SB Talent Showcase

Our acrobatics during afternoon rehearsal.

At SB, volunteers are in charge of nearly ALL of the arts and extra curriculars -- everything ranging from vocal and instrumental music and theatre to visual arts, yoga, and dance. (On occassion, other things are tossed in there too -- martial arts, juggling, magic, circus arts, and so on.) And, every few months or so, the volunteers organize some sort of showcase, talent show, or performance for the school.

Yesterday was one such event, and the last for this term and the school year. Of the 2 OSAs and 7 volunteers left on campus, all but two (who were busy with other aspects of school life) were involved in the show either as performers or as teachers of performers.

The third graders shared content from their classes. They sang "Old MacDonald" in German and presented a performance of "Seize the Day" from Newsies which they'd learned in their Theatre class.

Satish performing during the show.

Beginning piano, guitar, and harmonica students shared their progress -- including two of my piano students: fourth grader Sathish played two pieces and fifth grader Thulasi and I played a duet.

All of the dance students (an option the kids may choose during PT (physical time)) performed, sharing a wide variety of dances.

Jugglers juggled. Kids with balancing skills did balancing tricks.  Students ranging from fourth through eleventh grades shared hand to hand acrobatics they'd learned with Alex, our volunteer trained in circus arts. (Yes, it was awesome!)

Katy's spoon trick

And other random acts were thrown in -- Katy balanced four spoons on her face (which ever kid then tried to do at dinner), Komal and I worked with a group of six fifth grade girls to do a performance with cups (which made the girls rockstars as classmates begged to be shown how to do it). (To give you an idea, the girls in this video work with the same basic "cup trick" our girls did.)

It was a really fun evening. The crowd was enthusiastic.  The performers did stupendously.  And the school has a happy time together (before a delicious dinner).  In addition, it was Wishu, the Maliali New Year, and the last full day before our tenth and twelfth graders went home for break.  Good times!

This video is of the final dance number -- a medley of dances the kids learned with Lori. Check it out. These are kids ranging from fourth through twelfth grades.
(2012.06.08)

Monkey business

On various weekends, when we don't have other on-campus responsibilities, SB teachers, staff, and volunteers will occasionally leave campus -- sometimes to run errands (bank, groceries, shopping), sometimes to visit friends or family, and sometimes to travel. 

This past weekend fellow volunteer Lori and I took off for a weekend trip to Mysore.  My travel guide says, "If you haven't been to Mysore, you just haven't seen South India," and this sentiment is one that I had heard from other travel resources, other travelers, and local Indians alike.  So, Mysore-bound we were. 

Perhaps at another point I'll write more about the weekend.  We had a lovely time.  We visited the Maharaja's Palace (and saw an evening light show), wandered Devaraja Market, took a bus-ride up to Chamundi Hill, meandered throughout the city, ate tasty food, did some shopping, and learned a bit more about the silk industry.  But on Sunday morning, before we left to return to SB, we went to Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens -- the Mysore Zoo. 

One of the things distinctly different between India and the States is the number (and acceptance) of free roaming animals -- cows, goats, chickens, dogs, and monkeys.  It's entertaining to me because monkeys aren't an everyday sight in the States.  So seeing them roam freely is highly enjoyable.  (It's almost like they're really big squirrels.  They live in the trees and wander as they please.  And for the most part the only people who pay them any attention are white folks visiting from somewhere else.)

At the zoo there are plenty of primates, both those that are caged and free-range.  The zoo was also highly entertaining because of their signage.  Here you see two pertaining specifically to the monkey population.

Now, about half-way through our zoo walk, we witnessed a bonnet monkey eating an ice cream cone.  Oh so much fun!  The video is below.  What do you think?  Don't you want this as part of your everyday life too?!  We don't know whether someone gave him the cone or if he stole it.  Either way, kinda surreal for this chick who's much more accustomed to squirrels and robins than monkeys. (Sorry that the video is so short.  You have to pay a fee to take photographs in the zoo, which I payed, but you also have to pay a separate, higher fee to take video, which I did not pay.  I felt guilty taking video -- not that anyone knew or cared.  But, as a result, the video is short.  But still enjoyable.  At least to me.)

(2012.05.01)

SB's Child of the Week: Praveen

Praveen was all dressed up because he and
a few classmates were about do to an
amazing dance in honor of Dr. George's birthday.

Another of my students was named Child of the Week this past week. Praveen is one of my 5th grade students. (I teach him and the other fifth graders Computers, Human Biology, and Life Science.) I adore Praveen. He is incredibly funny (and ALWAYS smiling). He is a diligent student and does his very best at whatever he's working on. And he's a kiddo that bridges lots of social groups and interests. Plus, when he sits in his assigned seat in the dining hall and I sit in my typical seat in the dining hall, we are in the perfect place to make faces at each other and do goofy dances for one another. It's a highlight of my day.  If you would like to read about Praveen, his family, his hobbies, and his dreams -- in his own words -- you can do so here.

According to the kids, this was only the
third time in their lives that they had eaten
pizza.  It was sponsored by volunteers and
delivered to the local village, where we
went to pick it up by rickshaw.

As you may (or may not) have realized, all of the children who are SB Children of the Week are kids in need of financial sponsors. While education and residency at SB is free to all students, providing for their education, housing, nutrition, medical needs, and so forth is not without financial cost to the institution. SB works really hard to raise money to continue to support the programs they offer. And one way to do that is through child sponsorships. When you sponsor a child it covers the cost of all of their expenses -- housing, meals, medical, recreation, schooling, etc. -- for a year. Plus, you receive periodic updates on the child, including a photo and letter. (And you can choose to correspond with him or her more often if you're interested.  Kids love hearing from their sponsors.)  It costs roughly $1,600 (Rs. 70,000) a year to cover one child's residential and academic needs at SB. This is about $4 (Rs.160) a day, which is just twice the World Bank's definition for subsistence at a poverty level (or about what it costs for you to get that fancy coffee at Starbucks everyday). If you think you would be interested in sponsoring an SB child, you can find details about what that entails and how to do so here.

There are, of course, many, many ways to support the work of Shanti Bhavan and it's students. For a broader list of options, you can visit the SB website here.
(2012.04.30)