop. They were quick to understand and precise in following the directions. Soon they were scouting clues like lines and light in the subjects they shot. Looking at the final results, it was difficult to imagine that the photographers are 13-14 year-old kids.

The beauty of the whole workshop was that the workshop didn’t end there as their teacher thought that they needed more practice and further refinement in their art. Thus it was concluded with the “to be continued” approach.

Stephanie will now e-mail them their monthly assignments and towards the end of the month she will scrutinize their photographs and share comments with them online. Through Lens on Life, the children's photography will soon be shared with viewers around the world.

However, Koseli doesn’t yet have an internet connection, but hopefully we will have it soon and then resume our photography workshop.

For more details on the workshop, please visit www.lensonlife.org

JHULE TREK

2011-05-04T16:48:00.003+05:30

Jhule

It was late noon and after having walked uphill constantly for 2 hours, I was very exhausted.

Kids walking up the hills

I placed my last step on top of the hill, thanking God and feeling like I had conquered the Everest , only to realize that I had only reached the base camp. Just to clarify…. in Nepal most elevations are called hills unless they are covered with snow. And I guess this is not an understatement in the land of the Himalayas. After all, Jhule stands only at ~1900m above the sea level as against the 8848m scaled by Mt. Everest.

Fun time

The day was turning out to be more adventurous than expected. When we reached Sankhu, a small sleepy town, on the outskirts of Kathmandu valley we were told the hike to Jhule Resort was about an hour and it was an easy hike. Our American guests took the word “easy” at face value. But, what the organizer actually meant was that it was easy for a Nepali.

One hour had turned into three hours uphill trek. When I thought I had reached the top, I finally looked up only to see the children running effortlessly on top of the next hill. I took a deep breath and started walking again …. I had a long way to go before reaching the promised land. We finally saw a small resort looming on the horizon of the adjoining hill. The surrounding view from the resort was breath taking. Every step taken to reach the destination was worth the effort.

The event was organized by Hriday Group in association with the Padyatris for the children of Koseli. So in addition to 30 children we had 30 more people who were at the resort on that beautiful, clear and sunny day. For the kids it was just a cakewalk, they breezed through the hike effortlessly. They picked berries on the way, ran back and forth the hills to catch up with their friends and sometimes even came back to get us when we trailed far behind.

Sumptuous Lunch

It was heart warming to see the children enjoying the outing and their lunch too. There were no traces of the sumptuous breakfast left in their tummies which they had at Timur in the morning.

The children enjoyed the games. They sang and danced. After all singing and dancing runs in their blood. The surprise package of the day was Upendra, a shy 12 year old boy from Terai (plains), now living in the slums of Kathmandu. After being coaxed for a while he broke into a Bhojpuri song in a loud and clear voice, the meaning of which he was only too shy to explain.

All of us

We would like to thank the Hriday Group, Timur Restaurant and Padyatris from the bottom of our hearts for gifting the Koseli kids with such a beautiful day. It surely was a day filled with adventure and excitement. For most of the kids it was a day to be happy and enjoy the countryside and breathe a sigh of fresh air atop the picturesque Jhule Resort from the daily runt and grunt of the city slums. As for me it was an opportunity to enjoy the moment and be with my kids and be happy in their happiness.

Punam

2011-04-28T13:16:00.001+05:30

Punam

Our hike to Jhule was special for two reasons; one, it was the first time we were hiking on that trail and second, because Punam was with us. Until this time, she had missed all activities organized by the school on a Saturday.
Punam is one of the most complex children we have at school. She was born in an extremely poor family and was later adopted by her aunt and uncle who are pastors in a local church.
Punam has had a very mutilated education- in her 8 years of schooling she has been to 7 different schools. Why? Because her schooling was based on grants provided by people visiting the church, who decided the school and its duration. Punam landed up in Koseli, as that year no one came forward with a grant. This constant uprooting has made her academically very weak. She was admitted in class 6 in Koseli and failed the exam.
Her background and upbringing has also resulted in her being emotionally disturbed.
She was the first child at Koseli who showed signs of being a rebel. She cut her school trousers to make them look more fashionable, loitered on the streets and came late to school, lied to her parents and us. She got into arguments with her peers and teachers because of which none of her classmates were really fond of her.
At home too, it seemed that she didn’t have much support. Her parents found her a burden. We were almost sure that instead of becoming a pastor at the local church, she would end up on the streets if we didn’t take any corrective steps. We were seriously contemplating of taking her to a psychiatrist.
And then one day a miracle happened. Her parents came to school accusing her of being a robber. It was too severe an accusation and she was trying to negate the whole thing vehemently, but then who had ever listened to her that they would this time. I overheard the conversation and intervened with the intention of ending the whole argument. All I said was ‘Punam I believe you’. She was surprised and asked me to repeat what I had just said.
That one sentence changed everything. For the first time she had found someone who listened to her and was on her side. There was somebody who believed in her and that was a big deal.
Punam, then on started coming to school in time, paying more attention to her studies and other activities in school.
However when was life smooth? After the hike, Punam didn’t come to the school for 3 days. On speaking to her parents we found out that she had been once again offered a grant to go to some other school for a year. This time around we convinced the parents that it is not a great idea to keep changing schools for such short periods. What she needs in her life the most is a sense of continuity and belonging.
The good news is that she is back to Koseli and we hope that she will not change any more homes and schools and eventually mature into a confident adult. She has a long way to go but the journey has begun with a good start.

