News

July 14, 2008

New Building for Grace Kids' Center opened July 4th. Last year we collected donations for the purchase of land for this creche so we could build a new school and not be subject to the ever increasing rental costs in Kodaikanal, India. We are delighted to say that the brick and tin sheet building went up in one month and now 50 children are attending school daily there.

May 7, 2008

Help Kids India has broken ground and started construction of the new Grace Kids' Center Crèche on our own land in Kodaikanal. Very exciting and many people suported us in Vermont. It has been a roller coaster ride of first green light / then red light for our projects and back again. But we are not giving up.

PRESS RELEASE – Ann Peck – Art Exhibition - Feb 1-2-3

Apparao Gallery, Chennai (Madras), India

15 International artists from Kodaikanal unite for an exhibition of fine art: paintings, etchings, sculpture, textiles, photography and body art at Apparao Gallery. The artists are represented by Artworks Gallery of Kodaikanal, a temporary exhibition space, in the beautiful hill station shrouded in the mists of the Palni Hills.

“All of us have a connection to Kodai, some call it home and others a place for a working studio in secluded inspiration,” says Ann Peck, the curator of the show. Ann is an American artist who is a frequent resident along with her husband, Bruce Peck, a copper plate etcher known for his intimate vignettes of India. Bruce donated a large etching press to Kodai International School last year to establish a printmaking studio for students. This exhibition on February 1, 2nd and 3rd, has a special focus on education for needy children in southern India, with profits going to 4 small schools, or crèches in the Kodaikanal area.

“We wanted to give back something to the community in which we live,” says Ann Peck, “and education is the most sustainable gift one can give to a child.” The work in this exhibition is unique for India, representing professional standards at affordable prices and spanning many nationalities.

• Kerri Jane Evans of South Africa will show her portraits that reveal more than the body of the subject.
• Richard Pike, also of South Africa, will submit new digital prints combining abstraction and a collage of images.
• Polish born, Krystyna Czarnecki blossoms like her lotus paintings, where the viewer must resist the temptation to flick away a droplet of water that appears on the canvas.
• Lotus blooms thrive in a tangle of colors in textile patterns designed by Jaya Shree Kumar, who employs local women to hand stitch her quilts.
• Adam Khan emerges from his intimate gardens to reveal his recent encounters with wild bison.
• Dema, a weaver from Bhutan will make her debut with exquisite, colorful weavings with intricate patterns.

Many artists are represented here and no two works are alike. They will stimulate the senses of every visitor. “This is one show you won’t forget,” says Ann, and the hope is that we will raise enough funds to start a new school for chidren who would otherwise not have a chance to grasp the education that many of us take for granted. Artwork may be purchased by email: artworksintl@yahoo.com

Upcoming Events: January-February 2008

Ann Peck will return to India on January 3rd, for 5 months to work with the crèches. First on the list is an art exhibition at a prominent Chennai gallery that she will curate at the Apparao Gallery. The show on February 1, 2, and 3rd is a fund raiser for the crèches. 15 artists will be represented.

December 2007

November 2007

Ann Peck delivers oral presentations to American NGO’s and receives funding for two Crèches.

October 2007

Hilda Isaac, our Crèche manager for the Betsy Elizabeth Trust, applies to the government for tax exemption, and receives a favorable audience when many others are refused.

September 2007

New room is added on to the Little Lilies Crèche, doubling the size of the enrollment of children. It is tin sheet and ugly, but it is “home” to 50 children who would not otherwise go to school.

August 2007

Lora visits Poriyar for one month, a village on the coast of India where the tsunami hit. She learns to sleep on the floor, eat from a banana leaf with her hands and use a squat toilet. She finds the health needs in the village critical. This is the location of Helping Hearts Crèche.

July 2007

Ann Peck returns to USA to begin fund raising for land for a new Crèche, pre-school for Betsy Elizabeth Trust. Goal is $5,000.

June 2007

Crazy Ride: An auto rickshaw is a thrill not to be thrill not to be missed in India, a mode of transportation that can weave madly in and out of traffic quicker than a cow or a bullock cart or an Ambassador. Lora Chatfield and her daughter Shannon arrive in Chennai from Bradford, Vermont. Lora is a nurse and midwife who is gathering information about birthing methods and resources in our Crèche communities by talking with village women. Shannon enters Kodaikanal International School mid July.

