Summer Holidays and Seeking Mentors

In India, the summer holidays are coming to a close and our girls will be returning to school this week.

In this edition of our newsletter, we focus on the activities that the girls have been engaged in over the summer months, and the very pleasing exam results that our girls in tenth standard have achieved.

In the first article, Bella shares some of the activities that the girls had been engaged in over the summer months.

Kunku and I were able to spend time at the Baale at the beginning of May, and as with previous visits, we were thrilled to see the progress the girls are making, and the improvements that we have been able to make in the physical infrastructure at the Baale. We were also able to enjoy some of the wonderful vegetables fresh from our thriving vegetable garden.

In our second article, Kunku invites our Indian friends to think about becoming mentors for our older girls. We see this as a critical aspect of our support for the girls, as they transition to an independent adult life. We have passed a landmark in the last few weeks, as our oldest girl, Megha, has become the first girl to leave the Baale on her journey to an independent adult life. Mentoring will be a key part of our continuing support for her.

One of the most exciting developments over the last nine months has been our success in cash fund raising in India which is a relatively new development for us. In our third article, Rajan shares plans for participation in JOY OF GIVING week in October.

Of course we will always need to raise funds from all our friends around the world, not least as our costs are rising, primarily to meet the new educational standards that we are setting. In the UK, we have recently signed up for Vodafone text message giving and I would encourage our UK based Friends to give this a try. You can give £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10. You can even claim gift aid through a very easy process.

All you have to do is text FOBM11£{1,2,3,4 or5} to 70070. Why not give it a try

As ever, please enjoy our newsletter.

- Chris Harrison, Chairman

Life at the Baale in the Summer Holidays
Reflections from Bella

It’s the summer holidays and Baale Mane has been teeming with different activities. Two volunteers, Sundari and Uloma have been engaging the girls in different activities.Sundari stayed for two weeks and helped the girls do fabric paintings, glass paintings while also taking English classes during the mornings. There are paper butterflies and flowers galore making Baale even more colourful than usual! We recently received a large donation of books in English, Hindi and Kannada so the girls have been making use of their fortified library.Uloma arrived from the UK last week and got stuck in immediately by taking English classes as well as basic computer training. Some girls can be seen typing up their writing from their English class in the morning whilst others create pictures on paint.Seven girls have been participating in daily yoga classes at Shreyas Resort, a yoga retreat in the neighbouring village. The yoga is physically challenging but the girls are enjoying it and teaching the other girls in the morning.Two separate groups of girls have been staying in the city for a week learning how to perform new street dramas on child rights with Vanaja. They have all come back even more eager to perform.The eldest five girls have had career counselling and guidance to help them focus on what they are able to achieve and work towards over the next year.All of the 10th Standard girls passed their SSLC exams and will be attending college from next week. Particular congratulations go to Madhumala and Pallavi who both achieved first class passes in their exams, a fantastic achievement. Mr Kempuraj, the maths tutor at Baale Mane has helped significantly improve the girls ’ maths results showing how beneficial extra tuition has been.Starting from next week, these six girls will be moving to their first year of Pre University College so we wish them luck.From the beginning of next month eight girls will be starting high school at Vivekananda, an English Medium School. These girls have been studying throughout the holidays and attending a bridge school to help ease the transition from Kannada medium to English medium. Over the past two months I have seen and heard a noticeable improvement in their English as they attend classes.A special mention should go to Megha who has just passed out of Baale Mane after being here for ten years.Megha is now living in a working women’s hostel in the city with other young women her age. She has almost completed her software engineering course and is now attending English classes every day. Within the next couple of months Megha will be placed into a job.As you can see, there are many new developments that are taking place at Baale Mane. The girls are really growing up and making the most of the opportunities we provide them. We are all looking forward to another successful school year.

Glass painting- a rat with a strawberry!!

