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.

This year's school dance program

This school year at Deepa Primary School, some of our kids participated in their school dance program. The kids rehearsed every day for over a month, and everyone had a great time at the event!

Little Sowmya in her costume.

Our five oldest boys did a special number of their own.

Nanjunda, Lokesh, Kaleem, Venkatesh, and Sreenivasa.

Some of the moms attended, including Kavita (holding Vishnu), Sushila, and Kumari.

Big Pooja showed off her "bling" and danced a lovely number with a few other girls.

Prema also participated in a girls' dance about their day at school.

Kaleem's birthday (and cute kids)

Kaleem celebrated his eleventh birthday on May 6 this year.

Darshan and Devaraj giggling. Little Pooja eagerly waiting for her slice of birthday cake.

Amita trying to feed little Umesh a piece of cake. Suma also waiting for cake.

Kaleem

Summer cooking lessons

This summer (April/May), the kids had a few activities while on their school break. One was cooking lessons twice a week from Anu. They learned to make lots of Indian favorites, like upma, tomato bhat, idlis, vegetable palyas, and lemon rice. Their first lesson of course, was on hygiene in the kitchen and the need to clean a kitchen til it is spotless.

Sreenevasa, Asha, Kaleem, Nanjunda, Amita, Venkatesh, Lokesh, Vinod

Anu moved the stove to the floor so all could see and participate

Asha holding the end product, with Kaleem and Amita looking
on, and Nanjunda offering you some chutney!

Timing was perfect for the cooking lessons, as we lost our cook (again). We've got a new cook now (more on her later), and in the interim the older kids used what they learned and helped Saroja make a few meals.

First report cards...

The kids received their first report cards a couple of weeks ago, reflecting the first three months' performance at school. Highlights:

Pooja received straight A's!

Venkatesh received all A's except for two B+!

Prema, who fought chronic ear infections for years that affected her learning, received straight B+'s!

Manikanta and Kaleem received a couple of A's, mostly B's, and one C+ (in English) -- so they're getting extra English tutoring on Sundays.

Considering this is Manikanta's (age 9) first time ever in a classroom, and that just a few months ago he wandered the streets and sniffed shoe polish with his friends, we're quite pleased to see him make such efforts in school.

The rest of the kids did equally well, with the majority of the grades being A's and B's, and just a few C's.

Our three older kids, who all were put back to 5th grade, struggle a bit more with their schoolwork, as it is the first time in their lives that they have had to really study... but their teachers say they work very hard and are interested in their schoolwork.

Considering that for some this is their first year in a structured school environment, and that the others are still overcoming their years of developing bad study habits while living on the streets, the kids are showing great effort in their schoolwork. KM, with its excellent staff and after-school teachers, and healthy and structured living environment, seems to be having a positive effect on the kids. A good start.

Trees and more trees (and an update on the garden)

In an all-day affair on a Sunday in August, the SOften team from Infosys arrived at Karunya Mane with 56 trees to plant on our grounds (we're so grateful), as part of their charitable environmental efforts.

Sreenevasa got to plant the first tree...
The kids and the SOften team worked together to dig holes and plant the remaining trees (mango, papaya, neem, and many others) both inside and outside of our fence.
Prema and little Nanjunda helped carry dirt...
And Kaleem and Manikanta made sure this little tree was comfortable in its spot.

On a similar green note, here's a recent look at the veggie garden, where tomatoes, okra, green beans, garlic, radish, carrots, and more... are flourishing.
Compare this to the site when we first saw it a year ago February.
Okra from the garden -- great for sambaar.

Gardening

(seetha phala -- custard apple)

In their spare time between school and studying, with the help of Ramesh our manager and Ramana our handyman, the kids have been working on the yard and creating a vegetable garden. They're planting tomatoes, beans, spinach, green chili, and eggplant---all of the vegetables we use in our kitchen.

(baale hannu - banana tree and tomato - tomatoes)

They even planted a small banana tree and a few papaya trees. Since it's the rainy season, the new plantings should get enough water to grow.

(paalak - spinach)

The goal is to become as self-sufficient as we can. With a big yard and enthusiastic kids, this may be possible.


Sharath, Manikanta, and Kaleem

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

Happy birthday Jeevan and Sreenevasa

Sunday the 22nd was Jeevan's fifth birthday, and his third week at Karunya Mane, and in school. Since this coming Wednesday the 25th is Sreenevasa's birthday (age 13), we celebrated both boys' days with a little cake and a whole lotta singing. Jeevan's mom also came to visit him on his birthday, and Jeevan was very happy to see her.

Sreenevasa in green shirt.

Art with Bobbi

Bobbi, a new volunteer, wanted to help out at Karunya Mane but wasn't sure what she could contribute. We suggested that she spend some time with the kids doing arts and crafts activities, to allow them to explore their creativity. Although she admitted she had no real exposure to teaching kids arts and crafts, she was willing to give it a shot with a little project each Sunday.

What a great job she did on her first Sunday, having the kids make their own name tags, complete with lots of stickers and stars and sparklies and hearts and sea creatures. She had expected maybe eight or ten kids to participate, but when she got there, they ALL wanted to make their own name tags.

Pooja and Latta with their name tags

The kids sure had a great time, and Bobbi was touched to be able to bring such fun and creativity into the kids' lives. We've found that volunteers who are willing to go beyond their comfort zones and spend quality time with the kids maybe get more out of the experience than the kids do. Let's hope the world sees more people like Bobbi, willing to give their time and energy to kids who need their attention and love.

Sharath, Kaleem, Asha, Sreenevasa, Nanjunda with Bobbi