Chandra

2011-02-17T08:27:00.002+05:30

Krishna - starting the program

Chandra in blue shirt

It was a cheerful sunny morning filled with happiness. Koseli looked like a bride all decorated for the first time. The children were busy giving final touches to their dances and speeches. At 11.40 am ten minutes behind schedule, we lit the lamp in front of Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge and inaugurated the program.

All festivals at Koseli are celebrated with a short program entirely prepared by the children. These programs are our efforts to infuse confidence in the children. They are great performers even without any formal guidance. All they need is a little exposure and encouragement. That is where the school steps in.

Grade 2 - Performing

Rajesh and his troupe’s performance on Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” just blew us away. The little ones stole our hearts with their nursery rhymes. Raj Lama spoke on the recent student council elections and how it is grooming them for the future. It was nice to hear Pinky Rai speak on Koseli and what it meant to her. However, the surprise package of the day was Chandra. We did know that Chandra was a great singer but the fact he was a great dancer too, came as a pleasant surprise to us.

Chandra is 14 years old. He was abandoned by his parents in his infancy for reasons unknown to him. He has been supporting himself from a very early age. He started weaving carpets and continued till he was asked to leave their lodging facility at the age of 8 (it was assumed that he was old enough to take care of himself). Since then, he has worked in various hotels and guesthouses where he was provided accommodation in exchange for cleaning dishes. Obviously, over his childhood, while he was struggling to survive, he hardly had any time to think about studying. And in last 10 months we too have realized that Chandra’s education has to start from scratch. We have also realized one more thing that his strength lies in performing arts.

As I write this blog, I am very happy to mention that Chandra has been admitted to a music school and he has started his formal training in singing and playing guitar. We wish him all the very best and hope he will fulfill his dream of being a professional singer when he grows up. We are also working on helping Chandra find a place to live where he can spend the rest of his time focusing on developing his reading and writing skills.

Grade 6 - performing

In Nepal it is a common sight to see children working in hotels in exchange for food and accommodation. There are many children working just to stay alive. Chandra’s transformation is a big stride for us because we are trying to bring about a change in at least one of these lives.
We are so happy that his life is changing and he is now busy chasing his dreams rather than cleaning dishes for food and clothes.

Coming back to Saraswati Puja celebrations, as always, we ended on a very high note. We thank all the guests who came to encourage the young performers.

Srijana & Rajesh

2011-01-29T22:02:00.010+05:30

Newly Elected Office Bearers

We decided in the second week of january, that the time was right to conduct elections in the school. Koseli’s senior children had started exhibiting a sense of respnsibility and a keen interest in the activities of the school.

Audience listening intently to the campaigners

In the past few months, the school has evolved quite a bit and my role in managing day to day activities has gone down considerably. From day one we have been trying to establish systems which took almost 8-9 months to show some significant results. The "Teachers Council" manages almost all the key affairs of the school.
The working team gradually grew in size & responsibilities and now with the inclusion of children we suddenly felt rich in the number of working hands we had. All important issues were now discussed among the teachers and the senior students, opinions were sought and only then decisions were taken. It has been a wonderful learning experience for all of us so far.

The nominations were filed on 14th Jan. During the campaigning week the students brought up four important issues:

• discipline and cleanliness in the premises

• english speaking environment in the school

• importance of education and

• encouraging their friends to come to school every day.

