The only true disability in life is a bad attitude.
Scott Hamilton
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We are a CHARITY!!!
That’s right folks, you read that correctly!!!!
Faster than any of us would have imagined, we have officially gained charity status and will now be able to issue tax receipts.
Hopefully this will enable us to extend our Give-a-Child-a-Chance program, but also move toward larger corporate sponsors.
We are able to give receipts for donations made in 2001, so Canadian GCC sponsors and donors, please email requesting your receipts if you have not already received them!
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Kate and the Importance of Volunteers
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Kate’s Presence on the One! scene has made us realize the importance of extra volunteers and help. More than anything it is simply wonderful to have a couple extra hands in preparation for class and teaching.
Kate is a young lady from England that has been in India for the past months - a couple months volunteering in the South, a month or so traveling and now a couple months volunteering for One!.
With Kate’s help, we were able to all of our students up into three classes: one class for our students that are reading and writing, one for those who are just starting to put words together and finally one for the little tykes who just keep coloring and scribbling away!
Kate took over teaching these young ones and she has done a fabulous job. Even though her Hindi is limited to about ten words, she has been able to communicate perfectly well with them and has increased their attention span and drive to keep learning already. Her students are always the first to arrive.
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After Kate joined, there seemed to be an influx of volunteers there after. Gabriela from Mexico volunteers three days a week, Purab sticks his head in whenever he isn’t shooting a movie, one of Pallavi’s Aunties (a proper teacher!) has been very enthusiastic about our accomplishments and usually helps out twice a week or so, and there are even four or five more volunteers on top of that!
We hope that our volunteer strength continues to grow, as we know that it will have a very direct effect on the children!
Kokila’s big haircut from volunteers Kate and Indu!
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HOLI and the Other Good Stuff!
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Fieldtrips in the few months have gained a lot of flavor and excitement.
Of course there were the typical trips to Juhu and Home to watch TV, but also:
The big trip to Pallavis’s house: this entailed a 45 minute bus ride with 23 kids both on the way there and the way back, a movie called Raaz, lots of pav Bhaji and of course ice cream!
Kabhi Khushi, Kabhi Gham: This was the movie that Purab (a local celebrity on Channel V - Asia’s equivalent to Much Music) bought 20 tickets for the whole gang. The kids were so excited to be in a real theatre and see their hero Shah Rukh Khan on big screen.
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Holi: The best Hindu festival, at least that’s what I think. What can be better than going around and throwing paint and water at everyone you meet: old, young, friend, enemy! Pallavi and I had the great plan that if we brought water balloons that we wouldn’t get all painted...unfortunately our plan didn’t quite match the children’s!!!
Along with studies, there is always lot’s of fun and frolic in Mumbai!!!
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