Nampally slum visit

We went to the slums near Nampally railway station on the weekend of 23-24 Sep. We concentrated on counselling the kids and parents on the need for education and were successful in enrolling 10 kids into school!!! It is such an amazing feeling to know you are directly able to impact the life of another. Trust me folks, I've never had more satisfying experience in my 2.5 yrs of working with nonprofits!

This kid in light brown shirt, Deepak, was the toughest of all kids! He neither wanted to study nor work. His "compromise" forumula: I will come to you at night, can you just give me the money you would have if I worked? :)
We also did fun activities like face painting, blowing up balloons with their names, names of their favorite actors/actresses and ofcourse 1 0 9 8.

Also painting 1 0 9 8 on the arms of these kids - if they see the number for a few days, they will surely remember it.

This guy (sqatting on the floor) was the toughest nut to crack! He doesnt work. He doesnt let his sons study. He stays on the streets and forces his kids to do the same. This when they have a home in Borbanda where his wife and daughter stay. If his wife takes their sons with her and enrolls them in school, he will promptly go to the school and take them back with him to live on the streets! And ya, he does this only with his sons. Doesnt care two hoots about his daughter, I guess. He claims to be a 10th std pass. He finally relented to let his sons be educated, but frankly, I am not so sure of him...


A mother talking on the phone with the childline counsellers about hostel facilities for her kids.


On the way back, we then went to the New Hope transit home to spend time with the kids there and did the same activities with them too :)


She's the most adorable kid ever!

Painting Competition @ New Hope Transit Home

Venue: New Hope @ Nampalli
Date: 17-Sep-06 (Sunday)
Volunteers: Sunitha Olive, Harish Parameswaran, Priya (Harish's wife) and Uday

The four of us reached New Hope early sunday morning. The kids wanted to go out to paint, to take inspirtation from the nature ;) Since the public gardens were close by, we decided to walk it there and sat near the boating station.



I was quite surprised to see the quality of painting these kids came up with, and that too without any advance notice!


Sunitha tried out her painting skills on Jyothi, a 2yr old megasweet kid.


Ye, thats 1 0 9 8 written on her forehead, cheeks and chin :-D

After the paining comp, the kids played kabaddi for a while. It was gr8 fun watching these kids make up rules as they played :D


Then came the next highlight of the day - BOATING!!! The boat wala bhaiyya was a nice guy, he gave a damn good discount and all of us went boating!!! And man, our stamina level suck! It was soooo tiring peddling that boat for less than 20 mins!!!


That was a fabulous day!!! Combined the painting competition with an impromptu outing for the kids! :)



More Photos here