They gave speeches in the assembly everyday outlining the issues they felt were most important to them. We also had an opinion poll and the results were very close to the final results.

A student Voting

The voting went on smoothly with a 100% turnout of voters. I can very confidently say that it was one of the most fair election conducted in the world. Srijana & Rajesh were elected as headgirl & headboy and Manju & Paras as their deputies respectively. Our best wishes are with these children. They are already showing keen interest in their work.

Creative English volunteer, Ritu More

Celebrating victory with sweets

It is a great achievement for all of us in our small own way that we have been able to sow the seeds of democratic values in Koseli, while democracy is still waiting at the entrance gate of our country._________________________________________________________________________________________________

Srijana is 14 years old and studies in class six. She stays in the Sukhumwasi slum. Her father works as labourer at the airport. Including her, there are 5 members in the family. Her brother, Suresh also a student in Koseli is fighting with blood cancer. She loves to dance. She wants to be an airhostess when she grows up as she is always intrigued by the flying planes. She thinks the best thing about Koseli is the teachers. She also likes the education and environment of the school. As the Head Girl she would like to bring more discipline in the school.

Rajesh is also 14 years old and a student of class six. His father is a mason and mother works as a daily wage labourer on construction sites. He has a younger sister, who, his mother leaves at a foster care centre run by an NGO when she goes out to work. Rajesh wants to be a famous man when he grows up, though he is not clear about his chosen field but he thinks it has to be related to academics. His biggest wish is to remain happy in all circumstances. He was pulled out of a regular school due to poverty, then for a couple of years he went to a school which he didn’t like much. What he loves most about Koseli is that there are enough books and stationery for all the children which they constantly fell short of in his previous school. The teachers are helpful and all their needs are taken care of. As the Head Boy he would like to improve the english speaking environment of the school.

We wish our new team all the very best in their endeavours!

Elisa-Elija

2011-01-16T10:39:00.010+05:30

Elisa

It was a beautiful sunny December morning, when I had my first heart to heart chat with Devi, Namuna, Elisa, Elija, Akash, Kumar, Sameer, and others. This was my first interaction with the beggar kids from the Pashupati Temple area and I realized that each of them had an identity and a distinct personality. Their lives and their stories shocked me and I was convinced that Bollywood films were not just imaginary concepts but based on real lives. For all these children ranging between 4 to 14 begging, beating, stealing and drug addiction were ways of survival. "Survival of the fittest" is still very much a valid concept in their lives.

And I don’t blame the kids, they sleep under the open sky when the temperature is hovering around zero degrees. They go hungry for 15-18 hours at a stretch if they miss the food being distributed by Annapurna Bhandar.

The income from begging is mostly enough to buy some glue, which acts as cure for all other issues. Elisa says, “when we sniff glue, we see stars dancing in front of our eyes, we feel happy and gradually we forget that we have not eaten or we have to sleep right here next to taps in the drinking water area.”

Elisa is 8yrs old, lives on the pavements along with her other siblings and begs for a living. She also collects some left over coins from the funeral pyres after the last rites are performed as per the hindu rituals. If lucky she even finds a piece of gold, which she sells to other petty thieves or drug peddlers.

But what really sets Elisa apart from other kids in the begging community is that she is convinced that if she goes to school her life can change dramatically.

We opened our hearts to Elisa and her friends and welcomed them to Koseli. Every morning Krishna (our teacher) would go to Pashupati Temple area in search for our 10 chosen kids and bring them to school. It obviously wasn’t easy for him. Elisa played the role of the lead spotter in Krishna’s search.

Initially the routine of the kids was kind of weird. They would come to the school eat, sleep, bathe and then again eat and sleep. It was heart wrenching to see how their lives revolved around food and now that they had access to 3 full meals a day, they wanted to make up for all the past years. On a yet another lazy sunny morning, they even shared my lunch after finishing theirs. For me, it was the best meal of my life.

Gradually things changed and they started showing interest in studies and soon, as per their grasping levels they were assigned classes. Now they follow the same routine as other kids at Koseli.

Elisa along with her three more friends has not only been coming to school regularly but has also given up sniffing glue. She is a very cheerful and bubbly child and looks very different from the girl with matted hair and ragged clothes we first met. Our best wishes are with her and her friends.

However we have not been so lucky with Devi, Namuna and others. They were deep into addiction and no amount of luring them to basic comforts of life, Koseli could not hold them. These kids now just vanish into the thin air when Krishna does his daily rounds in Temple area.

