Fundraiser in Gokulam

If you're in Mysore, please join us for a fabulous fundraiser dinner sponsored by Anu's Bamboo Hut! Friday, September 4, at 6:00pm. And meet a few of our cute kids who will be attending.

(click on the link for a larger view)

Kumari and life changes

Kumari, one of our long-time street moms, has been staying at Karunya Mane as she suffers from lung damage. After a recent ten-day stay at a local hospital to recover from a serious case of pneumonia and hypoxia, she came to KM to live. During her first month after being discharged from the hospital, Kumari needed to be on oxygen, and it was a challenge for her to adjust.

While on the street, Kumari sold vegetables or made flower leis, and she worked hard to earn decent wages during the flower season. She was one of the first women we met on the street in 2005, and she did her best to care for her kids even in that challenging environment. See a brief interview with Kumari in our Operation Shanti Introduction Video.

Kumari helped us tremendously through our Street People Program, referring orphans and other destitute children to us and trying to ensure that the other women in our program behaved properly. Kumari has always been reliable, a straight-talker, engages in no drama or B.S., and only cares about the well-being of her kids.

Kumari at KM with little Mohan, her 3-year-old son, and little Adarsh

Kumari, little Nanjunda (nephew), and Sumitra (daughter)

during a visit with grannie Rachamma

The doctors say that Kumari's lungs won't improve and the goal is to prevent them from worsening. A clean-air environment can help immensely. Unfortunately, the pollution in the city would be too much for her lungs.

Her condition has improved a bit, and she doesn't need the oxygen as much, but her right lung "crackles" when the doctor listens to her breathing, so we are encouraging her to stay at KM. She can watch her kids -- Mohan, Sumitra, Prema, and Venkatesh -- at KM grow up, attend school, and enjoy their childhood.

... on the way to orange belts ...

On the way to getting their orange belts -- the kids had a Sunday session with other karate students of the school, practicing what they've learned. In a couple of weeks, they'll be going for their orange belt tests, an all-day event with hundreds of other kids taking karate lessons.

Sharath and Harish

Asha and another student

Lokesh and Sreenevasa

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

Hope and improvement

Over the years, we have lost HIV+ women who had also contracted tuberculosis. HIV and tuberculosis is a difficult combination for many reasons, including the toxicity of the medications needed to treat each illness.

One of our street women, Deepti (her name has been changed to protect her privacy), was recently diagnosed with AIDS, and a few weeks later with tuberculosis. Like the other women who died, she was emaciated and could barely eat -- weighing a mere 30 kg (65 lbs). Like the other women we lost, she had a fever for weeks and frequent vomiting and diarrhea. Like the other women we lost, we admitted her to the local HIV clinic, where she started on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Soon after starting on ART, she developed lumps in her lymph nodes. Testing revealed that she had tuberculosis, and she was started on anti-tuberculosis treatment (ATT). But, unlike the other women we lost, her ART medication was changed to accommodate her need for ATT.

Fortunately for Deepti, the doctors today know better how to treat patients with both AIDS and TB. A few years ago this was not the case, and doctors hesitated putting patients on ART when they were already taking ATT for their tuberculosis. Today, these patients have a better chance of survival.

Deepti was discharged from the hospital and, unlike the other women we lost, her health has improved dramatically -- she has gained a few pounds, can eat a full meal now, looks 100% healthier and happier, and is ready to get on with her life. She still has a long way to go, and we hope that she has many good years ahead of her. Since she has no home, does not want to live on the street, and her family has shut her out, she'll be living at Karunya Mane.

"Little Girl" by Deborah Crooks

A friend of Operation Shanti donated a song to us. We've used it here:

Challenges

A recent visitor to Karunya Mane asked us, aside from fundraising, what our biggest challenge is. Often, the answer is, sadly, the parents.

Many of our kids have at least one parent, a few have both parents, and several no longer have parents. The parents are unable to properly care for their kids, being destitute themselves, are often single moms, or are moms with a deadbeat husband who drinks whatever earnings they have.

Most of our kids have endured abuse, either physical or emotional, at the hand of a mom or a dad. This happens not necessarily because the parent doesn't care or wants to abuse a child, but because the parent was abused by his or her own parent, and knows no other way.

Little Nanjunda's story is heartbreaking and, at the same time, filled with hope.

Little Nanjunda, now eight years old, lived on the streets of Mysore for most of his short life with his mom and grannie. His dad left his mom years ago, and his mom begs on the streets to earn money for their food. She used to abuse Nanjunda quite badly at times, hitting him and often throwing him on the ground then stomping on him, and speaking to him very roughly. Grannie helped take care of Nanjunda, and she often fed and bathed him.

Nanjunda's mom did not stay in one place for very long. Instead, she went back and forth between the streets and her boyfriend's home in a village about an hour away. When she and her boyfriend argued (usually resulting in her being injured by him), she and Nanjunda returned to the street. A week or so later, Nanjunda would find himself back in the village when his mom and her boyfriend made up.