January 2007

"Looks Like Mud" Children at Grace Kids Center start out the day with a bowl of rahi, one of the most nutritious grain cereals on the planet. It is mixed with milk and joggery, a natural cane sugar sweetener. This is a new location for this crèche, forced to move after negotiations broke down with the previous owner over a septic tank problem. Thanks to Hilda for finding a new place so quickly.

Chicken Little Makes It to India" crèche children hold up story books and American pencils sent from Blake Memorial Library, E. Corinth, Vermont. Susan Pratt, our resident kindergarten consultant, assures me that even though the books are in English, young children develop great language skills from looking at the pictures and talking with each other about what they see. Thank you, Marie, for thinking of us.

Growing Up In Vermont" Manihendran holds up the picture book made by kids in Topsham, Vermont, with their photos and stories about what it is like living in Vermont. How do you explain all that white stuff, "SNOW" to children who have never seen it? How is the sledding back home? Send us a photo.

"Tiger on the Prowl" Hilda, our crèche manager and teacher demonstrates a tiger puppet sent over by Susan Pratt. A handful of puppets makes a great way to teach lessons, from "washing hands" to "eating your carrots." Susan spent last summer at our crèches, teaching new songs and games, sitting on the floor with the children, usually one on her lap, and laughing with the teachers as they collaborate on curriculum. Her table at this year's Christmas bazaar at Waits River Valley School, Vermont, raised money to support our crèches. Thank you, Susan, for keeping us on your "to do" list.

December 2006

“Support from Home,” a clear plea for emotional and financial support for Lora, UCC, Bradford, VT, in her home town. It is a big step to leave everything behind to a new, unpredictable challenge in rural India. Thank you Donna Clements, (Topsham) for connecting us.

Kids in Topsham Presbyterian Church, put together a picture book for young crèche children about what it is like growing up in Vermont. We made more copies and sent one to a service man in Iraq, from our town, and two favorite local ladies, who have trouble getting our of their house in the winter, Helen and Velmer Frost. Thank you Kelly Clements, for doing a great job on graphic design.

November 2006

“Children Packing Christmas Boxes” for crèche kids, UCC, E. Corinth, and yes, the first one has arrived. A message to the congregation introduces the need of maternity care for women living on the edge without medical care. We can’t talk about caring for children without caring for the mothers. Dec: “Empowerment,” women’s rights in India and the lack of access to legal help for crimes committed against them, Blake Memorial Library, E. Corinth, VT, followed by the film, “Water,” by Mehta, beauty in its inspired ending. A surprise visit by Lora Chatfield, a nurse/midwife from Bradford, VT, who plans to travel to India with her daughter, Shannon, in June, 2007, to start village midwife training, an urgent need and an answer that cannot be coincidence. Thank you Lora and Shannon.

October 2006

“Women in Crisis,” the subject of a Sunday message about suffering in India among the lowest economic denominator, at UCC, Laconia, NH. Shock turns to smiles as we discuss practical solutions over lunch to implement in the New Year. Thank you, Dan Tinkham, for sticking with the crèches despite committee changes.

September 2006

“Speaking Out” Sept: Kids with Clout! - Hazen Union School, Hardwick, VT, invited me to speak to student council members to talk about the crèche project. They wanted a “live body” to know where their aid is going. I gave them dirty water to spark a reaction, and they had great questions and ideas. Voted to sponsor a child, second year running, and donated to Esther’s medical emergency fund, our teacher who suffered the stroke. The future already looks brighter with minds like these on track. Thank you Susan Foster.

April – August 2006

Tragedy Strikes at Home: (April) One of our Grace Kids’ Center teachers suffered a stroke after slipping into epileptic fits following the birth of her first child, which left her paralyzed on one side of her body. She is slowly regaining her health and movement of body through therapy, but the devastation to her young life and family relationships continue to be emotionally painful. Following up the details of the incident, I have found the frequency of epileptic fits in young pregnant women in our area of India shockingly common and perhaps preventable. We seek to solve this puzzle and develop strategies for prevention.

Micro-Loans for our Teachers:  (May) If you have not checked out the gallery on our website, please do. It is designed to contribute financially to the needs of the crèches in an innovative approach that also supports local artisans. This May we set aside Rupees 100,000, our profits since the doors opened, for our crèche teachers to take small loans to help with family needs.

