Happy Belated Krishna Janmashtami !

Krishna Janmashtami is the annual commemoration of of the birth of the Hindu deity Krishna, which fell on August 28 this year.

Darsha, Yashavanth, Manu, Mohan, Darshan, Jeevan, Umesh, Venky, Adarsh, Vishnu, Vishnu, Raju!

There were celebrations throughout the country, including at Karunya Mane! On Wednesday morning before school, our little boys got dressed up as Krishna and had a good time playing their "flutes"!

Umesh! 

Little Venkatesh!

We should all be like Kumari

Recently, a friend of Kumari said this about her: "She helps everybody and anybody. When I ran away from home and came to the street, Kumari watched over me. She made me sleep with her children on the sidewalk so that the men wouldn't bother me."

"I ask you one thing: do not tire of giving, but do not give your leftovers. Give until it hurts, until you feel the pain. If we worry too much about ourselves, we won't have time for others." --Mother Teresa 

We met Kumari in 2005 on the streets of Mysore, where she lived with her three kids. It took a year before she trusted us, but after that, she's become our most reliable and helpful street mother. She has helped us with the other mothers (keeping them in line, encouraging them to let us help their kids) and has referred other destitute kids to us. And, even though they were on the street for years, Kumari did the best she could with her kids.

Rachamma, Kumari, Prema, Sumitra, friend, Venkatesh in 2005.

When she was a little girl, Kumari also lived on the street with her mom Rachamma and her siblings. She understands the hardships and dangers of living on the street and has always told us she just does not want her kids to grow up like that. She was the first street mom to ask us to find shelter for her kids and get them off the street, and then she convinced the other street moms to let us put their kids into a residential school.

Giving Venkatesh a bath when they lived on the street, 2005.

One night in 2006, when we were on the street, Kumari asked us for money for her kids' dinner. We gave her 40 rupees, thinking that there were four of them, so 10 rupees each. She took 10 rupees and gave us back the 30 rupees, explaining "I can get rice from somebody but I just have to buy some sambar from the hotel (restaurant)."

To earn money, Kumari strings up and sold jasmine leis (malas) during the flower season, which lasts for about five months out of the year. In the off season, she cleans garlic for her friend, a street vendor, or sells vegetables.

Selling flowers, 2007. 

Selling flowers, 2007.

On another night in 2006, when one of our staff was about to walk to the children's ward at the hospital (quite a hike) where one of our other girls was admitted, Kumari had Prema, her oldest girl, to go with her so that she would not walk alone in the dark.

Peeling garlic, 2007.

Kumari with her oldest son, Venkatesh, in 2007. They are very close.
She lost an older son and her first husband a few years before we met her.

In mid-2007, we helped Kumari rent a house in a slum area where some of her friends live. She has lived there since and is very happy not to have to sleep on the street anymore.

Kumari at her house with her kids and neighborhood friends, 2007.

Kumari's second husband died in mid-2008 from tuberculosis. He was a difficult patient and preferred to drink rather than take his medication. We all tried to get him to continue his medication, but he refused and eventually died. Kumari contracted TB from him and was cured of it (she took her medication correctly), but suffered significant lung damage from the disease.

Kumari has a bulla (large air sac) in her lung and in 2012 her pulmonologist recommended a portable oxygen concentrator, which she uses at night at home when she sleeps. In early 2013, after several trips to the emergency room, the doctor also recommended a nebulizer for her because she was having problems properly using her inhaler. These life-saving treatments are helping to keep her alive, as the doctor said, the bulla is "like a time bomb, waiting to go off."

Kumari with her oxygen, 2010.

In mid-2010, when her street friend Shanti died, Kumari called us to come to the street because we had to take her friend's four children, who had nowhere else to go. Of course we did, and Suma, Manjula, Renuka, and Manu are now happy, healthy, and thriving at Karunya Mane.

Little Manu (2nd from bottom) with Mohan (bottom),
Kumari's youngest child, and their friends at Karunya Mane in 2012.

Kumari understands her health condition and she is careful. She visits her kids once a month at Karunya Mane and calls them every Sunday. Her kids are doing well and are growing up nicely. Venkatesh is at home with mom, and he helps with the household chores because she cannot exert herself physically.

Rachamma, Prema, Sumitra, Mohan, Kumari, 2012.