Nevertheless, we are very happy because even if it is four lives that we have been able to transform, we feel it was worth all the effort. After all it is human life we are talking about. We are on our way to successfully integrating Elisa and her three friends in the Koseli family. As of now we are operating full capacity and don’t know what to do about the 40 kids on the wait list.

Elija, when she came

(L-R) Akash, Kumar and Elija (now)

Upendra

2010-12-13T19:23:00.003+05:30

Upendra cooks for his two younger brothers, feeds them and walks 2 kms to“Koseli” from the Jadibuti slum. He is 12 yrs old and his brother, Chandeshwor 10 yrs.

Now, there is a little confusion here. Chandeshwor says he has attended two “Gadimai Melas” (religious fair held in their village every five years) and assumes that he must have been at least two years old to remember the first one which means he is 12yrs now and since Upendra is 2 years older he is 14yrs. Every time this conversation comes up, Upendra only smiles mysteriously which leaves us all guessing. However, looking at their height and growth patterns we have decided that Upendra should be 12yrs and Chandeshwor, 10yrs. The matter is more or less settled temporarily.

What sets these three brothers apart from the rest of the kids at Koseli is that they are the poorest among the slum kids. In the 21st century, they live a life without a toilet. Like most of our findings at Koseli, we discovered this one too during the medical screenings. These kids were suffering from scabies. Scabies is a contagious skin disease marked by itching and rashes, caused by itch mite. If Chandehswor would recover, Upendra would have it and the cycle was continuous. The repetitive nature of the cycle made us look into the causes of the disease and we found out that their toilet routine was probably the most unhygienic aspect of their lives which was also the source of the disease. The other families in the slums have a make shift toilet which is quite bad but then it is better than having none at all. We cannot help these kids in that aspect but we have talked to them about the importance of hygiene and the instances of recurrence of disease have gone down relatively.

Upendra, to his credit also has the gambling streak.

The 24 hour informal channel of information is probably the most effective mechanisms we have established at Koseli so far. Since we talk a lot about NOT gambling at school, the children are beginning to understand that MAY BE its not a good thing and they should come and report if they spot their friends engaged in the game.

Soon through our network, we heard that Upendra had missed school to stay back and gamble. And since he didn’t have any money to gamble he became the dealer and actually ended up with some money in his kitty at the end of the day. I wondered if I should have been happy or sad at the news.

This was the BIG NEWS of the day. So, when he came to the school the following day, all the other kids waited for him to get a big scolding. I was obviously very angry but in the last few months I have also realized that these kids don’t deserve to be scolded under any circumstances. I just talked to him at length. Sometimes, I wonder if they even understand a word of what I am saying as they look at me blankly with a smile leaking from the side of their lips all the time. Nevertheless, Upendra promised that he wouldn’t gamble again. I guess he also knew if gambled again then the information would reach school at the speed of light.

The parents of these boys are very poor and live in the village. They have left them in the city to fend for themselves. Once or twice in a year the father takes them to the village. Recently they went to the village for a festival and turned up only three weeks later. When we talked to them, they told us they had a very good time in the village playing on the muddy village roads and fishing in the pond. Obviously, they did not attend any school during that period. While they love Koseli, they didn’t miss it during their stay in the village. They loved their carefree lives.

I wish they had just stayed back in the village and attended school there. The story would have ended, but then as expected one fine day their father dumped them back in Kathmandu and the little kids are once again lost in the lanes of the slums and struggling for survival.

“Upendra will be twice the age of normal Grade one child when he reaches there next year, provided he continues to come to school regularly this year”.

Renuka

2010-11-29T21:59:00.002+05:30

Renuka is a 8 year old gentle child. She is an absolute pleasure to watch. She loves skipping ropes and makes sure that nobody is hurt while she is playing. She, (along with 3 other little girls), lives with her didi. All these five girls living in a small room are bonded by humanity even though only two of them are sisters.

Like most of the other children at Koseli, Renuka was also a happy child and never complained of any physical pain. Then, during the monthly medical screenings we realized that she bleeds. It was quite a shock for us as Renuka was too young to be menstruating. After a round of questions and answers we realized that there was blood in her stool. And it had been there for so many days, months, years..she didn’t know..

