News from Shishu Mandir

Vol II and III, April to September 2013

Greetings, The second issue of the Shishu Newsletter has been long in coming. But the work at Shishu Mandir has continued without respite as always. Perhaps the biggest change in the last few months has been the shifting of our Children’s Home to its new premises in Kithiganur. With this our work is now concentrated in and around the village of Kithiganur. It has been a process of adjustment for the Home staff and children, but all of them have settled in comfortably and have begun to enjoy the availability of open space, new rooms and the proximity to the school. The academic year began in June and several programmes have been initiated. A brief on them is presented below:

Inauguration of Social Science Lab

Under the guidance of Mr. Pradeep, Consultant in Pedagogy, the social science lab was upgraded. He garn-ered in Mr. Mallikarjuna, a pro-fessional artist, who managed to create speaking pictures of India’s past. The art work consists of famous monuments, folk

and classical dances and important places of Karnataka which showcase the rich heritage and culture of our country. You enter the staircase of our school and you are engulfed by over-powering pictures of India’s great cul-tural achievements.

New Wash Basins

Cognizant Technology Solutions, Ban-galore organized different competitions for NGOs of Bangalore. Our school was the lucky one to win the first prize which amounted to not less than Rs. 1, 00,000. A big thank you to our children who won the prize for us, and for

allowing us to invest the prize money in wash basins so that the children can wash their plates after breakfast and lunch under running water.

Inauguration of the Library The inauguration of the new school library was performed by Dr. Hella Mundhra and Mr. Venugopal Hanu-manthiah of Qualcomm. We were over-joyed to have a space of 915 sq.ft., although it meant a sacrifice of four rooms. But the space was needed for our classes of 20 children. Our books also found a new arrangement on new shelves which hold our 13,500 books. Still there is plenty of space for ex-pansion, as we continue to add to our library.

Art Workshop Mr. Mallikarjuna, a professional artist, who contributed the art work to our social science lab, got deeply involved in our work. He contributed in his own way to strengthen our children. Under his guidance 12 selected children from different classes learnt water painting, mixing of colours, shading, symmetrical patterns, painting on walls, how to draw human faces with expressions, and clay modelling with assorted materials. It was indeed a big gift from a big heart.

SSLC Topper Award Brady Company had come up with a powerful stimulant for top performance by donating an award of Rs. 10,000 for the SSLC topper in the school. It is an annual award and we are excited for the students. This year’s recipient is Merlin S. who scored 84% with 525 out of total of 625 marks. Congratulations, Merlin!

Xavier Boys’ Hostel

As we have a number of boys whose family condition is more than dep-lorable, we have been thinking of a living situation outside of their homes, preferably hostels. One of our staff, Mr Lazar was able to put us in touch with the Betharam Community which was ready to take in up to 25 boys. On our part we provide breakfast and lunch to these children while accommodation and dinner are provided by Betharam, making it a ‘joint venture’ of sorts. Three persons are taking care of the

children who range from Prep B to std. 7. They even learn music and different games. It is an experiment which we will have to observe for some time to see its effect.

Value Education

In these summer holidays, classes 8 and 9 were the lucky ones to attend a 3-day camp on life skills. Living at Banjara at the outskirts of Bangalore, the students could enjoy themselves in a serene surrounding, in a peaceful atmosphere and far away from their usual trouble-stricken family conditions. The camp focused on preparing the children for life and included dis-cussions on self management, inner healing, stress management and self awareness. The camp offered a ch-ange from their routine and refresh-ingly so from the world of street lang-uage, alcohol abuse and physical fights. The sessions had a positive effect on them by kindling a spark of self confidence and also a better understanding of their own problems. To conclude the camp Mr. Anand gave a special address on ‘Think be-fore you do something’ and ‘Do not hurt others’. New Vehicle for Emergencies In view of the longer distance between the new Home and our usual hospital we had to find a solution for the transport in case of emergencies. KPMG, the international auditing firm, came to our rescue by donating a Scorpio, that can accommodate a small number of children. It has been a very welcome addition and it also solved the problem of Geetha’s transport for her dialysis three times a week.

Uniform for the High School Children

Since we could not get sufficient clothes from Germany anymore (which had been a trade mark of our school), we were compelled to go in to uniforms for the high school students. It was a difficult decision for Mrs. Hella Mundhra who was always eager to preserve the children’s ‘child-own’ appearance, so uniforms definitely were much against her innermost conviction. Anyway, there was no other choice and conse-quently the children of classes 7 to 10 were given two sets of uniforms. But -there is a charm in everything.

II Home Activities Chennai Trip Only four days – but what adventures were waiting for 17 of our Home children on their trip to Chennai during the summer holidays! With a hostel just next to the beach overlooking the Indian Ocean, they went for walks in the morning and evening. They also enjoyed a boat ride at Kovalam Beach and a visit to the Crocodile Zoo which Chennai is famous for. Of course our children did not miss out on seeing the Anna Library, Asia’s biggest library, and the sea shore temple at Maha-balipuram. A bonfire on the last even-ing concluded this wonderful holiday at the beach.