Kumari has just a second grade education, and her son recently taught her to write her name in Kannada. Yet, this woman with little to her name is known by everyone in her community as someone who will help others as she can, with food and temporary shelter in her small house. She's an example for all of us to follow.

If you'd like to help Kumari, her ongoing monthly expenses are as follows:

• medication $24 (Rs. 1200)
• rent $7 (Rs. 350)
• electricity bill from oxygen concentrator $10 (Rs. 500)
• monthly pocket money $16 (Rs. 800)

Related posts:
http://operationshanti.blogspot.in/2009/08/kumari-and-life-changes.html
http://operationshanti.blogspot.in/2012/02/kumaris-dilemma-and-your-assistance.html

iPads? iPads!

Several generous friends donated two iPads to Karunya Mane -- one for the boys and one for the girls. The kids just love their iPads!

Surya with Mohan (left) and Darshan (right)

Even our house mothers are addicted... they've discovered the Internet and are able to help the older kids with homework projects by looking up information using Google.

In general, the girls like to browse and learn about different places and Indian holidays. The boys are obsessed with picture of tigers, snakes, and creepy crawly creatures.

During the summer holiday (April and May), the kids are enjoying daily time on the iPads, which have opened up a whole world to them -- safely, of course, through a child-safe browser!

If you have recommendations for great educational apps that we could download, let us know!

(cute) Brats? Meditating?

Nine boys at KM are from ages 4 to 7 and, yes, they are sometimes more than a handful.

Other times, they are calm and serene, and enjoy a moment of quiet meditation ... and yawning.

A day at Wurth Elektronik in Mysore

For Children's Day this past year, on November 14, the kids were invited to spend a day at Wurth Elektronik's Mysore campus. The kids had a great time, got to play some outdoor and indoor games, were fed cookies and ice cream, and a very nice lunch made at the company's dining room.

When the arrived, the kids contributed to the company garden and planted a few plants.

Next, they sang and danced ...

 ...had some lunch ...

...and goofed around!

The kids also brought back a few useful gifts, like notebooks and pencils and art supplies. Thanks so much to the Wurth employees who were so welcoming to our kids!

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)

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!

Kumari and life changes

Kumari, one of our long-time street moms, has been staying at Karunya Mane as she suffers from lung damage. After a recent ten-day stay at a local hospital to recover from a serious case of pneumonia and hypoxia, she came to KM to live. During her first month after being discharged from the hospital, Kumari needed to be on oxygen, and it was a challenge for her to adjust.

While on the street, Kumari sold vegetables or made flower leis, and she worked hard to earn decent wages during the flower season. She was one of the first women we met on the street in 2005, and she did her best to care for her kids even in that challenging environment. See a brief interview with Kumari in our Operation Shanti Introduction Video.

Kumari helped us tremendously through our Street People Program, referring orphans and other destitute children to us and trying to ensure that the other women in our program behaved properly. Kumari has always been reliable, a straight-talker, engages in no drama or B.S., and only cares about the well-being of her kids.

Kumari at KM with little Mohan, her 3-year-old son, and little Adarsh

Kumari, little Nanjunda (nephew), and Sumitra (daughter)

during a visit with grannie Rachamma

The doctors say that Kumari's lungs won't improve and the goal is to prevent them from worsening. A clean-air environment can help immensely. Unfortunately, the pollution in the city would be too much for her lungs.

Her condition has improved a bit, and she doesn't need the oxygen as much, but her right lung "crackles" when the doctor listens to her breathing, so we are encouraging her to stay at KM. She can watch her kids -- Mohan, Sumitra, Prema, and Venkatesh -- at KM grow up, attend school, and enjoy their childhood.

Mango season!

We're quite busy with our kids at Karunya Mane, but we are also still going to the street every morning to visit our moms and kids in the Street People Program. Unfortunately, a couple of the kids weren't yet ready to go to Karunya Mane, even though their older siblings are there now. Saumya wanted to stay with her mom for one more year. And Jyothi's parents said they want her to start at KM next year.

And little Mohan, who is two years old, will be heading to KM next year to start tiny tots school.

It's mango season in Mysore now, the only benefit of the scorching hot weather season... and Mohan is one kid who sure loves his mangoes. We're not sure what's more fun for him---eating the mango or getting it all over his little face!