The rear of the Ananda Day Care
At the back of the building there are swings, a skip, a slide and a sandbox. There are no other playing grounds in the neighborhood, so everyone really enjoys these playing devices.
Guna is very good at yoga
Yoga classes at Ananda Day Care
Twice a week a yoga teacher comes to the Ananda Day Care. Everyone is surprisingly good at it.
Dancing at Ananda Day Care
Once a while the cd player is taken out and everyone starts dancing. Most of them love dancing and loose themselves completely.
The girlfriends Ranjeetha and Saranya
Ranjeetha (14 years) is a very serious and inquisitive girl. She loves learning and will keep questioning you during homework period. She loves learning English and reading English books. She has a friendly character and is very adult for her age. She is conscious of the fact that if she studies hard, she has better chances at a stable job later on. Therefore she studies very hard and is very disciplined. She also loves to draw and together with Gnahimathy she plays the violin. Sometimes Ranjeetha can feel lonesome, because both her parents have died and nobody ever comes to visit her at the orphanage. Luckily she says she feels at home with us and is good friends with Gandhimathy, Saranya, Raji and Naveena.
Saranya (14 years) is almost the opposite of Ranjeetha, but the girls like each other’s company. Saranya likes being the centre of attention, she is very extroverted. She has a very social character and easily makes contact with other people. When Saranya is there, it is always nice and there is always something happening. She can draw all the attention to herself and therefore can be a bit dominant. She loves dancing and talking with her friends. She isn’t very serious and would rather take her time doing the fun things in life rather than learning at school.
Govindsamy in the sea
In the summer the children enjoy going to the beach. Pondicherry is on the coast, so the beach isn’t far away. In this picture you can see Govindasamy (13 years), and together with his two sisters Gayathri and Pauli they live with us. Govindsamy is a very social boy, he easily makes friends and always creates a good ambiance quickly. He bonds quickly to people whom he cares for. Sometimes this can make him emotional when these people get angry at him or disappoint him. But he always gets a grip on himself quickly and then again he is the pleasant, social Govindsamy. Besides social he is also disciplined and talented. He is good at drawing and dancing and not too long ago he has started playing the violin. His parents are divorced and his father is not around any more. The mother was often ill, so there was nobody to take good care of the children. Contrary to his sisters Govindsamy seemed to have no problem moving to Isai Ma(i)yam and from the beginning he was very active and happy. Meanwhile his sisters have adjusted to the new situation too and have flourished completely.
Playing in between dancing lessons
Lastly two skips were made. In the background the swings can be seen. At this moment the girls are having a break during their dancing class.
Music lessons in the Gayatri Art School
All the children attend music or dancing classes in the weekend. We have a lot of instruments (guitar, flute, keyboard, violin, tabla, drumpad, drum and mridangan) and the children can make their own choice which one they would prefer to play. Here Hari is being taught on the drumpad, Mani is sitting beside him practicing on the keyboard. She is being taught by Alice, who used to live in the children’s home himself. Now he is studying in Chennai, but comes to the Gayatri Art School every weekend to teach music to the children.
Ananda Day Care for children and young adults
At this moment 24 children and young adults having different handicaps and levels are given shelter. From Monday through Friday they spend their day exercising, singing, dancing, eating, drinking, resting and playing.
The children’s home in Pondicherry
This is where our children live. The left building is for the boys and the right building is for the girls. They sleep separately, but they eat together. This happens in the central hall in the girl’s building.
Dancing lessons in the Gayatri Art School
There are two dance teachers. In this photo you can see Sathya’s group practicing. The children are learning the Bharatanatyum dance, a classical type of dance specific to Tamil Nadu. This dance form originated more than 2000 years ago and was strongly connected to Hinduism.
The second dance teacher is Anbu. Anbu lives with her husband and daughter in the vicinity of the Gayatri Art School. She once lived with us, and afterwards she did a dance education and now works as a teacher. In the weekend she teaches at the Gayatri Art School, but during the week she teaches elsewhere.
Jayaguru
Jayaguru (7 years) hasn’t been living with us for very long, but everyone immediately adored him. Jayaguru has an innocent and friendly character. School is still difficult for him, because he hasn’t gone to school for a while and he is behind in his learning.
