Dancing!

In January, the kids got invited to participate in a dance competition in the city, against a few other children's home. The event was hosted by the Aashayein Fondation, a nice charity that helps others like us with stuff, and events like this.

Although it was a competition, we sent not our "best" dancers but our kids who needed the chance to perform in public to help bring out their personalities a bit more. Surprisingly, the kids won a prize for their performance and really got the audience excited during their number!

We're sure that they're *cuteness* contributed to them winning a prize!

Ready to go: Prajwal, Razak, Vinuta, Sadiq, Kartik, Shilpa, Kavya

Vinuta, Shilpa, Mamatha, Kavya, Netra, Prajwal, Meharbanu (house mother) Razak, Sadiq, Kartik and Blackie our dog 

Kumar, one of our teachers, stopped in to provide some moral support.

Netra and Razak front and center 

Sadiq and Kavya

Kartik and Mamatha

Why... ?

We see behavioral issues with our kids often, many who spent their infant years on the streets; here's an interesting article.

A Poverty Solution That Starts With a Hug

So, if you're in Mysore and want to share some hugs with our kids, or if you can read in Kannada and want to read stories to our kids in your free time -- give us a shout!


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/kristof-a-poverty-solution-that-starts-with-a-hug.html?_r=1&smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=SR-E-FB-SM-LIN-PST-010812-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click

Mysore Ladies' Circle

Earlier this year, the women from the Mysore Ladies' Circle came to Karunya Mane to meet our kids. The Ladies' Circle is made up of young professional women and housewives who do charitable work around the city of Mysore.


They enjoyed meeting our kids, and our kids enjoyed meeting them and the kids from their "Genius Club", who engage in charitable projects each year.

A summer with the Natana Raja Mata and Rangayana drama workshops

The Natana.org website describes Natana Raja Mata as a summer workshop that educates and entertains children, and caters to children in various dimensions, to benefit the child's wholesome personality development. Raja Mata covers a range of topics, from modern dance to rural games. 


Natana is run by Mandya Ramesh, a well-known comedian in India. He invites many of his movie and TV actor and actress friends to interact with the kids.

And, ten of our kids (Venkatesh, Pallavi, Latha, Sumitra, Prema, Pooja, Shanthi, Divya, Vijayalakshmi, and Manikanta) get to attend this great camp this summer, from April 11 to May 6!


Here's a peek at Natana:

So far, the kids have been engaged in acting, dancing, and arts and crafts. They are always eager to get there in the morning (around 9:30 am) and are very happy when picked up in the evening (4:30 pm).

Venkatesh

Another five of our kids (Vinod, Sharath, Shwetha, Devaraj, and Netravati) are attending the Rangayana workshop, held by Rangayana, a theatre repertory, in Mysore. It is a workshop similar to that of Natana. 

The kids at Rangayana go swimming, dance, act, and engage in arts and crafts. Sometimes, they start at 7:00 am, so they can take walks around the nearby lake and learn about nature. 

Netra and Vinod in front of the crafts they decorated the day before.

Both workshops host about 250 to 300 children from all socio-economic backgrounds, so our kids will get to interact with kids from middle- and upper-class families. 

We're very grateful to Ananth and his supporters at the Narayan Foundation for securing fifteen free spots for our kids this summer at these really great workshops! Thanks.

two FABULOUS weekends -- shopping and sharing

In June, the kids at Karunya Mane enjoyed two incredibly amazing weekends.

The First Weekend
One Sunday in June, a very generous and kind man, Paul from the US and his family, and Sharath, Shemi and Saraswati from the Ashtanga yoga shala in Mysore, sponsored a shopping spree for the kids!

Paul wanted to take our kids shopping to buy whatever clothes and toys that they wanted! Sharath suggested Big Bazaar, a mega-store in the heart of the city. And even though our kids have come a long way in terms of good study habits, cleanliness, and overall excellent behavior, you have to remember that--just a couple of years ago--our kids were the kids who stood outside these stores, begging and selling their trinkets. They could never have imagined stepping into a store like this.

But this particular Sunday, all 43 kids at Karunya Mane went shopping! Words can't begin to describe their day, which began with a visit to KM, then a drive to the store...

... getting organized into groups outside ...

