September 13^th, 2007
The Children of Sandipani Muni School regularly participate in cultural programs and inter-school competitions. SMS has hosted some and our children have gone to other schools and places in India for State level competitions as well. On the 13^th of September, SMS students and students from other 50 schools participated in a competition organized by Akshay Patra Foundation. SMS students were awarded the 3^rd position in Indian Classical Vocal (Music). The SMS participants were Lalita, Santhosi, Anshuiya, Sunita, Anuradha, Hema, Neetu, Jyoti and Lalita (2). Priti, Priya, Poonam, Lakhi, Radha, Radhika, Poonam (2), Rampiyari, Sonam, Nagina and Shivani our group dancers, made it to the final round but did not win an award this time. It was a very good opportunity and experience for our students to meet, interact and compete with other schools' students. Our students were very happy to be congratulated by the teachers and students of other schools for their excellent performance. Though a little disappointed that they did not win a prize, as they were very confident of their performance, they do now feel more enthused to practice their singing and dancing and become better and better at it.

September 25^th, 2007
For the last 8 months our sewing teacher Preeti has been training 80 ladies to be professional seamstresses. She has been conducting classes in two shifts. The first batch of 34 ladies have successfully taken the test were felicitated by Rupa Raghuath, the head of their village council, Mahavir Singh and other officials of FFLV. Each of them received a certificate of completion and those that excelled were given a new outfit each as a prize. It is noteworthy that almost all of them graduated with over 80 % marks. Most of the graduates were from Tehra village. They have diligently attended classes six days a week. A 3km walk each way in extreme heat through the summer, balancing household duties which are most rigorous in the absence of basic facilities like cooking fuel and water which always has to be brought from some distance away, makes this achievement quite extraordinary. Many of them have come to class with their infant children in tow. Encouraged by a progressive pradhan, (head of the village council) Mahavir Singh, they are amongst the first ladies of the village to be allowed to go out independently to learn and now earn a livelihood. With this training they have equipped themselves with a means to earn upwards of Rs 100 a day. For now they will be employed to stitch uniforms and other requirements of Sandipani Muni School and will be paid the market rate for their efforts. Some of them may even qualify as instructors for the Vocational Training Centres in other villages that FFLV plans to establish soon. Two fully equipped classrooms have been reserved for them at SMS. Many of the ladies are mothers, often single mothers, of ours students. 15 ladies will now be employed in-house, provided materials and sewing machines and may work at their convenience. They will also have access to a basic education program implemented by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. This will enable them to take an examination in 5 years, passing which they will be s certified high school graduates. This will also enable them to enroll in a state college or university. Evening classes will be held for an hour or so very day after work hours and will be flexible according to their needs. As their motivator and counselor Madhuya Bhakti said –“this is truly a new beginning for these dedicated ladies and a great success for FFLV’s Social Development Project”. Our youngest graduate and first prize winner Bilkesh, is only 15 years old.

Lalita, 15 years, is with us since we started our school and before she used to come for the evening kitchri. She is originally from Bengali. She is a beautiful, friendly and confident young girl and certainly the most popular girl in the school especially for her ability in singing and holding speech on stage. She lives with her grandmother: her mother died when she was born and the father left the family, therefore Lalita is the only grown up child in the school without brothers and sisters.
We asked her few questions.
Q: You are always happy and smiling and we can see you like your school. What do you like most?
A: I like the teachers and the study. The teachers love us like their own children. They guide us to the right path, they teach us. And I like to study so that we can become good citizens and self dependent and we can give good reputation to our school and family.
Q: Do you have many friends?
A: All children are my friends. Yamuna, Sapna and Sujata are my best friends. They help me in need and I also help them.
Q: Is your grandmother pushing you for marriage?
A: No, my grandmother says I can do what I want. I want to study and become a good singer,she knows and I know that the school and my sponsor will help me. I want to study till the university. I never saw my sponsor but I would like to tell him that he is doing more than my parents. I would like to see him here in Vrindavan.
Q: What do you want to say about all those who are helping you?
A: I would like to thank them. I hope they will keep on help me and the other poor children.
Q: Before you joined the school you had no hopelike so many other children. How do you feel now?
A: I feel very secure now because everyone is helping me and I am confident that I can face the world.
Q: After finisihing your study, you will get a job and get married. Will you forget FFLV, Srila Prabhupada and the devotees?
A: I feel this is my family, you can never forget your family.

