Be like the lotus that flowers despite the dirty water it grows in.
ANON
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MacDonald’s
We were very lucky to have Shreeta and her family treat the whole school to lunch and a party at MacDonald’s!
A lot of the children weren’t too sure of the veggie burgers—but all smiles over the world famous fries and of course...Coca-Cola! Not only did the children eat, they got to dance to their favourite Bollywood songs and have a great time!
THANK YOU SHREETA AND FAMILY!!
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The Laura Russell Bursary Program
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Due to a generous donation, we were able to create the Laura Russell Bursary Program.
The Bursary Program has been set up with two different streams: academic achievement and financial need. Two children were chosen for each category.
In the Academic Achievement category, Jayenti and Bismilla were given the bursary.
Jayenti has learned all of his skills in his last five years with One!. He can read fluently in Hindi, and is approaching this in English. He would not be able to study with One! without this bursary as he would be forced to work for the family. The bursary helps Jayenti’s family make ends meet without him having to work. He is aiming to write his grade 10 exam in two years.
Bismilla is at the same skill level as Jayenti. Bismilla’s parents have not yet threatened to take Bismilla out of school to work,
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but the family has a very large loan which they are not paying back. Bismilla is able to pay back his family’s loan through his bursary.
In the Financial Aid category, Ramesh and Sangeeta were given the bursary.
Sangeeta is the oldest of six children, with her mother as the single parent. Sangeeta is only 12. Sangeeta works hard in school and behaves well. She would have to work without the extra money from the bursary to help mom makes ends meet.
At the time when the bursary was awarded, Ramesh was an only child with his alcoholic father as his only parent. Ramesh has always worked part-time to pay for his own needs as well as the needs of his father. Ramesh is not academic, but tries as hard as he can. Ramesh’s father is extremely sick with Tuberculosis and fear that he may not survive.
Congratulations to all Bursary Recipients!
MARILYN
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Just How many Children?!
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It is incredible how many students have joined One! in the last few months.
Our families from DanPada brought in to One! three more families that needed our help - Children that had tried to go to regular public school, but who got lost in the shuffle and weren’t doing well at all. All of the children are now a huge part of the One! family and are finding huge successes in school. Smart children that just need the extra five minutes of one-on-one time in order to follow the newer concepts—something that they definitely wouldn’t get at public schools.
We have also started working with more than five new families from Juhu Koliwada. They found us in the same way—by talking to our older families, hearing the children’s enthusiasm about what we do, and wanting to get involved and reap the benefits!
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We have also had new families come straight from the villages—these are generally families that are among the neediest. Usually that means no permanent home or source of income. Counting all of these new families, our single day class attendance reached its highest ever—74—with a regular attendance of around 65.
We have approximately 75 students that should be attending school, 10 babies and 10 older students that are busy working. On top of these numbers are 20-30 children that come and go.
In One!’s care—daily or for emergencies—are more than 100 children!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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