... and then, after figuring out how to get on the escalator for the very first time in their lives and then staring forever at the incredible quantity of toys and dolls and cricket bats and cute clothes and more, buying stuff...

... if that wasn't enough, afterwards there was chocolate for everyone!

Jeevan: mmm, yum

Before parting ways, Paul and Sharath had a few words for the kids...

... telling the kids that they got some great gifts today, and that everyone must ...

... share their presents with each others, because that is what we do, we share what we have.

Big Bazaar graciously offered lunch to all of our kids in their employee lunchroom.

bye!

We wonder what Prema was thinking as we drove away...

The Second Weekend
During the second weekend, our kids decided to give some toys--four big bags full--to another children's shelter, since their kids had no toys.

And Asha, our oldest girl, donated the 50 rupees she had in her pocket to help buy some snacks for them.

Asha, Lokesh, Amita, and Sharath came along to deliver the toys and visit with the other kids.

We hope your June was as full of fun and sharing as ours.

third photo courtesy Mysore Mitra.

A trip to Infosys

In late December, our kids were invited to the very fabulous Infosys campus in Mysore. If you're unfamiliar with Infosys, they are a global leader in the "next generation" of IT and consulting with revenues of over US$4 billion. Hugely successful in the business world, Infosys also places great emphasis on giving back to their community.

Manikanta and Lokesh, just slightly excited while on the Infosys Bus

The kids spent the day at the campus, enjoying a dance workshop and games, then a nice lunch and some outside playtime. The photos say it all:

getting ready to leave (that's Silvia in the back left, our volunteer from Germany who took these great photographs; our older kids were on a three-day field trip with their school to interesting places in South Karnataka)


...a far cry from the street...

entering the campus

Imran with his new friend

Netra and Sumitra practicing their balancing skills

Vishnu!


a yummy lunch

some outside time

...saying goodbye...

Thank you to the Infosys SOften team for all that you do for the underprivileged in your country. Your work and your dedication truly set the example for others to follow.

Visitors from Kennesaw, Georgia

A few months ago, a woman named Vanessa from Kennesaw, Georgia in the US emailed to tell us that she would be visiting Mysore on a study abroad program with her college, and that she wanted to bring a few things for our kids.

In July, she and her group made it to Mysore after stopping in Delhi for a few weeks. They met the kids and brought a suitcase full of goodies for them. The kids mostly enjoyed getting to meet the new people. Vanessa's short dreadlocks also got the kids' attention, and she even let them touch her hair, resulting in many giggles from the girls.

Amusingly, Vanessa wore a "Yes We Can" t-shirt from the campaign of one of the current US Presidential candidates. As we took these photos, she and her friends got the kids to chant "Obama! Obama! Obama!" Vanessa sent us an email recently, saying that "India was an experience of a lifetime. The two ladies that came with me both say that visiting the orphanage was the best part of the entire trip."

Our kids have that effect on people.

Kids at the cave

Last Sunday, Jamanagiri Swamiji, one of our directors, invited the kids to the garden inauguration ceremony that was held at the cave (his home).

Swamiji transformed the "slum" area near the front of the cave and Nandi Bull, a huge tourist spot in Mysore, into a beautifully landscaped garden for the public to enjoy.

Sharath, Devaraj, Surya

The kids, as they always do, enjoyed their field trip to the cave. Our arts and crafts teacher, Bobbi, and her helpers, Dana and Heidi, and our English tutor, Sofia, also joined us to help keep an eye on the kids.

After the inauguration ceremony, the kids and the hundreds of other guests were fed a nice breakfast of wongi bhat (green pepper rice) and kesari bhat (sweet).

Socializing with the kids

An aspect of life that our kids have missed out on since now is the kind of socializing that we all take from granted with other members of our society. The kids, having spent most of their lives on the streets of Mysore, mostly interacted with their fellow street kids and the adults living there. The basics of interacting with others socially can be a bit foreign to them.

Now, the kids attend school with students from all socioeconomic backgrounds, which is helping them learn to socialize with their peers. We also welcome people from the community to visit with the kids on Sunday afternoons at Karunya Mane.

Several groups of young professionals from nearby IT firms have done just that. This past Sunday, a group from SOften, a socially conscious organization consisting of young, proactive employees from Infosys talked with the kids and played games with them.

The group played a version of spin the water bottle, where the recipient of the bottle stood up and sang a song to the group.