A new name for Baby

Baby came to us this May (see post here) and has become a real joy to have at Karunya Mane. At about 20 years of age (she doesn't know her birth date), she's a very pleasant and cheerful woman, is well-mannered, and helps out however she can around the facility.

Given a difficult and unfair early life, Baby never got an education. She did learn to write her name in caps -- BABY -- but was never given the chance to go to school. The people she worked for said that she wouldn't have been capable of going to school and learning. It is what "they" say here about many of the lower class/caste destitute kids who work in their homes or in their shops.

We don't believe in such thinking, and as proof of the human spirit's desire to improve oneself, one day while getting a checkup from a doctor, Baby told him that she wanted to stay at Karunya Mane and get an education. He relayed this information to us, and Baby now attends tutoring class every day at Karunya Mane, and is quite the avid student.

Baby and Reeta have become good friends while at Karunya Mane, taking tutoring class together and hanging out. A few days ago, Reeta gave her friend Baby a most amazing gift -- a real name: Sandhya. Sandhya, an auspicious word in Sanskrit, means "twilight."

Sandhya and Reeta with their teacher

Sandhya is healthy and she's gained noticeable weight at Karunya Mane. In addition to her educational efforts, she participates in group activities with the kids, including birthday celebrations, karate class in the mornings, and arts and crafts on Sundays. We suspect that after years of being someone's unpaid servant -- basically from the age of 10 to 20 -- Sandhya is finally getting the chance to enjoy a childhood. Unfortunately in India, being forced into child labor at an early age is more the norm than the exception for over 100 million children in the country.

Sandhya at Sunday arts and crafts

Update on tutors

After working with the kids for a couple of weeks, our after-school tutors seem to be enjoying their work. The tutors also create tests every week to measure the kids' progress.

Yesterday, Chaitra, one of our tutors said, "The kids are wonderful, I really enjoy working with them because they are so enthusiastic to learn! Especially that Sreenevasa, he's loves school."

Chaitra tutors the kids in 2nd and 3rd grades: Sreenevasa, Sharath, Pooja, Kaleem, and Harish.

We'll also be getting a tutor for Reeta and Baby, both age 20. The two women expressed interest in furthering their education. For Reeta, this means starting around 9th grade, and Baby starts from scratch, as she was never given the chance to go to school. It's always nice to see the kids and women want to improve themselves, not because someone tells them to, but because they want it for themselves.

Congratulations to Reeta!

Today was a great day for Reeta, as she was given a clean bill of health from the tuberculosis center! We met Reeta in January 2008; she was a young, destitute woman with no family. She came to us on the street, gravely ill---feet swollen, barely able to walk, and unable to keep anything down for days.

Our volunteers at the time, Jan and Maike, helped admit Reeta to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with tuberculosis---not pulmonary, but it had spread to her abdomen and heart.

We later learned that this was Reeta's third try at TB treatment. TB is easily cured but to do so, one must take the medicines consistently for at least six months. Being a destitute, Reeta had no home base and complying with treatment was nearly impossible for her. The government tuberculosis center, which distributes free TB medicine, allowed her into the program on the condition that we take responsibility for her treatment. After Reeta was discharged, we brought her to Karunya Mane, where we could be sure that she took her medicine properly---and stayed off the streets.

About a month after Reeta arrived at KM, we found her three-year-old daughter (who was taken in by hospital employees during Reeta's admission, who were reluctant to give her back and actually told the little one that her mom had died) and brought her to KM. Reeta and Sinchana have been with us since.

Now that she's healthy again, Reeta is thinking about continuing her education. She passed 10th grade a few years ago, but lost all of her documents after her husband left her and she became homeless. She is also learning how to sew during nightly lessons with Mary.

Operation Shanti's battle against TB:
Won: 6
Lost: 1
Lost (AIDS patients): 3

A sewing machine

The other day, while waiting with Baby for her medical checkup, she told us that she knows how to sew (called "tailoring" in India), and then later that same day, Reeta expressed interest taking a tailoring class, so that she can learn a skill. Reeta is quite eager to be able to take care of herself once she's fully recovered.

Since kids tend to lose buttons and break zippers, as well as rip their clothes often, we decided to get a sewing machine for the women to use. The machine runs on a foot pedal and requires no electricity, and even came with its own table.

(loading the machine into the ricky)

Mary and Saroja (see below; the manager's wife who takes care of the little ones) both know how to sew quite well and are making good use of the machine to fix up the kids' clothing.