Ah, the weather is finally starting to warm up! Gone are the gray days, replaced with sunshine and pleasant temperatures (although it does rain from time to time, as we found out last Sunday when we had to run and bring in the paddy drying on the roof). But even when the weather turns, we've got a trick up our sleeve: the trusty ceiling fan in our room.
At Chaitanya Kul, there's always a mix of emotions floating around. Last Sunday, the children were a little sad because Satyam had gone out of town for a few days. But they expressed their feelings in our weekly "sharing cum reflection circle," which is a fancy way of saying we all sit down together for an hour and talk about our emotions, struggles, and joys.
After sharing, we do some paper crafts, and then we have a weekly movie session. We just finished Kung Fu Panda and we're moving on to How to Train Your Dragon next.
One of our facilitator, Avinash, brought back an electric bicycle from his hometown Goa, and the children had a blast test-riding it for a few days. But now they're restricted for a few days because they allowed a few dents to appear on the bike.
Before COVID, our work at Chaitanya Kul used to be very informal and spontaneous, but we realized that a well-defined program and structure would be helpful for our new children and team members. So, we've slowly introduced policies and structured programs. This confuses children, who loved the freedom of the safe space we created. Satyam explains to them that as they grow, so too must Chaitanya Kul and that the changes are for our benefit.
One thing the children excel at is drawing, but they often copy instead of creating. With that in mind, Satyam brought in an amazing artist named Navedita to give a weekly session. The goal of art is not to copy reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity. With Navedita's guidance, the children are going on a fun-filled, perception-widening adventure for sure.
Since Satyam is away, the children feel protective of everyone at Chaitanya Kul, so they decided to have a sleepover.
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