Our new boy has a sponsor!

Just a quick update -- we just got a sponsor for Padmanabhu!

Dear sponsor, thank you so much! We can't adequately express our gratitude for the generosity that you have displayed for our newest little boy. If you are ever in Mysore, please let us know. I'm sure Padmanabhu would be tickled to meet you!

A new boy for Operation Shanti

Our newest boy at our children's home is Padmanabhu, a cute little 12-year-old boy from Mangalore, which is about a 10-hour trip from Mysore. Padmanabhu lost his dad and mom a few years ago, as well as his little sister Pallavi. Padmanabhu then went to live with his grandpa. Then, grandpa passed away last year and his relatives put him into a residential school in the area.

For some reason, the school decided he wasn't "fit" to be in their institution and asked the boy to leave. The relatives, who were reluctant to keep Padmanabhu with them, heard about our place in Mysore and asked if he could be admitted with us.

Sometimes, relatives who just don't want to bother with their nieces or nephews tell us all kinds of stories about why they can't keep a kid who has nobody else in his life. We really aren't sure why this happens but it happens frequently. In any event, we took Padmanabhu in at Karunya Mane because, obviously, he needs shelter and people to care for him.

At his old school, Padmanabhu was studying in 5th grade, but he'll likely start over in 3rd grade---this often happens if the kid's old school did not have a strong curriculum. We aren't concerned, Padmanabhu is an eager and very active child, and a few of our other kids have had to repeated a grade when they first come to KM---they are now excelling as students!

Padmanabhu going to school on Monday

Padmanabhu is adjusting well to life at KM, and sure does enjoy being with our 22 other boys. He's making fast friends with them, and started participating in our activities right away---karate on Sundays and Wednesdays with the other boys, and some yoga and chanting with a couple of volunteers this past Sunday.

If you'd like to sponsor Padmanabhu, please see our website: sponsor Padmanabhu!

Two New Kids -- Project Food and More

Project Food and More, our effort to assist children orphaned by HIV/AIDS with monthly care packages, added two new kids to the program (names have been changed for privacy reasons).

Dilip

Dilip, age 9, lives with his mom and grandmother in a two-room house in a slum area of Mysore. His dad, who was a truck driver, committed suicide a few months ago by drinking poison. Mom is quite distraught as she can barely support herself and her son, and she must now travel to Bangalore once a month to get Dilip's HIV medication -- second line therapy is only offered in Bangalore. 

Dilip is a very cute little boy, looks more like he's 6 years old, and sure does like to play with his friends in his neighborhood. 

Pooja

Pooja is a sweet 13-year-old girl studying in 8th grade in a slum area of Mysore. Her mother used to work as a housekeeper but cannot work now because of her health issues. Pooja and mom live in a tiny two-room rented house with her uncle, his wife, and their two children. Pooja's dad died five years ago from HIV. 

If you'd like to help Dilip and Pooja with monthly care packages, you can do so with a $25 (Rs.1200) donation at: Project Food and More Donation. Thank you!

Best (BEST!) Students in School

In our last post, we mentioned that two of our girls, Mamatha and Shilpa, were selected as the best students in their schools, Mamatha for Deepa Middle School (grades 5-7) and Shilpa from Deepa Primary School (grades 1-4).

Well, here they are, getting their awards at the recent school day program for Deepa School. Such excellent recognition for our two girls, who both come from such difficult backgrounds--as do all of our kids.

Shilpa 

Shilpa lived in a slum area of Mysore for seven years, until she came to Karunya Mane. She never attended school but was forced to stay home to take care of her little brothers when mom and dad went to work in the city, collecting paper and cardboard boxes to sell by weight. Shilpa came to KM a couple of years ago and started in 1st grade at Deepa School, and has gotten only A+s since. 

Shilpa's dad recently passed away, and she was very sad to see him go because they were close. Dad called for Shilpa often during the days before he died, and his kids got to see dad before he passed.

Mamatha

Mamatha came to KM a couple of years ago, after her mom died suddenly and very unexpectedly. She had a rough first two or three months as she adjusted to the new environment, after living with her mom for years in their little house. Now, she's fully integrated into KM and Deepa School and is consistently an outstanding student and really well-behaved girl.

