Bye Anusha...

Anusha, one of our cute little five-year-old girls, has been with us at Karunya Mane for just about two years. She's a sweet little girl who is unafraid of expressing her love and affection for others. However, she suffers from an attention deficit disorder, which has worsened during the time we've known her. She cannot focus on a simple task for even a minute, and she's always moving around and is distracted by whatever catches her eye.

Our concern was that Anusha wouldn't learn anything in a regular school (with 45+ students per teacher), and would fall far behind in her education and learning. She needed more one-on-one attention but no such special schools exist in our area. After some searching, we found another NGO in Kollegal (about an hour from Mysore) that cares for kids with special needs -- kids just like Anusha -- and they agreed to take her in.

As Anusha was leaving, some of the other girls felt very sad that she was going away. Even though Anusha often got into their things just like that pesky little sister always does, and often took their pencils, textbooks, and schoolbags as play toys, everyone really loved her like a little sister. It's been just a day, and even though we know she's in good hands, we sure do miss Anusha!

Please check back here from time to time; we'll continue to post updates on how Anusha is doing.

Cute kids coming home from school

... in case you were jonesing for some cute kid photos -- here are some of our kids returning from kindergarten class.

Vishnu, Sumitra, and Shweta

(can you believe that Vishnu is in kindergarten???)

Anusha and Vinuta

little Pooja and Swarana

Tunmai!

Imran and little Vishnu again

Anusha comes to Karunya Mane

Anusha, a cute little four-year-old, arrived at Karunya Mane this past week. Her grannie brought her to us and asked us to take her in.

Anusha's mom died soon after Anusha was born, in early 2004, and her dad ran off and married another woman. Nobody has seen him since. Grannie Geeta has been taking care of Anusha since then, but it's difficult for her because she's alone. While she works during the day, she has to leave Anusha with neighbors or friends, which means that Anusha is often alone.

Anusha with her new friends, Umesh and Darshan

We visited Anusha's grannie's house, a rented room attached to a house in a slum area of Mysore. A good chunk of her income from cleaning two house helps pay her rent. Anusha will start school this coming June, along with our other kids.

the KM little ones: Jyothi, Siri, Darshan, Umesh, Anusha