Do unto others as though you were the others.
Anonymous
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Health
With the temperature in Mumbai hitting an all-time low over the winter months and the chill staying unpredictably into the middle of February, the general health at the school was obviously affected. Staff were constantly falling sick, and the children and families were really suffering.
We were visiting the doctor’s office the most that we ever have.
Now at the end of March we seem to have mostly recovered and are back to regular level.
We were happy that Dilshaad (15) after countless visits to the doctors, many sonographies, and other tests), has fully recovered from her tumour.
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Major Theft—Major Disappointment
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We had a terrible week in the middle of February. First thing Monday morning, Social worker Vinita and I (Tania) carelessly rushed off to the house of a father that had died. The young mother (about 27) was left to care for her five children, all under ten years of age. She was clearly suffering from the shock of the situation and we were trying to give her as much support as possible.
In the meantime, someone at the school had rummaged through the office and stolen 20,000 Rs.
The theft was not broadcasted and when two of our older boys walked in to school two days later with three camera phones, it was clear what happened. We indirectly gathered as much information as we could throughout the day and then sprang into action. Vinita and Mahendra went to the local police station to ask if the policemen would help to get a confession out of the boys and scare them—but not to abuse them or prosecute.
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With the full support of the policemen, they brought the boys down to the station. The boys refused at first but when they were taken to the police headquarters they finally admitted to the theft and were able to account for all of the money that they wasted—nothing remained.
The policemen didn’t want to let the boys go. They didn’t think the boys fully understood their actions and that they would do it again. Vinita insisted that they be released.
On Friday afternoon, we had an emergency meeting at the school with all staff, volunteers, students and parents. It was well attended. We explained that this theft was only one of many incidents that showed lack of appreciation and dishonesty in the school. No one wanted to work in this environment; the school was being shut down.
When we reopened the school one week later, the atmosphere was much different. Everyone was appreciative, warm and ready to move on.
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Staff Development
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Staff Development activities have been started with the staff at both schools. The teachers and social workers get together at the Khar school and various exercises are done to bring the team closer together and to increase skills by everyone.
In addition to this, one of the Mumbai volunteers, Angelica, is teaching Excel, Word and more. Computer skills are needed by everyone in future commerce. If the teachers and social workers are to teach computer skills to the older students in the future, they need to be fluent in the computer language themselves.
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