Page  1  of  6    

Girls’  Home  Report:  November  2015  

November  has  been  full  of  fun  for  all  the  girls,  and  many  guests  have  visited  the  Girls’  Home.  Along  with  them  they  had  brought  many  gifts  for  the  girls  such  as  dolls  and  accessories,  which  the  girls  were  highly  excited  about.  The  girls  have  also  celebrated  Diwali,  the  festival  of  lights,  with  their  beloved  Lisbeth  aunty  (Founder  of  LBH).  A  three-­‐day  exposure  trip  to  Maithan  Dam  had  also  been  arranged.  The  girls  had  a  great  experience  going  on  a  shopping  trip  sponsored  by  Kolkata  Ladies  Circle.  They  visited  Eco-­‐Park  with  LBH  sponsor  Karina  Lind  and  her  family.  Karina  also  gifted  each  of  the  girls  a  book  with  collages  of  pictures  of  the  girls  and  boys  from  previous  visits.  The  girls  loved  seeing  their  own  photos  in  the  book.  This  month  the  girls  also  participated  in  a  Community  Sports  programme.  Finally  the  girls  also  managed  to  prepare  for  their  exams.  Read  all  about  in  this  report.  

Number  of  Girls:  13  

 

   

Have  any  new  girls  joined?  Two  new  girls  have  joined  the  Girls’  Home  family  during  November.    

Swasthi  comes  from  a  broken  family.  She  lived  with  her  father  and  her  younger  brother  at  Dumdum  Railway  Station.  Two  years  ago  her  mother  married  another  man  abandoning  her  husband  and  children  despite  Swasthi’s  father  attempt  to  convince  her  to  take  Swasthi  with  her.    

Her  father’s  main  occupation  is  rickshaw  pulling  and  sometimes  he  sells  tea  at  Dumdum  Station.  Her  father  is  usually  busy  with  his  work  and  away  from  the  station  area  for  many  hours.  During  this  time  Swasthi  and  her  younger  brother  used  to  wander  around  the  platforms  and  beg  money  

from  passengers  for  their  survival.      

Page  2  of  6    

 Nibedita  is  from  a  family  with  a  very  poor  socioeconomic  status.  Nibedita  was  living  with  her  father  and  grandmother  before  joining  Girls’  Home.      A  few  years  ago  her  mother  abandoned  them,  taking  Nibedita’s  younger  sister  with  her  and  they  have  not  heard  from  her  since.  Her  grandmother  has  different  health  problems  due  to  her  old  age  and  her  father  is  also  sick  and  therefore  not  able  to  bear  the  basic  living  expenses  of  the  family.  Her  father’s  elder  brother  gave  support  to  the  family  over  a  period  of  time,  but  could  no  longer  continue  to  do  so,  as  he  had  to  look  after  his  own  family.  Nibedita’s  aunt  contacted  LBH  regarding  Nibedita.  

   

General  Description:  After  the  Durga  puja  festival  towards  the  end  of  last  month  and  the  girls’  visits  to  their  homes  they  were  just  about  to  adjust  with  their  daily  schedules  in  November  and  then  the  Diwali  festival  came.  Throughout  the  month  the  girls  have  participated  in  many  events.  The  girls  shared  that  they  enjoyed  being  with  their  family  shortly.    

The  two  new  girls  Swasthi  and  Nibedita  have  become  well  acquainted  with  the  systematic  life  at  Girls’  Home  and  have  quickly  become  friends  with  the  other  girls.  Sangita,  from  Girls’  Home,  shared  that  Swasthi  is  like  her  sister  and  she  is  always  taking  care  of  her.  The  older  girls  have  been  a  good  help  to  them  in  the  transition  to  life  at  Girls’  Home.  From  the  beginning  they  shared  their  dolls,  books,  colours  etc.  and  included  them  in  games  and  in  other  activities.    

Koyel  from  Girls’  Home  participated  in  the  Sports  Circle  meet  of  December.  It  is  a  sports  event  where  the  participants  are  school  champions  from  a  variety  of  primary  schools  in  the  Behala  area.  We  are  proud  that  Zeenath  was  selected  as  ‘Best  Girl’  in  November  as  she  takes  good  care  of  the  other  girls.  She  shared  that  she  was  very  happy  to  be  selected  especially  as  this  was  her  second  time.    

