children and toys

Here are a couple of lovely photos from Parijat showing the children when they first received their boxes from the last shipment of toys we sent.





and one of them with the clothes made by the Ladies from the Edwardstown Lions



Thanks to the Principal of Parijat Academy, Uttam Teron for the photos, to Malaysian Airlines for sponsoring the passage of the toys from Adelaide to New Delhi, to the Government of Assam for arranging passage of the toys from Delhi to Assam and to all of our supporters for helping us make this possible.

Successful film night fundraiser

The film night was a great success and we raised just over $1500 after we had paid for the theatre and refreshments. I think most of us enjoyed the film as well. We hope to do it later in the year as well.

We have also heard that the shipment of toys, art materials and children's clothes have arrived safely in Assam and will be distributed shortly to Dhemai, Parijat and orphanages.

Parijat Academy

A photo sent to us by Parijat Academy of the textbooks we provided for the school. As you can see the children are just like children in Australia and very excited to have new texts or maybe not!



and the desks and benches we funded

Fundraiser

We are holding a fundraiser on June 1 2008 at the Trak cinema showing "Then she found me" starring Helen Hunt, Colin Firth and Bette Midler. We will be providing light refreshments. Tickets $15. Contact, Jackie. Udoy, Rupali, Kate, Ramanathan or Raelene for tickets.

Update

It is almost a year since I have posted on the blog but that does not mean we have not been busy during that time!.

We have been collecting toys for our second shipment which flew to Delhi last week courtesy of Malaysian Airlines. We sent nearly 30 boxes of second hand and new toys and art materials and we are very grateful to Malaysian Airlines for sponsoring the airlift component of the transport. This is a significant saving for us and means we can spend more money on supporting the projects in Assam. In Delhi the boxes will be taken through Government channels to Assam where we will arrange for the toys to be distributed. Some will go to the village of Dhemai but we also hope to set up a toy library in the village of Pamohi.

We have been supporting a school, Parijat Academy, in Pamohi by buying benches and tables and text books. The school started with 4 children and 2 desks and benches in 2003. There are now 192 students, 102 boys and 90 girls with 15 teachers. It is a secular school providing free education. The school draws children from nine villages Pamohi, Mahguapra, Deosutal, Garchuk, Mainakhorong, Dhalbama, Nowagaon, Garoghuli and Garbhanga. The subjects offered at the school are Assamese, Hindi, English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Environmental Studies, Moral Education, Drawing, Recitation, Music.

Pamohi is 15Kms from Guwahati, Assam's capital, and very close to the Deepor Beel wetland, where migratory birds can be seen. The area is prone to frequent flooding and it is difficult to grow crops in the area. Work in the area is mostly in woodcutting, labouring and supplementing the family income through the sale of rice beer. There is no health care facilities and the literacy rate is very low particularly among girls and women.

You can see more about Parijat Academy at http://www.parijatacademy.org/index.html

The two sewing machines -pedal powered but capable of doing embroidery - have been delivered to Dhemai so that the women there can use the cloth they weave to make clothes.