More art supplies

Thanks to the dedicated effort of Tracy and Ray, their supply of arts and crafts materials -- crayons, color pencils, glue, paints, papers of all kinds and much more -- gathered from generous donors throughout the year arrived at Karunya Mane.

Some of the stuff they brought!

The kids are really enjoying their Sunday projects with our current volunteers Sara, Jen, and Ashley.

Ray helps Pallavi and Jyothi decorate the little stick figures with clothing and hair

Sara with her bunch of kids

Recently, the kids made these:

Jen with Manikanta and Prema

Latta

Jeevan

Goodbye to Jayamma

Jayamma passed away on February 19, 2008 at about 4:30pm in the afternoon. She came to Karunya Mane almost a year ago, after having lived on the streets for many, many years. 

For more on Jayamma, please see our website here.

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

Yellow belts

In early January, ten of our older kids (Asha, Venkatesh, Lokesh, Amita, Sharath, Prema, Sreenevasa, Kaleem, Manikanta, Harish) passed their first karate test, and won the honor of wearing yellow belts!

Here's a brief shot of the kids coming back from their test.

Three more in Project Food and More

Three more deserving kids have joined our Project Food and More Program, bringing the kid count to 29. Project Food and More provides care packages to destitute children who have lost one or both parents to HIV. They and their guardians are very poor, and are referred to us by a local HIV clinic in the area.

One of the kids, a seven-year-old boy, lives with his mom in Mysore. He lost his dad a few years ago and mom cleans houses for a living, earning about 1000 rupees (about $12) a month. Another girl, 12 years old, lost her mom and dad a few years ago, and lives with her grannie. The third girl, age eight, also lives with her grannie, as she recently lost both her mom and dad to HIV.

If you'd like to help these kids, or kids like them, please read more here. For just $25 per month, you can provide healthy and nutritious food and hygienic items to these destitute kids and their caretakers.

Volunteer notes

From Kelly Thompson, an Operation Shanti volunteer:

While I was in Mysore in spring-summer 2008, I was lucky enough to hear about Operation Shanti and all the amazing work they do to help local people in need of care and support. When I made contact, it was agreed that the best way I could help would be to offer English lessons to a few of the children who needed an academic and/or morale boost for one reason or another.

I went on to tutor two adorable wee girls called Prema and Pooja two evenings a week at the centre. I can hardly begin to describe how much I got from teaching them. Both girls were smart, sweet and sensitive, and it was my pleasure to nurture these qualities in them. Despite me not being in Mysore for all that long, it was hugely rewarding to see their confidence and abilities improving, and it was a complete joy to see them having such fun learning. Prema needed a little more help and encouragement because of her hearing difficulties but both girls participated to the max, helped each other out any time they could and learned very quickly. They particularly loved the most interactive tasks – such as singing songs, playing games and doing actions to help them learn new words. I left every session feeling revitalized from their sense of enthusiasm for communicating and sharing. And I like to think that the sessions boosted their passion for learning as well as increased their knowledge of English.

It's hard for me, as a relatively privileged Westerner, to understand what so many of the kids, and other people, at the centre have been through in their lives. But I feel truly privileged to have been able to help even just a couple of them in some small way, and I've learned a lot from them – through their commitment to hard work, their heartfelt warmth and their pure joy for life.

I found the whole experience enriching and inspiring, and I hope to come back to Mysore to help in any further way I can at the first opportunity I get…

Pooja, Kelly, Prema

Connecting

Two new friends from the UK came to visit everyone at Karunya Mane. One of the women works with the elderly in the UK, and spent some time with Jayamma.

Jayamma used to live on the streets of Mysore for years, maybe 25 years or more. She's been with us at Karunya Mane for almost a year. She suffers from a weak heart, and doesn't really talk anymore but the staff and other women at KM help to feed and clean her every day. Jayamma also has her own way of communicating, and loves when people touch her or hold her hands.

She really enjoyed her time with Kate.

School sweaters

Check out these handsome kids in their school sweaters.

Sharath

little Pooja and Lokesh

Shanti

Sinchana

Oh my god, the... DENTIST!

We certainly lucked out when it comes to teeth care for our kids. A fabulous dentist just a few minutes from Karunya Mane has proven to be quite charitable and kind. Thank goodness, because ALL of our kids require some kind of work on their teeth, either fillings or extractions, or other nasty procedures that we all so love while at the dentist.

