Sponsoring

If you are a sponsor of one of our kids at our children's home, or you are considering being a sponsor, communicating with your child can be a lot of fun and satisfying.

A couple of years ago, a group from Canada on tour of south India came to visit our kids. When they returned to Canada, several of them got together to sponsor five of our kids -- Harish, Prema, Sowmya, Surya, and Shwetha. Harish's sponsors correspond with him a couple of times a year, and such a connection with a sponsor makes a big difference in Harish's life, whose parents both passed away.

The Canadians' visit

Sowmya, Surya, Shwetha, Prema, and Harish

A couple of months ago, Padmanabha's sponsor came to Mysore to practice yoga. While in Mysore, he met Padmanabha. It was a fun day for all of the boys -- not just Padmanabha -- as they got to show off their karate and yoga skills to the sponsor, and all had a great time. 

 
For our kids to know that people are out there helping them out of the goodness of their hearts is a huge thing for them! We thank all of our sponsors who are supporting our 44 kids at Karunya Mane!

Right now, all of our kids are sponsors -- as some of the sponsorships come to an end and are not renewed, we'll let you know!

Harish and the big boys

Three of our oldest boys, Sreenivas, Harish, and Manikanta, spent the school year at a residential school. They returned to KM in April for a short summer vacation, and during that time volunteered at our neighbors, People for Animals. PFA is a not-for-profit animal shelter that cares for homeless and handicapped animals, and currently houses over 200 dogs, a handful of cats, parrots, four beautiful eagles, a monkey, rabbits, horses and donkeys, and a couple of little piggies.

At PFA, the boys learned how to feed and clean the animals, and also helped the veterinarian with procedures in the operating room. The boys loved their summer internship and everyone at PFA enjoyed their efforts.

Manikanta with a white doggie cooling off on the wet sidewalk. 

Harish and Manikanta just returned to school this week, and Sreenivas will also head back in a month. Here's what Harish wrote about his time at PFA:

Although Harish still has a few English grammar rules to learn (!), we have to remember that he has basically been in school for only four years. He started in 1st grade (at the age of 9), skipped to third grade (at the age of 11), then skipped to fifth grade (at the age of 13), and just finished up 9th grade (age 15), in the Kannada language.

Sreenivas and Harish, getting ready to feed the dogs (rice, egg, milk).

the "skippers"

Our older kids (aged 12 to 16) are behind a couple of years in school because they either missed a few years when living on the streets, or went to substandard schools and their attendance was spotty.

After a couple of years at their current private school, four of our oldest boys skipped a grade this year. Last year they proved that they were ready to skip a grade, as their study habits have improved tremendously and they are getting excellent grades.

Sreenivas, Harish, Kaleem, and Venkatesh waiting to head to school

Kaleem, age 15, skipped sixth grade and is now in seventh. Venkatesh (14) and Sreenivas (16) skipped fifth grade and are now in sixth grade. And Harish (12), who skipped fourth grade, is now in fifth.

They had to study hard during their summer break with daily tutoring sessions and, although they sometimes complained about having to go to "class" every day during the summer, their hard work paid off. On their first tests this past month, they all scored no less than B+s, with most of their scores as either As or A+s.

Hanging out with growing kids

As all kids do, ours are growing up quite nicely. Here are pictures of a few of them taken recently, while we were all hanging out one afternoon at Karunya Mane.

Harish

Mohan, Prema, and Darshan

Shanti, Prema, Asha, Shwetha, and Sumitra

Venkatesh and Mohan (Darshan and Adarsh in the background)

Harish and the big guy

During the physical education period at school, a teacher plays outdoor games with the kids. Here, you can see Harish taking on his PE teacher...

We're guessing that Harish ran circles around poor teacher, who seemed a bit out of shape!

... on the way to orange belts ...

On the way to getting their orange belts -- the kids had a Sunday session with other karate students of the school, practicing what they've learned. In a couple of weeks, they'll be going for their orange belt tests, an all-day event with hundreds of other kids taking karate lessons.

Sharath and Harish

Asha and another student

Lokesh and Sreenevasa

Milk!

As part of their nutrition program, the kids at KM get a glass of milk every morning before school and every afternoon when returning from school. Also added to the milk are a couple of scoops of protein powder for an extra nutrition boost.

Saroja pouring Sreenevasa his milk while Harish
helps scoop in the protein powder

Little Sumitra getting her glass from Saroja... mmm, looks yummy!

The Zoo!

During the Dasara holiday, which went from October 8th to October 30th, the kids with parents spent 1 1/2 days at their homes. They then returned to KM to continue their tutoring sessions during the holiday, and to enjoy a couple of outings.

One outing was to GRS Fantasy Park, a mini-Disneyland like amusement park with tons of rides and games for the kids to enjoy. The kids had a blast and have already picked out the amusement park they want to visit next year.

The other outing was to the Mysore Zoo, where they saw a collection of amazing animals, like lions and tigers, and elephants and giraffes, as well as gorillas, monkeys, alligators, and exotic birds.

The kids brought a packed lunch made by our cook, Raju, whose food they absolutely love.

Swarana and Vishnu enjoying lunch

Harish, Nanjunda, Swarana, and Vinod resting

Harish (volunteer) with Vinod; Saroja; Divya holding Siri; and Manjula (volunteer)

October 23 was also Manikanta's birthday, and they brought his birthday cake to the zoo to wish him a happy day. Photos and video courtesy Thomas Smith.

Goodbye to Padma

On Sunday, October 26th at about 3:00 in the afternoon, Padma, one of our street moms, passed away. She was mom to Harish and Devaraj, who live at Karunya Mane.

For more on Padma, please see our post here.

Happy birthday (again) Sreenevasa!

Well, Sreenevasa decided that he wanted his own cake for his birthday, today. So we figured why not, since he's likely never celebrated his birthday before---at least not the official way---and the kids do love cake! After cake, they went right to studying.

Kaleem, Harish, Nanjunda, Sreenevasa

Parveen, Anand, Arvind, Pallavi

Sinchana, Parveen, Anand, Arvind