Vandana Bedi Visits Dehradun!
I was so excited when Vandana called to say she was in Dehradun for a meeting and would like to drop in to visit. Vandana has been a legend in my mind for as long as I have known her. I first met her in 1995 when I took Moy Moy to be assessed at […]
Teamwork!
Here are three of our best and our brightest, conferring over the latest acquisition: Boardmaker! Thanks again to the lovely students of Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island for their efforts to raise the money to buy it for us. Don’t you love college kids???!!!!
Rama Bhandari, the Jewel in the Crown
Rama Bhandari retires today, after working in the Foundation for 12 years. Rama is a special educator with a heart of gold, a teacher who is universally loved by her students and deeply respected and admired by her peers. At her farewell party, tears flowed as one after another staff member stood up to recount […]
A Blessing from Anne Bruce
I caught this moment at the farewell party – Anne saying goodbye to Chhoti Manju in such a lovely, ashirwad sort of a way: it seems to me to sum up what her time here with us was like. Anne, age 65, brought not only her professional expertise as a speech therapist – she also […]
Backstage with Aruna Roy (and Bunker too!)
Meeting Aruna Roy was one of the best things to happen to me in a long time. I have heard about her for years from Ravi, and from Dunu, and from reading about her work in the press – but nothing prepared me for the real thing – the woman herself, so fiery and passionate […]
Lest We Forget!
My posts have mostly been about my travels for the last month, but I’m back in India now and I’ve spent most of this week visiting the projects and re-acquainting myself with the children, some of whom I was meeting for the first time – like this little charmer here. . . It’s wonderful to […]
Katie Renner: One of Our Illustrious Volunteers
This is Katie, one of the Dream Team who came to Dehradun last year to volunteer (the other two were Noorie and Aileen, both designers and the ones responsible for our amazing annual report and various other marvelous projects). Technically, Katie worked at PSI, but she also spent time in our projects and, since she […]
Shrikumar Poddar, The 8th Wonder of the World
This photo doesn’t do justice to Shrikumar, but that’s hardly surprising. Nothing does. It isn’t possible to describe him, to imitate him, to keep up with him or to thank him. He is simply a force of nature, unstoppable and unswerving. Both Ravi and I owe him more than words can say. Shrikumar and Ravi […]
Edmund Cluett, Guruji
Happy Birthday, Edmund! Edmund and his wife Angie were volunteers at the Foundation in 2006 – 2007. They are two of the most wonderful and talented people we have ever had with us and it would be impossible to list all the ways they helped us to grow. But today, on Edmund’s birthday, I want […]
Executive Committee Meeting
I returned home on Wednesday and on Sunday we had our Foundation’s Executive Committee meeting – a big push for someone like me, who loves to luxuriate in jet lag for at least a week (I really don’t understand people who manage to leap right back into their work routines after a trip abroad – […]