Facelift

After a long period of working out logistics (thank you Leela and Prasad!), we are finally helping to renovate Nirmal Nagar! Although we are unable to raise the wall around the school, we are still putting up murals inside and outside the school, tiling the grassy patch in front of the water well, patching up holes in the classroom flooring, and trimming some overgrown foliage outside the school.

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Nirmal Nagar is really beginning to look like a school, and the community is taking notice. For example, two days ago a man who works for Maggi Noodles came by and talked to the Prasads about donating lunches for the students. Also, the neighbor who initially would not allow us to paint on the shared wall between his home and the school is now telling us that we can paint as much as we want! Finally, the painter working at Nirmal Nagar has been extremely inspired by what we are doing. He has agreed to do much of the work at cost, and is even doing extra work free of labor costs. When he is at the schools, he is very concerned about the kids’ safety and even spent some time in the classrooms observing us, always with a smile. He was also very helpful in teaching me how to clean the brushes properly and showing me some painting techniques. With support like this from the community, we are very hopeful that Nirmal Nagar will become a safe and nurturing environment for the students.

Finally, the kids seemed thrilled to see their school transformed. Many of the kids spend their recess pointing at the animal mural on one of the walls, naming the animals in English. Also, they ask us if we are going to keep painting and are excited when we come back to paint in the afternoons. Finally, I was talking to Sai and describing to him that we are painting soccer goals on the two opposing walls. When he understood what I was trying to say, his face lit up and he ran over to tell his brother Vinay the news. Hopefully, little things like this will make the kids enjoy being at school and enjoy learning.