change....

change is always welcome but sometimes difficult to handle. and i don't mean in an overwhelming way but just that its different... we're so used to one way of doing things that a step outside of that leaves us ... well...blank.
so choti si asha has moved to the new place. as liza mentioned, its a great space! lush green lawn, swings and plenty of space for the younger kids to play and run around in. the older ones also ahve their own space to work in... they are becoming more and more responsible for their own work and are learning to make their own decisions.
i mentioned change earlier because now we're also trying to look at new designs and products. with liza not being there, the decision making becomes a little difficult. this is where i go blank. so here is what i put forward to you all... i tell u the kind of resources we have at hand here and if you ahve any suggestion about what all we can make out of all that, please write in.
we have a lot of bits of card board. its the left over from the files that are made. so what is left are like pieces of a width of 2-3 inches and variable lengths. coasters covered with leftover bits of jute cloth have been crossing my mind- what do u think? and then i go blank again!
i've been thinking of mobiles as well... like wind chimes.. only that these won't be chimes. but i worked with bobby, one of the younger kids, the other day and we made a mobile of five different things... a bird, a house, a tree, a flower and a star and looked great! he did all the decorating and stuff... he was great. but to sell we can't really do the house and bird. what else can we hang? maybe something made out of wire and beads?
a girl kinda bumped into us while she was looking for someone who would teach some kids computer for free. she didn't find computers but she found us lazily trying to work after a scrumptious lunch. she saw all that we were making and met all the kids and was so excited to find us that she wanted to teach embroidery to the kids. she's already taught 2 kids a very basic stitch. but she was a little disappointed from the not-so-excited response from the kids. i had expected that so i told her not to be discouraged. i told her that the best way to share her skills would be to work practically with just one or two kids. teach while she works on a bag or a file. she must involve them in the process and not turn the whole experience into a classroom. i think it would be a very good experience for her because a classroom attitude is something these kids would never accept. one has to bring oneself to the same level as them and then start from scratch, making one unlearn and learn so many things. and yes, she's a social work student at the punjab university. so much to unlearn!
a thought keeps coming into my mind again and again, that there is so much these kids teach us 'educated' lot! learning is never one way, and at choti si asha, we like to do it just like that!