Prasad's house

Four children were recently added to our Project Food and More program, which helps children orphaned by HIV/AIDS on a monthly basis. This brings the number of kids we help through this program to 51.

The first of the four, Prasad (names have been changed to protect their privacy), lives with his aunt in a village right outside of Mysore. His dad died in 2002, and his mom is too ill to take care of him and has been moved to a terminal care facility near the city. Prasad's aunt struggles to earn a living for her son, her husband (who suffered from a stroke three years ago) and Prasad.

The second child is Siddraju, who lives with his uncle in a village outside of Mysore. Siddraju's mom and dad both died in 2009 and his uncle earns about 2000 rupees a month, which is supposed to support the seven people in the household.

Ragu and Rashmi live with their aunt in a single room in Mysore. Their mom died in 2004 and their dad died in 1999. Their aunt rolls incense sticks for a living, and their uncle is a cook but he does not work consistently.

Christmas...

This year (2009) for Christmas, we decorated the building with some nice Christmas lights and put up a tree. There were even a few presents for the kids under the tree when they woke up in the morning!

Presents waiting for the kids when they woke up on Christmas day.

After breakfast and before their special Christmas lunch, the kids had fun opening presents. The girls got nail polish and clothes and bangles and the boys got clothes, a belt, and a hat.

Difficult children

This month, we had to expel one of our older girls. We learned that she had been stealing money from the security personnel as well as attempting to do the same from volunteers, and unfortunately this has been going on for some time. Since stealing is such a serious crime, and she had been warned several times -- and, equally importantly, our little ones view the older kids as role models -- we had to let her go.

She has gone back to her home in the slum, and from there we will help her continue her education. She will finish the school year at the current school, and we'll provide the transportation to get her to and from. Then, next year her mother will enroll her in a private school near her house, with our support.

Letting her go was an unfortunate and difficult decision, and even though she wanted to return to KM, everyone involved seems to be pleased with the resulting solution. It helps her continue her education and sets an example for others regarding behavior that is not tolerated at KM.

the ABC Shack

In early December, three volunteers had the idea and plan to paint our little shack in a very imaginative, educational way.

Venkatesh

The finished product!

The Kannada Alphabet

The kids helped with the painting, and even today some of the littlest ones stand in front of the walls, reciting the ABCs (both Kannada, the local language, and English).