And Every individual
Is every man you know
And every child in the dark
Deserves the right to grow.
And every dream is holy
For the betterment of man
To strike the words ‘it can’t be done’
The children know it can.
Joe Henry
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Thank-You!
As always, One! has many thank yous
to be said. This time we want to take the
time to extend our appreciation to our
Indian volunteers who have proven to be so
dedicated. One! would not be anything
without them.
Thanks to Smita and Rohini George who,
despite their busy schedules, dedicated a
large part of their summer holidays to
teaching classes. Both wonderful ladies
are now back in school and are not able
to teach classes, but often come out on
Saturdays to spend time with the kids!
Pallavi Metkari is our One!
superstar!!! She works endlessly with the
children and on the administration end.
Pallavi is vital to One! and the children
love her!
!!!!!!!!!!Thank you!!!!!!!!!!
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School - One Big Milestone
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We always knew that getting the children
registered into school was likely going
to be tough - and we were definitely correct.
On June 13, Smita George, her sister Rohini,
and I went to the school prepared for a fight.
Good thing we were prepared, because it was
needed.
The problem was that most of the children were
already registered in the school, but didn’t
have the best of reputations. In the past,
their parent’s would send them for the free
food and uniforms and then never return.
They would go for five to ten days of the year
and for the rest of the time could not be found.
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The teacher’s and school administration were
frustrated with them and thought that they had
already given them enough chances.
We sympathized with the school but tried
to explain exactly what we were doing with
the children and that we would be responsible
for their attendance and guaranteed that the
children would attend.
After much debate, the school finally decided
to give them one more chance.
After two weeks of all 9 kids attending every
day and all day, it was a decision that the
teachers definitely did not regret.
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In fact, within a few weeks they were
approaching us with praise and asking
us to contact more children and bring
them for an education.
Sure enough, at this time there are 16
officially enrolled! Congratulations
One! International!!!
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More Fun!
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As I mentioned in the last newsletters,
we decided to start weekly fieldtrips - and
what a lovely tradition it has already
proved to be!
The first fieldtrip in June was a much
anticipated one, as we tried to get tickets
for the most popular
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new Hindi movie, at the time, ‘Mujhe
Kuch Kehna Hai’. After two failed
attempts, we finally got the tickets
and the kids were thrilled. Especially
since for most of them it was their
first time in a movie theatre. I think
they thought they were in heaven!
Also in June and July:
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two trips to Carter Road, Hindi film number
2 (entitled ‘Gadar’), Smita’s and Tania’s
birthday celebrations with cake and
flowers, Juhu Beach number 2 where the
kids were definitely in heaven. But
even Juhu was topped, though, by July’s
last fieldtrip covered on the following
page!!!
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