August 2nd, 2008 Jo
Memory is a fluid, mysterious thing and often what we think we remember may be incomplete, in error or totally backwards. Sometimes a piece of important information can be left out of the story and when - by luck or design or happy discovery - it surfaces, it can be an occasion of wonder and amazement.
While I was with Dad last month, Lucy found a box of letters she and I had written to Mom and Dad over the last 35 years. I haven’t even begun to get through them all, but one I picked up by chance astonished me. It was written in 1994, the year we started Latika Vihar, but before Karuna Vihar opened.
In it, I talked about Moy Moy, then five years old. I said:
I think I have found a good school for Moy Moy. Ravi is going to check it out with me tomorrow and if he likes it too, we should start her from Monday. Though it’s not ideal, it’s quite good. The student-teacher ratio is excellent (6 to 1) - the problem is that the space they have is too limited for the number of children they have.
Another possible problem is the number of different handicaps they deal with. There are deaf kids, children with Downs, CP and autism and many seem more handicapped than Moy. I am not sure the experience will be the best in terms of what she picks up from the other children. I would rather there were a better mix of normal and handicapped kids so she could imitate a higher level of behaviour. It is also difficult for me to send her to such an obviously “special school” I keep wanting to say “But she’s not really like those others!” It’s so hard to know what’s true and what is my own inability to admit the truth.
Some of this I remembered, and it has always been part of my story about how we started Karuna Vihar. In my version, though, I didn’t like the school at all and certainly never considered sending Moy Moy there. In my version, I recognized right away that it wasn’t the place for her and that’s what set me on the road to starting KV.
But as I read the letter I sent my parents fourteen years ago, I realized that wasn’t quite the way things unfolded.
I continued:
We had some unexpected guests last week from Hawaii - the woman works with Jan Hanley and Jan told her she had to meet us if they came to India, so they did. They were lovely people - both are physical therapists who have gone into Public Health and want to volunteer in India for the next year or so.
I had totally forgotten about them. They had stayed in our house. I couldn’t remember a thing about them. Anand, though, recalled that the woman had helped him with his algebra homework, teaching him an amazing method that got him all the right answers but which baffled his teachers. Cathleen remembered they taught her how to hula-hoop.
Slowly, it all began to come back to me. Ravi did go with me to visit the school but we still weren’t entirely sure. When these two showed up, I now recall, I asked them if they would mind accompanying me as I made one last attempt to decide whether or not to send Moy Moy there.
They willingly agreed and I watched as they asked questions and observed the children, the teachers and the activities of the school. I didn’t realize it then, but what I was seeing was professional rehabilitation evaluation for the first time in my life.
As soon as we were on our way home, and without having conferred with each other, they both said “Jo, it’s not the right place for Moy Moy.”
And then, a few minutes later: “Jo, why don’t you open a school yourself?”
Duke and Carin Duchscherer. No photograph. No address. I’m looking for you. I want you to come back here and see what you started.
Posted in Bright Ideas, Inspiration, School Days, Volunteers | 1 Comment »
February 21st, 2008 Jo
Wheeee! We were all over the moon when we got our new bus, courtesy of the Sir J R D Tata Trust. It arrived on Children’s Day and we decorated it with balloons and streamers, packed all the kids in and took them for a picnic at the Forest Research Institute up the road.
But TODAY, we got our own name printed on it and somehow, the excitement is even more unrestrained. It’s a school bus, it’s yellow and it’s OURS!!!
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February 20th, 2008 Jo
I spent the morning at KV Junior today and got a little glimpse of the creative approaches the staff has developed for a group of very young chi
ldren not quite sure they want to be in school yet. Most of them have come straight from the EIC where the day is much shorter and their parents are often around. KV Junior is their first taste of what real school is like and it’s a challenge both for them and for the staff. So everything is made fun and entertaining - physiotherapy, for instance, happens in a circle with postures held to the count of ten and everyone - kids and teachers - participating.
Here, Jatin is thinking about whether or not to put his yellow skittle back in the basket. In the game he was just a part of, each child got the chance to roll a ball at a row of skittles. Each one participated at whatever level they could. The skill the teachers use to make the activity work for every child never fails to astonish me. For one, just being willing to accept holding the ball is the goal for today. For another, it’s letting it go. A third may be working on the eye-hand coordination that proper aim requires and a fourth may need help staying focussed. The teachers are like Zen masters, always present in the moment, alert to nuances and small achievements the rest of us might miss. It’s hard work, and highly skilled. We take off our shoes when we enter the classroom. We stand on holy ground.
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February 19th, 2008 Jo
The woman our Foundation is named for - Latika Roy - started the first Montessori school in India, right here in Dehradun. She was trained by Maria Montessori herself, whose then-revolutionary, now-mainstream approach to education was developed for children with mental handicaps! When parents of typical children saw how well it worked, they demanded it be more widely available, proof of our core belief: when you make the system work for the 
most vulnerable, you make it work well for everyone. Here’s a good example of how it goes: Abhishek is encouraged to choose his own puzzles from the well-stocked cupboard, made easier by the pictures indicating what is where, and, very important, to put them back when he is through. This helps him develop independence and responsibility and makes his teacher’s job a whole lot easier into the bargain!
Parents in Boston, USA are discovering the beauty of the Montessori system all over again (it comes into vogue every generation, like clockwork! Each new wave of parents discovers it all over again) and are now pushing for it to be put into practice in the government-funded schools there (called Public Schools). Maybe we could do the same here in India? Tried and true, and test scores improve dramatically too. Read more here:
The following appeared on Boston.com:
Headline: Montessori moves in
Date: February 18, 2008
“CAMBRIDGE - In one corner of the classroom, two students, ages 4
and 5, knelt on a rug and learned to add and multiply by playing a game
with glass beads. Across the room, a 3-year-old scrubbed a plastic
dolphin in a basin filled with water she had poured herself, taking
care to mop a small spill on the floor.”
Posted in School Days | 2 Comments »
February 11th, 2008 Jo
It’s Spring! Although it’s still pretty cold here in Dehradun, we’re celebrating the beginning of the end of a very long winter. Today is Basant Panchami, a wonderful day when everyone wears yellow clothes and eats yellow food (we had such a pretty yellow rice pilao for lunch!) and generally feels cheerful and forward-looking.
I was particularly happy today because Moy Moy was finally well enough to return to school after being home sick for almost three weeks. A long siege, and a worrying one. Her teachers and classmates greeted her with joy and even the neighbors came out of their homes to bless her as we walked to school this morning. And of course, fashion plate that she is, she was all dressed in yellow, even to her hat (that’s courtesy of Angie!).
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February 6th, 2008 Jo
One of the most important things we do at Karuna Vihar is help kids learn to focus. On my visit yesterday, I was amazed by Manju’s ability to bring her class of excited, distracted kids (they love my camera) to attention.
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February 5th, 2008 Jo
I don’t often make it to the school in time for assembly. Moy Moy likes to sleep in and by the time she’s ready for school, it’s time for me to go to the office. But today we had visitors - two toymakers! - and I got in by 8:30 to introduce them to the children.
It’s always a treat to be there. Today, Choti Manju was in charge and as I watched her I marveled again at what a talented teacher she is. Using sign language, song and her own animated facial expressions, she led the children through the morning prayer, greeted each one by name and then talked about what day it was, what month and whether it was cloudy or cold.
After singing the national anthem and Happy Birthday to Shalabh, we meditated for a few minutes and then lined up to go into the classrooms. Another new morning at Karuna Vihar!
Gopal ponders what day it is and what the weather is like
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