The Prem NIvas and Thompson House Picnic 2017

The children had been asking for weeks when The Picnic was to be.

We like to keep them guessing but this year there were logistical reasons why we found it difficult to select a date for these annual events for all the Brighter Future Children.  Victor Director was busy with visitors from Brighter Future UK so we decided that they might like to see what a Picnic was like. A bus was ordered for their trip on 4th February. I haven't heard back from the staff or children from DMC House or from the Rainbow boys, but I am sure it was much enjoyed.

Our Prem Nivas and Thompson House children were hoping to go on the 9th  or 17th as the Director was free then, but with staff absences and sickness, it would have been very difficult for Swathi, who is the Thompson House house mother, to do all the cooking as well as get the children ready.  Eventually a snap decision was made and the bus was ordered for 10th,  as the children had one of their 'Saturday holidays'  on that particular day.

The staff usually prepare two meals to eat at the picnic  but this year to make things easier everyone had  breakfast  in their homes.The lunch and the preparation for the evening meal that would be taken when the children return at about 7.30pm, was quite enough to manage. Swathi told me that she went to bed at 9am and got up at 2am to start the cooking!

Best Christmas clothes were worn and old clothes were taken for playing in the sea. Boys strip off to trousers and girls wear dresses in the sea.

The Staff ,Laxmi Nurse, Gowrie teacher, Kalyani assistant and Kanchama assistant shared seats with the children who were packed three to a seat. 
The oldest boys went separately in the Maxi, which is a cross between a van ad a taxi!

After we left the built up area the the bus drivers put songs and videos on the coach TV.  the music set the children into dancing mode and they were literally dancing in the aisles.Later the children had a film to watch.

Swathi dancing.

 Some girls bought trinkets and there were lots of places to buy ice-creams and lollies

Some older boys tried Bungee jumping

Little Thompson house boys wandered around in awe.



Teja, Yerrinaidu, Sai, Satish  Sateesh and Manoj

VidyaSagar, Bangaru, Durga Rao, Nagaraju, Prabhas, Sandhya, Satyavarthi,Ashok, DMC warden and Jyothi.

 Bangaru with Prabhas,Vidya, Raju, Nagaraju, Sandhya, Sunita, Jyothi, Ashok, and staff 

Keerthi

Rajesh, Manoj, James, Govind, Somesh and Sunita

Somesh

James and Govind

Krishnaveni and Bhagya

Swathi with girls

Lunchtime in Vuda Park

Off the beach to go home.Durga shows me his green shell.


The children played in the water,  flew the kites and hunted in rock pools.

They found creatures great and small

Time to go home!

Republic Day 2017

India's Republic Day, January 26th,  is celebrated all over the country as a bank holiday. Children may go to school just for a special flag hoisting ceremony and maybe a speech or two by a visiting dignitary. Indeed Our High School children dressed in their best white uniforms went along for their school ceremony but were soon back to join in our little event.

Here at Prem Nivas we are very fortunate in having a young lady teacher, Ramya, and her training college friends and sisters, who are pleased to make Republic day a special one for our children.  They arranged a splendid event last year so I was relieved that they willingly agreed to again give the Prem Nivas children  their time and energy, along with gifts,decorations and lots of love.

Ramya with her friends and relations

The evening before Ramya arrived and arranged games and drawing competitions, mostly in the dark.

We told her that Sampath had bought a new bamboo pole for us and that we would decorate it in the national colours and make some arrangement for its installation - a bucket of sand with a few rocks proved to be fine. Our existing flag was very small and Ramya insisted on buying a larger one for us.

 The next morning our teacher, Mr Venkat, was given the job of connecting the flag and wrapping it in the traditional bundle, so that when the string is pulled, the flag unfurls and orange flower petals float down to the ground.

Ramya and her family and friends arrived at 9.30 and set about making a special chalk and flower decorations for the foot of the flagpole. Children helped gathering leaves and petals and each had a little Indian flag pinned to their chests.

Some children had practiced a song about the flag and everybody sang the national anthrm and a famous Indian song, Vande Mataram. I was honoured with the flag operation.

