In honor of our mothers

We wish the mothers in our programs a very Happy Mother's Day and Happy Mother's Day to all mothers throughout the world who work hard everyday to be there for their children.

Most of our mothers have suffered tremendous trauma and emotional and physical pain in their lives, and they entrust us with their kids in the hope that they will have a better life than they did.

We are constantly amazed at the resilience of our mothers, who have suffered horrible diseases like tuberculosis and HIV, have been beaten, shamed, told they were useless, and are often taken for granted. 

We only wish the best for them, and our goal is to help them become strong women in their own right. Many of them are on this path.

We support the mothers of our kids with medical assistance and guidance and counseling when needed or requested. 

Our mothers are a big part of our Operation Shanti family and we have watched them grow and change over the past ten years.

To our mothers, thank you for being there for your kids even though they may no longer live with you. Your influence on your kids remains the strongest of anyone.

Happy Mother's Day!

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

Helping Krutika

Operation Shanti's Project Street has worked on the streets of Mysore for years, helping the women and kids who live there, particularly near the government hospital in the city. Since 2005, we've gotten to know well many of the kids who used to live on the streets, most of whom now stay with us at our children's home, Karunya Mane.

Today, Project Street continues to help our kids' moms and other destitute kids and women who need assistance. Krutika, one of our new friends, is a 15-year-old girl from a very poor family in Chamarajnagar (about an hour from Mysore). She was diagnosed with childhood (Type 1) diabetes a few years ago and needs daily insulin shots.

Krutika

Krutika's dad is a day laborer. Insulin injections cost about $12 a month (Rs. 600), not much for most people but a huge chunk of dad's monthly income.

Since November 2012, we've been providing Krutika with her monthly insulin injections to help ease the financial burden on her family.

If you'd like to make a donation to Operation Shanti so that we can help more kids like Krutika with life-saving medicines that they simply can't afford, you can do so here: http://www.operation-shanti.org/donate.html

Thanks so much!

Umesh!

Little Umesh has been with Operation Shanti since his birth on June 6, 2007. He was always a chubby baby and looks a lot like his father, who is a day laborer at the big vegetable market in the city.

Umesh in June 2008

Dad wasn't very good to his two boys, Darshan and Umesh, and rarely bothered to care for them. He also frequently beat up his wife, Kavita, and she hated that her boys saw this happening to her. Mom took as good care of her boys as she could, and when we opened Karunya Mane, she asked us to take in her boys.

Umesh just finished kindergarten at Deepa School, a nice private school in the area. During his years at Karunya Mane, he has really improved in both behavior and demeanor. He used to be a grumpy little boy and frowned often, and he used to like to hit his friends!

Now, in 2013, Umesh is a very happy little boy who smiles a lot, listens obediently to his house mother, and plays nicely with his friends. He also listens to his teachers in school -- we never get complaints about Umesh -- and shows great interest in schoolwork and writing the ABCs.

Umesh (left) with friends Jeevan (center) and Adarsh (right) in late 2012

Umesh, almost six years old, is growing up really nicely, has so far maintained his baby fat (!), and likes to live at Karunya Mane with his brother Darshan. Mom visits them once a month and she always brings them a nice lunch and snacks.

We'd love to get Umesh a sponsor! If you are interested in sponsoring Umesh for a year, please see our website at Sponsor an Operation Shanti Kid! on how to go about doing this. Sponsorship is $400 a year, or $33 per month for 12 months.

Thanks so much!

Rachamma

We met Rachamma on the street in 2005, where she lived for many years with her kids and grandkids -- Venkatesh, Prema, Sumitra, Mohan, Latha, Jyothi, and Nanjunda.

Nanjunda enjoying lunch from his grannie Rachamma

 Today, most of her grandkids live at Karunya Mane. Nanjunda attends St. Francis School, and is doing very well in the English curriculum. He also stays in the school dormitory with the sisters who take care good of him. 

