We recently had to face the hard decision of closing up our Day Care Center in Phule Nagar. Since this shanty town was illegally settled and the municipal authorities used to demolish the entire settlement several times a year, our continuity here was a challenge we always faced with determination. After each demolition, the settlers used to rush to the site to pick up the Center's material and helped us rebuild it. However, after three demolitions in just one month and after the families decided to look for a new site to settle on, there was no point in Asha-Kiran staying there, so we quickly looked for and found another area that met the conditions for us to build another Day Care Center.
This other slum, located in the Hadapsar area, has a population of 30 to 40 families. The parents there showed a keen interest in our work even before we began building the DCC, which now, a month after it opened, 25 to 30 children attend, most of them girls. It is a good start, considering we are still in the process to get to know the residents of this community.
We recently held a meeting to which many parents came and in which the objectives and methodology of our work were broadly explained. The attendants also had a chance to state their points of view, and expressed their interest and intention of taking advantage of the chance their children will have of expanding their future prospects. It was in a different slum of the Hadapsar area where A-K set up, two years ago, its first DCC, which we had to close down due to the upcoming construction of a highway that would cut right through that settlement. 
Even though it hasn't been feasible to continue our work in Phule Nagar, where our efforts were very productive and there were many enriching experiences both for Asha-Kiran's team and for our beneficiaries during the year and a half that the Center remained open, we are glad to have found another area where our services are needed and where we will be able to provide them.
We likewise thank Seur for their support with the Day Care Centers Project, of which they finance 60%, and for their trust in Asha-Kiran.
Affectionately,
Asha-Kiran Spain and India.
