Our success from the first two weeks of March in our new school in Nallasopara never slowed. At the end of April, there were already over 75 attending with over a hundred names on the list.

Toward the middle of May, attendance had dropped slightly (families in the area have a tradition of going to village for the summer (we were all thinking about doing the same thing since electricity in the chawls(houses) is unpredictable and they usually only get it for 3-4 hours a day, and not for the two hours when we are there!). Even though attendance slowed, our registration continued to increase, we have a list of well over 100 children who are interested in studying when we open the school daily in June.

Our June plan is to start the school in the chawls once again for the first two weeks after reopening. Hopefully we will have a place to call our own (rented space) from July.

What we provide will be very basic to begin with and we will add on all the ‘extras’ as time goes on...one at a time. We will teach (Hindi, English, Math, Science, Exercise, Music, and Drama); we will provide a banana a day (no lunch to start); and we will run counseling sessions for the parents (no loans to start). As the project succeeds and grows and becomes more stable, other elements of our current program in Khar will be added to this school also.

The Nallasopara children have already experienced Sport’s Day with the Khar children. It was great to see the two groups mingling quickly, and easily becoming friends!

Ever since the beginning of One! we have tried to employee the children in whatever small way was possible. That is only if they wanted the opportunity! Dishes, floors, toilets, garbage, any small odd job at the school has a student behind it. Reshma, our cook, was our only student employee for a long time though—earning a full wage. Her food is fantastic and we have been more and more impressed with the pride she feels in her job and that she does without any persuasion whatsoever. In June, Reshma will also be teaching one class—it is always good to experiment with different things.

Now, four young men have proven their responsibility, dedication and ability to us, and have joined as student employees.

Jayenti and Bismilla have been student employees since January. They have been responsible for errands, TV/DVD operation, and more. When Nallasopara started in March, Bismilla became a teacher! He runs the classes for the lower steps in Hindi and math. In June, Jayenti will be a teacher also, teaching math to Steps 1-4 in Khar.

From April, Santosh is our new errand man, and will also take on two classes in June.

Rakesh continues driving—he is almost able to drive on his own!