Rachamma
She's had a hard life but has always taken good care of her grandchildren

Rachamma visited Nanjunda at the dorm today and brought him a nice meal of rice and chicken curry, which he ate happily. Nanjunda's mother is very unreliable and unstable, and Rachamma and his Aunty Kumari have been the consistent support in his life. He gets temperamental and moody at times, not surprising given the torture he went through while living on the street with his mom, but otherwise he is doing well today and is much happier.

Kumari's dilemma and your assistance

Kumari sells flowers near Bombay

Tiffany’s in the city during the

season (May to October); offseason

gets difficult, as she has to

sell vegetables on the street, which

is not as good a business.

We're doing an emergency fundraising drive for one of our long-time street moms, Kumari. Kumari has chronic lung damage (fibrosis) from past bouts of tuberculosis. Because of her lung damage, even at her young age of 33, she does not have adequate oxygen intake (blood oxygen level of around 90 when sitting, even lower when walking). Her pulmonologist highly recommended that we get her an oxygen concentrator machine for her house, so that she can use it as frequently as possible, giving her increased oxygen and basically enabling her to live longer.

Without the machine, she has only a handful of years remaining. With daily supplemental oxygen, because Kumari is otherwise healthy, she could live to see her youngest kid, Mohan (age 6 and who lives with us at our children's home), grow into a handsome young man. 

Kumari is a single mother whom we’ve known since 2005, when we met her on the street, where she lived with her kids. Her oldest daughter Prema (13), youngest daughter Sumitra (11), and youngest son Mohan (6) live with us at our children’s home and attend good schools. Her oldest son Venkatesh (15), lives with Kumari and helps her with household chores.

If you would like to make a donation to help defray the costs of the oxygen concentrator for Kumari, we'd really appreciate it! The machine costs Rs.45,000 (discounted price from Mysore Medical Systems), is an American-made model, and is quite reliable. It would be the first such machine installed in Kyathmanahalli (a slum area in Mysore) where Kumari now rents a house.

If you are an Indian taxpayer in India, you can contact Tracy at 99451-00945 / info@operationshanti.org for more information or to make a donation. We’ll provide you with a receipt for your donation that you can use for tax purposes (80G deduction).

(photo courtesy Janea Wiedmann)

When first diagnosed with her lung

condition, Kumari needed oxygen daily for

about one month. She recovered and was

fine for about a year, but now needs oxygen

again.

We just started soliciting donations today, and so far, Mr. Madhusudan Pattanaik, a friend of our kids who has helped us over the past two years, has managed to secure for us over 15% of the funds we need, in just two hours! Thank you, Mr. Pattanaik.

Cheques/DDs should be written to: Akhanda Seva for International Shanti

For NEFT transfer, use the following:

Name: Akhanda Seva for International Shanti

Bank: Canara Bank, NRI Branch, Nazarbad, Mysore

Account Number: 230910-100-1439

IFSC: CNRB0002309

Little Nanjunda

A couple of years ago, we wrote about little Nanjunda, who has had a very difficult life even though he's not even ten years old. While on the street with his mom, he was often ignored and physically abused by her, and often didn't get enough to eat. Now, at Karunya Mane, he has had the chance to show us how smart he really is -- and he's pretty smart, getting straight A+s in school this past year.

Nanjunda has always talked about wanting to learn English, so we decided to give him that chance and are enrolling him into the nearby English medium school. So, Nanjunda and five other promising kids living at Karunya Mane will be attending St. Francis CBSE School this year.



Nanjunda is happier and more excited than we've ever seen him. He used to be a sad, unmotivated boy who, even though he excelled in school, he often didn't finish his homework and lost his books and pencils all the time.

During the two-month summer break, Nanjunda is spending his time with his tutor, brushing up on his English, and learning Hindi. He proudly shows us what he is learning every day!

In memory of Mr. Joseph

We were saddened to learn of Joseph's recent passing, and wanted to take this moment to thank him for all that he did for our street kids.

