YASHODHARA IN KAMSHET

The move has been made. After two years of getting settled into a new life at the Shelter in Dhanorie, having made friends at school and with grades on the rise, relaxing on the comforting predictability of the day’s schedule and personal interaction patterns well on the way of settling into routines, everything gets turned around and inside out.

Not only is the children’s Kamshet home bigger, and in completely different surroundings, but some of the familiar faces of the old house and all the faces at school are now different. And not everything is running smoothly – there is adapting to do.

With a lifetime of adapting behind their backs, Yashodhara children are quite adept at it. No unnecessary fuss, just the minimum to feel listened to and cared for in the midst of changing circumstances. But here lies the all-important difference: that there is indeed someone there to listen and to care.

Yes, schooling is necessary, and so is getting medicines and a eating healthy and staying clean… but that extra bit – the being cared for and listened to bit – is Yashodhara’s children’s edge. This is what will round off their upbringing by enhancing their chances of being emotionally intelligent in their present and future relationships.

We, founders, volunteers, staff and sponsors, are instrumental in the children’s blossoming, and bear witness to it with great pleasure. We can only work in the hopes that the Yashodhara children’s circle will keep on growing and that more and more flowers will sprout from it.

ASHA-KIRAN TRAVELS TO CEUTA

On the occasion of the commemoration of the over 100 years that the Indian community has existed in Ceuta, Asha-Kiran presented here the social work that it carries out in the city of Pune with vulnerable children.

The celebration spanned three days, July 8, 9 and 10, with Indian cuisine, lectures, discussion forums, a sari fashion show, talks about Hinduism, and Bollywood music and dances.

We thank the Indian community of Ceuta, especially Sony and Prakash, and Coexistence Prize Foundation for their hospitality and generosity.

See you soon.

WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOR

OUT

IN

GIRL MOTHERS

Asha-Kiran is participating in the exhibition Andalucía Solidaria at the Teatro Cómico in Córdoba, with the photographic theme taken by Uttam Módenes entitled “GIRL MOTHERS”. The exhibition will last until June 18.

The display consists of 59 photographs submitted to the 1st Andalusian Solidarity Photograph Competition, organized by FAMSI, together with ART/PNUD and the Cooperation Consortium Association.

This exhibition offers the chance to see the not-for-profit works in a setting that allows the public to value their quality, the sensitivity of its characters, and the energy with which people communicate their desire for a promising, encouraging and more just collective reality.

Its objectives are the following:

• Disseminate pictures that portray the living circumstances of northern and southern countries while respecting the principles set forth in the ethics code of aid-to-development NGO’s.
• Raise public awareness by showing pictures that show the efforts made towards human development and the betterment of the life conditions of disfavored populations.
• Give visibility to the creative work of photographers, volunteers and associations involved in development and/or aid-to-development work through initiatives that promote sustainable local human development.
• Generate an awareness of collective participation in the pursuit of the Millennium Development Objectives, in any spaces and geographical locations where the pictures are displayed.

BOLLYMADRID 2010

For the third consecutive year, we were part of the Bollymadrid Indian culture festival with an information stand and the A-K store. The setting was the Lavapiés borough, and the festival went on for three intense days. There was a great flow of visitors, except at the hottest times of day.

Many volunteers, who made this gathering possible with their vitality and with the wide array of activities they carried out for both children and adults, came to our yearly meeting from different spots of Spain.

Children, our driving force, had fun at the face-painting, story-telling and dance workshops.

The adults we wish to reach and to whom we would like to convey our excitement with our new Projects, participated in a TRUE-FALSE informative game, were informed of all that has been going on at Asha-Kiran lately, and came close to Indian culture through all the handicrafts at the A-K store and the Bollywood dances performed on our behalf by Chand Taari Group.

We had a new campaign this year with the motto: "IT’S A LIE – streets are not the best learning ground".

We seek sponsors; people like you, who are willing to back our Projects and the children in Pune who long for a worthy life, a better life.

We gave something valuable of ourselves this weekend – our time, our vitality, our hope.

We give our thanks to each one of you from the heart.

YASHODHARA HOME: A NEW STAGE

Since March of 2008, Asha-Kiran has been implementing the Yashodhara Shelter Home Project with dedication, love and commitment. In the last two years, we have taken in 21 children (13 girls and 8 boys) whom we see "bloom" every day as young people with rights and dignity, and who are part of our aspiration as a driving force.

Each of them has a personal story laden with intensity and hard times, but their life at Yashodhara is acting as a balm for them, and their future is filling up with opportunities and dreams thanks to the people who trust our work and support us.
A new stage in the development of Home will begin on June 15th.

Asha-Kiran has rented a new building located in a natural setting, with capacity for 45 children. For us at Asha-Kiran, it is a source of immense satisfaction to feel that our daily efforts bear fruit in the children that they target, and we GROW WITH THEM through our devoted work and dedication.

The new building is part of the NGO Sevadham Campus Trust, where other NGOs with varied social projects also carry out their work. Thus, we will be part of a family of NGOs, each working in different realms.

This location is in the municipality of Kamshet, between Pune and Mumbai, and will allow the children of the Home to have large areas for play and recreation among trees, in safe surroundings. The campus also has its own hospital, and is within walking distance of the village where the children will attend school.

In the last few weeks, the building has been refurbished, and we are carefully screening new applications of children in need of foster care. We have set ourselves the goal of admitting 10 new children this year. These new admissions will constitute renewed impulse for the work of Asha-Kiran.

Thank you for supporting this dream come true.

IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION

"Cultivating the future"

At Asha-Kiran, we believe that education is paramount in the task of preventing or reducing social exclusion. At the same time, the field of education is one of the basic social spaces that better connects people, families and communities.

June is a month of new steps for A-K. We are launching a new Project that will unfold in several stages and which aims to improve the quality of primary education of two schools in the city of Pune (Maharashtra), through our interaction with children, teachers and parents, working jointly to foster their participation in the primary education process, and supporting a positive atmosphere that is conducive to learning.

To this end, Asha-Kiran is starting a series of initiatives to provide the resources that the 800 students who attend these two schools need to have quality education, and that the latter always guarantees gender equality.

Asha-Kiran complements this educational Project with health programs that include dental health and vision care (preventive and curative), and the promotion of sports activities. These initiatives also intend to raise students’ and parents’ awareness of the importance of ongoing school attendance.

The Project implies the following:

• Fostering the interest and participation of teachers and parents in educational processes
• Improving teaching
• Providing educational tools and material
• Improving school facilities
• Improving the students’ health
• Carrying out creative and arts workshops