little Gowtham

Here's little Gowtham these days, much healthier and happier than when he lived in the slum. He's still a bit tiny for his age, but eats well and plays hard. This year, he also starts studying, as he is now in lower kindergarten.

Gowtham with Sweeti

What do the little ones do all day?

Wonder what the little ones do all day?

To start with, four of our tiny tots, Mohan, Lalitah, Gowtham, and Darshan, attend pre-nursery school from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm each day. Adarsh, the fifth little one, is two years old and starts school next year.

Lalitha, Gowtham, and Darshan

First they take a bath and eat their breakfast. Then they get ready for school, by brushing their teeth, getting dressed, and combing their hair. Next, they get a ride to nursery school since they are small and it's a little far for them to walk.

At 12:30pm, they return for lunch, a little nap and playtime, and then tutoring with Vaibao! Vaibao spends 15 minutes with each teaching them to write the letters of the alphabet. He also sings songs with them and tries his best to get them to sit still for a few minutes.

Darshan seems to be listening intently to Vaibao.

Then decides that showing teacher his toy cell phone is more interesting!

A new little girl and little boy

Two more little ones joined us this week. Lalita (age 4), and sister to Vinod, Netravati, and Swarana; and little Gowtham (also age 4), brother to little Jeevan.

Lalita, a bit shy during her first days at Karunya Mane

Gowtham, also a bit shy but if anything like his brother Jeevan, he'll soon
be another rambunctious kid at Karunya Mane with endless energy!

Gowtham used to live with his mom in a shack in a slum area of Mysore. Mom collects used paper and cardboard from waste baskets and sells them for income. She also cleans houses when she can find work. Her husband comes and goes and does nothing to support the family.

Gowtham is a bit underdeveloped and malnourished, and we've put him on supplementary protein powder to help with his weight.

Gowtham at his house last year

Little Jeevan at Karunya Mane

Little Jeevan, Asha's cousin, arrived at Karunya Mane on May 24. He's four year old and suffers from asthma, as does his mom. Mom is Asha's aunt, and when we went to visit her today and get some of the photos that Asha had from various yoga student friends, she asked if we could take Jeevan.
Mom lives in a shack in the slum area called Hale Kesare, and Asha stayed there after her mom died and before she came to stay with us. Their roof often leaks when it rains and the floor is made of hard dirt. Mom gathers up paper from trash cans to sell (4 rupees for 10 kg of paper) and sometimes cleans houses for extra money. She's a good woman, and only wants to see Asha and Jeevan safe. She is obviously very poor, but during her first Sunday visit to KM, she brought enough cake for all of the kids.

This is Gowtham (kneeling), Jeevan's two-year-old little brother. We hope he'll come to stay with us next year. He lives with his mom and she has him in the local daycare center so that she can work during the day.