Its amazing how most children at Koseli have no proper sense of timeline. They relate to time through events. Usually there are long mental gaps between two events. No event is significant enough to remember at length. As young children, they keep moving from one place to another depending on their circumstances. Most of them don’t live in a place for more than 2-3 months. In addition to this, there is also the movement between the village and town. The days are filled with trivia, so to remember the details is actually too much of a pressure on their little minds. Thus, the stories they construct and relate are very vague and open ended.

So, Renuka too on her part was also not able to tell much. She able to tell when she spotted blood in her stool for the first time or if she had experienced any kind of pain in the past. Physical pain is a part of their lives and they don’t know what life is without it, so it generally goes unaccounted.

The stool test report confirmed that she had an ulcer in her intestine. The ulcer had become so big that it had started to bleed. The intestine was on the verge of rupture and here we had this girl still skipping her rope, not complaining of any pain and attending school regularly. In situations like these, I am at a total loss of words and feelings. It is beyond normal human capacity to react.

Fortunately, Renuka was diagnosed before it was too late. She underwent medication and has recovered fully.

I request everyone who is reading this to take a moment and think about the whole situation. I wonder if any of you would react differently, if life ever brought you face to face with a little child like Renuka.

Students of Primary Section

2010-11-28T11:46:00.002+05:30

Manoj Jirel, 14yrs

Madan Tamang, 14yrs

Sulav Thapa, 14yrs

Srijana Gurung, 13yrs

Mnaisha Shrestha, 12yrs

Poonam Adhikari, 13yrs

Chandra Tamnag, 14yrs

Paras Rai, 13yrs

Namrata Rajbanshi, 13yrs

Manju Jirel, 12yrs

Raj Lama, 14yrs

Rajesh Magar, 12yrs

Aman Karn, 10yrs

Yogesh Rajbanshi, 7yrs

Neha Karn, 12 yrs

Sunita Tamang, 10yrs

Chandrakala Mahat, 12yrs

Manish Rai, 10yrs

Manish Shrestha, 7 yrs

Mamata Gajmel, 10yrs

Monica Shrestha, 9yrs

Suresh Gurung, 11yrs

Ujjwal K.C, 9yrs

Obit Magar, 12 yrs

Ashish Bayalkoti, 13yrs

Kanchan Mangrati, 14yrs

Kindergarten

2010-11-25T19:38:00.002+05:30

Unnati KC, 6yrs

Jason Lama, 8yrs

Anita Tamang, 8yrs

Sanjay Srivastava, 9yrs

Hari Karki, 11yrs

Sanjiv Nepali, 10 yrs

Santosh Karki, 12yrs

Januka Dangol, 10yrs

Bimala Khadka, 11yrs

Gaurav K.C, 8yrs

Karma Singh Tamang, 8yrs

Neeran B.K, 6yrs

Renuka Dangol, 8 yrs

Puja K.C, 9yrs

Divya Lama, 12 yrs

Raj Shrestha, 10 yrs

Bicky Karna, 8yrs

Rejina B.K, 7yrs

Kushal Adhikari, 6yrs

Mamata

2010-11-20T20:19:00.001+05:30

Home is the ultimate security or atleast I assumed that till I met Mamata. She is 9 yrs old and lives with her aunt and studies in Grade 1 in Koseli. She loves dancing and is passionate about her studies. It is not unusual for children of Koseli to disappear from school for long durations. But when Mamata didn’t come to school for a month we were worried and started digging for clues that were keeping her away from school.

Mamata’s parents live in Boudha. Her father and step mother didn’t think that it was important for her to go to school. After all she is a girl and at nine years, she is capable of doing all the house hold chores. So she was kept away from school. During that one month her father was sick, so she was also his nurse along with being the keeper of the house. Once her father was better, she expressed her desire to return to school, all she heard in return was a stern NO. As days passed Mamata missed school more and more and finally she decided to confront her father. On hearing a yet another NO, Mamata left home and came to live with her aunt who stays very close to the school. She has been very regular since then.

Yesterday, Mamata’s aunt for some reason got very angry with her and threw her out of her house. She spent the night at a friend’s place. The problem came to our notice when she came for dance practice today. We have arranged for to stay with another family whose children also study at Koseli and tomorrow we hope to make her aunt understand the gravity of the matter and let her return home.

Mamata is not at discomfort about leaving her father’s house, being thrown out of her aunt’s house and now spending the night in a stranger’s house. Mind you, all these houses are shanty one rooms with already four, five or six members living in them. While it is impossible for most of us to even imagine leaving our homes, it is not a big deal for the slum kids to stay wherever they find space and with anyone who is willing to accommodate them. It is not a sense of security for them but a place where they spend their nights. And that is what makes them extremely vulnerable.