Shifting of the Home On April 20th 2013 the era of the Ulsoor Home came to an end. It was indeed a historical date for Shishu Mandir which concluded 22 years of a happy life of dozens of children and many staff members. Furniture that was 22 years old had to be shifted, but not without a thorough repair in which many children also participated with all eagerness. Even though a lot of it was found to be irreparable, we had many loads of lorries to be transported. Dr. Hella Mundhra kept herself busy in buying things for the new home, and the older home children worked hard to get the things in order. They scrubbed the floors, even several times a day, removed the paint spots from the tiles, kept the books and games in their places and learnt how to deal with a new kitchen, new bathrooms, and new washing places. But the biggest difference was still waiting for them: a new setting of a family. Instead of age groups neatly separated from each other as it had been so far, now the Home has groups comprising big and small children within one unit which meant a fully different relationship to each other. This is the challenge of the new Home.

III Community College Workshop at Dell 12 students got the opportunity of going for a workshop at Dell Company. It was a unique chance for them to apply and widen their knowledge in Word, Excel and Outlook and be

exposed to a new surrounding and new people. They had to show their ca-pacity in fulfilling many practical pro-blems just as they would have in real life situations, when they are working in a company. It was indeed a worthwhile experience for these lucky twelve.

Visit of Bosch Bosch, the German company which supports several sections of our Com-munity College, stays in close contact with us. This year it was Mrs. Jessy Fen from Germany who visited our centre. She was shown around and briefed about our training programme.

Service Camps

The management of the Community College came up with the idea of exposing the students to repair works from the public now already, while they are learning the procedures, like a practical training. The youngsters had to do small jobs like changing the engine oil or tightening the clutches and breaks, but most importantly they had to learn how to perform a job with confidence. As the trainers would help in any ‘emergency’, the boys could gradually overcome their inhibitions and execute the service with ease and joy. Even the public was pleased to get a free service. It was indeed a ‘win-win’

situation for both the sides.

House Constructions

This year we had received funds for the construction of three houses. Each house is built under the management of our social workers at a cost of Rs. 90.000. We choose school children who live in abject poverty and whose family already owns a site. Additionally there are conditions like registering the site in the name of the wife, building it for own use and with a tiled roof (no asbestos!) to qualify for a house construction through Shishu Mandir. This year the lucky ones were Raya-ppa, Prashanth and Valarmathi.

IV Evening Study Centre

A new evening study program was started in the child care centre for the children studying in government schools. Preethi Maria, a past student of Shishu Mandir, offered to supervise the study. 30 students from the villages around spend two hours per day from Monday to Saturday in our centre.

I am Aksa (Soul/Reflection) Matilda, by Roald Dahl is the story of a precocious child whose gifted skills and prodigious temperament was a bit of an enigma to her dim witted parents. They could not understand her skills and viewed her as foolish, a cheat and a burden. I met Aksa to talk about her life at Shishu Mandir and saw a Matilda in her. A B.Com final year student, 22-year-old Aksa refused to give me her last name, saying “I am Aksa, that is all.” She exuded confidence, a zest for life and showed no inkling of any influence of her alcoholic, abusive father in her life.

Aksa joined Shishu Mandir at six with the support of her mother, as a day scholar, scared and apprehensive, coming from an abusive environment. And she never looked back. In Shishu she found her path, her focus and her sense of responsibility. She found her purpose and her goals thanks to the relentless support from Mama

(Hella Mundhra) and Anand Sir. At 22 she dreams of being the first in her family to hold a master’s degree, be a teacher and inspire others. She tutors kids and is keen on working and finishing her college. “How do you manage to stay so focused and do so many things?” I ask her, she sharply retorts back and says, “Thanks to Shishu Mandir I now have a backbone!”

Aksa is a product of poverty, illiteracy and abuse, seen commonly in many households in India. She recalls nights, when her father in his drunken state threw her mother and her out on the streets. She recalls debtors who threatened to take away her sisters, if they did not pay up, and she recalls living in perpetual fear. She forgets all of that when she is at Shishu Mandir. At every stage it was her mentors there who stood by her and encouraged her never to look back. She stumbled many times, as she did not start out as a bright student, but her teachers urged her to move forward. “You can do it”, rang constantly in her ears at Shishu. She was able to indulge in every activity, may it be studies, sports or organizing events. She realized early on that education was her only chance in life.

Today Aksa is a well-balanced, focused individual who has carved a path for herself, set goals she is determined to achieve and yet is also emotional. In her interview she wipes away tears, as she thanks the teachers of Shishu Mandir, particularly Anand Sir who is her steady guide and mentor in her life’s journey. He became a father figure to her and with his continuing support she feels she can achieve anything.

“Look up to the stars. Be aware of the streets! She thinks of Mama and Anand Sir and her mother as the stars whose light has shown her the way and aims to be a star in somebody else’s life. Aksa’s older sister Manoshalini also was a student of Shishu Mandir. Manoshalini after graduation had to pursue a career in a call center to support the family, but she encourages Aksa to continue her education.

Today her family’s success has attracted a lot of relatives, but she philosophizes, “Help people when they are down and out, not when they are doing well. Communicate your problems to someone you can trust and remember you can do it,” she advises others who are stumbling to find their way. She is indeed “Aksa”.

Aksa's story was written by Sima Mehta.