Not every kid gets to cap off their summer with a visit from CNN. CNN reporter Don Lemon spent the day with the kids, playing uno, singing the abc's, and even mopping the floor at one point! The kids didn't quite understand that the uno cards were just props and they weren't playing for real (and kept correcting Don Lemon on camera!), but I think everyone had a really good time being stars, and we look forward to seeing the finished product

AAAAAAANNNNNDDDD we're back to school! We had a HUGE book-covering party in the front hall, and all the kids were ready and waiting for the rickshaw at like 6:30 in the morning (the rickshaw comes at 8:05), and everyone had great stories when they got back at 3:30. Here's to a bright, exciting new school year!

This update brought to you by Nina, who helped set up wireless in the house! Hopefully, this means better, more timely updates, right?

June 9, 2007

Photo Update

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Vacation Update!

June 3, 2007

The beach was GREAT! Though it wasn't without its problems (who thought there would be two towns named Murud within driving distance of Pune?), but generally, everything went REALLY well. All the kids, Sangeeta, Kavita, Liz and our three volunteers (Rany, Eric and Patrick) enjoyed our five days at the beach. The kids, who were all seeing the ocean for the first time, dove right in (literally) and spent pretty much EVERY waking minute in the water. No, literally, it was something like 9 hours a day. Special thanks to Eric, Patrick, Kavita and Sangeeta who played acted as lifeguards for the entire time. Other highlights of the trip included a visit to a fort, eating fresh coconut, eating out EVERY meal (possibly the kids' favorite part!), and stopping by Pali, where we saw a very famous temple in Maharashtra. All in all, 18 thumbs up! Pictures will be up as soon as we get a chance to breathe. And back to school next week!

Updates

June 2, 2007

All five were admitted to Nagarwala School for next year, so we will officially all be on the same schedule for the first time ever in AIC history! We'll have two kids (Akash and Basraj) in 5th standard, three in 3rd standard (Jyoti, Geeta and Sanjay), and four (!) in 2nd standard (Tushar, Sonali, Kajal and Santosh). Everyone's really excited to be going to the same school, even the biggest boys (who still try to pretend they're too "cool").

In other news, outreach is back in session (and getting vaccinations), volunteers Patrick and Eric arrived today, and we're off to the beach for our first (annual?) AIC family vacation! More updates when we get back!

Home Update

May 7, 2007

For English Study, the kids have been working on some creative thinking/writing assignments. So right now we're doing a project on "If you could have any three superpowers, what would they be, why do you want them/what would you use them for." It's really cute. They have some interesting responses. For example, Geeta wants 10 arms so that she can pick up lots of trash and clean the world. Jyoti wants to be "the fastest person in the world" so she can plant trees very fast to save the world and make sure everyone can breathe. Geeta also wants the power of a "good and strong heart" so she can always help poor people - give them medicines, help their teeth, and give them a little bit of money too. In case you were wondering, our kids are awesome!

Other than that, life here has been pretty slow. There's been a bit of a water shortage, so life here has actually been a little lazier than usual--the floors are only getting mopped once a day! There's a plumber coming soon, so OF COURSE the water will be back soon, right?

Home Update

April 25, 2007

The kids' exams went really well! We're not sure about their placement yet, but everyone's really happy about their results. Our fingers are crossed that there's space in the school!

Home Update

April 16, 2007

It's definitely summer in Pune. It’s a lot hotter than last year, and it's always a struggle to be getting anything done. But the kids are newly energized by their breaks from school, and we're all glad for a respite, at least from the split schedules of having kids at two different schools. We've been capitalizing on the free time with lots of projects and activities with volunteers: Amber and Eric led a science experiment where they looked at "samples" from different places under the microscope, Allen and Patricia have been teaching parachute (on the ground, of course!), and a group from Wipro even took the kids to an eco-resort (for the day) to plant trees and learn about ecology.

Towards the end of the month, we seriously had to pick up the pace for entrance exams to Nagarwala School. Akash, Basraj, Jyoti, Kajal and Tushar are all studying to enter the 5th, 5th, 3rd, 2nd and 2nd standards, respectively. It's a LOT of work, but they're working hard, we'e working, and we’re sure they'll do great!

March 2007

India - The Home

March started with a bang when we celebrated Holi at the home! Holi, the festival of colors, is always an exciting time, and this year our residential kids were joined by some of the girls from the outreach program who came over to partake in the water and color festivities on the roof!

