Documentary Featured at GiSCA Palooza at Teachers College

On Saturday, April 23rd, A Future for Meher, the short documentary about our efforts to help Meher edited by Rahul Chadha was featured as part of the Global Initiative for Social Change Through the Arts (GiSCA)'s Spring Palooza at Teachers College, Columbia University.

The invitation to the event describes it as:
"The Palooza is GiSCA's signature annual spring event, a participatory, creative, meaningful, humorous and fun attempt to provoke and be provoked. Social Regime Change Begins at Home Too!! Join us to refill the soulful energies of students, faculty and staff to do effective work, while reinvigorating our commitment to living daily lives that resist and transform structural injustices in our communities and broader society.
The Palooza evening goes like this: we have a few 3-8 minute acts (theater, music, film, visual arts, sculpture, you name it), and then we have facilitated audience dialogue, then we repeat. Refreshments and an after-party round out the night."

The film was a big success and many people asked me about Meher and our efforts in India after the screening.


Program from the event (above)

Visit to Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School

Today (Wednesday, April 13th) I visited students at the Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School in New York. The school is part of the Outward Bound network, and students and teachers embark on expeditions (similar to interdisciplinary units) as part of their curriculum.





Their current expeditions is called "Taking a Stand" and Ms. Shiney, a teacher at the school, invited me in to talk about fund-raising and advocating for Meher. The students had already learned a lot about India, Meher, and activism, and had great questions and ideas to share with me. After our discussion, the students made posters to show what they had learned and explain the issue and solution to the rest of the school.





It was a wonderful visit and I really enjoyed sharing Meher's story with the students.

Another Excellent Report Card

Report cards have been issued and Meher has done excellently yet again. Her grades are straight A+s! She is now graduated from Prep (Kindergarten) and ready to enter first grade next term.

Happy Belated Holi!

Here are some beautiful pictures of Meher getting ready for the Holi holiday (Festival of Colors that signals the beginning of Spring!) courtesy of Austen.

Spring Break

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuo2vQr4j2rkAw-NtBYERMJBEfP9QvtW7eEx6G406WN2_rimY4KgeW_aY3ENjcEArwud3Tost9sBd7dL1RdP2XzAMATfDg4OOYLCfQk2NlNpi1QP2Qe0e5M0NrGkwcHf0G5YfMXnQsdY/s1600/IMG_0045.jpg">

Meher is back from school for a short break. She goes back on April 3rd, when the school will announce the end of term results. Then she will be entering Class 1! She is happy to be home and spending a lot of time at the Women's Centre, as always.

Visiting Day and End of Term

Shanti Gyam International School's year just ended and all the students are now at home. Meher and Utpal will be returning for a little less than a month for a summer camp the school is running this year.

Here is a picture of Meher with Austen, a volunteer from Barrington who is working at the Women's Centre.

School Visitors Day

Recently, Anou and Austen went to Meher's boarding school to see all of the Project Why kids. They are all doing well and receiving good grades in school as usual. Meher and Utpal may stay at Shanti Gyam International School over the summer, as there is a special summer camp program available this year.