Each Christmas, Joseph gathered up a group of yoga students in Gokulam and encouraged everyone to donate presents to our kids -- and to kids at other orphanages in Mysore -- he must have had 200+ kids on his list every year who benefitted from his kind spirit. He'd then don his red scarf and come to distribute the presents to the kids, enjoying every minute of their delight.

The following pictures are from December 2007 at our Street Program. The girls below, Amitha and Prema, loved their dolls!

The kids gave Joseph a photo album as a Christmas present.

Joseph always remembered our kids, and sent many volunteers and very helpful people our way. Joseph, our kids thank you for your kind and generous support throughout the years, and may you rest in peace until your next fabulous journey. Mysore won't be the same without you.

Darshan wants to show you the Dasara elephants

It's almost Dasara time in the city of Mysore, and the big, gentle elephants are out every day on their practice walk, preparing for the city-wide parade in a couple of weeks.

During Dasara, the kids get two weeks off from school.

Little Darshan showing you the elephants

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.

Sanju is back

Do you ever wonder who the street people are, especially the ones who look like they haven't had a bath or a decent meal in years? Or do you just walk by them, trying not to look because they stare at you with the most pitiful expression in their eyes, begging for something from you? They're just humans, with their own stories, and sometimes have fascinating personalities and life dramas, and a host of strengths and weaknesses. Just like the rest of us.

Often, it is difficult to understand where they came from or how they got to be in their situation. Many are mentally challenged, meaning that talking with them to find out their story is even more difficult.

Regardless, some display a warmth, an innocence, and a genuineness that is sometimes rarely seen in our fellow humans, who are busy with earning money, taking care of the house, and trying to climb their respect "corporate ladders."

Maybe by having absolutely nothing to their name except for the clothes on their back, the odds and ends packed away in the ever-present plastic bag ("plastic cover" in India) that they carry, and the two or three rupees in their possession makes them so open, so free of judgment, so carefree, that getting to know them forces us to look inside our own selves and reevaluate our own lives.

Sanju in 2007

Sanju, an endless wanderer, is such a street person. We met her in 2007 when she arrived at our area on the street. She immediately became everyone's favorite because of her smile, her genuine warmth, and her absolute inability to pester anyone for money. She even turned down coins when she felt that she already had enough for her day's meals.

Sanju talked to the street kids about her "computer brain," and they laughed when she laughed. At times she spewed out phrases in such perfect English ("It is raining!" instead of "Rain coming!") that we wondered where she came from and what her experiences have been along the way.

Then after a few months, she left suddenly and without warning, and without saying anything to the new friends she made. We didn't see her for two full years.

Recently, Sanju returned and seemed the same as before, maybe a little more melancholy. Sanju told us that she went far away, to stay with the Tibetan nuns who cut her hair and gave her food.

Sanju, back at Sayyaji Rao in 2009

Older by two years, Sanju seems a bit less happy and carefree, and is a little worried about her eyesight. We took her to the eye clinic, and they told her to come back the following Wednesday for cataract surgery, but she was too afraid to go. Hopefully, she'll be ready one day.

And we asked her, "Sanju, do you have enough money for food today?" "Oh, yes!" she responds in English, and shows us her seven coins and a ten-rupee note. We offer her another ten-rupee note but she said "beda" in the local language (meaning "I don't want it"), and our other street women friends -- who all knew her two years ago -- tell her to take it so she can buy more food later. But she refuses. Funny Sanju. We do love her complete honesty and transparency, hiding nothing.

Street boys and "solution"

Many of the street boys here sniff "solution" -- you see them holding small pieces of cloth to their nose, and then hide it in their pockets. These pieces of cloth are soaked with something, usually paper correction fluid, available for 25 rupees a bottle.

Salman, the son of one of our street moms, is addicted to "solution." He's so addicted to it that he cries when we take his bottle of paper correction fluid from him, and he often shows up with dried white fluid on his hands and face.

