Dear Friends,
Season’s greetings to all of you from Thulir, Sittilingi! Hope this newsletter adds to the cheer, festivity, and goodwill of Christmas and New year.
Film on Thulir
In this short film (Visit the link), Srikrupa Raghunathan and Prashant Chaudary have very beautifully and sensitively captured the spirit and essence of Thulir and all that we do together here. They tell the story of how Thulir grew from an after-school Learning Center to a novel basic technology course to a full fledged school for dalit, lambadi, and tribal children of Sittilingi valley. Thank you Srikrupa and Prashant!
For those of you who haven’t visited us yet, maybe this film would tempt you to visit us. For those who have, we hope this will bring back fond memories. And for all of you we hope this will spur you to become part of the “Friends of Thulir” community and continue to support the learning and blooming of the children of Sittilingi!
Mothers’ workshop
“What do I do with my child in the evening? He doesn’t listen to what I say at all!”
“My daughter watches TV all the time.. doesn’t eat or sleep.”
“Please give more homework for my child”.
“My son doesn’t write ABC at all! What do you teach him at your school?”
“I want my daughter to speak English like you do.”
These are some of the common refrains we hear from the mothers of our students. To address these and to build a rapport between the home and the school we conducted a one day workshop for mothers of the 4 and 5 year olds in September. The day was packed with performances by older children, role plays by teachers to stimulate discussion and reflection, hands-on math, language, sensory and coordination activities, games and discussions. The mothers grew visibly less anxious and more relaxed, confident, and interested and ready to engage in learning with their children in a meaningful and fulfilling manner. For many of them this was a totally new experience and a break from the stifling and chore-filled typical day at home.
Interviewing the Panchayat President
As part of their social studies project, the nine and ten year old students visited the panchayat office and interviewed the Panchayat president, Ms.Madeshwari and the Panchayat clerk, Mr. Manivannan. The Panchayat office staff were amazed and impressed by the very thoughtful and insightful questions the children asked.
At the Bengaluru Marathon
Environmental film festival
The All Living Things environmental film festival curated by Alt-Eff happened in November. Ramkumar from Beyos and Janani came to screen a curated and diverse spectrum of films on climate action, ecology, and resilient communities worldwide.
Marudham Craft week
Children and Teachers participated in the craft week at Marudam School in November.
Government Approval- Renewal
The state government recognition certificate has been renewed and extended till May 31st 2027. The District Education officer Ms. Jayakantham visited our school early in November for inspection. Our 9 and 10 year olds and a few teachers were not here as they had gone to Thiruvannamalai to participate in the Marudam craft week that day. The DEO spent 3 to 4 hours in the school looking at all our learning and teaching materials in detail. She observed classes and she praised the way the school is integrated with nature. She was also appreciative of the teaching methods followed and the student-teacher interactions. She has written all this in the positive report above.
None of this would have been possible without your unwavering support. Thank you!
Let’s continue empowering dreams and creating hope!
Wishing you all a peaceful year ahead with good health and happy coexistence with all beings on the planet.