Sankranti Celebrations at SOFKIN

Students of SOFKIN Excel!

As the school year draws to a close, there’s a lot of activity at SOFKIN for the children, both young and old.

3-May-17

Five students have been selected to do internships at the Hyderabad office of PamTen, an International IT Enterprise, Staffing, and Solutions company. Ajay and Jagadish, who both completed 10th grade, will be working in computer software design. Nikhil, who just finished 11th grade, will work on website design. Meena, a 12th grade graduate, will focus on administrative and organizational tasks – important skills she hopes to use in the nursing schools she is applying to. Sindhuja is going to intern at PamTen as well. She has passed 10th grade and received several prizes. She will be interning to help coordinate the house keeping functions of the office.

Mythri has completed her undergraduate degree in biotechnology and is exploring internship options with several research organizations in Hyderabad. Nikita, who just finished 12th grade, is preparing for the competitive exam for admission to medical school.

The 26 elementary school students at SOFKIN all had very successful years, with over half scoring an A grade in their final exam.

Chaya is always looking for opportunities to help the children grow and develop a sense of responsibility for themselves and others. She has created three new roles at SOFKIN, which will enable selected students to assume greater leadership and organizational responsibilities. Meena has assumed responsibility of Wardrobe Manager, ensuring that each child has 3 sets of clothes for daily wear, in addition to their school uniforms and clothing for special events. Keeping an inventory of all the clothing, she will see that the children have 2 sets of everyday clothes, plus sleep wear, in good condition and that the sets are rotated so that the children don’t get bored with what they are wearing. As Event Manager, Paramesh, who is entering 10th grade, will be responsible for planning and coordinating SOFKIN activities, such as the monthly birthday parties, special meals, field trips and outings. Jagadish has become the resident video editor and has been creating and posting the videos you can find on the SOFKIN Facebook group. Nivedita, who is in her final year of undergraduate school, will be Wellness Coordinator, monitoring and overseeing all special dietary and medical requirements for the children. In addition to maintaining SOFKIN’s stock of medical/first aid supplies, she will see that the appropriate children receive the prescribed medicines, vitamins, and/or special diets that they need. These children will be working in coordination with the caretaker, Swapna, to make sure everything in the house runs smoothly.

Many elementary school children have now headed home for the summer holiday during the month of May. And with most of the children gone, the housemothers are also getting a much needed holiday break. Sending the children to their homes helps in keeping a connection to their roots continues to be an important goal of SOFKIN – even if the only available family members to visit are distant relatives. For those who do not have any relatives, they stay with their SOFKIN family in the SOFKIN homes.

In many cases, the children who travel to their families are able to have a positive influence on their family and neighbours during their visit, because of the values and good habits they have learned at SOFKIN. Another side benefit is that the children more deeply appreciate all that they receive at SOFKIN. To continue to assure their wellbeing, SOFKIN staff members make surprise home visits during the summer break to check on how the children are doing.

As in past years, Chaya assigned the children homework to complete during their holiday. Elementary age children will share a story about a special event or activity that happened during their vacation. High schools students are asked to keep a daily diary, plus read one book, which they will report on when they return. All the children are encouraged to keep as close to the same daily schedule they have at SOFKIN – which some actually manage to do pretty well!

Creating a safe, loving home in which SOFKIN’s children thrive and reach their fullest potential wouldn’t be possible without all of our generous supporters. RHYTHM 2017, our largest fundraising event of the year, highlights all of the wonderful accomplishments of the children, and it also shows our sponsors how grateful we are for their continuing support. Plus there is amazing music and dances!

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