It's a really sad situation, with many young street boys are addicted like this.

New family in our Street People Program

We've got a new family in our Street People Program, little Zaidu, mom Shahina, and brothers Ruman and Salman.

Shahina and her kids live on the streets of Mysore, and we've known them for about a year and a half. She is the second wife of a man who has another wife and family, so she is not allowed in the house. She earns money by begging and selling vegetables on the roadside, and often battles a few health issues.

after seeing their new house

Recently, we told Shahina that we'd help her find a house to rent, so that she and kids can at least go home to shelter at night. We had originally told her that if she puts her older boy (Ruman) into a shelter---where her fourth child, a girl, stays---we'd help her find a house. Mom clearly wanted him off the street, as he has not had an education and does odd jobs at restaurants in the area for money, but Ruman is already 11 years old and it became clear that he was not willing to leave his life on the street.

Zaidu in the doorway of his new house

This past week, Shahina found a place to rent in the neighborhood where our other street women rent houses. In a week, she and kids will move there. For more on our Street People Program, please see our website here.

Spotlight on (and goodbye to) a volunteer -- "Kim Madam Kim Madam!"

Kim came to Mysore in 2006 to practice yoga and to volunteer at a charity. She started with Operation Shanti in the fall of 2006, and helped our kids and moms for two years, until mid-2008. Now, Kim is leaving Mysore for the "greener pastures" of Argentina, and we thought that we'd, along with our kids and moms, say goodbye to her and thank her for all of her contributions to our work. There were many.

with Pallavi, Apu, and Latta in our Street People Program in 2006

Kim started out volunteering with our street kids and moms, and she was involved with just about everything that we do -- from teaching our little kids their ABCs...

with Jyothi, Parveen, and Pallavi in early 2007

...to making monthly visits to the kids that we had placed in a residential school...

with Chumi, mom Kumari, and Venkatesh -- JSS Suttur 2007

...and to teaching yoga to our kids on Sundays.

Pallavi, Latta, Prema, Antony, Raguvendra, Nanjunda doing sun salutations

Kim also helped with taking our women and kids to the doctor when they got sick, made friends with the friendly ENT doctor who did Prema's ear operations, and gave it to the nasty doctor at Cheluvamba who insulted and abused one of our moms who had gone for  birth control advice.

Kim says, "There were many beautiful, heart-warming (and sometimes hilarious!) moments while I worked with Operation Shanti; however, to have witnessed how far the kids and moms have come over the past few years is the best overall experience. It's wonderful to see many of our kids now off the streets and living in Karunya Mane, a safe shelter where they're healthy, happy, thriving and getting a good education. And some of the moms have worked so hard and empowered themselves to turn their lives around by leaving dangerous and abusive domestic situations, for example. Now they're leading more peaceful and productive lives, taking excellent care of themselves and their children, and giving themselves the chance of a better future."

On the difficult times as a volunteer: "Definitely the most difficult part of volunteering for Operation Shanti was working with the terminally ill in our program--sadly watching them suffer while their lives slipped away, and then eventually saying goodbye. It was also challenging, and oftentimes maddening, to work within a system and a society that for the most part turns its back on the destitute--especially destitute women. To watch how inhumanely the poor can be treated here is just as sad and tragic as watching them die."

Recently, Kim paid a visit to the kids who are now at Karunya Mane to say goodbye before she leaves Mysore. Many of them remembered her fondly. When Prema saw Kim, she ran to her brother Venkatesh and said, "Kim madam! Kim madam!"

with little Vishnu

Even little Vishnu remembered Kim. She took him to the dentist after she noticed that his two front teeth had started rotting (mom was feeding him milk at night to help him sleep but often forgot to brush his teeth afterwards), and they spent quality time together during their several visits to the dentist.

And, what does Kim take with her to her next adventure from Operation Shanti and India? "All of the following but now to a greater degree: patience, tolerance, unconditional love, compassion, empathy, an open heart, and the joy in life's simple things."