As the end of the year drew closer, the kids picked up the pace in preparation for their final examinations. They handled the extra workload quite well, especially considering intermittent power outages at the home, as well as abnormal school hours due to building construction. In addition to studying for their final exams, five of the children also began studying intensively for entrance exams to be able join the other four at Nagarwala School.

Meanwhile, in between study sessions, we prepared our home classroom with the assistance of Vijay Nanda, who helped organize the construction of a beautiful set of low tables, donated by Nandita Anjaria, Anjali Patwardhan, and a group of their friends, on which the children can study. Amber and Eric also showed the kids how to make papier-m�ch� volcanoes, and we recently spent part of a Saturday celebrating with the big baking soda and vinegar eruption. The kids had a great time painting and decorating their creations, and were quite impressed by the chemical reaction.

We also welcomed Patricia, followed by her husband Allen, to the home! Patricia is a special-needs child care specialist visiting Pune for attending and speaking at conferences and teacher training workshops in Pune. She jumped right into the daily routines and was an amazing volunteer. Once Allen arrived, he not only helped out with spelling quizzes and nightly bedtime story reading, but also proved to be quite the handy-man, and helped us fix, repair, and improve various things around the home.

February 2007

India - The Home

In the beginning of the month, the children had their fourth (and last) unit exams of the year. The kids all studied quite well independently and their abilities and grades have steadily improved since the beginning of the school year. Now, the only ones left are their final exams at the end of the school year!

Right after exams, the kids said farewell to Ami, a volunteer who had been staying at the home for six weeks, and welcomed Asami, our Japanese Director, to the home for her first time and welcomed back Amber, a US director, and her friend Eric, who will be teaching the kids all about the world of science for his enrichment activity!

The kids were excited to have Amber back at the home and the three eldest boys who had met Eric previously were also happy to see him again and introduced him to the other children. Amber and Eric, knowing the schedule and routine of the home quite well, jumped right into things, as Asami took her time to get acquainted with India, Pune, the kids, home, rules, routine, and all that other fun stuff.

During his first week here, Eric started his Science activity with the kids and taught them about volcanoes. The kids made papier-mache volcanoes, decorated and painted them, and finally made "lava eruptions" out of the classic vinegar and baking soda combination. They had a blast. And, with Amber's guidance and expertise, we all celebrated Chinese New Year. Amber taught the children about the Chinese Zodiac and told them the story of how all the animals received their place in the order, did arts and crafts with traditional Chinese designs, made Chinese food for dinner, and taught the kids how to eat with chopsticks!

As the month came to an end, the kids started to talk about the upcoming month with simultaneous dread and excitement - fearing the approaching final examinations but also the imminent summer holidays which follow so closely behind.

January 2007

India - The Home

After a hectic and exciting December, things around the home went back to normal in January. The six volunteers from Mahindra United World College said goodbye. And, as they headed back to college, our kids went back to school as well, ready as ever for their last quarter.

Patrick, who volunteered at the home in its earliest stages, back in summer 2005, came back for a visit and brought a friend, Ruth, along with him. The kids enjoyed their short stay and Patrick and Ruth were able to help out teaching English, making snacks, playing with the kids, and even took the kids out to dinner at their favorite joint, Coffee House.

The kids at Rashmi School had been working hard for a month practicing their dance routines for the school's Annual Performance. After endless practicing at school and at home - perfecting their rhythm, choreography, and even facial expressions - the kids performed excellently and all their hard work truly showed.

And, after a long wait and much anticipation, the children started playing football (American soccer) on a team that practices nearby, at Nagarwala School. The three older boys (Basraj, Akash, and Sanjay) are on one team, and the younger kids (Geeta, Jyoti, Santosh, Tushar, Kajal, and Sonali) are on another team.

And lastly, in the last few days of the month, Sameera surprised the kids when she came back unannounced for a day-long visit. The children were ecstatic to see her!

Canadian branch

January was quiet for events here at AIC Canada, as we were busy preparing for activities in the coming months. At McGill, AIC started off the new semester by participating in the bi-annual McGill Students' Society Activities Night. Recruitment of new volunteers was successful as evidenced by all the new faces at our meeting the following week!

The end of January involved CBC (The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) visiting McGill and filming one of our weekly meetings. Footage will be used for a six-part documentary being filmed about AIC. In the coming week, they will also be interviewing the Canadian board members for the series, and coming out to our comedy night on Thursday February 6th at the Comedy Nest here in Montreal.

In the upcoming months, we also plan to hold another one of our Benefit Dinners in cooperation with the restaurant Breads of India. And last but not least, we will likely be participating in a multi-club awareness raising event at the end of February.

More updates:

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