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Our Mascot.

The little one is our mascot. His name is Naag. He comes to school with his big brother, on the left. Then he makes visits to my office. He sits right by my feet, rustling papers and finding spare toys to plunk around. He is a fearless and smart; Naag will be a big star in the preschool class next year.

The last three weeks were outrageous, success upon success. Today we had 107 total students. The neighborhood vendors, temple priests, and grandmothers have all started to shoo stragglers to school. I am excited to start reaching out to parents who have children in the workforce at tea stalls, as errand boys, or even laborers.

Here is a picture of our little hut, completely overrun with the kids. There are thirty more in groups of ten sitting in circles on the perimeter of the hut, out of the picture. I have no idea what we will do if it rains!

But there was more news today. The Education department posted a formal opening for a professional teacher for our little school. This means a university-trained and experienced teacher! Candidates are coming on November 29th.

We hired a new assistant for the 1st Standard to help handle all the students. The school has seen two new 1st Standard students every day; today the total was 46. We also enrolled a new preschooler today who is legally blind and mute. Of course, we already have a specially trained volunteer interested in working with him. Unbelievable...

The school have become a magnate for mothers with all kinds of concerns. The Lion's Club here is a godsend. We send the little ones in need of medical care to their free clinic, held every Monday. Baby Said, a six-month-old with a club hand, is set to get an operation, free, from the Nizam's Hospital in a few weeks. That is just one example of many. This experience has overwhelmed and impressed me every day with how people pull together to find a way to help these kids. WHAT will the next three weeks be like?

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