Afterwards we took to the shade in the old dining area and had a concert with children volunteering their songs and dances. prizes and snacks followed.

















There was a pause for lunch and rest time and then the evening was enlivened by two special guests, One gentleman  used the Telugu language in a comedic way,  interacting with guests and children.

 The other special guest was a famous TV star who was a mimic. Some of his sketches took off politicians and the children laughed a lot.

books and pens for the children

Ramya gave books and pens to the children and all agreed that hey had had a very special day.

Mr Venkat and me 

Ramya

the comedian 

songs and dances

Thank you Ramya and friends for making Jan 26th 2017 a special one for all at Prem Nivas.

The Christmas Party photos that I promised you!

I have a confession to make! The day after the party I went on holiday!

As the years roll by I thought that I would like to take a holiday as, judging by the stiff joints and a variety of aches and pains, I may not be able to travel next year. I don't bother with insurance, it costs more than the holiday at my age, so I decided that I would just hop over to nearby Sri Lanka for a change of scene.  I had a lovely time exploring the old capitals of this Buddhist country and seeing interesting places, including a tropical rain forest. a mountain or two, a tea factory and a couple pf gardens.

Now I am back in Visianagaram and have been shown the photos of the Christmas party.

 The children loved every minute of it! A big thank you to all who sent donations towards the cost of this huge event which had to cater for over 300 children and guests, as well as provide new clothes and gifts for every child.  

The children and guests sat on chairs under a  sharmiyana tent in the shade and sang songs and hymns until the main guests had arrived. Bouquets were presented, speeches made and the Pastors explained the meaning of Christmas and its symbolism. The younger children decorated the tree. The buildings and tents were resplendent with fairy lights. Spotlights were erected, along with a speaker system, for the evening performances on the new stage.which had been built in less than a month.

 Lunch was cooked by caterers and the children were served by staff and senior children, as is the custom on special occassions.

The children arrived from DMC house and the Rainbow home,from Karuna Nivas and Prem Nivas soon after they had had their breakfasts. They came by Brighter Future vehicles, hired maxi cabs or by train. after playing on the sports field or on the swings and climbing frames. The older children were soon dancing to the latest songs flowing through the speakers. Guests arrived and lunch was cooking.The children took their places on the chairs arranged by senior children and little ones sang songs using the microphone  most professionally.

                                      Sunitha and Bhagya







Guests arrived  

The Christmas tree was decorated

Mr Chaudray escorts Mary and me

Victor introduced his father who made a lovely speech.

Mr Prasad's family sang carols

Priyanka,Varalaxmi and Uma did a dance

Lunch served

Housemother Rajeshwari and Vasavi

Ashok serves the  Prem Nivas girls




The lunch was followed by the gift giving. Gifts for children, for patients of the Hospice and for Brighter future staff.  Cards from Monkston school in Milton Keynes were shown to all the children and given to the Prem Nivas Primary children who had made and sent cards to them
The children received their new shirts, trousers and dresses. Red shirts for the boys, orange and green dresses for the young girls, with  shalwar suits for the  older girls.

The evening was devoted to skits and group performances of songs and dances These are mainly on video so I will ask for them tomorrow.

Getting ready for Christmas!

Plagued by no internet and not enough hours in the day! 

Prem Nivas children have been making cards to give to local people who donate lunches or towels and other items to the children to mark a family anniversary or birthday. the 4th and 5 class were let free to make 24 cards and they did very well. sorry I forgot to photograph them. meanwhile other children painted old paper cups to make decorations for our Christmas tree of lights. We got through 4 tubes of PVA glue today when the 4th and 5th year children showed the 1st, 2nd and 3rd  year Primary children how to fold streamers, while Durga and Nagaraju showed Sunita and Nagamani how to make more complicated cut our decorations. All have been stuck on doorways and in their rooms.

we have had birthdays too. This was Saradha's

All gather round to sing happy birthday and have some cake

Swathi Housemother with Saradha

Tomorrow is the big event of the year - The Christmas party! Much hairwashing, nail painting and  decorating hands with Mendhi by the girls! For the first time in my 20 years in India I have had a lovely design made on my hand and arm. Sravani was the artist!  