Mamatha has a father but, after visiting her twice, he hasn't come to see her.

The award presenter in the photos is Mr. KM Puttu, an Officer in the Government Education Department.

SO many prizes!

About this time of year, the schools usually hold their School Day events, including games and contests among the students.

Twenty-five of our 34 kids enrolled at Deepa School won a total of 43 prizes! Here is the list of prizes won. Check out Prema with 4 prizes and Devaraj, Sharath, Vijayalakshmi, Manjula, and Suma with 3 each! Even little Adarsh was the fastest little froggie in his kindergarten class frog race!

Name	Grade	Contest	Prize
Vishnu	1st	Running	1st
Shilpa	2nd	Grouping the grain	1st
Jyothi	2nd	Recitation	1st
Pallavi	3rd	Lemon and spoon race	1st
Razak	3rd	Grouping the books	1st
Devaraj	4th	Sack race	2nd
		Grouping the bangles	2nd
		Janapada nruthya	2nd
Renuka	4th	Recitation	1st
Arabia	4th	Lemon and spoon race	2nd
Netra	4th	Recitation	2nd
Kartik	4th	Sack race	2nd
Shwetha	4th	Grouping the bangles	1st
Sadiq	4th	Drawing	1st
Prema	5th	Singing	2nd
		Pick and axe	2nd
		Throwball	1st
		Discipline and attendance	1st
Pooja	5th	Singing	2nd
		Throwball	2nd
Shanti	5th	Singing	2nd
		Throwball	1st
Mamatha	6th	Throwball	1st
Sharath	6th	Drawing	3rd
		Throwball	1st
		Ball throwing into the wicket	3rd
Vinod	6th	Singing	2nd
		Volleyball	2nd
Pavan	6th	Volleyball	2nd
Vijayalakshmi	5th	Dance	3rd
		Recitation	3rd
		Drawing	2nd
Divya	5th	Drawing	2nd
		Dance	3rd
Prajwal	6th	Singing	1st
		Drawing	1st
Adarsh	KG	Frog race	1st
Manjula	8th	Throwball	1st
		Running race	1st
		Lockie corner	1st
Suma	9th	Throwball	1st
		Shotput	1st
		Running race	2nd

We're so proud of them.

KM Kids at School with their Prizes

What the kids did on Christmas Day!

What they did on Christmas. See the latest photos here, and little Santa Surya -- 


http://flic.kr/s/aHsjDnX9Bs

December 2012 is here

...and the kids' good friend Adeline from Singapore is back, helping to decorate KM with fabulous Christmas painting and decorations!

...work in progress... 

Stay tuned for the final Christmas scene at KM, as decorations are underway.

On another fun note, two of our kids participated in the recent Deepa School dress-up competition. Thanmaye, in 2nd grade, dressed up as a "mom" in her Indian sari --

Thanmaye

Devaraj, 4th grade, dressed up as a poor old man who told his classmates about the importance of a good education (check out the posture!).

Devaraj

KM Boy and Girl of the Month - September, October, and November 2012

The boys and girls of the month at KM for September, October, and November are:

September - Shanti and Prajwal
October - Arabia and Razak
November - Arabia (two-time winner!) and Venkatesh

As their prize, Shanti, Prajwal, and Razak got to go to Anath's wedding in early November. Ananth is a good friend of our kids and arranges for them to go to summer camps every summer vacation. The three kids enjoyed their outing in Mysore, saw a fabulously glamorous wedding ceremony, and had a really yummy lunch! Arabia was unable to attend because she had a prior engagement working with the other 4th graders on an conversational English learning project with some friends from Chicago.

Razak, Prajwal, and Shanti (right) and Kruthi and Anath (bride and groom)

Little Venkatesh at the front of the line

Little Venkatesh has been with us now for almost a year, and he's attending St. Francis school in pre-KG. He grew up on the street with his grandma and we took him in at KM when he turned three years of age. He's very well behaved and quite healthy and strong, and loves to write on his little slate with chalk. Here he is waiting in line (first little boy in his blue uniform) to be taken to school in the morning.

