SOLIDARITY CONCERT

Alain Pizazz and Alejandro Urilá, the Kontrarium band, offered a charity concert in Malaga featuring creative music with guest artists Azael Ferrer in the multimedia show, Roberto Herruzo at the crystal goblets, Angel Martin with eastern percussion and flute, Rafael García in charge of the lighting and Jorge Vera in charge of sound.

Primitive tools such as the Australian Digeridoo, the Indian mouth harp, the Archidona zumba, Eastern percussion, in addition to Mongolian chants, the harmonium, the chicotén of Castile, the acoustic guitar... all accompanied by the images show, sounded loud and clear so that Yashodhara children may tune to another reality, that of a childhood in which their rights and needs are respected.

Thank you for offering and sharing your talents.
Photo by Juan Ortiz

POOJA AND KISHOR

We have two new family members, sister and brother.


Pooja and Kishor, 8 and 7 years old, were previously living with their grandmother and their HIV+ mother in a Pune slum. They started attending school this past year, but as it was a long walk away from home and mom could not always bring them or pick them up due to her illness, their attendance was very irregular.

The family finances were not good, either. Grandma is the only source of income because mom cannot work. After interviewing the family, it didn’t take long for us to welcome the children in.

Thankful that son and daughter are looked after, cared for and schooled by Asha-Kiran, mom can now rest and get treatment at the local hospital without worrying about them, and grandma will not have such a heavy burden on her.

This is a new beginning for a pair of siblings who will soon find out that their family is much bigger than just four people.

EYE CARE

This year, Asha-Kiran launched its Eye Care Program in collaboration with HV Desai Hospital, which will provide its services to our beneficiaries at no cost. The vision screening campaigns, which will lead to specific treatments for every case and need, are being carried out at all of our Projects: Nikam and Khese Schools, the Day Care Centers and Yashodhara.

The screening began in late November and will continue once a week until late December. Approximately 300 children are screened at a time. To date, we have found three cases of severe visual impairment in one school which have already been referred to our partner hospital. The parents of the children expressed their appreciation for the detection of vision handicaps in their children.

We believe it is important for children to have good eyesight for learning, for being self-sufficient and for them to enjoy everyday life.

Through this new initiative, we are covering one more area in the comprehensive care of our beneficiaries.

artsolidari

Twenty renowned artists from Girona, Catalonia, donated some of their works of art for an exhibition in support of Yashodhara Shelter Home. We thank Asha-Kiran Volunteers and Fundación Valvi for organizing and launching this event.

The artists and representatives of Fundación Asha-Kiran were present at its inauguration, which took place on November 6th.

One of the rooms of the gallery houses the artists’ works, and the other presents a wide view of India through the photographs of Uttam Módenes.

This activity promotes collaboration among artists, volunteers and the general public with the aim of bridging communication gaps and fostering links that will contribute to the sustainability and development of our Projects with vulnerable children.

Our thanks to the Artists, Organizers and Public for their solidarity.

NEW ART WORKSHOPS IN PUNE

Summer news: the Arts and Crafts Workshops carried out in August in Pune were a complete success!

The idea: to express, to create and to have fun.
The participants: the children from our two Day Care Centers, Yashodhara Home, and the two public schools in Pune – Khese and Nikam – with which Asha-Kiran works in its new ‘Improvement of Primary Education Project’.
The organizers: four artists and a photographer, all Spanish Volunteers.


At the end of July, with great enthusiasm and a lot of material, María Soutullo, María Balibrea, Esther Esquinas and Tess Quintana, left for Pune to begin the workshops that they had so conscientiously prepared. David Gomez Rollán photographically documented the development of the workshops.

Among the activities carried out were the painting of murals and the making of puppets and big-headed beings, various ornaments and figures, origami, collages, toys, board games, carvings and necklaces – all of them from various materials and recycled items.


There were significant differences in the participation of children from Asha-Kiran’s Projects and that of children from the schools – the former plunged into the activities with great ease and joy, while the latter were rather timid at the beginning and had more difficulty learning to handle the different materials. This could be due to the fact that the children from the Day Care Centers and Yashodhara were already familiar with basic techniques such as cutting, pasting, painting and others that require some manual dexterity, while in the public schools of Pune, the students do not often have the opportunity to develop manual skills or participate actively in class.


Gradually, however, the children from Khese and Nikam Schools gained confidence and 'got down to work' while the Volunteers encouraged them, no matter what their final 'creations' looked like. The last day of activities, there was a party at the participating schools with piñatas and great cheer.

At the DCC’s and Yashodhara, in addition to the children's individual handiwork, the walls were covered with colorful paintings for the delight of visitors and the children themselves – undoubtedly a highly rewarding experience for both Volunteers and Beneficiaries.

A NEW MEMBER OF THE YASHODHARA FAMILY

Once we finished moving Yashodhara to Kamshet and our 20 children got accustomed to their new surroundings, the next step was to open the Shelter’s doors to more girls and boys, as our new facilities will be able to house 26 more children. Of all the applications we received, only a few were chosen for closer examination. Among them, Ravi Jadhav’s (now 9 years old) stood out. Both of Ravi’s parents had died in his hometown a few years back, and his maternal aunt had taken him to her humble home in Pune. However, Ravi's tribulations did not end with the death of his parents, for living with her aunt’s sons, around ten years older than him, proved to be a very trying experience.

Due to the continuous beatings from his cousins, Ravi’s aunt reported her own sons to the local police, who shrugged the matter off. Powerless to stop the abuse, and desperate to get his nephew out of this situation, the aunt came to Asha-Kiran hoping to find a way out for Ravi.

In a situation where immediate action was of the essence, Ravi was admitted in the Shelter almost immediately, where the children gave him a warm welcome. Not only did Ravi physically blend into the Home very fast, but emotionally as well. After one month in Yashodhara, he is attending the local school. Besides having joined a home where he is emotionally cuddled by peers and caregivers, the psychologists who work with the children in Yashodhara will also work with Ravi so that he may gradually assimilate new patterns of coexistence. Psychological counseling will also be offered to his family, since aiding to achieve family balance and offering new avenues of communication between children and their guardians or relatives, is an important part of Asha-Kiran’s work, aside from being a significant element in the healthy development of children.

Pleased to have Ravi among us, we continue evaluating applications of children who will bring new shades of color to Yashodhara Shelter.

PROJECT NEWS IN SUMMER

Wishing to keep you up to date about what is happening in our Projects in Pune, we bring to you a short summary of our activity in recent months.

The Hadapsar DCC had water blockage problems which were solved by the complete renovation of the Center, now a semi-permanent structure.
Twenty four children from this DCC have enrolled in school, while all of the Koregaon Park Center children go to school. In addition, nine children have enrolled in an ‘English Medium School’, where all classes are in English.
The vaccination program was postponed until August because the Hospital that works with Asha-Kiran was not able to carry it out on the dates scheduled for July. The hospital has agreed to continue immunizing not only children but also women, including breastfeeding mothers.
Four women in the Koregaon Park slum have agreed to undergo sterilization under the Family Planning Program.

We found that two children in Hadapsar and three in Koregaon Park were undernourished. We will plan a diet for them to be followed at the DCC’s and at home. While discussing this issue, we saw the possibility of starting a Teenage Health Group which would include all young people in the communities, who would be responsible for monitoring the health of community residents. More discussions and planning are needed before we can put this idea into practice.

After moving Yashodhara to Kamshet in June, we have been working on the remaining touch-ups that were pending in the Home; to date, only the solar water heating system needs to be installed.

Together with you, we keep on moving forward.