It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Can it Get Any Better?
With the successes of the last two months, we are all thinking to ourselves “can it get any better than this and can we keep everything going the way it is?”.
Well, since we are awaiting the any day arrival of the BMC (police) to smash the houses down again, we can not be too optimistic.
However, we do have plenty to look forward to. Janine from Holland is arriving in only a week, and we are about to start practices for our second big Talent Show where the children get to show-off their singing, dancing, and acting.
We are all keeping our fingers crossed for our future.
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The Search is Over...Oh What a Classroom!!
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Believe it or not, the search has finally ended...and successfully at that! We have managed to snag a large classroom on the fourth floor of the local Khar School (3 minute walk from the kids’ homes). The ocean can be seen from the windows, and there are no other classes within two floors of us!
It has truly made a huge difference! The kids are more excited than ever to come to school every day and are clearly learning at a far faster rate, being away from all distractions and having four proper walls around them.
We have begun to use our workbooks, and Jayenti is already half-way through the ‘blue book’—the toughest we’ve got!
We even have the moms involved, they work five days cleaning the classroom and get 100 Rs. ($3.50). Three of the mothers even come to class and study with the children.
Thank heavens! Our dreams have come finally come true!!!
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So many children...
By the end of August, just as we were ready to move into the classroom, we had gained more than ten children, and our numbers have officially passed over 40.
One day in the huts we had 4 volunteers and 32 children.
One day in the classroom, we had 38 children, as well as 3 mothers and two babies.
What would we do if we didn’t have all of the new volunteers that we have...Pallavi and I would be pulling out our hair.
We almost forgot what we went through with the families when we started, but the parents of our new families quickly reminded us. “Give me this”, “Give me that”, not to mention all the issues about
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cleanliness, and obeying our rules, and never asking for anything.
We have our work cut out for us! But that’s what’s fun!
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