I’ve returned from another annual trip to Mumbai, where I spent time at S.E.C.’s Agripada, Antop Hill, and Santa Cruz schools. As usual, the students were enjoying learning in the wonderful environment S.E.C. has set up for them. One of the most rewarding moments of my trip was seeing Kajal, the young girl featured in a video on the Media Page. In the video, taken 3 years ago, Kajal was unable to walk. When I visited this time, she was walking everywhere, and even danced with me at the school’s holiday party!

As for what’s up ahead, we have a few projects on the table that I am really excited about. First, of course, we will be going ahead with the Restroom Renovation Project as soon as possible. The blueprints are being finalized and we are waiting to renovate at a time that will not interfere with the students’ education.

We also discussed logistics for other programs, such as their upcoming English program, a computer skills program, and further growth of their already amazing art program. Another great idea that the school has begun to try out is taking the students out on field trips and excursions to get them immersed in real-world surroundings. A couple months ago, the faculty took some students to a mall. The excursion may seem ordinary and uneventful to most, but for the kids, it was very exciting. They faced challenges like getting on the escalator and interacting with people in a setting they hadn’t found themselves in before, and they all succeeded. More importantly, they gained confidence they hadn’t had before and had a lot of fun, too.

LTL’s hope is that the school will be able to take the kids out on more of these excursions, perhaps to parks or museums, in the near future. We will allocate funding for these trips, and look out for a new page on our site where you will be able to see the breakdown in costs and perhaps sponsor a field trip yourself!

Overall, I had another great trip to Mumbai and am looking forward to our new initiatives! Look out for upcoming pictures and videos of the trip–to be posted soon!

Best,

Anokhee

On my most recent trip to India this past January, I was overall pleased to see that S.E.C. was doing a great job gathering funds and equipment to help the children grow and learn in a safe environment. However, there was one huge problem that shocked me.

When I stepped into S.E.C.’s Antop Hill school, the first thing I noticed was the state of the bathrooms. I asked S.E.C.’s Project Coordinator, Manju Utamchandani, why the bathrooms smelled so terrible. That was when I found out that they were actually a large problem in the schools.

Standard Indian bathrooms consist of a toilet bowl that is built in the ground with a pull-flush dangling from the ceiling. In some of S.E.C.’s bathrooms, there is no flush at all and the waste must be drained with water thrown into the toilet. There is no toilet paper, but rather a cup that has to be filled with water that then cleans the waste. Also, the bathroom lacks a sink for washing hands.

However, the bigger issue is that the students cannot even use such a low quality bathroom. These children are all facing physical challenges. Most students have Cerebral Palsy, a condition that prevents them from having any control over their muscle movements. Hence, a lot of the children cannot even control when they have to use the restroom.

Additionally, many of the students cannot stand or walk on their own, let alone squat over a toilet. Several more were born without certain limbs, and it is impossible for them to go to the bathroom all together. Unfortunately, the restrooms are so small that not even an aide can fit inside to help students

All of these issues lead to a detrimental result: the children stop coming to school.

Students staying at home because the bathrooms at school are unusable is a consequence that we simply cannot accept.

Thus, Learn to Love is launching a new project: The Restroom Renovation Project

LTL has confirmed that Bhavik India Group, a prominent construction company, will reconstruct S.E.C.’s restrooms to make them fully handicap-accessible and sanitary. Standard English-style toilets, handrails, toilet paper holders, sinks, tiling, and pipes will all be installed at minimal costs in each bathroom.

Learn to Love will pay for the entire project, which is estimated to cost 5,000-7,000 USD for six restrooms (3 male and 3 female bathrooms).

Our goal in providing these new restrooms is to ensure that students have a safe, sanitary, and comfortable environment when they come to school.

With your help, LTL’s Restroom Renovation Project can be a success. Please support our new project, as it will bring drastic improvement to the lives of hundreds of kids. All donations will go towards this project, unless otherwise specified by the donor. Additionally, all proceeds from the purchases of the LTL T-shirt will help fund the project.

Thank you for your continued support and generosity

Cheers,

Anokhee

I had a fantastic trip to India this past winter. I got to hang out with Gaurav, Sonu Raju, and I met Arya at her institutional home in Badlapur. Additionally, I had the chance to help out at the S.E.C. Santa Cruz school and visit the Antop Hill site.

The kids are fantastic. Gaurav, Arya, and Sonu Raju have shown drastic improvement. Arya is happy in her new home, but she misses her foster parents. She was very excited to see us, and we had a lot of fun.

Gaurav is gaining some strength in his left arm, and showed great enthusiasm for animals and coloring. He can also eat more solid foods now and is thriving with his foster family.

Sonu Raju has been drawing a lot and is studying English. He hopes to be adopted soon, but unfortunately the prospects look disappointing. However, he is recovering well from his severe case of tuberculosis.

Over at S.E.C., the kids are learning a lot and having a lot of fun. The physical therapy facilities are wonderful and the doctor’s visits are very beneficial to the children. The doctor herself is fantastic and very passionate about helping the children.

One of the biggest problems I noticed were the bathrooms in the facilities. They were standard Indian bathrooms, a small closet with a hole in the ground. There were no sinks for washing hands and girls had no way to clean up if they were in the midst of their menstrual cycles. This was a huge problem, and in my next post I will outline how Learn to Love plans to address it.

Overall, visiting the children and the schools was very helpful. We are now working hard to raise funds and address the needs of our partnering organizations. It was extremely difficult to say bye to the kids, but I know that with your support, we can help them out and better their living and learning environments.

Look forward to new pictures and videos from my visit, coming soon!

Cheers,

Anokhee

Welcome to our new site! Many thanks to everyone who has worked to deliver this fantastic new website! It would be nonexistent without your help.

Our site provides information about our organization-who we are, what we do, what we hope and aim for, and our impact. If you have any questions, concerns, suggestions, comments, or just want to say hi, please feel free to contact us. Information regarding how the organization started and how to reach us can be found on the About page.

Additionally, please be sure to check out our new partner, the Society for the Education of the Crippled (SEC), on the Partners page. Updated information about the children, including photos and videos, can be found on the Media page. For news about our upcoming events and projects, head over to our Projects page. Also, before leaving, make sure to stop by the Store–there are some great items on sale that will greatly help our initiatives! Finally, check back every now and then…we’ll be sure to keep the site and blog updated!

Thank you for your support and generosity. You are truly making the life and future of an underprivileged child a lot brighter!

Cheers,

Anokhee