Sravani made a design on my arm 

A couple of boys have been to show me their shinny hair styles with a back-facing quiff.

Two vehicles are being hired to take the children to our Shanti Nivas site where the children from all of our homes and hostels will meet to celebrate the day, and well into the night. Dances songs and dramas have been rehearsed. Food will be prepared by outside caterers, music has been put on CD's and a new stage had been built near the Mothers' home. 

The mini Hospice tree

I found a very small Christmas tree the local village shop. The Primary school children have decorated it with coloured cut out pictures and put and angel on top - it is for the hospice patients. The original Tesco tree from 2008 will make another appearance and this year I have brought some more gold balls for it. 

Lots of pictures will be taken so do keep watching our blog for sponsors and donors.

Thank you for your support throughout the year and especially at Christmas time , Picnic time and when we need help sending children to college and university
A very happy Christmas to you and your families from the staff and children at Brighter Future India. 

I arrived in India last week

Unbeknown to me the Prime Minister, Mr Modi, had a surprise waiting for me.

I thought I would save my back and leave my big case at the airport left luggage while I spent one night at my usual Delhi city centre hotel. The counter staff told me that they would not accept 500 or 1000 rupees notes. but gave no explanation. Luckily I had small notes with me, left over from my last visit to Brighter Future, which I had intended using for the Airport Express train  and the auto rickshaw at the Delhi end of the line. I asked about the 'notes'  at a nearby cafe  found out that it was a snap decision, of only a few hours previously, by the Prime Minister. to withdraw all 1000 and 500  rupee notes from circulation,( £10 and £5) in an attempt to stop money laundering, hoarding  money, bribe paying and not paying income tax -  all generally referred to as Black Money.  

All ATM's were closed, banks were closed for two days and only a few airport ticket offices and the metro would accept the banned notes. No auto's, food vendors, cafe's, restaurants, hotels or money changers  would accept them . I managed to change 1000 after a wait at the station while they accumulated change from ticket sales to people with 100 or less. but was given a 500 as part of my change for the 60 rupee fare.

I decided that I could not afford to use my precious change on a rickshaw and remembered that if I walked through New Delhi  station, from platform 16 to platform 1, including crossing bridges and going through a scanning machine, I would be at the Pahargang side of Delhi, just a few hundred yards from my hotel. I was wearing a backpack and pulling a small wheeled case. Luckily I had paid for the hotel in advance so only had to use my debit card for meals.  I returned to the airport the next morning by the same route.

Victor met me at the Visakhapatnam airport and told me of the mayhem the banning had caused to traders and in paying wages. So many people do not have bank accounts and the banks would only change 4000 rupees per person, If you had more the money it had to be paid into a bank account.   We saw such big crowds outside banks, with the police trying to keep order,  that the rules are now changed  and one person can only change 2000rps.! Hands are marked with indelible ink to prevent the people returning on the same day. The papers reported small traders not being able to get stock and goods in markets rotting because no one had small change to buy them.The new 2000 rupee notes are being issued in this way.

 Pydi and Vidya painting

Meanwhile, I am staying at Prem Nivas, dividing my time between teaching in the Primary school, supervising some VTC boys repainting the playground furniture, with careful sanding, red oxide and then using the colours they have chosen.. 





We had to mend mosquito nets.

The High School children conveniently had a day off school yesterday for a Hindu festival, so some of them volunteered to make Christmas cards for Victor to send to his friends and people he has met on his world travels connected with leprosy work.

Jessie made angels.

It is still rather hot for November - we don't seem to have the winters that we had a few years ago -  I blame Global warming! 










The young children come to my room after school to play on the tablet, use the toy computer and  play with the speaking teddy bear. 

Vijay

Favourite toys

Peace comes at 7.30 when I'm brought my dinner and the children disappear to have theirs.At 9 o'clock I am brought hot milk. I put up my mosquito net and after a few chores I go to bed and read or do word puzzles. A large rat woke me at 2am last night!  I chased it with a stick and it returned from whence it came, up the roof beam and into the next room and out through the roof.