School News

Before we closed for Puja vacation we had a party at school for all the students -
click here for some great photos!

After a month of Puja vacation the students were so used to being on holiday that we didn't have full classes until we had been open a few days. This is very normal here, everyone seems to want to make Pujas last as long as possible.

All the students now come one hour per day, Monday through Friday. The school is open from 12:00 noon until 7:30 pm. It's a long day for the teachers but the students are learning much faster. We have space for 36 students each session - this is less than we had previously but we feel they can now finish the course in six months as opposed to 12-18 months.

During vacation we had the school painted - we thought after three years it was time for a fresh look. The walls are now sky blue and it feels almost like being in a new school.

Spanish crew films Uddami

For the past few months the short video on Uddami that was shot and edited by Hernán Zin has been available for your viewing pleasure on our website (if you haven't seen this 3-minute video,
click here! )

Hernán was once again in Kolkata for a month filming three people and their projects in Kolkata for a series that he hopes to air on Spanish television. His idea was to find people who had changed their lives to help others.

New Light was started by Urmi Basu, a Bengali woman who wanted to do something for sex workers and their children in the red light district of Kalighat. Her first project was a safe night shelter for a small group of children. New Light has now grown into a vibrant community center with tutors, computers and sewing machines.

shuktara , a home for boys with disabilities, was started by David Earp in 1999. David is originally from London and moved to India to start a home for children that no one wanted. Bryan and Alison have lived in the flat above this project for the last four years. Uddami's first school was in a room in David's flat and several of his deaf boys have taken the Uddami course.

Hernán also filmed Uddami - although this 24 minute segment will be too long to put on the website, we promise to show it at our next benefit in 2004.

On our own...

Uddami is in the process of separating from our fiscal sponsor the Tides Center. We have learned much from being a project of the Tides and we are grateful that they took us under their wing when we were just starting out.

But now it's time for Uddami to fly solo. We are applying for our own 501c3 which we hope will be granted late this year or early next year.

We will start with a small board of directors:

Alison Saracena, founder and director of the project; Katherine Dyer, a successful restauranteur and the only person from the US to have visited Uddami in Kolkata so far; and Wendy Robinson, an attorney for many years at Morgan Stanley.

We have also expanded our aims so that we can help provide assistance to other small projects who work with youth who are disadvantaged or who have disabilities. During the years we have been operating Uddami we have met many people in Kolkata who are doing interesting projects that also merit your attention.

Remember, Uddami still needs your help. Donations can be sent to the Tides or made online until the 8th of December. After that date we will keep you informed on the status of our 501c3 as well as how you can continue to support Uddami.