Photo History...

Our photostream on Flickr -- from the beginning of our programs on the streets of Mysore to today.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/92971722@N05/

(cute) Brats? Meditating?

Nine boys at KM are from ages 4 to 7 and, yes, they are sometimes more than a handful.

Other times, they are calm and serene, and enjoy a moment of quiet meditation ... and yawning.

Annual Report 2011-2012

If you are interested in reviewing our most recent annual report, please feel free to download your copy at:

Annual Report 2011-2012

Jeevan and Venkatesh

Thank you!

Operation Shanti October 2012 e-Newsletter

Our October 2012 e-Newsletter is now available, featuring our older former street kids, the kids' educational accomplishments under the guidance of our excellent teachers, and the little ones at Karunya Mane.

The newsletter is available for download on our website at:

Operation Shanti October 2012 e-Newsletter

Our own little Gandhi-ji Jr.

This year, October 2 was the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Indian nation. The kids had the day off from school, and government offices were closed.

Our boys at KM decided to celebrate by introducing our own little Gandhi-ji... !

Little Manu as  Gandhi-ji Jr. (check out the watch around his waist!)

Not a bad imitation? The woman in the yellow sari is the boys' house mother, Mehar Banu, who thinks up fun activities like this for the kids.

KM Boy and Girl of the Month - August 2012

The kids of the month for August were Shilpa and Surya. Both are excelling in school, yet come from difficult backgrounds.

Shilpa, age 8, came to Karunya Mane a year ago (April 2011), along with her little brother Jeevan. She lived with her mom and dad in a slum area of Mysore in a one-room grass shack that they built, with a door that barely closed. Shilpa never attended school because she stayed home to watch little Jeevan when mom went to work. Mom gathered discarded paper and cardboard and sold it by weight.

When Shilpa came to KM, she could not read or write. One of our tutors helped her for a month with the basics and we then enrolled her in school, 1st grade, in May 2011. Since then, she's only gotten A+s in all of her classes and her teachers say that her behavior is impeccable.

Surya, age 9,  has been with us at KM for a few years, and is our star in school. We met him in 2005 on the streets of Mysore, where he played while mom sat and begged on the sidewalk. Surya has always been a very well behaved boy, and this most recent quarterly test, he was ranked #1 in his 3rd grade class.

Surya's English is now so good (!) that he sometimes translates between English and Kannada for some of our non-Kannada speaking friends who come to visit the kids. 

Drawings

Kids love to draw. Ours do also, and some of our kids are getting pretty good at it. 

by Sharath R., 6th grade

by Vinod R., 6th grade

Shanti Store, now open at Karunya Mane

The Shanti Store is now open at Karunya Mane! Actually, it's been open for a few months now, and gives the kids a chance to "buy" goodies and snacks that all kids like to get their grubby little hands on.

Getting ready to shop! Sadiq and Pavan are on duty today, and the boys are waiting nicely in line
(what? a line in India?) for their turn at the store counter.

This is little Jeevan, he's three years old (and really cute) and
attends a nice pre-KG Montessori school nearby.

Each child gets an allowance every month based on age (the oldest kids get 40 rupees, the youngest kids get 20 rupees). Bonus money (5 rupees) is given to kids whose behavior is exceptional during any given month. Disciplining occurs for kids who fail to do their homework (oh no!) -- a deduction of 5 rupees from one's allowance has occurred on certain occasions when one misbehaves.

Today, he decided to buy a candy bar. (The money is "KM Money," created by the kids themselves.)

Two of the older kids are on duty each weekend (Saturdays for the girls, Sundays for the boys) to sell items and record each transaction, including who spent how much on what.

Sadiq serves banana chips to Raju. Pavan records every transaction.

The Shanti Store offers the typical Indian sweet and savory snacks -- banana chips, chukkuli, cho-cho, chili-flavored corn flakes -- as well as, of course, various types of candies, chocolates, and other yummies.

Interesting patterns have emerged. The boys save their money each month in case special items are sold at the store -- last month, two of the boys were able to purchase watches with the money they saved! The girls do NOT save, spend their entire allowances each month, as they say, "oh I'll get more money next month, I'll just buy another piece of chocolate now." What's up with that?

