building at BFCC

Change is taking place at BFCC in the form of an a new room.  Netra sent photos of the delivery of sand and bricks on March 19,  Work began shortly after that and has progressed at a rapid pace.  The bricklayer is also a 'sort of engineer', so I am hoping the building is going to be constructed to last.

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Engineer, who is also the builder, watching the bricks being unloaded in front of BFCC

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The start of the building on the roof of BFCC

Holiday Program

The holiday program is now in full swing.  There is still the early morning session from 7 - 8am and the children return for a further 2 hours from 10am.
Liz Dobson runs an art and craft class with about 15 children. The older girls run an extra class for smaller children.  They have produced some interesting displays and are very keen to learn.
Molly Trumble runs an art class and teaches still life sketching.  My class is trying to write letters and collaborate with school children in other countries.  We hope to hear from the schools in Australia, too.  One of the boys is teaching computer skills to a class of five girls.

Bright Future in October 2013

There have been a few changes since I was here last year.  The progress with music is wonderful.  I am also impress with the work done by the dance teacher, who has taught the class some very complicated moves in less than one month.
The kindergarten class is full of really cute kids.

New Building at BFCC

There are now three rooms in Bright Future Community Centre with the addition of the new room.  We are very grateful to the Horsham group who made a generous donation towards this building.
We are already using the three rooms.  The power points in the new room make its use as a computer lab possible.

The new extension seen from the main entrance

Inside the new room

Srijana with the kindergarten class with the new carpet

Boys working on their homework in the nrw room

Mahalxmi with the group in the main room.

Candle Making Business

Some of the local women in the Kopan area asked Netra if he could help them start a candle making business.  The ladies were concerned the water in the paper factory was harming their skin and some of the others were finding work on the building sites too strenuous.
The cost for enough equipment for a class of ten women was $300, so we made the money available.  The class has been in progress for over two weeks and candles are being produced.  There is a very small profit margin, but hopefully they will be able to make enough money so they do not have to work in the factories.

Children in Kopan who want to write to children in Australia

Here is one of the groups who is keen to write to children in Australia.  We have already started some exchanges with a school in Ballarat and hope to add a few more schools to the list.
The aim is to develop some friendships and an understanding of the similarities and differences in lifestyles.

Link with a school in Ballarat. 

A few weeks ago I visited a school in Ballarat and spoke to a Grade 3/4 group.  They have already started writing to children in BFCC.  This will be a great help with the learning of English and I hope some friendships develop.  We are hoping another school in Bundoora will join in the friendship link.

From left to right:

Nicholas Bell, Luke Gourlay,  Kasey Pearson, Chloe Barlow

Below is the whole class listening to the presentation.