April 2010
The number of children currently registered is 246, with over 200 attending, an overall attendance percentage of 74%. There are five permanent staff teachers at Nallasopara, and four teachers who go to the school on a part time basis two or three days per week.
We also have five "client staff", who take care of the pre-step children, primary children, cleaning, errands, and cooking. In addition we try to have two volunteers at the school, when available, to help in various areas of need.
There are three groups of students in Nallasopara:
- Students who attend our school in the morning and go to another school in the afternoon,
- Students who only attend our school,
- Students who go to another school in the morning and attend our school in the afternoon.
There are 8 teaching rooms, a PreStep Room, an Exercise room, an Office and a Kitchen at the school. All students receive some form of nutrition, depending on when they are at the school, and for how long.
The woodworking boys repaired all of the broken boxes. They also made a shelving unit for the office to store the class folders and supplies and repaired various holes in the floors. They decided that since the younger children don't keep their notebooks or pencils in their boxes anyway, they would not repair the boxes - instead they would flip the lidless boxes upside down! This freed up the lids that the children now use to sit on.
Sarita, our cook, is teaching many of our older students how to cook and prepare food. At least ten students have learned the basics of this crucial skill.
General first aid is provided and staff are trying to locate a doctor in the area who would be willing to see our children.
Infrastructure is still a huge problem in Nallasopara. The school continues to experience water, electrical, and local council issues, among others. The approach road is a swampy river in monsoon and there are puddles of toxic waste at all other times. Somehow all this doesn't affect the mood inside the school's walls and the children are all smiles and all ears for their teachers.
A quote from one of our volunteers Emma W:
"Working with all of the classes at Nallasopara has been an amazing experience, but there are a few that really stick out. As anyone who teaches there will say, Steps 7 and 8 in the morning are incredible! They have such a desire to learn - they ask for homework during their lunch break - that it is the perfect class to start the day feeling inspired and excited to be there. Step 3/4 in the afternoon has also been very inspiring, as their classroom behaviour continues to improve and they get more and more excited about learning. Through getting to know the students as individuals, I've learned a lot about how to teach, but most importantly, about how to motivate them to do their best."
