Saturday, August 25, 2007

new place...

as mentioned in an earlier entry, "chotti si asha" was on a look out for a new place...our old place (in sector 38 of chandigarh) was too far off from the new location that the children had moved to (naya Gaon - outskirts of chandigarh) so our attendance had really gone down.

Once we started looking for a place, we realized how expensive Chandigarh's real estate and rentals are!! So we gave up the idea of renting our own place and started talking to the chandigarh administration. The response was quite positive from their end. But before they could intervene and help us, we found a place in the heart of the city - a location that works perfectly fine for all the children at NO COST!!

It turned out that there is a government building in sector 15 (very close to sector 17 where all the children come to work) where all kind of non-profit activities take place like drug de - addiction center, yoga classes for senior citizens, library, exhibition hall etc. A few years back they had built a children section - a few rooms, a bathroom and a beautiful garden with swings and slides but it so happened that the project didn't work and that place was now abandoned and was being used as a store. we came to know about it and talked to the authorities and voila, they agreed without any condition…just like that!! It is a beautiful place...they have opened one room for us and have given access to the bathroom and the garden. So now we have our own open area as well as a room that can be used as a workshop by the elder boys to work on bags and files etc.

Yesterday, the elder boys and some of us got together to clean up the place...the boys were thrilled when they looked at the place and cleaned it up with full enthusiasm...infact, it took us about 6 hours to clean the place. Now, we are all set to start using it on Monday!!

It is amazing the ways things worked out...once again "somebody who takes care" proved to me that if you have a strong intention then something always happens and a way is shown!! We just have to keep our eyes open and keep trying. THANK YOU!!

PS: I will be posting some pictures soon.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Independence day...

yesterday, "chotti si asha" celebrated Independence Day at our old "adda" - rose garden...we got together and remembered the old days when we used to sit under the tree and study and listened to stories or played games. We also played our favourite game - "Dog in the bone". The kids simply adore this game and rarely miss out on the opportunity to play it when ever they get a chance. Jaspreet had joined us so we did a few minted of meditation also.

There were some new people who had come to meet the "chotti si asha" gang...while the circle of introduction and sharing was going on, it was quite amazing to hear some of the kids talking very honestly about themselves and what they have learn't or have not been able to learn in this last one year. it was really heart warming to see that most of them recognized their shortcomings and had the realization that they lack focus and they get bored very easily. Acceptance is the first step to improvement so i consider that quite a positive change.