New Pictures of Meher

Meher is continuing to do well in school. She is enjoying herself as usual; here she is eating during a recent visit by Anou and Project Why staff.

Congratulations Meher!

Results are out and Meher is first in her class! She received grades of A+ in all subjects. We are all so happy and proud of her.

Happy (Belated) Indian Independence Day!

In honor of India's 64th Independence Day, there were festivities and performances at Meher's school. Here she is performing:





And here are all the kids after the ceremony:

Pizza!

Recently Meher's uncle and some Project Why visitors went to see everyone at the boarding school. They brought pizza which was very warmly received. The children are doing well and enjoying school as always.



Here they are with the principal

Meher's Report Card

Meher is doing very well at school, as you can see from her report card below!

Meher at School

Last month, I went to visit Meher, Utpal, and the foster children from Project Why (Aditya, Babli, Vicky, Nikhil and now little Manisha) at their boarding school. The children were so happy to see us (my sister and cousins came as well) and very proud to show us around the school. Each child insisted we see his or her classroom, cupboard, and bed. They are all very happy to be there and told us how much they enjoy school. Meher in particular told me she enjoys schools, especially because "we eat lunch and play everyday."

Here is a video of Meher showing us her cupboard:

A New Friend and Supporter for Meher

Thomas Parrish, shown above with his teacher Maggie Gruber and chess teacher GM Yury Shulman, is a chess student from Barrington, IL. He fund-raised for Meher already as part of the initiative through Chess Without Borders, chose to support Meher by asking for donations towards her education instead of gifts at her birthday party. The United States Chess Federation published an article about Thomas's efforts.

Soul Mates: Anou's post about Meher and Utpal

From Anou's blog http://projectwhy.blogspot.com/2010/04/soul-mates.html

They are true soul mates and they have proved it more than once. And they are soul mates in more ways than one! Last Monday they took the road to the boarding school, Utpal a now 5 year pro and Meher the rookie. I was a little concerned about Meher as she tends to get over emotional and melts into tears for nothing. But this was not to be. She took to the school like a fish to water. maybe, as all survivors, she knew this was her road to many beautiful morrows.

Utpal, intuitively knew, his little friend had to be protected and cared for. He knew how unkind kids can be when you look or behave different. He remembered how he had to fight the nasty barbs children threw at him because of his visible scars and he also knew that he would ensure, as best he could, that Mehar would not have to suffer them. The invisible scars they would have to deal with privately, in their own special ways and with a little help from the God of lesser beings.

Meher's First Day of School

Meher started boarding school!
She has settled in well and is really enjoying herself. She told Anou that she loves it there.





Utpal in particular is taking very good care of her.

Chess Without Borders Efforts Featured at an Event/by USCF!

Chess Without Borders was recently featured by the United States Chess Federation (USCF) for their appearance at a Roots and Shoots event in Chicago, IL. Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots invited students from Chess Without Borders to present about their work and involvement fund-raising for Meher and Project Why as an example of how children can change the world.

There is an article about it on USCF's website:
http://main.uschess.org/content/view/10217/576

Getting Ready for School

My parents recently visited New Delhi and brought Meher some new clothes from her friends at Hough Street School in Barrington. She and everyone at Project Why were very excited to see them!


Here she is modeling a dress that students at Hough Street School sent to Delhi for her.











They also went to see Dr. Khazanchi to talk about the last operation on Meher's
hands.


Meher is studying hard as she recently passed her entrance exam to go to boarding school.