Last year, grannie wanted Nanjunda to live at Karunya Mane, so that he could start school and have a nice living environment. He was already seven years old and, given his mom's unstable lifestyle, had not yet started school. In May 2008, Nanjunda came to live at Karunya Mane, and both mom and grannie were satisfied and visited him once a month on Sundays. Nanjunda loved school and his after-school tuition sessions, and often talked about learning English so he could fly on an airplane to America.

little Nanjunda (center) with Pallavi (right) and Apu (left) in 2007

Then, mom's boyfriend, who has an uncontrollable temper when drunk, started demanding that the boy be released and returned back to his mother and their shack in the village. They arrived at Karunya Mane one day, jumped the gate, and stole the boy away.

Nanjunda stayed in the village for the next few months, missing the rest of his school year. Then again this May, we found mom and Nanjunda back on the street -- it seems that they were kicked out of the village. After a few weeks, mom asked us to take Nanjunda back at Karunya Mane, as he desperately wanted to live there again and continue school with all of his friends.

After reporting our process to the local police (as a way to discourage mom from causing trouble in the future), little Nanjunda returned to Karunya Mane, and is now back in school.

We are well aware that mom may reconcile with her boyfriend again in the future, come to Karunya Mane and cause a scene again to get her son back. We'll do what we can to keep the boy with us, as his safety and future are most important.

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.

Abandoned

A field social worker found a little girl at the bus station a couple of weeks ago and brought her to us. She's almost four years old, and was a little shy for her first two hours at Karunya Mane, then she opened right up!

Tunmai enjoying her milk at KM

Tunmai loves to talk with the other kids, and she shared with them that she used to play at the bus station while her mom drank and slept there. The social worker and her organization placed mom in a rehab facility, where she'll stay for a few weeks. Nobody knows where dad might be, although the little girl talks about him leaving their house and going to work.

The other newcomer to Karunya Mane is little Adarsh. He was abandoned by his mom, and a social worker brought him to us. Nobody knew his name, so our kids named him "Adarsh," which means "perfection." He seems to be about two years old, and is still adjusting to Karunya Mane. His hair is a little thin, he has a big belly (usually a sign of malnutrition), and a runny nose but should be fine in a few days, as he's got lots of love around him, with all of our kids watching over him.

little Adarsh after a week at KM

Sanju is back

Do you ever wonder who the street people are, especially the ones who look like they haven't had a bath or a decent meal in years? Or do you just walk by them, trying not to look because they stare at you with the most pitiful expression in their eyes, begging for something from you? They're just humans, with their own stories, and sometimes have fascinating personalities and life dramas, and a host of strengths and weaknesses. Just like the rest of us.

Often, it is difficult to understand where they came from or how they got to be in their situation. Many are mentally challenged, meaning that talking with them to find out their story is even more difficult.

Regardless, some display a warmth, an innocence, and a genuineness that is sometimes rarely seen in our fellow humans, who are busy with earning money, taking care of the house, and trying to climb their respect "corporate ladders."

Maybe by having absolutely nothing to their name except for the clothes on their back, the odds and ends packed away in the ever-present plastic bag ("plastic cover" in India) that they carry, and the two or three rupees in their possession makes them so open, so free of judgment, so carefree, that getting to know them forces us to look inside our own selves and reevaluate our own lives.

Sanju in 2007

Sanju, an endless wanderer, is such a street person. We met her in 2007 when she arrived at our area on the street. She immediately became everyone's favorite because of her smile, her genuine warmth, and her absolute inability to pester anyone for money. She even turned down coins when she felt that she already had enough for her day's meals.

Sanju talked to the street kids about her "computer brain," and they laughed when she laughed. At times she spewed out phrases in such perfect English ("It is raining!" instead of "Rain coming!") that we wondered where she came from and what her experiences have been along the way.

Then after a few months, she left suddenly and without warning, and without saying anything to the new friends she made. We didn't see her for two full years.

Recently, Sanju returned and seemed the same as before, maybe a little more melancholy. Sanju told us that she went far away, to stay with the Tibetan nuns who cut her hair and gave her food.

Sanju, back at Sayyaji Rao in 2009

Older by two years, Sanju seems a bit less happy and carefree, and is a little worried about her eyesight. We took her to the eye clinic, and they told her to come back the following Wednesday for cataract surgery, but she was too afraid to go. Hopefully, she'll be ready one day.

And we asked her, "Sanju, do you have enough money for food today?" "Oh, yes!" she responds in English, and shows us her seven coins and a ten-rupee note. We offer her another ten-rupee note but she said "beda" in the local language (meaning "I don't want it"), and our other street women friends -- who all knew her two years ago -- tell her to take it so she can buy more food later. But she refuses. Funny Sanju. We do love her complete honesty and transparency, hiding nothing.