Nursery

2010-11-19T15:27:00.001+05:30

Saurav K.C, 6yrs

Sanjit Srivastav, 4yrs

Sushma Tamang, 6yrs

Kanchan Jimi, 5yrs

Panas Rai, 6yrs

Anish Rai, 7yrs

Bicky Lama, 4yrs

Sneha K.C, 6yrs

Rachana Dangal, 5yrs

Sahara Pariyar, 7yrs

Aryan Bisunkhe, 6yrs

Ram Tamang, 7yrs

Sudip Karki, 7yrs

Maria Gadal, 7yrs

Ganga Tamang, 8yrs

Biswas Khadka, 8yrs

Madan

2010-11-13T10:59:00.006+05:30

I noticed Madan soon after he joined Koseli. What set him apart from the other students of his class was that Madan didn’t smile. I thought it was some thing that I was assuming and I wanted to prove myself wrong, so I started observing him more closely. To my disappointment, I was right.

Even before I realized, it had become my mission to make him smile. And so everytime I went to the class I made it a point to ask the children to smile. In the beginning it was difficult, however after 2 weeks or so, I saw Madan breaking into a lovely, shy smile. The smile only got bigger and better after that, so much so that on Teacher’s Day, class six had scribbled on their white board, “Renu Ma’am SMILE”. It was a “SMILEY” day.

With the scarred backgrounds that Koseli children have, smiling definitely is not an easy job, which I realized in the days that followed. A lot of children did not smile. They talked, they fought, they cried but they didn’t smile. Probably while trying to survive in this ugly world they never learnt how to smile.

“What was even more painful that they never complained of any pain too”. Madan is 14 years old and stays in a slum nearby. He is a very quiet and shy child. He is also a very sincere, hardworking child. In addition to academics, he takes keen interest in his theatre, computer and "after school" activities. With a “smile on his lips” now he was perfect.

But,when the school re-opened after Dashain holidays, Madan was one of the many students who did not return to school. After waiting for 2-3 days, we went searching for him. To my surprise Mukesh found him gambling on the street with other street teenagers. Mukesh asked him to return to school the following, day but Madan didn’t show up. So I went to look for him. Even though I had heard of his gambling streak, it actually broke my heart when I saw him playing cards with my own eyes. He too was a little embarrassed and promised me that he would return to school the following day, and this time he actually did.

Something had changed in him again. For two days Madan did not eat a morsel of food at school. Finally, on the third day I made him sit with me, mixed his rice-dal and made him finish his lunch in front of me. The routine has been normal since. Madan’s mother is a compulsive alcoholic and his father does wood work with which he manages an income of Rs 3500-5000 ($50-70) per month. Madan has come back to school but he has once again left his smile behind. I wonder what goes on in that little head of his. Hoping to see him smile sooooon.

Winter was Setting in

2010-11-12T10:15:00.008+05:30

The winter was setting in and everybody was beginning to get into their sweaters and shoes. But the kids at Koseli were still waiting for their turn. I had promised them that if they return to school after Dashain and Tihaar holidays, they will get sweaters, jackets and shoes.

Rude, as it may sound the truth is that for many of them this was an added attraction. However, returning to school was not such an easy task for a lot of them.

We had to wait for 10 days before all of them turned up. Actually, we had to pester a few kids to come back to school. The school is finally resonating with the happy and gay voices of all the children. And so it was time to distribute their winter gifts.

The little ones were very excited to receive their gifts. They quickly formed a line to enable an easy distribution. It was beautiful to see how they helped each other and once all of them wore their sweaters they very cheerfully posed for pictures. All of them love being photographed and seeing themselves in pictures. I thought they looked like angels but my thought was quite short lived. The very next moment, I saw them playing football in the ground and now they were all looked like little demons

The older kids were shy and waited very patiently for their turns. The girls, as it is their birth right, fussed over the sizes until they were happy. And before I realized they too were posing for pictures, which our dear volunteer Junu, was only more than happy to take.

Tomorrow, when they get their shoes, they will be fully equipped to face the winter and this year I know is going to be the warmest winter of their lives.
God bless all KOSELI FRIENDS who have helped to make this winter warmer for the kids.