A Visitor Uncovers an Urgent Need:  (June) A member of the group, ASHA, that supports education in India with donations from Indians living abroad, came to visit our crèches after they closed for the summer holiday. Disturbed by this unfortunate timing, I asked our teachers to bring in children to meet him. Both of us were shocked by the undernourished, thin body limbs and hollow eyes of some of the children that met our gaze. The facts revealed that many of them barely survive the lack of food in their homes during the break without the support of the 3 daily meals provided by the crèches. Hilda and I immediately started a summer lunch program out of pocket, until we can make a permanent change.  Asha has agreed to help us maintain our annual operating expenses and look into issues responsible for the poverty in these sectors, a good initiative generated from a dark discovery.

Home in Vermont and Wishing to Meet You Before Christmas:  (July-August) I am back home in Vermont, trying to catch up with myself, like many of you. I will be in the USA until December 30th, and would like the opportunity to meet with you and share our immediate plans for future development in a provocative display of photos and videos of our children. Time slips away quickly, so do not hesitate to contact me soon.   Ann Peck, local representative for crèches in India

January - February 2006

The Buildings are Spinning, Mommy! (Amma)
A three year old boy runs on the playground at our crèche, crumples in a heap of vomit and passes out. The teachers rush to revive him from agonizing minutes of unconsciousness with cool water to his face and body. Repeated episodes spread the alarm, and a visit to our crèche doctor develops a wonderful liaison with local pediatricians and 4 experts at Rajaji Hospital in Madurai. The boy is taken to the hospital for extensive tests that reveal a disease contracted during his mother’s pregnancy which results in debilitating seizures. With diagnosis and medicine from the good-hearted doctors of Madurai, who treated him for free, and gave access to no-cost medicines in our local hospital, he is back and playing at the crèche again, this time on firm ground. Thank you, FIMRC, Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children, USA, for supporting us in this emergency.

July – December 2005

Susan Pratt, our friend and neighbor from Topsham, Vermont, made the pilgrimage to India to observe and develop crèche curriculum based on her many years of experience teaching kindergarten. The children loved her and tears were shed when it was time for her to go. Susan convinced me of the importance of books for these children – any kind of books – which we have sadly been without. I enlisted the help of Kodaikanal International Students to make simple learning books – shapes, colors, numbers – donations of books from Susan and Kathryn Price, another Vermont neighbor – and discarded books from KIS Library – now start a library for each crèche. The children enthusiastically pour over the pictures in the books, talking, developing language skills – showing their hunger for education.

Kerri and Jake, two volunteers that I met at Dartmouth College, also came to the crèches in July, to conduct scientific tests with monitors to prove that our smokeless stoves are actually working to improve the quality of air in crèche homes. The results were overwhelmingly positive and now we have the numbers to prove it! Kerri and Jake worked daily with our staff to improve our installation procedures. Visits to the crèches to develop educational dramas with the children and teachers for health issues encouraged a two way love affair. Kerri and Jake fell in love with the children, and the children returned their affections. They are back in the USA raising funds to continue their project after seeing its success first hand.

Iga, her mother, Meera, and her infant son, Sambor, travel to Kodaikanal to make a documentary film about the crèches. Iga is a professional filmmaker who raised funds to make this possible, after hearing about our project from friends at Dartmouth. Despite rainy weather, this tiny family unit worked tirelessly to capture footage daily of the crèche children and their surroundings. We are all very anxious to see Iga’s new film, but the editing process is labor intensive, and we will have to wait about six months to see her powerful images.

Heavy Rains in South India have made the news with intense flooding in many areas that washed out bridges, railroad tracks and many homes. Our Helping Hearts crèche one mile from the coast was hard hit by the tsunami disaster and now the people are at risk for survival because there is no work after this new wave of floods. The children are sick and malnourished. We are seeking small means of employment, like a cow or a sewing machine to help them.

Women find a new voice after years of suffering in silence in response to violent abuse from their bosses. This week I received the horrible news that 3 of our crèche mothers were beaten and raped by their boss, a wealthy landowner. He was put in jail, but now released due to his powerful status in the community. The women have formed local groups and are sticking together to fight this all the way to the courts. The presence of our crèches and staff gives them strength and hope to wage this battle against all odds. Pray for their safety.

“Too many jobs” has been my slogan this semester with a full time teaching job at Judson’s school. With the help of these volunteers and their selfless efforts and love, the children in the crèches have blossomed in these six months. We offer our sincerest thanks to all of the volunteers of 2005 who labored to give hope to those with no advocates. We miss you Susan, Kerri, Jake, Iga, Meera and Sambor.

