Surya!

One year ago, we talked about three of our children at Karunya Mane who were to attend an English medium school in the area. It was sort of an experiment, since we weren't sure what to expect when enrolling former street/slum children in a middle- and upper-class school like this. The curriculum is more rigorous and the fees are relatively high.

http://operationshanti.blogspot.com/2010/04/three-little-ones-to-cbse-school.html

Unfortunately, two of our three children struggled a bit this past year at St. Francis. Lalitha and Shwetha weren't able to show enough improvement in their performance throughout the year to merit continuing at St. Francis -- they tried their best but sometimes it's just not meant to be -- and they will attend Deepa Primary School next year with the rest of our kids.

Little Surya, on the other hand, was ranked #1 in his first grade class at St. Francis for the entire school year. He now speaks almost fluent English and earned *SO* many extracurricular awards during the school day ceremony! We are very proud of him, not just for the excellent grades but also for his outstanding behavior.

Surya in his school uniform

Thanks so much to Surya's sponsor for helping to pay for his educational expenses for the coming year.

Next year, we'll enroll two more of our top performing kindergarteners at St. Francis. These two girls, Sowmya and Vinuta, did very well in kindergarten this past year and their teachers say that they are very bright and demonstrate an interest in learning. Coincidentally, Sowmya is Surya's little sister. 

Vinuta, Surya, and Sowmya at KM

Let's wish all of our kids an excellent 2011-2012 school year!

Our GiveIndia Listing for Indian Donors (updated)

Just as a reminder, if you reside in India and would like to make a safe and secure online donation to our organization, please see the following link:

http://www.giveindia.org/m-969-akhanda-seva-for-international-shanti-operation-shanti.aspx

GiveIndia is an NGO in India that helps other NGOs raise funds for the poorest of the poor in India by helping its users donate money to trustworthy charities. Charities undergo a rigorous due diligence process before being listed on the GiveIndia site.

Umesh, Adarsh, and little Mohan hanging out.

Los Angeles Rocks! Operation Shanti

One of our yoga teacher friends based in Los Angeles has organized a series of fundraisers for Operation Shanti, to help us build a new orphanage in Mysore. The first event was held on the Spring Equinox on March 19, and two remaining events will be held on June 18 (Summer Solstice) and September 17 (Fall Equinox).

Please see the following newsletter for more on Garth Hewitt and his generous efforts to help the kids of Mysore.