Bringing joy into the hearts of children since 2002
Wishing you all

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fears

Namaste!

We hope this newsletter finds you healthy and happy. It has been a hard year for us all.

Here at Khushi, we are making the best of a difficult situation. Our kids are well used to hardship, so they are resilient and innovative too. You can’t keep a Khushi kid down!

Online teaching has been our focus while our premises remain closed.

The kids have been participating in online competitions (and winning prizes, of course!). We have also been providing clothing and gift bags.

It seems you can't break the spirit of these children, no matter what comes their way.

Together we can help them to a better future.

Online teaching

We now provide online teaching for our older students on the vocational programmes in yoga and naturopathy alongside our computer, beautician, Stitching and English conversation classes.

In the after school programmes for our younger students, we have online classes for the students of grades 6 to 10 in English, Maths, Science and computer education. These classes are taking place every day (except Sundays).

Meet our online teaching team!

1. Manoj: maths - 20 students
2. Kiran: science - 40 students
3. Prerna: IT - 20 students
4. Hemlata: stitching & beautician class - 30 students
5. Neeraj: English - 15 students
6. Aparna: yoga & naturopathy - 20 students

It's not ideal conditions for learning, but our students refuse to get deterred from their studies.
Go kids, go!

The pictures above show a maths class in action, where students have met at a house to study using one smartphone between them.

Studying from home

The government schools have online provision for year 6 and above, from live classes to WhatsApp notes. Families often have a smartphone, but it might be shared with the rest of the family.

Sometimes the father might have the phone at work during the day. Therefore our kids often have to download the notes at night after the father returns from work. Exams continue for class 10, 12, college and university.

One example of the situation here is that 3 of our female students study together using the one smartphone they have between them.

There is also a cultural issue, as some families in this traditional society do not want their young daughters to own a smartphone.

It's heartwarming and yet also heartbreaking to see how our students cope with their hardship.

This year we were not able to celebrate Diwali at Khushi. We did give out winter clothes and gift bags during the period though.

This year again we have provided winter clothes (sweaters) and sweets to more than 350 khushi kids with the kind help and support of one of our friends. It's cold here in winter!

Thank you Naraindra Ji and keshava Ji for your generous contribution.

Beautiful art from beautiful hearts

As usual our students participated in singing, drawing and story writing programmes organised by the Madhuban Ashram for Krishna Janmasthami (Lord Krishna's birthday) 2020 - this time all online!

Sweta, Satyam Yadav, Krishna, Roshan, Neha and Heena all received appreciation from the organisers and special participation certificates, along with some cash prizes. We are proud of all our children for their efforts and dedication. Congratulations to all of them

Above and below are examples of the great artwork our Khushi kids submitted.

Competitions galore

The kids showed their talents in a “united against Corona” online art, poetry and slogan competition organised by the Uttarakhand Police (Tehri district).

Well done to all and especially Kushboo, Anjum and Satyam who won awards. You can see our trophies in the picture on the right and the kids with their awards below.

Above from left to right:
Anjum with her 5th prize in the senior category, Kushboo and her 1st prize in the junior category and Satyam with his 4th prize in the senior category.

Kushboo strikes again!

Kushboo Khatun won 3rd Prize at our local municipality’s Clean India (Swachh Bharat) drawing competition.

This follows on from her 1st prize in the junior category in the district police competition "united against Corona".

I think we have a rising star on our hands!

You can see her on the on the right with her cash prize.

If we all get together and help a little, these kids can go far!

In loving memory.

We would like to honor in memory of one of our great supporter Yvonne van der Donck for her continuous help and support as well as her unconditional love for the khushi children. She was truly unique, engaging and funny. She was also very compassionate and caring.

Yvonne never tired in supporting Khushi. You will always remain in our hearts.

You have left such a great legacy. May your soul rest in peace and harmony.

As we move into 2021,we will continue to provide food to the Khushi families in these difficult times. We have provided stationary& educational materials in addition to winter clothing to our students. All this has been possible with the support of our khushi friends.
A big thank you to the following

A big thank you to Sattva Yoga Academy for continuous help and support, especially in these difficult times.

Keshava Ji Diana Alli D'Souza & Jill Robinson,
Naraindra Prashad, Indra Singh,Shane Bordoli,Veronica, Raluca Gherghe.

Rajan Sihota, Go Campaign, Verena Zech, Jayshree Mina Daya, Kavita Jeannette Pipon, Maria, Gabriele Shears, Arturo Massaro, Miel Kusters.

We are very proud of our entire teaching team, Khushi board members, volunteers and supporters. We will be doing this work in coming many more years.
Our apologies if we missed anyone out. We are grateful to everyone who helped us in any way at all.

Let's hope 2021 isn't as bad as 2020. See you next time. Stay strong, stay safe.

With Kind regards and thank you from India Board:
Mr. Anand Mehrotra (President), Mrs Kavita Mehrotra (Secretary)
Rai Singh Negi (Member), Shalinder Singh Negi (Member)
Kapil Dev Bist (Project Manager)

The Netherlands Board:
Mrs. Madelien Mishra Broeckman (Head of the board), Anneleos Blekxtoon (President), Roel Rietman (Treasurer) ,Rahul Shankar (Member)

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter.

While we have been providing as many online classes as we can, not all students are able to participate, as many don't have computers, Wi-Fi or smartphones.We aim to provide internet access and smartphones for our brightest talents. If you wish to donate to help us achieve our goal this Christmas just hit the donate button below. Please email our project manager (details at the bottom of the page) if you have any questions.

Donate now

I'll leave you a drawing made by one of our students for Shri Krishna's birthday. It shows Vasudev carrying baby Krishna to safety. There's so much to learn about Indian culture. We hope to welcome some of you as visitors next year if international restrictions permit. The kids would love to meet you too!

The Khushi Charitable Society
WhatsApp +91-9997714068

khushiprojects@yahoo.com

Khushi Vocational Center, Laxmi Lodge 328, Sheesham Jhari Muni-Ki-Reti, Rishikesh, 249137, India.

Netherlands office

Stichting Khushi Kids Nederland, Secretariaat Borneostraat 13, 3742 DA Baarn, Netherlands. Telephone: +31-628164067 Email: Info@khushikids.nl

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Khushi Charitable Society · Laxmi Lodge, Seesham Jhari, Rishikesh · Seesham Jhari, Muni ki reti · Rishikesh, 249137 · India

The Khushi Charitable Society WhatsApp +91-9997714068

The Khushi Charitable Society
WhatsApp +91-9997714068