New College Students...

I'm writing an early morning blog today as I didn't get time to write one last night.  Yesterday I spent the morning in the clinic with Dr S again.  The new drugs list is progressing as we are gathering information about cost and availability etc.  We should be able to finalise it for approval and adoption next week.

Then in the afternoon, we had the first of two gatherings of the students who have been successful at gaining admission to University from the slums this year.  The full list is now virtually known.  Competition for places has been very tight this year and the process has been time consuming and taxing for both students and Asha staff. There are about 100 students who have been admitted but that doesn't include those who are admitted to private institutions as the deadline for those is not yet passed. So about 45 students gathered together to celebrate...

...along with Asha staff, a British team working at Mayapuri at present, Bianca, my USA student flatmate, a second year student who you will recognise from a previous blog, and Yours Truly.  After  a brief introduction several of us took it in turns to give motivational and encouraging speeches.  So here is Reikha from Jeevan Nagar, whose tiny home I visited, mugging up on her notes, which she didn't refer to at all later.  She has just completed her second year Sanskrit Honours degree and shared a little about what it was like for her when she started.  She went on to share some tips from her experience.

A couple of students introduced themselves and shared their experiences and obstacles they had to overcome

And then it was Bianca's turn, translated into Hindi by the new Asha staff member, Ayesha.

Next up was me.  Now bearing in mind that Rekha had just been talking about when she was sitting there 2 years ago, someone from the UK had got up to speak, and she could still remember every word (!) you can imagine I was feeling just a little pressure!  So I introduced myself and said I was from the UK.  I asked them if they knew what was about to happen there in a few days.  They knew - the Olympics.  I then went on to talk about races and how when you're racing you don't look back but yours eyes are fixed forward towards the prize.  I nicked one of Freddy's texts from Sunday - Phil 3v13.  Anyway I was told later that it had gone down well so you never know - someone might remember in 2 years??

Then the floor was open to the students to share.  The first to volunteer was Roopa from Kalkaji slum, who I had had a long chat with before the celebration started...

They all expressed their gratitude to Asha and many told their stories.  Some were quite choked up as they shared - and not just the girls!  They really do feel grateful for this opportunity!  Several of them talked about how their families had to be persuaded to allow them to stay in education and were grateful for the time Asha staff had spent persuading parents.  One lass talked about her experience of Pushpa, one of the Asha nurses who went to College with her on repeated occasions to try and persuade the College staff to allow her admittance.  The College Administrator told Pushpa "you are trying to get a student admission here, not bartering for vegetables in the market"!  But her persistence paid off!

Lastly, I need to tell you about this lass who got up to speak, but was so choked up she couldn't explain her story...

So Soni got up, gave her a cuddle and explained on her behalf:

As part of the complex admission process there is a form to complete which must be photocopied.  Only the original is acceptable to gain admission.  Amongst the stress and mountain of papers, this lass had mislaid the original copy and her admission was therefore not accepted.  That evening, Soni went round to her house and prayed with her about it.  The very next morning the original form was found and her admission process proceeded!

Later today,   I hope to meet the second half of this group of students, when I will be speaking again...

By the way - a little tip in case you haven't discovered:  If you click on a photo it enlarges it and lets you see a slideshow of all the pics in that blog.

Also, I am completely unashamed in reminding you that you can give money to support these students through College by clicking on the Asha link on the right under my profile.  Asha needs all the support it can get to see these students through.  £450 is all it takes to pay for a full year of College expenses.  Any small amount will help!