Today, I passed rice and curry out to the families in the Gandhi Slum. I carried 10 kilograms and provided 10 families with a little extra food. It was nice to talk with the families and got them enthusiastic at the idea of having someone to come and teach their children mathematics and reading. I played for the younger children some basic songs with my guitar and then sent them away as I worked with the older children reading from their science book on digestion, ecosystem, and food chain.

As the Indian would say, “Little, Little” and little by little, we will try to provide these children with learning opportunities. The most amazing thing about this day was the children were so well behaved and quiet during class. After we sung each song, the children would applaud and cheer and then were quiet again, ready to sing the next song. During our reading lesson, we took turn reading with me always reading the paragraph slowly first and then one of the young girls would repeat the paragraph while the rest of the children would listen.

When days like this happen, they provide so much hope for me that the children will succeed as long as we don’t give up on them or pretend we don’t see them.

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.

Today, I spent the morning at Don Bosco talking with Father Myppan to make sure he will take in the children. I showed him the paperwork on two of the children and he said it was sufficient for admission. Later, I went to tell the families in the Gandhi slum to have the two children with completed documents packed and ready to go on Tuesday morning. I think it will be both a happy and sad day for all. I know I will be sad not to see them daily at the Gandhi Center or in the slum whenever I go and teach there.

We have been using the Buddhist Temple as a classroom for the past several gatherings on Thursday and Sunday. It is a bit strange to be teaching inside a temple. Unlike Jesus, I don’t have anything profound to say to the children or to the parents inside the temple. We basically sing songs accompanied by my bad guitar playing, some mathematics, reading, coloring, and silent meditation. That has been the case each time I go teach in the slum. The children are slowly learning how to behave with more respect for each other and also behaving better towards us. They are not as loud as they used to be and now they will actually listen when I ask them to work or to quiet down. It is a real slow and sometime frustrating experience working with the children and their families.

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.

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 .

I have now lost track of time and how long I have stayed here in Kolkata. It has been about one month…I think. Last Thursday, I began a new program by going to the children’s homes on the streets to teach them reading and mathematics every Thursday. We also provide them with music through my poor guitar playing and singing. Often, when I go, I bring another volunteer along so he/she finds out more about lives on the streets. In the photos, you see Elise playing and caring for the children since the parents are too busy working to have much time for them. We mainly teach the older kids and provide day care for the small children. So for about two hours on Thursday, we tried to provide the children with something different from their everyday normal routines.

We now have seven children selected, but are still waiting for Father at Don Bosco to meet with us to fill out the paperwork. Indian culture and philosophy can be a bit frustrating at time and seems to move so slow. That’s okay…one way or another, we will get them in.

I am completely exhausted trying to teach these children. As you can see, the classroom is not very big and we don’t really have any desks. A few benches are all we have. The classrooms measured about 3×3 square meters each. We have 3 classrooms (cubicles) next to each other. Currently, we have about 44 children ranging from 4-7 years old. In the photos, some of the children were working on a drawing/coloring assignment using the school supplies that were donated. The other photo shows the children, some wearing their new clothes that were also donated by generous people.

These kids can’t go to public schools because there are no public schools here for them to attend. What we teach them is quite inadequate for what they really need to be able to have a chance to someday get a good enough job. Most of the time we are only providing them with basic meals and the comfort of love and safety within the center. Any academic they receive is very basic and will never be enough to do them much good. For the few kids that we will sponsor, hopefully they will take full advantage and stay off the streets completely. I don’t think I will be sad one bit if they don’t ever look back once they have gotten themselves off the streets and into a better life.

Honestly, I don’t know how much good I am doing here for these children. All I know is that I cannot just do nothing.