Girls and karate

The girls had a karate test on the 24th of February, and did just great! Check out the photos from the event --

Manjula getting her orange belt; she started karate lessons at KM in 2010.

The girls (Arabia, Netra, Mamatha, Shweta, and Renuka) who got yellow belts. 

The KM girl's gang!

Pooja, promoted to a maroon belt.

Break time: Shwetha, Vijayalakshmi, Suma, Divya. 

Prema (front), the most advanced with a brown belt.

Shwetha, Renuka, and Vijayalakshmi going from white to yellow belts.

We are very proud that the girls enjoy their twice-weekly karate lessons and are learning the value of self-defense, particularly in India where violence against females is a major issue faced by women of all socio-economic classes.

Go girls!

If you're interested in supporting our girls with karate lessons, their lessons cost approximately Rs.800 or US$16 per week. Thank you!

Ice cream!

In May of each year, the kids at Karunya Mane go home for a two-day visit if they have a home to go to (that we know about). Some of the kids without any parents or family stay at KM during these two days, and naturally they feel a little sad.

This year, we took the kids who stayed at KM to a very nice and yummy ice cream store in Mysore. There were sooooo many flavors, some of them had no idea what to order, so Aunty Anu told them to just try the chocolate (always a winner). Some of the older kids tried the more adventurous flavors, and they all shared their flavors with one another. Yum!

little Jeevan

Nanjunda

Renuka

Kartik, Sharath, small Sreenivas (smiling), Devaraj, Razak

little Venkatesh

Sunday

On Sunday afternoons, the kids have some free time to hang around, finish up homework, and play. Here, they decided to put on a skit and did some singing and dancing from activities they learned at summer camp. They sure do love the spotlight!

Shanti, Suma, Manjula, and Prema

Divya, Renuka, and Manjula

Latha

Little Vishnu and Big Vishnu hamming it up

Jyothi and Thanmaye singing their favorite song