July 2005 - NEW INITIATIVE: Sponsor a Crèche Child

Four crèches are running strong in rural south India, serving Dalit families and their young children, providing shelter, food, education and loving care for under fives. Our operating funds to keep the doors open are short this year, so we offer you a plan to sponsor a child and get to know their story. The cost is $16/month per child, which provides 3 meals a day, two uniforms and school costs for one year. Please contact Ann Peck: bruceannp@yahoo.com or Anne Sewall: bradanne85@yahoo.com (802)-439-5845, Vermont, USA.

March 2005: SWISS VISIT

A group of 20 students and chaperones from the Geneva International School, Switzerland, visit Kodaikanal for the third consecutive year to work on three crèches. Here are the highlights of their accomplishments: a new “monsoon” overhang, (visible in this photo), helps children walk to the toilet at Peach Tree Crèche without getting soaked by heavy rains. Little Lilies Crèche owns a new kitchen storage area that frees up classroom space, and provides a new reading corner. Grace Kids’ Center receives a new swing, personal choice of 5 Swiss students. Three new programs: organic gardens, health growth charts for each crèche child, and art quilts made by kids, take a big step forward!

February 2005: BEANIE BABIES TRAVEL TO INDIA

The Emerson kids from Topsham, Vermont, donate 3 boxes of beanie babies to crèche kids in India, a beautiful gift for schools with few toys. Camels, tigers, leopards, monkeys, snakes and elephants . . . form a jungle collection that provides teachers with a fun way to teach children about animals of their own country. Another collection of identical puppies gives a soft and cuddly dimension to math . . . learning how to count. Thank you Duncan, Carrie and Dana!

November 2004: AN AMAZING FAMILY!

All the way from the other side of the globe, a Vermont family takes the long and arduous trip to India to help children in need. The Sewalls: Brad, Anne, Micaiah, Josiah, Natania and Joy devote their energy and creative ideas for solving developmental problems that improve conditions in the crèches of Kodaikanal and Palangi, south India. They are friends and neighbors of the Peck family of Topsham, Vermont, who work with the crèche project year round. New ideas up and running are: a playhouse for a dark and dreary classroom previously unusable, a chicken coop to add more protein, (eggs), for the daily crèche diet, and handmade picture books to develop language skills. Here Joy and Anne join in a game with other crèche children. Watch for a full report on their activities and experiences next month.

October 2004

One year and a half ago, Joi Winchell and I traveled to India with two jumbo suitcases filled with children’s hand knit sweaters made by women in Vermont. Today, two self-help groups in Kodaikanal, run their own knitting micro-businesses based on a simple pattern donated by Vermont women. Heavy monsoon rains bring cold chills to this mountain climate where many children suffer without adequate clothing. During our celebration of Children’s Day at our crèches, we would like to give a warm sweater to every child. The cost is $4 each. Donations may be mailed to Ann Peck, Box 12, Topsham, VT 05076
More than a sweater is given this time, because a skill is passed woman to woman across the globe that supports families in need.

Trevor Jensen, Dartmouth student, arrives in India to start smokeless stove project: for the crèche (plan for removing gagging smoke from village home cooking fires, number one health risk for children, ages 3 to 5 years old.

Betsy Dailey, founder of the crèche program arrives for a special visit: with her two children to our home in Kodaikanal, India; she will visit all four crèches and conduct a teacher training workshop.

Peach Tree Crèche: our newest crèche: opened in October by Swiss high school students is running well and ready to accept more children pending the arrival of a new teacher who is also a trained nurse.

Little Lilies Crèche: a new barrier wall is added to the open spring well with a secure cover for safety; construction is starting on a tiny, new outdoor kitchen: to free up classroom space; a new teacher with special training for handicapped children is added to the staff to help with our severely socially challenged children rescued from isolation.

Teacher Training Seminar: Grace Kids Center is the site for teacher training workshops initiated this year in response to great need in the crèches and community. Special guest, Grace, of Australia, joined us to share new ideas based on Montessori concepts.

Helping Hearts Crèche: purchase of a small piece of land in Poriayar, (on the plains), is complete; crèche board is working on designs for a simple new building: crèche board started work on a simple new structure of mud and thatch to replace the temporary hut currently in use.