Blogs Go Backwards

12 Jul 2007 Leave a comment

by Dr. Michelle Harrison in Uncategorized

Blogs go backwards, so what i write first is read last — reminding me of novels where i read the end so i can relax through the story.  I write forward and I am read backwards.

Soon there wil be a website to explain more.

But in the moment of Now, I live in Kolkata, which used to be Calcutta.  I live in a small orphanage that started with a vision i had.  I live with 13 orphan girls, aged about 2-12.  The four youngest are severely handicapped, mostly with cerebral palsy.  The others are "normal" with their handicaps being social and educational.  These are all urgent problems so we try to do everything at once.

I sleep on the floor with the kids.  In the summer that is the coolest place.  In the winter we have cots, and lots of blankets.  Recently we had terrible monsoon flooding and so were were locked in for a week — me and 13 kids and i really enjoyed the time.  I’m not alone in terms of help — and in the flooding all my teachers came — anyone close enough to get here, got here.  And we were able to get food in.

The rain is gone for now… the kids are back to school… me and my ducklings walking to school

Founding Principles

12 Jul 2007 1 Comment

by Dr. Michelle Harrison in Daily Life, Future, Health, Orphans, Safety Tags: ,

Childlife Preserve: Shishur Sevay

Founding Principles

From the beginning, May 2006

1.     We shall provide a safe, nurturing, healthy, educational and culturally rich environment.

2.     We shall develop each child’s education and opportunities in ways that build competence, confidence, and independence.

3.     We shall teach our children respect for others, irrespective of job category, caste, religion, skin color, gender, and age.

4.     We shall teach our children to be responsible and contributing members of the community, and to participate in the care of those less fortunate.

5.     We shall teach our children to respect and protect our environment.

6.     We shall give our children a strong foundation in Bengali language, culture, and history, so they may be literate, contributory, and respected members of the Bengali community and Indian society. 

7.     We shall teach skills in English and Hindi languages so as to improve their opportunities for participation, work, and education in India and the global community.

8.     We shall have fun with our children and share our lives with them.

Ducklings

12 Jul 2007 7 Comments

by Dr. Michelle Harrison in Education/School, Future, Orphans Tags: , ,

Just another day, and no way to really explain it all, so i’ll start from the middle, today, and over time you will share the future, and hear about the past.

I walk along the narrow broken street lined with shops and carts, mostly still closed, with seven little girls in their school uniforms behind me.  I’m mother duck with ducklings.  I’m white skinned in a sari.  My girls are brown skinned, dressed in proper white shirts and pleated red frocks,  white socks, with black buckled Mary Janes. At six am we are on our way to school.  Four hours later I will return to get them, but then the road will be crowded with cars, cycles, and trucks.  And the sun will be beating.

Ducklings_1093cr_2 

 

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