School News Fall 2008
October 11, 2008
Ganga Valley School:
Photo editing by Ashish (age 12)
HAPPY DUSHERA!!!
Boy’s Wing-Guest Flat – New Building Construction:
The construction on the new boys’ Wing-Guest Flat addition is in its final stages with the tile laid and the first coat of paint applied. A puja will be performed any day now to formally inaugurate the building. The boys’ bedroom will provide spacious and homey accommodations for the boys who live here at the school and who are presently sleeping in one of the classrooms. A floorplan has been worked out and new beds have been commissioned. The guest flat has a private entrance and is on its own floor with lovely windows that capture the natural light coming through the surrounding trees. This lovely new accommodation includes a fully equipped kitchen and bath and the daily charge of 300R includes gas and hot water. Call the school or stop by the shop for more information.
Ganga Valley Day School:
The students of the day school program are preparing for semester exams. The school is presently in real need of Special Project Fund donations to pay for printing of school worksheet handouts for the students for the upcoming Winter/Spring semester. Any amount will go a long way towards helping us to keep each of the 65 day school students working at their own individually-calibrated pace.
Ganga Valley Tuition Program:
The after-school tuition program is getting ready for the sacred festival of Dushera. The students will perform three dances for the Lakshman Jhula community on October 7th and 8th including an Indian National dance, a devotional dance (inspired by Lord Krishna) and a local village dance which will be accompanied by a Garwalli folk song. As in the past the teachers and students are planning beautiful hand-sewn costumes for the ancers and hand-made decorations for the school are being designed and created by the staff and students. The tuition program is provided free as an outreach to underprivileged families in the local area. To become a sponsor for the Ganga Valley Tuition Program for the upcoming Winter/Spring semester and to help us to continue to provide a much needed and first-rate program for the children of the Lakshman Jhula community please feel free to contact us for details. A donation of 7500R will help to cover the cost of a month of hands-on tutoring in English, Math and Hindi at our Lakshman Jhula campus for our 65 students, as well as pay to provide much needed worksheets which help to allow each student to work at their own pace.
Ganga Valley Homestay Program:
This month the children have been enjoying walks down to the Ganga and games along its now receding shoreline. With the monsoon moving out the days have been warm and sunny and the evenings cool and cloud-filled. Of course all the children are excited about the soon to be completed boys’ wing and have been making frequent inspections of the progress. Vipasna and Ashish have been helpful in drafting a room layout for the new beds and the furnishings. The new Assistant House Manager Sri Mati Veena is a much welcome addition to the household staff and is joined by her husband Madhan and her two younger children Aman and Diksha who are now reunited under one roof with their sister Anjali (age 11) who has been living at Ganga Valley for the past two years. Along with Rachel’s husband Raj and their daughter Vipasna, and not counting the three dogs Pixie, Poorie and Mickey, this brings the current household community to a total number of 22 members. Not to be left out of the counting, the Homestay Program is soliciting new contributor’s for our Ganga Valley Child Sponsorship Program. A contribution of 240 Euro annually pays for the cost of providing for the various expenses of uplifting one child from the Lakshman Jhula area and providing them with a brighter future.
On behalf of the Ganga Valley Family I am wishing all of you a Prosperous and Happy Dushera!
Rachel Lama Rai