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.

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.