Yesterday, I carried with me 15 kilograms of rice, 5 kilograms of dal and curry to give to families in the slum. I also brought color pencils and books for the young children. For the older children I brought easy to read science books on astronomy, biology and earth science for them to learn to read in English and also to learn basic science. After I finished passing out the rice, dal, and curry, I spent some time with the older children learning science facts from their new books.

Here are some of the photos and faces of those living in the slum. I hope and pray the children will have opportunities to have better lives.

I did a couple of home visits to see how some of the families live. One family has 9 people living in a single room while another family has 7. In both cases, the room measured no more than 6×10 feet. In the 1st photo, the family’s father recently past away from illness and the widow of 6 children is now unable to work due to having health problems herself. And though I wished we could take all the children, we were only able to accept three of the younger children out of the 14 children from the two families. It sucks to have to tell the children we can’t send them to school and see the disappointment and sadness in their eyes.

Photos of my classroom (above), inside and from the outside. The trash is sorted and packed away to be sold for a few rupees per kilo. The color markers and pencils and coloring books were donated by people from Italy, along with other school supplies. The children love to color and draw. Thank you for the generous donations.

Well, the days are getting hotter and more humid. And though I take many showers each day to stay cool, it is tiring in this heat. For the children, it is the start of Malaria and Dengue flu season. Already, a few children are coming in with high temperature and fever.

For the next couple of weeks, the goal is to get some of these children off the streets and into clean and good learning environments. 

I wish everyone wonderful and bright days.

Yesterday, I spent two hours teaching kids in the Gandhi slum. There were about 20-25 children with 4 older children of age 10-12. We began by learning some basic English and sang some songs. Afterward, the young children colors in coloring books while the older kids performed mathematics problems of multiplication and long divisions. We ended the day with more songs and the children taking turn learning how to play the guitar. Overall, it was a good day. The children were rather quiet and mostly on task. Our classroom is a dirt floor in the middle of a landfill. When it is not a classroom, it becomes a kitchen where the families cook their meals of rice and dal. I feel these children can learn just as much if not more than any other children in modern schools and classrooms if they are given the opportunities.

We hope to have 20 students in Don Bosco by the end of the month. We are waiting for child welfare to approve the registrations of the children. I just wanted to say thank you to all those who have donated money, supplies or fully sponsored children. And thank you to all for the support and believing in the effort.

On Sunday, I visited the slum in Howrah, a suburb of Kolkata. The people in the slum are definitely much different from the street people on Sudder Street in the tourist section of Kolkata. Being poor does not mean they don’t know how to be polite and kind. As I walked through the slum, I met and spoke with people about their lives and their work. Of course, when the children and people see a camera, they automatically got interested and wanted their photos taken. I met an orphan young boy who decided to follow me around and pointed out things that he thought would be interesting for me to see.

Today, I met with the Sisters and asked them to bring the children and families in for me to process their paperwork and have their photos taken. I am hoping to get them done and the children enrolled within the month.

It is getting very hot here. I am taking 4-5 showers a day to stay cool and to keep the dirt off my body. On top of that, I am doing my best to keep the “butmas”, a Bangali word for naughty, of Sudder Street and in Kolkata at a distance so that I don’t take a cricket bat to their heads for saying vulgar things and touching us in a creepy way. Today, at Jo Jo’s, a restuarant near my hotel, I almost did just that when a creepy Indian man who touched me in a very creepy way on my back. Luckily for him, the waiters kept me from taking a chair to his head. By the way, these Indians in the tourist’s areas work in teams, trying to antagonize tourists and distracting them so the others can steal while we are being distracted.

Well, that is all for today. Tomorrow, I go back into the slum and teach. I definitely like my current classroom much more than any of the modern classrooms I have taught in the past. We don’t have much, but we definitely have more heart and love for learning even if we are not learning much.

Take care and wishing all a wonderful May Day.

Everyone visiting Kolkata will sooner or later get his/her pocket picked by professional thieves. Yesterday was my day to get robbed by them. It happened on a crowded bus and I lost 1500 rupees and my wrist watch. Apparently, they need the money more than me so that makes it okay. After the incident and a long walk back to the hotel to get more money, I went to Don Bosco to set up an account to begin the registration process of the 9 children we have on the list. Then I went into the Gandhi slum to teach the children mathematics (multiplying and long division) and songs.

The day was a contrast in people’s behavior. In the morning, the two thieves took my money and watch and later, the children gave so much enthusiasm and love for learning.

Well, the heat is beginning to get to me and I have been a bit tired with many things and dealing with a little sniffle. Even though I don’t feel like eating, I finally forced myself to eat today. The food tastes bland, but it’s energy.

I have not been taking many photos since it is not so polite to just go into a slum and act like a tourist. But, hopefully I will give a few more updated photos next time with faces of children being sponsored.

Thank you for all the support and please continue to help in any way you can. By the way, we will soon have a website at www.faithhopelovefoundation.org .