Lalita is undoubtedly one of our best students, dilligent and responsible.
She is the best singer in the school and she is the lead singer
in our school morning prayers.

During the year, many volunteers come to the Sandipani Muni School to be with the kids. They help us improve the standard of teachings and bring it closer to International standards. Though we have a long way to go to reach a satisfactory academic level, these visits greatly enrich the lives of the volunteers, and also our children. Recently, we had with us four very enthusiastic young ladies from Italy who have helped us a lot in teaching our children in a very fun way, thanks to their European and American educational background and Montessori schooling. Erica and Silvia came to India because they wanted to improve their grasp of Hindi that they learnt at the State University in Milan. For Chiara and Sasha, two sisters, it was their dream to be able to come for a very long time .All of them love to work with children and somehow they found themselves at the Sandipani Muni school at the same time. Chiara the “oldest” of the group, even though she is only 22, says: “When I arrived at the SMS we weren’t quite sure what our role would be. After spending some time with the children we realized that their potential was huge, and the development of even just one child is, as the Little Prince says, “a matter of great consequence”. Firstly, we visited the preschool classes in which the children range from 4 to 7 years of age, some of whom have never even held a pencil. Following this visit, we thought that it was especially important to take the older children of the preschool and to bring them up to an academic level that would allow them to join the First Grade class. Hence, we use a whole series of exercises to help them learn to write, practice the alphabet, and develop mental elasticity. This is very different from the way children are used to learning here: they can repeat the alphabet in a chorus, but are unable to tell you what an ‘F’ looks like. Two weeks ago we took the first group of nine children to another classroom and gave each student their own folder in which to keep their work. After just a few exercises we noticed that the children had already developed more confidence and were incredibly enthusiastic to be learning something new and to be receiving encouragement. After only two classes the children had already learnt to share the learning materials and to pass exercise sheets to their fellow students; they are already recognizing their own mistakes and proceeding to correct them, without the need to be told. It is good to see that they are gaining confidence and pride in their work and, unlike the children in the west, they leave the classroom reluctantly because they find a great satisfaction in the work they are producing and the feedback they are receiving.” Chiara will stay with us for six months and she will train the teachers so that they will be able to continue the good work. The teachers now are attending the classes, helping with the translation and they are learning a lot from this new approach and interaction with the children. They admit they are amazed to see how quickly the children are improving. We thank these committed young girls who have generously spent their school holiday with us and made the children so happy. We invite anyone who wishes to volunteer at the school in Vrindavan to contact Nikunjavasini : nik@fflvrindavan.org

• 20,000 plates of kitchri (rice, lentils & vegetables stew).
• 22,500 midday meals in Sandipani Muni Schools.
• 1,050 meals served to the elderly and widows.
• 80 Sunday meals (feasts) to blind people.
  Total 43,630 meals.
• 4,000 villagers received free medical treatment.
• 4 New self-help-groups formed, making a total 84 and 2 SHG received Rs. 50,000 from bank at low interest rate.
• 135 women from 3 villages participated in adult education classes.
• 49 pregnant women were taken to hospital for routine check up.
• 93 babies receive immunization and vaccinations.
• 46 women completed successfully an 8 months cutting and tailoring training course.
• 2,000 people in 3 villages were the recepients of FFLV Social Development awareness camps. Main subjects were hygiene and sanitation, healthcare, childcare and pre-post natal care.