A new baby...

Banu, a young woman who lives on the street, just had a baby, who we named Venkatesh. We're not sure where Banu is from, but she looks about 17 or 18, and came to the street a few years ago.

The baby's grandma is Kaveriamma, one of our other street women, and her grandson Rajesh, who is also about 17 or 18, is the father.

Mom Banu and baby Venkatesh

Feedback

We just a note from Regina, the volunteer who spent a couple of months with the kids chanting and singing with them twice a week. She recently went back to Australia for a few months, and plans to return to Mysore in August, to continue her volunteer efforts with our kids:

Anyway just wanted to say thanks again for the opportunity to be with the children. We had so much fun, I must say that I miss them very much and feel so energized from being with them and learning new chants with them, we danced we played we laughed and rejoiced in this wonderful universe, I cannot remember the last time I had such a wonderful time, for me this experience has been the essence of yoga.

As you know our beloved Guru [Pattabhi Jois] left his body but when I think about him leaving I also think about the gift of life that the orphanage holds and the opportunity to serve and and be humble within our life. I suffer on one hand from arthritis but I rejoice on the other for now it is time for Seva which is another school of yoga: Service and Devotion.

Many thanks to you and the board at Operation Shanti for allowing me the opportunity to do some service, I look forward to continuing in some capacity when I return to Mysore in August.

Aum Shanti Aum
sistashree

Charity Yoga Event in Los Angeles for Operation Shanti

If you are in the LA area, please click on the following image for details on how to participate in a charity yoga event for our kids, held by Garth Hewitt.

The events include a raffle for great prizes from excellent corporate sponsors, an art auction, and an exhibition of Garth's photographs from India.

Project Dog House

Another summer project for our older kids was building a dog house for our three dogs, who came with our kids from the street. Here's what they came up with. Not bad for using extra materials around the facility and a bit of cement -- and all for under $10!

Mom Maggie and her puppies arrived last year. Puppies Gundha and Shirley are now fully grown. Having pets around teaches the kids not to beat them and hit them, and to take good care of their animals.

The older kids are also responsible for washing and walking the dogs when they aren't studying. Considering our dogs are street mutts, they sure are nice and clean. And friendly!

Sumitra, Devaraj, Manikanta, Jyothi, Netra, and Pallavi
hanging out in front of the dog house.

Online in Finland

Thanks to our friend Satu for writing about us on a travel blog in Finland:

http://blog.travelstart.fi/2009/05/apua-intian-katulapsille.html

(Google translate does a decent job translating from Finnish to English...)

Vishnu, Vinuta, Imran, Darshan, Jyothi

Kaleem's birthday (and cute kids)

Kaleem celebrated his eleventh birthday on May 6 this year.

Darshan and Devaraj giggling. Little Pooja eagerly waiting for her slice of birthday cake.

Amita trying to feed little Umesh a piece of cake. Suma also waiting for cake.

Kaleem

Milk!

As part of their nutrition program, the kids at KM get a glass of milk every morning before school and every afternoon when returning from school. Also added to the milk are a couple of scoops of protein powder for an extra nutrition boost.

Saroja pouring Sreenevasa his milk while Harish
helps scoop in the protein powder

Little Sumitra getting her glass from Saroja... mmm, looks yummy!

Summer cooking lessons

This summer (April/May), the kids had a few activities while on their school break. One was cooking lessons twice a week from Anu. They learned to make lots of Indian favorites, like upma, tomato bhat, idlis, vegetable palyas, and lemon rice. Their first lesson of course, was on hygiene in the kitchen and the need to clean a kitchen til it is spotless.

Sreenevasa, Asha, Kaleem, Nanjunda, Amita, Venkatesh, Lokesh, Vinod

Anu moved the stove to the floor so all could see and participate

Asha holding the end product, with Kaleem and Amita looking
on, and Nanjunda offering you some chutney!

Timing was perfect for the cooking lessons, as we lost our cook (again). We've got a new cook now (more on her later), and in the interim the older kids used what they learned and helped Saroja make a few meals.

School grades and marks cards

Here's how our kids did in school this past year:

A new little girl and little boy

Two more little ones joined us this week. Lalita (age 4), and sister to Vinod, Netravati, and Swarana; and little Gowtham (also age 4), brother to little Jeevan.

Lalita, a bit shy during her first days at Karunya Mane

Gowtham, also a bit shy but if anything like his brother Jeevan, he'll soon
be another rambunctious kid at Karunya Mane with endless energy!

Gowtham used to live with his mom in a shack in a slum area of Mysore. Mom collects used paper and cardboard from waste baskets and sells them for income. She also cleans houses when she can find work. Her husband comes and goes and does nothing to support the family.

Gowtham is a bit underdeveloped and malnourished, and we've put him on supplementary protein powder to help with his weight.

Gowtham at his house last year