Ashok
As the photo shows, Ashok loves playing and his favorite game is playing with marbles. Life was not easy for Ashok before he came here. Nothing is known about his parents, and Ashok and his little brother Satish were roaming the streets. We were notified about this and so gave them shelter. At first it was a bit strange for the brothers and they were somewhat withdrawn, but now they have made many friends and are becoming more and more forthcoming.
Karthika
Karthika (12 years) is a real dear, she wouldn’t even hurt a fly. She lives with us and her elder and younger sister. The sisters take good care of each other, at night they like to sleep close to each other. Karthika is a quiet girl, but always happy. She gets along well with the other girls who live with us.
Akash
This is Akash (11 years). There is hardly anything Akash can’t do, he has many talents. He is good at school and is musical, but he loves dancing most of all. Together with his friends Mani and Hari he sometimes dances at performances. Akash’s father left the family a couple of years ago. Akash’s mother lives and works at a hostel, but this hostel is only for women, so Akash cannot sleep there. His mother came to Isai Ma(i)yam to ask whether he could live with us. Akash sometimes misses his mother and two sisters, but luckily they still have good contact with each other.
Brother Jayaraman and sister Jerolin
Jayaraman (17 years) and Jerolin (6 years) are two hands on one belly. Jayaraman is very caring for his little sister and Jerolin loves to be with her big brother. In 2011 Jayaraman and Jerolin’s mother committed suicide. The father was away working a lot and didn’t have much time to take care of the young Jerolin. Jayaraman took it upon himself to take care of his sister, but soon his grades started dropping. In Isai Ma(i)yam Jayaraman is also taking good care of Jerolin, he is a helpful boy who also takes on other tasks. But now he has much more time to concentrate on school. Lately Jerolin has started going to school and she is very intelligent for her age. She understands things quickly, she is very inquisitive, and loves learning new things. At her young age she already has many talents, and can dance and sing well. And just like other six year old children she loves playing. She fantasizes a lot and can keep herself busy, but she also loves to involve other girls in her playing. Brother and sister still have good contact with their father who comes to visit his children regularly.
Gayathri
Gayathri (11 years) has now been living with us for a year together with her brother and sister. She really loves dancing and is very talented. The children sometimes dance at weddings when Isai Ma(i)yam’s music band is hired. Before they have reached the level of performance, they often need many lessons. Yet Gayathri is so talented that she could go along to performances already after a couple of months. She really enjoys dancing and when she’s not in class, she likes practicing dance steps together with the other girls. Gayathri has had a difficult youth, her father wasn’t there and her mother was often ill. When she came to live with us, she behaved in a very strange way, always looking for negative attention. Her younger sister did exactly the same. After three months things started to improve; the structure and regularity in the chlidren’s home seemed to do her very good. She has become much more stable and now seeks attention in a positive way. To new people she can be very closed, but when she starts trusting you, she becomes more open. She has a very friendly character and is always prepared to do chores.
Music break at Gyatri art school
Music band from Alankupam and vicinity
Foundation Isai Ma(i)yam Children in India
Doing our homework – Foundation Isai Ma(i)yam
Vela in the restroom, Children in India
Ananda Day Care: handicapped children in India
The Gaya House is finished
In 2010 we started building the Gaya House with the financial help of our founder Ivar Jenten. Except for some sanitary modifications the house is finished. Since last summer our children stay at the Gaya House every weekend. This residence is across from the Gayatri Art House where the children are taught dancing and music. The Gaya House has twelve rooms. Our children prefer sleeping with many together in one room, so we can give shelter to plenty.
Playroom
We have also arranged a playroom. It is good for the development of the children to have a separate room with games, toys… and drawing stuff. We made a blackboard on a wall with blackboard paint. The children visibly enjoy this. We will be making a wall painting with a typical Indian motive together with the children. On the other walls we put a big mirror so the children can practice their dancing steps. In India it isn’t common to have a playroom, because the emphasis is on studying and not playing. But we notice that the children appreciate it. Children from neighboring poor villages (who also go to music classes) come here to play as well.
Isai Ma(i)yam children are doing well
In the last quarter of 2011 until the Covid period in 2020 we admitted seven new children: three sisters and three brothers from two separate families and one boy from another family. These children also have had troubled lives at a young age. But all is well now. They hardly have any trouble integrating into the group. They really enjoy themselves and are doing well at school.