Awesome Diwali

2010-11-07T19:28:00.007+05:30

Diwali or Tihar, is the biggest festival in Nepal which falls 20 days after Bada Dashain. It is a festival of lights filled with songs and laughter.The children at Koseli were busy with hush - hush preparations for some time and now I could see why. On 4^th Nov, they were all dressed in their most fancy attire to light up the room with their songs and dances.

The little ones were guided by their teacher, Nabina, but the older ones had prepared on their own.

Music filled the room. The choreography of the students was awesome, actually it was so awesome that it brought tears to my eyes. If the kids could do so well without any guidance, what their fate could be if trained properly. The program started with an introduction by their teacher Krisna and then the little girls perfomed a dance in praise of the Godess Laxmi, the Godess of wealth.

There were performances by all the classes, each better than the other. Srijana, Raj, Manju, Sulav and so many others are natural dancers. Chandra's singing touches my heart everytime.We had loads of fun singing along with the performers.

We finally ended the day with singing deusi-bhaili in praise of the Goddess so that soon she would smile at us too, lighting up our futures. I hope that SHE is listening :)

the COOKIEMAN experience

2010-11-07T18:16:00.001+05:30

The trip to City Centre Mall was something we will cherish for a long time. Our kids would not have been allowed to enter a mall if they were left on their own. Being shunned by the society is the saddest experience of a slum dweller. Nevertheless, on 12^th of October the kids were all dressed smartly in their uniforms and were brimming with confidence.

The “city centre experience” was organized by Pulkit & Megha. Pulkit, along with his Cookieman team welcomed the children at the entrance of the mall. They went to the departmental store to finally see what they had only read in books till now. They were absolutely fascinated to see the display of the products.

After finishing browsing through Big Mart, it was time to go the other floors of the mall, which turned out be the most fascinating experience of the day. They looked at the stairs in bewilderment. These stairs were different from the ordinary stairs for they went up and down on their own. For them they were magic stairs, which for everyone else are escalators. It was both difficult and exciting to get on these for the kids but soon they mastered them and excitedly went up and down a number of times.

Then we finally went to the Cookieman counter. Saw how the cookies are baked. The children had a big round of treat from the Cookieman and a fantastic photo shoot too.

A big thank you to Cookieman for making the day special for us.

enjoying the magic stairs

The naughtiest kid showing so much patience..wow

The wonder staff at Cookiema

The treat

Koseli - Newsletter, October'10

2010-11-03T08:11:00.002+05:30

KOSELI-News Letter, October’10

Dear Mentors and Friends,

Greetings and Namaste!!

Computers and Cameras stole the show in the month of September. Children were introduced to computers. Almost all of them were using the computer for the first time. And obviously, they were quite excited. They were introduced to word, which they practiced daily for about 3 weeks. But what followed next, was even more enthralling.

Stefan Heinz, joined us to teach the children how to use the internet. All Grade VI kids browsed through the web. Their favourite searches were about Nepal, Michael Jackson and Switzerland, the country Stefan came from. They created their email id’s and exchanged mails with their friends. And to my utter delight, they exchanged mails with us too. Stefan even introduced them to blogging .

Stefan also brought cameras with him and the kids were only too happy to photograph themselves and their friends. It made me very happy to note that Santosh (our little gambler) showed a lot of interest in the activity. We sincerely hope some of them will take it up seriously when they grow up.

Thank you, Stefan for the gifts.

We also started simple “after school activities” especially for the kids who are engaged in gambling and street fights. They make bags out of old news papers, bookmarks and diya etc. We supplied our first lot of 121 bags, a few book marks and diyas to a local boutique.

October has been a fun month. The kids watched Anjaana-Anjaani, a bollywood blockbuster at Jai Nepal theatre. We then went to see the City Centre Mall. The most fascinating experience for them at the mall was to get onto the magic stairs, which we call the escalators. There was a big treat by Pulkit Bhimsaria and his team at Cookieman.

Thank you Pulkit for organizing such a beautiful outing.

The school then closed down for dashain holidays.

Renuka (6yrs) and Januka (9yrs) were diagnosed with ulcers in their stomachs and are undergoing treatment . They are doing fine. Both the kids are back to school after the holidays.

We had to wait for a week before all the kids rejoined school. In fact we had to coax Madan to return to school. We have admitted a few more children and have are getting requests for more admissions everyday, which unfortunately, we have to refuse.

This month a special thankyou to Sanjay Golchha for sending in three computers.

