Dancing Towards a Brigher Future

Aparna Kanda, KKEL mom, exclaims: “No dance experience, no studio, no music and hardly any practice! Just one visit by a choreographer, three dedicated volunteer teachers, and a whole lot of joi de vivre… the enthusiasm to live life to its fullest! The kids were undoubtedly the highlight of the show! Shall we resolve to give them more reasons to smile every day? Can we show them we care?”

When it comes to shaking a leg, can anyone stay away, least of all when they are 12 of the youngest from our Santacruz Centre? 

These sprightly dancers participated at Kangaroo Kids (KKEL) Pali Hill’s Annual Day Concert, thanks to Arati Nanavati and Pratishtha Manchandani, KKEL moms and dedicated teachers at Angel Xpress. The ladies turned into avid dance teachers overnight with help from Deepika from KKEL. 

A beautiful coming together

Aparna Kanda, Arati Nanavati and Pratishtha Manchandani are highly qualified moms of young children who have put their own careers on the back burner in the interest of a better future for their children. These ladies did not hesitate in sparing time to volunteer when it came to contributing to a brighter future for children born with lesser fortune.

The inspiration behind our Kangaroo Kids Pali Hill (KKEL) performance: Endless thanks to Vidhi Chawla, Principal, KKEL Pali Hill and Divya Punjabi of KKEL H.O. for letting us speak to KKEL parents. 

Here's to Shiny New Centres

A month after the launch of our PUT A BRICK IN OUR PLAN campaign, we have collected enough money to afford four teachers for volunteer shortfalls in our existing centers. We now look forward to collecting funds to set up new centers.

The vision behind our campaign: That every school going child from the slums of Mumbai has access to an educated adult who cares! By March 2015, 1000 such children will sit in open air classrooms in parks and promenades across the city, and 100 affluent adults will come every morning to give an hour of their day to help these children learn.

Joy of Forwarding (Bus Ride)

The humble Forward button on the email has turned out many a blessing for us. This month it took our kids on a memorable joyride. 

Shweta Dingwaney’s Bus of Joy 

When Shweta Dingwaney forwarded our newsletter to her friends, a beautiful initiative was born – 70 of our overjoyed kids went on a 2 hour trip across Mumbai in an open bus. We got “smiles unlimited” from kids who’ve seen little more than home and school. That’s one of the reasons they love “tuition” 

Joy of Forwarding (Trip to the Zoo)

See what a Facebook share did for us: On seeing our Facebook post Ankita Bagri connected with us and organised a trip to the zoo for seventy of our children, courtsey Maheshwari Mandal. 

Marion's Magic

Special thanks to Marion Gerlick of Germany, a Mumbaikar for 10 years and a volunteer teacher at Angel Xpress. 

Here’s some amazing inspiration from Marion:

After almost 10 years in Mumbai, having turned into a jobless mum because my kids finished school and left the nest, I Googled through Mumbai's NGOs to see whether I could do something useful . I didn't want to "polish" doorknobs and be part of a fundraising team. I wanted to be hands on. Then one day last year I read about Angel Xpress in the newspaper. Amazed about this project, insecure whether I could be of help there without speaking Hindi, I just went to check it out and couldn't help staying back. The first day, 15 little angels jumped and yelled around me, quite a noisy and wild challenge. But I could feel the eagerness to learn and the gratefulness for the attention of what became my “gang”. I signed to be there only twice a week, but found myself being there as often as I could. Being at Bandstand takes only 90 minutes, but it fills my heart the whole day.

What a rewarding moment when they all come running up to me with a big smile and a loud “hello teachaaaaaaaa". What a lovely experience when they pull out their notebooks and pencil and eagerly ask for homework. Sometimes there is no mood for homework, sometimes the mood is set to play or just fool around or search teachaaaa's bag for chocolate. Not every day ends up with a new learned number or a new word, but every day ends with a big smile and bright eyes for the time dedicated to the few who haven’t had the chance to be born as privileged as us. 

 It is just overwhelming, when suddenly "teachaaaa, rubber" turns into " teachaaaa. I want rubber" into "teachaaaa give me rubber" and then ends up into a clearly " teachaaaa, give me rubber pleasssssssse". This progress does not come overnight. For some of these angels it might not come at all, because they need more attention and we are too few volunteers. Nevertheless they come, they try, they smile and they hug you with a “thank you, teachaaaaa". If some of them experience their own success and can suddenly add numbers or can finally understand that 16 is not the same as 61 and then prefer doing maths over the generally more tempting colouring of trains and houses or Ganeshas, then I know that each spent moment at Angel Xpress is so much more fulfilling than I ever thought it could be.

To read more of our beautiful testimonials from our volunteers and supporters, please visit http://www.facebook.com/notes/anubha-sharma/sharings-by-angel-xpress-volunteerssupporters/10151497469154469

4 .. going on 40

He is 4 and he can write tables 10 times his age - up to 40. Small wonders like these need big guidance from people like you. Won't you show them the way? 

Our Kiln

Here are the people who “PUT in BRICKS” this month, our foundation is getting stronger with your support:




*Thank you for your extra-large contributions :)

Want to make their tummies happy?

Want to make their tummies happy?

Here's the food roster which would love to feature you as a donor on one of the empty slots. So please open up your hearts and give:

Colours of Delight

 This Holi, our Santacruz Centre was awash with joy. One of our Santacruz volunteers Aparna Kanda brought in some gel colours and the kids got to dip into an early Holi.