July to September Overview

Sorry I have no photos for this period, but I'll give you a brief run-down on what happened.
July 2011
The boys began settling into their new classes. Four of them advanced to High School, and three started studying trade courses at Loyala Technical Institute in Madurai, where they'll study to be electricians and a mechanic for the next two years. Unfortunately the academic year started off badly for the primary and high school students. After a change of State Government, the curriculum was changed and new text books had to be printed. Few proper classes were held during the first 6-8 weeks putting great pressure on the teachers and students to catch up missed classes before the half yearly exams. This also meant that the start of our village tutoring program had to be put on hold until everything was sorted out.
August 2011
We had a little rain and were finally able to replant the vegetable gardens. The cows are going well, producing lots of milk and the boys are now attending normal classes with new text books. The ladies craft group at our church made lots of beautiful craft items and held a stall which raised money towards providing toilet and bathroom facilities for the widow cottage. We'd also like to thank the Brisbane Telugu Fellowship for a generous donation which we're planning to use to start a new goat group in our village in Februray next year.
September 2011
Kenmore Baptist Kid's Church sold craft and cakes and raised enough money to buy new beds for all the boys to use once the new sleeping areas are completed upstairs. Well done and thanks to all the kids and leaders for a wonderful effort. At the end of September, Karen headed over to spend 4 weeks visiting Shalom. The photos from her trip will appear in the next update.