So far, the store is a huge success and the kids absolutely love shopping! They eagerly wait until 5:00 pm, when the store opens, and are learning the value of money, consequences of one's actions, and tracking money and purchases.

If you're in Mysore and want to donate to our store inventory, we take any kind of kid-appropriate snack and goodie found in Mysore bakeries or provision stores, including inexpensive wallets, watches, bangles, necklaces, henna, bindis, fingernail polish... nothing too expensive -- we use actual market prices on our items!

God didn't rest on the 7th day (neither did Baxter)

Kendra and Baxter, two friends of our kids at Karunya Mane, started the project in San Francisco, raising money for a playground for KM. They tapped into their friends and family and their community at StarSeeds Preschool, which Kendra founded (because she loves kids).

Then, they looked around on the Web and found a great playground equipment vendor in Bangalore, and spent a few early mornings and late nights calling from San Francisco to coordinate the order. 

In early August, they flew halfway around the world, first arriving in Bangalore, where they stayed for a few days to check out the playground equipment factory, and then they drove over to Mysore.

On the day deemed "Day 1" by project manager-chief logistics coordinator Baxter, the equipment actually did arrive on schedule (no Indian time allowed at KM! ahem). 

Day 1 - The equipment arrived, and on schedule! That's Baxter in the light blue t-shirt, ordering everyone around to get things done quickly! (of course, he's speaking in English to the Indian workers, so we're not exactly sure what or how much they understood of his directions, but his style was impactful!)

Day 3 - Girls' playground.

The prior weekend, under Kendra's watchful eye, the kids painted the bricks that surround the playgrounds with their names, a very thoughtful idea of Kendra (she must be an educator?!?) to give the kids a sense that they contributed to putting the playground together.

Day 5 - Boys' playground. Getting there...

And finally, on Day 7, laying the grass was completed, the bricks were all in place, and all was completed -- on time, within budget, and with soooooo much excitement!

Day 7 - Boys' playground.

Seriously, doesn't it just look fabulous? I mean, what kid has a playground in his/her own front yard?!!

Day 7 - Girls' playground (and Sumitra hanging her clothes).

We aren't sure how such a wonderful gift came our way. Our kids are very fortunate to have friends like Kendra and Baxter. If you've ever met our kids, then you know that there is something special about them. Maybe it's that they come from such difficult backgrounds and social-economic hardships but continually prove to us that they can thrive and flourish when given the chance -- excelling in school, improving and refining their behavior to the point where, wow, we don't even recognize them sometimes ;-) and just, well, enjoying their childhood years. They attract such fabulous friends from around the world who remember them even after several years -- Kendra first met them several years ago on her trip to Mysore (!) -- these kids are really something else, as are their friends.

Come on over and check out the playgrounds!

Clean those ears!

A couple of weeks ago, the wonderful people from audiologyindia (www.audiologyindia.com) and AIISH (All India Speech and Hearing) came to KM to give all of the kids ear checkups.

Jyothi: Oh my god, THAT was in my ear? 

The ear doctor checking Lalitha's ears.

The checkups included a hearing test, an exam by an ear-nose-throat physician, and a speech test.

Vinuta being check out by the speech therapist

Thanks so much to Jayaprakash at audiologyindia and our dear friend Manjunath for doing such a nice job organizing everything.

The kids' friend Manjunath, who helps them with many health-related arrangements.

KM Boy and Girl of the Month - July 2012

This past month (July), the girls selected Joythi, age 7, in 1st grade, and the boys selected Umesh, age 5, upper kindergarten, as the best kids of the month at KM. They both got a nice prize!

Jyothi and Umesh are both from the street, and lived there from birth to about three years of age.

Now, they are nice and healthy, and well-behaved, at KM:

Updates on the playground project (wow, it's happening!!!)

After a few months of fundraising and planning, the playground project has landed in Mysore! See the following for the updates on our friends Kendra and Baxter from Star Seeds Preschool, who are heading up the effort.

http://sseedsshantiplayground.blogspot.com/