   

   

Page  3  of  6    

Education:  The  schools  opened  again  in  the  middle  of  November.  Moumita  is  completing  her  final  examinations,  which  she  has  worked  hard  to  prepare  for  despite  all  the  other  activities  going  on  in  November.  The  new  girls  have  been  enrolled  in  school  and  they  are  already  well  acquainted  with  the  school  environment.  The  schoolteachers  have  provided  feedback  for  each  girl  and  a  good  relationship  has  developed  between  them  and  the  girls.  

Health  Status:  The  doctor  has  visited  the  Girls’  Home  for  their  regular  health  check-­‐ups.  He  found  no  major  health  disorders  and  all  the  girls  were  fit  and  fine.  The  basic  health  check-­‐ups  of  Nibedita  and  Swasthi  have  also  been  done  and  there  were  no  major  issues.  The  monthly  height  and  weight  of  all  girls  was  measured  and  published  on  the  growth  chart.  The  new  girls  had  gained  weight  by  the  end  of  the  month.    

 

Creativity:  The  girls  have  been  very  creative  and  posted  new  items  on  the  creativity  boards.  They  have  been  drawing  and  making  many  beautiful  cards  for  the  guests.  With  the  help  of  the  team  members  they  painted  a  beautiful  painting  on  the  walls  of  the  study  room,  giving  it  a  new  look.  For  the  Diwali  celebrations  they  decorated  the  Home  with  various  colourful  lights  and  candles,  which  the  girls  were  extremely  excited  about.  Tiya,  from  Girls’  Home,  shared  that  the  Home  looked  like  a  scene  from  a  Bollywood  movie.    

Social  Activities:  

 Celebration  of  Diwali  

The  girls  went  to  the  Boys’  Home  to  celebrate  Diwali.  The  Founder,  Lisbeth  joined  them  for  the  Diwali  celebration  after  having  arrived  in  Kolkata.  She  was  welcomed  with  cards  and  flowers  and  was  so  excited  to  see  all  children.  She  shared  that  the  girls  had  grown  and  looked  healthy  and  beautiful.    

After  a  short  program  on  the  rooftop,  the  children  were  excited  to  light  the  firecrackers.  The  team  members  helped  them  and  they  had  taken  proper  precautions  to  avoid  any  

Page  4  of  6    

fire.  Some  of  the  little  girls  were  afraid  off  the  firecrackers  but  most  of  them  were  very  excited  and  asked  for  more  and  more  crackers.    

Shopping  Program    

Kolkata  Ladies  Circle  sponsored  a  shopping  program  for  the  Girls’  Home  girls.  They  went  to  the  nearby  “South  City  Mall”  and  were  very  excited  to  walk  around  with  the  shopping  trolleys,  which  was  a  new  experience  for  most  of  the  girls.  One  of  the  girls,  Moumita  shared  that  she  had  seen  shopping  malls  in  the  TV,  but  she  had  never  been  to  one  herself.  Sonia  shared  that  she  had  seen  a  shopping  mall  earlier  but  her  mother  had  never  allowed  her  to  go  inside.  She  was  also  very  excited  to  see  the  huge  TV  screens.    

 

Exposure  visit  to  Maithan  

A  3-­‐day  exposure  visit  to  Maithan,  by  bus,  was  organised  for  the  girls  from  Girls’  Home  as  well  as  the  boys  from  Boys’  Home.  Maithan  is  situated  at  the  border  between  the  two  states  Jharkhand  and  West  Bengal,  and  is  a  small,  beautiful,  hilly  area,  famous  for  a  water  dam  on  the  river  of  Barakar.  The  days  were  filled  with  meditation  in  the  open  space  outside,  delicious  food,  walks  by  the  riverside  to  see  the  bridge  and  dam,  campfire  at  night,  firecrackers,  dancing,  games,  and  drawing  of  the  beautiful  

scenery.  Koyel,  Sabina,  and  Diyasha  from  Girls’  Home  were  so  happy  to  see  and  spend  time  with  their  brothers  from  Boys’  Home.    

