It has been a few days since I last blogged. In the past couple of days we have had meetings with the trustees and solidified the plans to build the new school. Tomorrow, we will survey the land and start to build the floor plans.
About two days ago, I met with a few of the girls I mentioned in my blog post last year (Check out the blog post here). Unlike other young girls in their community, Manisha and Parul have supportive parents who encourage them to go to school. The sisters are in 5th and 7th grade and attend school every day. Their father told us that he will be sure to educate his daughters because he does not want them to have the hard life he had. Their friends, Kajal and Puja are also in the same boat. Their parents have hopes to have them complete middle school and then move onto high school.
Kajal
Parul
The girls attend the local Gujarati school which educates children who are in standards one through eight (grades 1-8). We spoke with the principle and he happily told us that the school has sought permission from the village temple trustees to use their previously received government money to rebuild the school.
Teeny
Last year, I also spoke about Teeny, Usha’s aunt, a few times. I also mentioned Sahyog Ashram, a place where older mentally and physically disabled individuals can go. There, individuals similar to Teeny receive proper care and treatment for their disability. We recommended that Jamanaben, Usha’s grandmother, send Teeny there so that she can be cared for when Jamanaben can no longer care for her.
Upon returning to India this year, I was surprised to see Teeny wandering around the village. When we asked Jamanaben if she had given anymore thought to send Teeny to Sahyog Ashram, she gave us the same response as last year saying she would keep Teeny until she is not able to.