Tag: girls

shuktara home for young adults with disabilities - 2017 February - watching Butoh on the roof

Butoh performance on the shuktara roof

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Bridget Scott has been to Kolkata before, but this is the first time she has danced for shuktara.

Bridget is from London and lives in Kyoto, Japan where she has been studying two Japanese dance forms: the avant garde style of Butoh and a very traditional form known as Nihon Buyoh.

On Friday evening 24th February 2017 Bridget came to shuktara boys home and performed a selection of Buyoh and Butoh for the young people from both of our homes on our rooftop.

The staff had decorated the roof with saris and placed beautiful textiles on the floor for everyone to sit on.

Bridget started with Buyoh and then did Butoh and some improvisation where she removed her obi (the tie around her waist) and ran around and in between the young people and staff of shuktara allowing them to hold and touch the obi as she ran.

It was an exciting, emotional and interactive performance and deeply moving as well because it was the night of Maha Shivaratri here in India.

We thank Maura Hurley for introducing Bridget to us and special thanks to Bridget who had a heartfelt wish to perform for our young people. We appreciated it. THANK YOU!

shuktara home for disabled girls - Drawing of Guria by Mary Cooper, age 6

Drawing of Guria by Mary, age 6

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shuktara home for disabled girls - Guria smiling
read more about Guria

Judith Harris is a friend of David’s from the UK who like him has always had a passion for India. Since visiting him and the shuktara homes in Kolkata she has become a committed supporter, particularly of the girls.

Judith’s 6-year-old daughter Mary has a growing awareness of shuktara, and she has shown a genuine interest in Guria and her life there. Please read below how important Judith feels our posts, updates and stories about shuktara are, and how deeply they have affected Mary.

Hi David,
Basically I always share with my children your newsletters and the photos you post on Instagram. I talk to them about how your children were abandoned on the streets of Kolkata and that they now have a wonderful loving home and family. We talk also about their disabilities. Mary knows all about how Guria cannot speak and cannot walk or sit unaided. She followed all the photos of Guria having her splints made and now has her standing box.

She seems to have developed a real genuine interest and is always asking to see more photos. Even though she is so young she seems to have grasped that even though the children have suffered such misfortune and physical adversity, they are strong and can find joy in their lives. It really helps both my children to get an insight into how children live in other parts of the world and understand a bit about children living with disabilities.

It is amazing what a positive force it is for children from a young age to understand about different cultures and also that there are children in the world that have so much less than we do here in Britain. I honestly feel that it sets them up to be more open minded and embracing of the differences between us all.

Of course there is my love of India and for me I feel in a small way I can give back through my involvement in shuktara. What is so powerful however about shuktara and having visited in person is the sheer joy and family feeling that you have helped generate. Now that my children are also expressing an interest, our personal enrichment from our small involvement has further increased.

Mary drew this picture without any prompt from me.

Judith x (Mary's mother)

shuktara home for disabled girls - 2017 January - Guria clearly delighted with her new massive coloured chalks

Guria and her massive coloured chalks

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Judith Harris, a supporter of shuktara sent loads of supplies for the girls home and some brilliantly appropriate things for Guria to hold when she is in the standing frame.

These include biscuit shaped numbers and massive coloured chalks. Here are some photos of Guria drawing with her egg-shaped chalks. Thank you Judith!

Click here to read more about Guria...

shuktara home for disabled girls - 2017 January Opera Tavern visit

Kathryn & Renee from Opera Tavern visit shuktara!

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How wonderful to have visitors from Salt Yard Group who through Opera Tavern support the running of our homes…

Thank you Kathryn (Operations Manager for The Salt Yard Group) and Renee (from Opera Tavern) - you are the first visitors to shuktara in 2017 - we appreciate your support!

A short recap of our day at Shuktara (from Kathryn)

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

The day started with Pappu giving directions over the phone to our taxi driver, the address we were given was not enough to get us there, but thankfully with the help of Pappu and many friendly pedestrians we made it, the last guide even went so far as to get his scooter and show us the way.

We started at the boys house, Pappu met our taxi and we walked over. The house runs over three floors, not all the boys were home as some were at the bakery but the ones that were there gave us a warm smiley welcome. Probably the oldest boy there excitedly showed us his boarding pass which was a prized possession from his only trip on an airplane. The smiley excitement was contagious and soon both Renee and I were grinning from ear to ear. After about half an hour with the boys we set off for Shuktara Cakes, the bakery that was started about 4 years ago.

We were lucky to catch the boys there as they were finishing up for the day. Once more the welcome was warm and we were proudly given the tour around the bakery, split in to three different rooms, one for mixing, one for baking and the last for packaging. We had the opportunity to try their wares, my favourite being the ginger nut cake. After a group photo, a good catch on what they had been doing over the Christmas period and how sales had been booming we made our way to the final stop, the girls house.

Pappu was spotted as we walked up and an excited group of girls called his name from the window.

It was very evident that all the kids love Pappu and that the feeling is very mutual. He gave us a brief history of each of the residents of both the boys house and girls house and his face would light up while talking about them. We spent about an hour with the girls. Most of the girls have been abandoned by their families, they were given names by David and Pappu, and when they are able they have had a say in what their names will be. We even helped one girl while we were there decide on when she would like her birthday to be, with the aid of sign, smiles and laughter. Renee was given a sign name but unfortunately my sign name eluded them. It was very sweet to see how the girls related to each other, lots of love and affection, the older kids protective and caring of the younger ones.

Unfortunately our day with Shuktara came to an end. We felt very welcomed and blessed to have been able to spend this time with them. Thank you to Pappu and Shuktara for welcoming us into your homes.

Best Wishes
Kathryn & Renee