Finally, we would like to thank all our sponsors and well wishers for their continued support.

Have a great month,

Koseli Family

MUKESH

2010-11-01T10:57:00.004+05:30

Mukesh was 8 or 9 years when I first met him, 12 years ago. Having completed his first petty theft successfully, he was almost on the verge of taking to the streets of Kathmandu like hundreds of other kids who migrate to the valley from remote villages in search of a better life.

He lived with 5 other members of his family in a 6x6 feet room. Obviously till then he had not seen what a school in Kathmandu looked like from inside.

When Mukesh first went to school, the teachers were slightly confused for he was too old for pre-primary and not literate enough to be admitted in the primary section. However, soon he turned out to be a smart kid and within 6 months to the primary section. Mukesh was double promoted 2 more times. Today he is pursuing his undergrad studies in Public Health. He dreams of going to America for his advanced studies.

This is Mukesh's story. This is the story of hope. Sometimes all it takes to hold a hand to bring a metamorphosis in child’s life and fill his eyes with dreams of tomorrow.

Shikshantar Evening School

2010-10-31T16:28:00.004+05:30

Shikshantar Evening School (also run under Shikshantar Outreach Program) runs from 4pm to 7pm. The school initially catered to children but now all the kids from the evening school have been transferred to Koseli. And the evening school is converted into an ADULT EDUCATION CENTRE for women belonging to the lowest income group.

Koseli

2010-10-31T16:25:00.006+05:30

"Koseli" is run under a registered NGO (Shikshantar Outreach Program). It is a centre for slum and street children. Currently we have 75 kids with requests for more admissions every day.

These kids belong to the lower most economic strata of the society. Thus their biggest need is survival.

Koseli means a gift and the centre does exactly that. Our children come to school at 9am. Brush, bathe, change into school uniforms and settle down to study. At 1 pm they are served a hot, wholesome meal. They continue to study till 4pm and then have a light snack before leaving. However, from 5pm - 7pm we engage a few children in simple activities like making bags out of old newspapers, book marks etc. This is done to keep these kids away from gambling on the streets after school.

In addition to fooding, clothing, recreation and educational needs, the school also takes care of their medical needs. Our children survive in unimaginable living conditions so have a lot of medical issues and we know that there is nobody else to care of those.

Shikshantar Outreach Program's "Koseli"

2010-09-11T12:35:00.001+05:30

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 1^st 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!!

Shikshantar Outreach Program's "Koseli"

2010-08-07T10:37:00.000+05:30

Dear Friends,

Greetings and Namaste!!

The month of July has been full of activity. To begin with the children got their school uniforms. Each child has got 2 sets of uniforms. Since they brush and bathe in school, they also change into their school uniforms in school. However the class VI children are old enough to take care of their hygiene needs so they have been given their uniforms to take home.

The children are well settled into their routine and enjoying their activities even more with the new white boards finding their way into each class room.

On the last Friday of the month, we had a great trip to the zoo so much so that when the bus driver called to go back little Manoj got very angry and we had to carry him back to the bus.

On Saturday we visited their homes in Jadi Buti slum and Sukhumvasi areas.

Thankyou Jen and Stephanie for some of the greatest shots u took. We totally loved your company.

We had a great time with “Jadugar Himshaa” performing her magic tricks in front of the Full House. Thankyou Himshikha, it was simply awesome.

We also started preparing for the hot mid day meal. Thanks to food committee headed by the Bhimsaria ladies. We thank you and love you for your concern.

This month also saw Maria and Brindesh falling sick. Actually, both of them have been suffering with skin diseases. For a long time. The consultation with doctor confirmed that Maria is suffering from a rare skin genetic disorder epidermolysis bullosa which cannot be cured. The condition is aggravated by poor hygiene conditions and was pretty severe when we first looked at it. With some medications and a long lecture on hygiene issues to Maria and her older sister (who is also her care taker), she has shown tremendous signs of improvement. Maria’s mother had also suffered from the same disease before she passed away a few years ago.

6 year old Brindesh was diagnosed with scabies and is currently on leave. Hats off to Upendra (14yrs), his older brother and also the caretaker of the family for maintaining the hygiene requirements and administering medication in time. We hope to see him soon.

Finally we would like to welcome Beena Agrawal, Vishnu Agrawal, Sunil Dugar, Neha Jalan and Payal Dugar for their contributions which will make a huge difference to our lives.

Have a Great Month!!