Pestalozzi Asian Children's Village News

This quarter has been marked by new arrivals as well as departures of older children on further scholarships. 25 new children arrived at the end of July, our 8th year group. As of September 2011, we have a total of 189 children under our sponsorship (68 boys and 121 girls). Nationality-wise, this is made of 59 Tibetans, 63 Nepalese and 67 Indian children. When the children first come to us they are given intensive in-house teaching at the Foundation House (FH) for nine months to prepare them for the school admission exams. Since they come with virtually no knowledge of English, this is a crucial preparatory period.to bring their knowledgge of English and other core subjects up to taht of Dehradun English-medium schools.

Restart of New School Academic Session: By the second week of July, all the children returned from six weeks' summer vacation at home wtih their family. Since they get to go home only once a year, this is of course a very special occasion for them. At the same time, they were also very happy to get back amongst their many friends. At the end of Sepbember, all the schools had their First Term exams. If necessary we then provide extra tuition, for which either their families pay or we find a local sponsor.

Prizes & Awards: A good number of our children have secured awards and prizes in various fields, from sports to dancing to art and academic awards. Notable awardees were: our 11th grade girl Dakshina won first prize in an inter-school art competition and Samten-la of the same class secured 1st position in inter-school contemporary dance competition. A number of shields and cups have been secured, especially by our boys, in sports and games.

Skills: In August, we also started the skills classes (except farming since it is too wet). These are woodwork for the boys and cutting & tailoring and embroidery classes for the girls. We also started introductory typing and computer classes for the new foundation children. Also from August, we commence Tibetan and Nepali language classes for all except 10th and 12th grades, who will need to concentrate on their board exams.

Social Work & Career Counseling: For those who will be applying for college placements in 2012, we started social work activities and talks by professionals regarding career options. Since almost all of them will have to apply for college scholarships or look for sponsors, having good social work references on their resume will be helpful. Centres where our students will go for social work include Cheshire Home, Rafael and the National Blind School.

FESTIVALS & FUNCTIONS

• Welcome Ceremony for the new FH children:  A simple tea party ceremony was held at the Foundation House to welcome the new children. This was also a chance for the children’s parents to meet and get to know the staff and house-mothers so that the parents feel their children are in safe hands.

• Indian Independence Day: The national day was celebrated by all the children at their respective schools while the foundation children held a simple flag-raising ceremony wth sweets and refreshments served.

• On 13th August, Raksha Bandhan was celebrated when the girls tied bands to all the boys as token of their brotherly affection (only to end up in sibling squabbles moments afterwards!)

• A few days later, Lord Krishna’s birth anniversary, Janmasthtami, was celebrated with prayers when the 7^th grade children put on a short play of the life of Lord Krishana. Many of the senior girls and the house-mothers observed fasting on the occasion.

• On 2nd September, all the children celebrated the Tibetan Democracy Day (when the new, modern constitution was promulgated His Holiness in 1960). Everyone joined in the paying reverence to His Holiness and singing the Tibetan national anthem.

• In September, our three Muslim children observed the Ramzan when they had a month long fasting and prayers on the Id-ul-Fitr and attended the local mosque.

• On 5^th September, the children presented cards and small gifts to the staff and teachers on the occasion of Teachers Day. The day’s highlight for the FH children was missing the math class!

As well as many local visitors, we welcomed several guests from further afield: Trustee Mr. John Dilger from UK, paid an official working visit from 29^th  September to 4^th  October. He met a number of school principals as well as other people officially connected with PestalozziWorld. The older children at GMH gave him a big surprise in celebrating his Birthday.

Mr. Robin Martini, college friend of the director, visited the homes of the two children he is sponsoring. We are grateful to him for his annual sponsorship for the two girls.

Long-time friends and former staff Joanna Nair and her husband Mahesh visited and stayed at the Foundation House for four days. As well as taking some classes at the FH, they were able to visit all the houses and meet the children.

A supporter from Ranchi, Dr. Pranav Kumar, paid a short visit. Joining for lunch with the small children at the Foundation House, he was so happy with their zeal for learning and life, it almost brought tears to his eyes. He kindly donated Rs. 5,000- for their picnic once they secured admission in the schools.

In August, ex-house mother Sue Essex spent three weeks with the children. As well as helping out at the Foundation House, she kindly helped the older children in English literature and with Shakespeare plays.

Volunteers We have had a regular flow of volunteers from abroad which have been mutually enriching experiences.

Elizabeth, a gap year student from London, came for 2 months from mid July. With her lively personality, she got on well with the new children who managed to make good progress in their spoken English.

Two teachers from the Helga-Todd foundation (a Cambridge University Faculty of Education placement) came to teach at the Foundation House thrice a week. They were attached to a nearby Jaswant Modern School, but enjoyed coming to teach our children.

From mid September, civil servants Dave and Alice from London came to volunteer for three weeks. They thoroughly enjoyed a stint of spoken English teaching at the FH in middle of their travels across Asia (as they said they also learnt something about themselves). Like everyone else, they got totally taken in by the enthusiasm of the small children. We are grateful for their generous donation to be used for extra tuition for the children.

In August, two of our IB scholars, Bimla from Mahendra United World College Pune and Santosh from the UK, came in to give a helping hand during their summer vacation. Bimla tutored some of the weaker students and Santosh (after we persuaded him to remove his dyed red hair) helped the older students in physics and math.

Back to Newsletter Headlines