Residential Program
(affectionately known as "The Home")Introduction
The Residential Program currently houses nine children (five boys and four girls). With the intention of achieving a maximum capacity of fifteen children, the program provides a permanent family for the children.
Personnel
Two local, live-in caretakers provide daily support and stability within the home. In addition, a plethora of international and local volunteers and directors assist with day-to-day management and activities.
Education
Education is highly stressed and valued at the home. All of our children, after coming to the home not knowing a word of English (and often illiterate in their mother tongues as well), have worked extremely hard to gain admission into prestigious private schools, where they study in English medium, while also continuing with Marathi and Hindi. On a daily basis, the children attend supplementary "English Study" sessions at the home, in which they are tutored in various subjects including geography, science, math, history and civics, environmental studies, and reading comprehension. We strongly feel that a solid education with fluency in many languages is a pivotal part of our children's future success.
Enrichment Activities
Local and international volunteers devote many hours to designing enrichment projects for the children. These projects aim to complement their formal educations by providing stimulating and engaging activities that boost self-confidence, teach life skills, and foster self-motivated learning. Past and current activities include:
- Arts and Crafts: 2-D and 3-D design, photography
- Dance: Bhangra, Bharatnatayam, free-style, hip-hop
- Music: tabla, singing, recorder
- Health and Nutrition Studies
- Outdoor Sports and Play: cricket, dodge-ball (ultimate!), 4-Square, Kabadi, Kho-Kho, soccer/football, jump-rope, 50-yard dash, yoga and stretching
- Religious Diversity Education (all theologies)
- Conflict Resolution
- International Cultural Studies and Exchange
- Computers