By Preeti Agarwal Mehta | Project Leader
This quarter's story is not about a child but a pup that we were give by Aysha, founder of an animal NGO as they were unable to cater to his needs at their shelter.
Veer, the brave, was found with his spine and hind legs completely paralysed. He was so frail and ill that the vet advised us to put him down. But destiny had a different course charted out for him. The kids of KM were in love with this adorable and affectionate creature. The wanted to give it a try for a few weeks, ready to face the inevitable after that anyway.
So the vet suggested tonics and medicines and some generous donors were willing to contribute for his treatment. As he grew in strength, we realised that mobility was his main issue. To sort that, a creative intervention was planned. The kids, staff and board members got togther to build a sort of a wheelchair type equipment designed specially to take off the load from his dead hind legs onto the wheels.
We are happy to report that in a month, Veer has made tremendous progress and glides across the campus with his cool set of wheels!
While this seems like a story about a dog, what underlies this whole episode is the feeling of saving a life, going beyond the call of duty and not giving up till very creative option is explored. It has been such a morale booster for the children to be involved in this unbelievable healing process.
Sometimes, life's most beautiful lessons come on four paws and a cool set of wheels!!
Main highlights this quarter!
The festival of Lorhi with it's bonfire and treat of popcorn, peanuts and sweets is a highlight marking the end of peak winter.
The other most celebrated festival at Karm Marg, Holi, also falls in this quarter. Preparations begin from weeks before with making organic eco-friendly colours from flowers, spices and beetroot. Soaking, grinding, drying takes up a good chunk of activity time. It's the day most alumni and friends visit us to be part of the masti. No one is spared and after we run out of colours, mud, water, everything is used to go crazy with fun! It's a festival where every one enjoys to their heart's content.
A local dance studio owner Himani met us at the Christmas fair we attended in December. She was impressed by the dance moves of some of our youngsters. She contacted us to hold auditions for our kids so that she could offer dance training for them at her studio. She selected 9 of them (7 girls, 2 boys) and they are now attending and throughly enjoying her classes twice a week.
With no sanitation facility provided in the village, the garbage has been piling up on the road leading to our campus. Karm Marg children and staff have been talking to the villagers about the ill-effects of open dumping on the health of their kids, animals etc. cleaned the road up trying to demonstrate to the villagers the importance of cleanliness and hygiene. Seeing us in action, we are hoping they will realise how they can do their bit in reducing this menace.
An art and craft workshop was conducted with the children where they were taught to make earrings out of used egg tray and colourful thread. They all enjoyed making different designs and presented it to older didis as gifts.
Ten of our creative children went to Creative Adda at Dariyaganj to participate in Dhamaal Chawkdi peer to peer learning program under the guidance of Shikshantar, Udaipur. Our children got to chance to explore so many different craft, science, music and other workshops. Kabaad se jugaad, Jewellery making, candle making, Solar panel were their favourite. Our very own Rihana and Shama conducted peer learning workshop of Jalkumbhi where they taught how to make jewellery and mats with the help of jalkhumbi (weed).
Our Young Adults with Special Needs team helped in completing our paper bag order. They were very dedicated in doing their job.
They visited their old school, Shaurya Center for their Annual day celebration and participated in activities there. They were very happy to meet their old teachers and friends.
Poonam practiced making and baking mathi on her own without any assistance. It was a big accomplishment for her and us.
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