Dr. Mahesh also gives us monthly supplies of toothpaste for our kids, as well as toothbrushes. He's at the Mahesh Dental Clinic on Gaddige Main Road in Bogadi, Mysore.

Gifts from Sweden

This year Christmas was a little late at Karunya Mane (January), but it was quite special, as the kids got to celebrate with special presents sent by schoolkids from the Sodra Angby Skola in Sweden.

Sumitra got a doll and a photo of her new friend in Sweden

Parveen and Vishnu

Surya

Mr. Joseph coordinated the gifts with Sweden and with the yoga
community, as he does every year for several orphanages in the area

Latta

Elena and Henrick introduced the idea of sharing Christmas with India to the school:

"We've had a really fun time with the kids and their teacher on this project. Henrik started by giving the class a slideshow of India and discussing different aspects of the culture. A week later Henrik and I went together to the class to answer more questions about India and for me to help them translate their letter text into English, working with the kids through the English and allowing them to tell me how things are said in English. We then helped them to create their cards. Finally, today, we went and collected the gifts they chose and wrapped with their parents help (we asked them to give things that are meaningful to them). After dealing with the gifts, I led the class in a playful yoga session and we discussed a bit about the history and benefits of yoga. Some of the kids have already found and checked out Operation Shanti's website and we encouraged their teacher to let those kids who have visited your website to tell the other kids about it so they can find their way to it to learn more about the kids over there."

What to bring from afar?

We are often asked by Westerners coming to visit Mysore what they could bring to our kids. Here's a list of practical and useful items that we can definitely use:

     * girl's underwear (the boys wear slightly different styles from those in the US)
     * rubber slippers, all sizes (our kids go through these like they're made of paper!)
     * pencils and pens
     * composition style notebooks
     * bath soap bars
     * laundry soap
     * big bottles of shampoo
     * small tubes of toothpaste
     * skin moisturizer

For more on what we could use, please see our website page here.

Happy Birthday to Devaraj

On January 3, little Devaraj turned eight years old!

A new girl, Suma

Last week, we took in a new girl named Suma. She was left on the street by her family, and nobody knows where they went or how to find them. Suma says that she is the oldest of four girls, and that her parents are laborers who wander around India looking for work.

Suma is about 11 or 12 years old, and has a quiet, pleasant personality. She is getting along nicely with the other kids at Karunya Mane and participates in their activities like arts and crafts and karate. Since Suma has never attended school, we started her with daily tutoring sessions with one of our teachers, and she's learning how to read and write.

A really really nice gift

Today, out of the blue, Manikanta gave us the sweetest gift.

Manikanta, age 9 and finishing up first grade, has lived off and on the streets for years. He used to run away from his mom when she beat him and burned his eyes and skin with pepper fumes for not bringing any money home. He'd stay with his friends on the street.

Manikanta was also developing the nasty and highly addictive habit of sniffing glue.

This year, Manikanta came to Karunya Mane because he wanted to be with his friends. He struggled for a long time in his new environment, running away once and often talking about leaving school and Karunya Mane to go back to the street.

This past weekend, for the first time ever, he told us, "I am happy here. I do not want to go back to the street, I am very happy here and want to stay."

What better gift for the New Year? Let's hope he continues on his path to a new life...

It breaks our heart

After behaving quite well for several months (see our older post here) and making an effort (so it seemed) at reconciling with his wife, one of our street dads got drunk this past week, and then he beat her for no good reason.

Again, Kamini ran away from him and went to stay with friends for a few days. Her friends on the street, our street moms, knew where she ran to, but acted as if they didn't know to help hide her from husband.

When she ran away, she left her kids with Dad. One of the boys is now at Karunya Mane with us. At least Dad has the sense to let us take care of him, as he knows he can't do it properly. Dad, who spends his days working on the street selling vegetables or as a day laborer at the market, took the other little boy to stay with relatives.

After a few days, Kamini made her way to Karunya Mane. Her situation breaks our heart because she has come such a long way, from being a reckless woman living on the streets and contracting HIV to becoming one of the most caring, intelligent, and practical mothers who takes excellent care of her two little children. If not for her abusive husband... life could be so different for Kamini---and maybe it still can be.

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.

Another two for Project Food and More

We recently added two more families to Project Food and More, bringing the kid count to 26 in our relatively new program that is being quite well received.

The first family lives in the Mysore area. Mom has two girls (one positive, the other negative) and cleans pots and pans to earn her income. Sadly, dad passed away a few years ago, and mom's family has completely shunned them because of her positive status, so they are alone.

