A photography workshop and exhibition on street life by Little Acorns children
The number of children who availed of Day Care facilities this month was 1586. Food, shelter, formal and non formal education was provided to all. Many of these children were also treated as the need arose. Overall we had a great month of February with its cold weather and warm sea breeze.
We were able to help a young boy this month. Tanish who is four years old experienced great difficulty urinating and would dread going to the bathroom to ease himself. Our staff had him examined and surgery was advised. Being very poor the parents could not afford it. El Shaddai stepped in and volunteered to pay his medical bills. Danush along with Tanish and his parents accompanied him to Cuncolim and had surgery performed. He is doing extremely well now. Danush also took many visitors to the slums and many of them have expressed a desire to help these people through El Shaddai. Dr. Ajith will conduct the final surgery on Nagamma in March.
Some of our children were trained in using a camera by Laura Treviso from Italy as part of a workshop she conducted in Calangute. Our children photographed the street as they saw it. The result was an exhibition of their work which began on the 26th and will continue till 2nd March. Some of the material was pretty good and Laura is taking it to Italy to show it in another exhibition there. Any monies raised in this exhibition will be sent to El Shaddai.
Our children are doing pretty well in their studies. It is due to their hard work and assistance from Jaonna and Pinky. Four of our children topped in their respective classes. On the sports side too our children have made us proud. Many of them won medals and prizes in the Don Bosco annual sports day celebrations. Johnny was a guest of Honor and distributed the prizes. Our children also enjoyed the school picnic at Keri.
Danush is doing excellent fieldwork. Many visitors have given a very positive report of him. Due to his efforts many new children have started attending the Shelter. Many families too are being counseled on hygiene, proper eating habits etc.
Jackie Barker has been a blessing to our Shelter this month. She spent a lot of money treating our children. She bought a huge cake for them and also gave ice cream twice on the beach. We thank her. Others have come and donated towards the needs of the Shelter. We thank them all. You have been responsible for putting a smile on the face of our children and giving them a shot at education and life. We hope many more children will benefit form the facilities we provide and have a chance to a brighter future.