Heart and Soul
The EIC runs on love and skill. Here’s Nirmala, one of our special educators, conferring with Aarti, physiotherapist and Director of the centre. I was touched by the obvious affection each has for the other: Nirmala’s hand was on Aarti’s shoulder the whole time they were talking. It is a hallmark of the place, and […]
Speech Therapy with a Smile
I I visited the EIC this morning (this blog is really inspiring me to get away from my desk!) and watched Puja doing a new kind of speech therapy which she learned from Anne Bruce (our amazing volunteer speech therapist – more on her later!). Puja said that Baby Ayush drools a lot and Anne […]
Young Adults
I finally got to visit the Centre for Vocational Training this week. It’s in a beautiful new building now (rented from our friends Kusum and Baba Kanwar) and it looks wonderful. I spent some time in what we call the Transition Class – those students poised for adulthood, not quite ready to leave the security […]
Anjali Does Advocacy
Today Jasmine Pavri of the J R D Tata Trust came to visit us. It was her first trip to the Foundation and she was eager to see all of our projects for herself, having heard about them for several years. Each of us reported on our own activities and Jasmine was visibly impressed with […]
Over the Rainbow
Have you heard about our second-hand shop? It’s a unique concept here in India, though a tried and true one in the West. We call ours Rainbow Resale, and we collect used clothing, books and household items (including, eventually, furniture and appliances) and sell it all at rock-bottom prices. Our customers include daily wage laborers […]
The Fun Of Fund-Raising
We did it! Such chutzpah! After taking a ten-week course in fundraising, Nileshwari, Tara and I organized a two-day workshop here in Dehradun. We invited Rati Misra from the Resource Alliance, Amita Puri from CRY, and Jerry Almeida from ICONGO, (all of whom were wonderful), but we also had the himmat to do one whole […]
Basant Panchami
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. […]
Step by Step
Manju and I just got back from doing a workshop in Delhi for a group of teachers who have just been recruited for a school about to open – it’s called Step by Step and it is to be a fully inclusive place. It was a wonderful experience. The teachers are young, bright and full […]
Concentration
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.
A Visit to Karuna Vihar
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 […]