Cultural  Evening  

Girls’  Home  and  Boys’  Home  planned  a  joint  cultural  evening  in  honour  of  LBH  Sponsor,  Karina  Lind  and  her  family.  The  girls  looked  cute  performing  several  dances  in  their  beautiful  dresses.  Two  girls  recited  poems  and  one  of  the  team  members  also  presented  a  dance.  Everyone  enjoyed  the  evening.  

Page  5  of  6    

A  visit  to  Eco  Park    

Karina  Lind  and  her  family  also  joined  the  girls  on  a  one-­‐day  visit  to  Eco  Park.  A  104  acres  big  lake  with  an  island  surrounds  the  park.  The  girls  had  a  fantastic  day  with  lots  of  fun.  Karina’s  daughter  and  son  also  became  friends  and  played  together  with  the  girls.  The  older  children  enjoyed  a  ToTo  (a  small  auto  rickshaw  vehicle  driven  by  battery)  ride  around  the  lake  front  promenade.  They  saw  the  flower  meadow,  formal  garden,  and  the  rose  garden,  Eco  Children  Park,  play  area  and  musical  fountain.  Everyone  participated  in  lots  of  outdoor  games  and  enjoyed  a  boat  ride  as  well  as  food  from  the  food  court.  At  last  they  did  a  meditation  and  evening  prayer  in  front  of  the  water.  

Funny  Sunday  

This  month  a  ‘Funny  Sunday’  was  arranged  for  the  children.  The  boys  also  came  for  the  programme  where  Lisbeth,  Karina  and  Tina  joined.  Indoor  games  such  as  picking  up  a  ball  from  a  bowl  using  only  your  mouth  was  played  with  the  older  children,  while  the  younger  girls  played  balloon  dance.  The  girls  had  a  fun  time  and  laughed  a  lot.  

Guardians  Meeting:  All  the  girls  were  very  happy  to  see  their  parents  in  the  guardians’  meeting.  In  the  meeting  the  team  informed  them  about  the  upcoming  exposure  visit  to  Maithan.  The  guardians  gave  their  written  consent  for  the  trip  to  the  home  supervisor.  The  team  informed  them  about  their  upcoming  examinations  also  and  about  the  two  new  girls  that  had  joined  the  home.  The  team  members  shared  the  information  that  Admin  Manager  Kasturi  and  Child  Protection  Officer  Mercy  had  visited  Denmark  in  connection  with  the  LittleBigHelp  Charity  Gala.  The  guardians  were  very  happy  to  see  the  growth  and  development  of  their  daughters.                                                              

Sports:  Community  Sports  was  organised  by  the  local  community  club.  The  main  objective  of  the  event  was  to  mainstream  the  Boys’  and  Girls’  Home  children  into  

the  community.  Other  children  from  the  community  also  participated  together  with  the  children  from  the  Homes.  Various  fun  and  exciting  events  like  sack  race,  mathematic  game,  spoon  with  marble,  and  football  were  in  the  programme.    

Page  6  of  6    

   

 

Birthday  Celebration  

This  month  we  celebrated  the  birthday  of  Tiya,  which  was  on  the  third  and  the  last  day  of  the  trip  to  Maithan.    All  the  girls,  boys  and  team  members  wished  her  a  happy  birthday  and  the  cake  cutting  was  arranged  in  the  bus  on  the  way  back  to  Kolkata.  She  was  totally  surprised  by  the  celebration  planned  for  her  and  especially  by  the  cake  cutting  in  the  bus.  

 

Psychological  Wellbeing:  All  the  girls  are  doing  well  psychologically.  

 

Team  Members:  This  month  a  capacity  building  program  was  arranged  for  the  team  members  at  Girls’  Home.  They  enjoyed  the  interactive  activities  and  learnt  many  new  things  to  help  them  in  their  work.  All  the  team  members  from  Girls’  Home  participated  in  a  meditation  arranged  by  Lisbeth  and  everyone  felt  very  relaxed  and  filled  with  new  energy.  This  month  we  celebrated  the  birthdays  of  two  team  members,  namely  Kathakali  and  Riya  of  Girls’  Home  with  cake  and  a  small  gift.  

             

What  is  happening  in  October?  

• Assessment  of  Best  Girl.  • Doctor  will  visit  once  in  a  week.  • Guardians  meeting.  • Christmas  celebration.