Physically challenging yoga

Seeking mentors for our older girls

By Kunku Soota
Trustee, Friends of Baale Mane, Uk & Chair, Advisory Group, The Baale Mane Trust, India

Baale Mane nestles in a green space and near the home a pathway winds through Eucalyptus and Casurina trees where in May I walked with some of the older girls. We meandered as a pair while each girl told me about her hopes, dreams and challenges. Megha spoke of her trepidation and excitement at moving to the city. For Mary, the Baale Mane ’s loving manager this was big milestone as the first of her girls was leaving home.There are four others on the threshold of that journey. Over the last couple of years I have come to know the girls. I speak no Kannada and when I first met them I needed a translator but now they are able to communicate with me in English. Two years ago their expressed ambitions were to be software engineers but now they know themselves and their possibilities better. They are looking at varied career options in law, journalism, accountancy and retail. For one of them we are exploring a career in dance or yoga as she has a very special gift.I am mindful that each of them could do with that little extra help to make the best of the opportunities open to them. Indira Ragupathy, one of our trustees is mentoring Megha and we need a few more.So what does a mentor do ?A mentor is a caring individual who offers guidance, support and encouragement through a structured and trusting relationship with a young person.Mentors are not a replacement for a parent, nor are they a counsellor or teacher. They are a sounding board and confidant to the young person.The role of a mentorA mentor’s role is to help a young person fulfil her own potential and discover her strengths.Qualities that make a good mentorAny caring adult can become a mentor no matter what their life experiences have been. They should have good listening and communications skills, patience and be willing to provide support and encouragement to their young mentee.

They must have the time and commitment to meet their mentee regularly – usually at least for an hour every month for 12 months.

If you are a woman who is interested please Contact  Mary, Bella or Kunku, by email.

Our community

Bella has written about the progress made in education – since we moved to Gopalpura, the Baale has become very much part of a community that is local as well as much wider. 11 million children have been abandoned in India and 90% of them are girls but for our 60 girls we tell a different story. I mention a few of those who are helping the girls to re-imagine their futures:

• The Panchayat (local village council) is engaged through providing basic amenities such as improving the road to Baale Mane or school books.

• Akshaya Patra the inspirational NGO who deliver a hot mid-day meal for all 130 children in the local primary school, now intend to include us in their new programme – Akshaya Patra, initiative for development.

• The Nirmala Health Centre sponsored by the Indian Christian Community look after the health of the girls in their weekly visits.

• The Vivekananda Trust, at their school in Hessarghata will now educate some of the older girls in the medium of English until they are ready to move on.

• Pratham Books is a non-profit trust that publishes high quality books for children at affordable prices. Reading materials that are culturally appropriate in English and in Kannada have been given to us by a generous donor.

• Weekly dance classes at the world class Nrityagrama and daily yoga classes at Shreyas resorts, a member of the world wide luxury Relais & Châteaux group, give some of our girls a glimpse into possibilities in 21st century India.

Finally, when I returned to London I met two of our generous donors who are Indian women in their 70s. Shortly after when we needed to pay Pre University College fees for 6 girls, within 36 hours of a digital call, sponsors from Bangalore had come forward to provide sufficient funds. I am reminded that it is the contributions of those around the world who share our vision that enables us to provide the loving home that is Baale Mane.

Indian Fund raising and the Joy of Giving campaign

Last financial year (Apr 2010 – Mar 2011) we raised RS8 lakhs (£11500) in India and that money is primarily being used to meet the budgeted expenses until we get FCRA approval and are in a position to receive money directly from the Friends. We are incurring additional expenses for education as we have moved some of the girls to English medium school. The college fees for girls who have successfully completed their school is higher than planned as we have chosen another college where the fees are higher. We will continue to raise funds for the Baale Mane through programs and events and in the last two months we have raised (received and committed amounts ) in excess of RS150000. This will largely go to paying the fees for the girls in 10th and for those joining Pre University year 1.Our plan is also to use ‘The joy of Giving week’ as a platform for fund raising and to increase the awareness of the Baale Mane to the community. The Joy of Giving is a “festival of giving” that aims to bring together Indians all across the country and abroad through different acts of giving – money, time, skills or resources. The goal is to convert it to a fully publicly owned festival, just like Diwali, Holi or Thanksgiving, none of which are owned by anyone. The week was launched in 2009 and will be held every year starting on a Sunday and ending on a Saturday, containing October 2 within. This is a 100% volunteer driven, publicly owned campaign.

The Joy of Giving Week 2011, slated to happen from Oct 2-8 this year, is India’s largest festival of giving reaching out to more than a million Indians. From auto drivers to CEOs, school children to celebrities, homemakers to opinion leaders, millions of people give their time, money, resources or skills back to society- by creating or participating in “events” of their choice.We plan to use this platform for fund raising, enhancing awareness and also to put a volunteer event together.Let us together celebrate

Our readers in India can click on the Joy of Giving symbol to see what’s in store. We will tell you more about our plans as October gets nearer: meanwhile, mark the dates in your diary