The second family lives far from Mysore, but they come to the Asha Kirana clinic each month for their checkup. Mom lost her husband a few years ago to HIV, and she works in a photo lab while her son, age 7, attends school. They rent a house for 500 rupees a month ($12), and mom earns a monthly salary of 2000 rupees (about $45).

If you'd like to help these kids, or kids like them, please read more here. For just $25 per month, you can provide healthy and nutritious food and hygienic items to these destitute kids and their caretakers.

Goodbye to Tata

On January 3 at about 11:00 am, Venkatesh Hegde ("Tata") passed away. He was about 70 years old. Tata had the most beautiful, peaceful eyes.

For more on Tata, please see our website here.

The Zoo!

During the Dasara holiday, which went from October 8th to October 30th, the kids with parents spent 1 1/2 days at their homes. They then returned to KM to continue their tutoring sessions during the holiday, and to enjoy a couple of outings.

One outing was to GRS Fantasy Park, a mini-Disneyland like amusement park with tons of rides and games for the kids to enjoy. The kids had a blast and have already picked out the amusement park they want to visit next year.

The other outing was to the Mysore Zoo, where they saw a collection of amazing animals, like lions and tigers, and elephants and giraffes, as well as gorillas, monkeys, alligators, and exotic birds.

The kids brought a packed lunch made by our cook, Raju, whose food they absolutely love.

Swarana and Vishnu enjoying lunch

Harish, Nanjunda, Swarana, and Vinod resting

Harish (volunteer) with Vinod; Saroja; Divya holding Siri; and Manjula (volunteer)

October 23 was also Manikanta's birthday, and they brought his birthday cake to the zoo to wish him a happy day. Photos and video courtesy Thomas Smith.

Second Report Cards

Second quarter report cards came out for our kids. Most did very well again, and we hope that the focus on education and after-school tutoring is having an impact.

Big Pooja, again, got straight A's, as did quiet Surya.

Prema, finally cleared of her chronic ear infections, scored solid B+'s in all subjects again.

Manikanta got an A+ in math, and improved in his other subjects.

Venkatesh got almost straight A's despite being a non-stop talker in tutoring class. Ahem.

The other kids all got a mix of A's and B's, most showing improvements in their grades from last quarter, and with a few C's mainly in English -- English will be a focus during their summer break, when their tutoring sessions will continue.

Imran and little Pooja

Imran, brother of Parveen and nephew of Kaleem, moved into Karunya Mane last week. He's just about three years old and is starting in nursery school. Mom and dad are very poor and wanted Imran to stop wandering around the streets while they worked. Dad works when he can find jobs near the market.


Little Pooja also moved in this past week. She's four years old and dad works as a day laborer at the market. Mom and dad don't have a house but live with Pooja's grandmother in a slum area. Pooja started in lower kindergarten with our other kids.

Goodbye to Rukkhmini

On Sunday, November 9th at about 4:00 in the afternoon, Rukkhimini ("Rukkhi") one of our street moms, passed away. She was mom to Nanjunda, who live at Karunya Mane, and Danhu.

For more on Rukkhi, please see our post here.

Happiness is...

Umesh, age one year and five months, today.

Out on bail

In the latest development for Mary, someone finally bailed her husband out of jail. After hearing of this, Mary and Aunty went to the police station to get information on the conditions of the bail, but they were told to go to the courthouse for that information.

At the courthouse, they learned that the husband has been instructed not to go anywhere near Mary. If he does his bail will be rescinded and he will be back in jail. At some point in the future (possibly months), Mary and husband will be summoned to appear in court for a hearing. In the meantime, if husband does cause any trouble, like hassle Mary or take his kids out of Karunya Mane, we are to call the police station and they will arrest him again.

Given that husband was in jail for over three months, we hope that he has learned at least one lesson -- which is to obey the terms of his bail and stay away from Mary.

October 2008 e-newsletter

Our October 2008 e-newsletter is out.

Karate

The kids at Karunya Mane take karate lessons twice a week, on Sunday mornings and again on Tuesday mornings before school.

The older kids are with one teacher and the little ones do some calesthenics and jumping around with another teacher.

Goodbye to Padma

On Sunday, October 26th at about 3:00 in the afternoon, Padma, one of our street moms, passed away. She was mom to Harish and Devaraj, who live at Karunya Mane.

For more on Padma, please see our post here.