Every day now is uninterrupted bright sunshine, and by 10.30am the sun is blazing hot. To accommodate this, the school day at Shiva Ji Mission School has been adjusted to start at 7.30am. Today, April 9th, is no exception and so today’s food distribution will be timed so that the small children will be fed by their end of school day - 11.30am. With the lower number of children attending due to other priorities at this time of year, this proves to be manageable and at 11.30am a stream of happy, smiling, and laughing children with their stomachs full leaves through the front gate.
Although it is hot we still serve a hot meal – it is traditional to eat hot meals throughout the year. Today we serve a chickpea and vegetable curry along with puri (fried Indian bread) and khir (rice pudding with dried fruits). Today it is mainly the older girls who have the opportunity to serve their fellow students, and these girls are joined by 2 Sai Maa Vishnu Shakti Trust guests from Canada.
The girls form a smooth and eager team, and soon have a system worked out to quickly distribute plates, puri and then vegetables to the 250 students attending school today. The bowls and rice pudding are served later once the children begin to finish the meal. I am again surprised by how much these young children joyfully consume. Some of them seem to just sit and eat, requesting extra vegetable curry up to 3 times and eating up to 10-12 puris. This is more than most adults eat at other programs!!! However these small children devour this large amount with ease and are always filled with such joy after the program.
The girls also take special care to ensure our guests have the opportunity to take part in serving the meals. They provide directions and hold the serving containers while allowing the guests to serve. It is inspiring to see the caring and seamless way our guests are welcomed and engaged despite the language and cultural differences and everyone, students, teachers and our guests leave the morning distribution feeling fulfilled and intensely satisfied.
The girls form a smooth and eager team, and soon have a system worked out to quickly distribute plates, puri and then vegetables to the 250 students attending school today. The bowls and rice pudding are served later once the children begin to finish the meal. I am again surprised by how much these young children joyfully consume. Some of them seem to just sit and eat, requesting extra vegetable curry up to 3 times and eating up to 10-12 puris. This is more than most adults eat at other programs!!! However these small children devour this large amount with ease and are always filled with such joy after the program.
The girls also take special care to ensure our guests have the opportunity to take part in serving the meals. They provide directions and hold the serving containers while allowing the guests to serve. It is inspiring to see the caring and seamless way our guests are welcomed and engaged despite the language and cultural differences and everyone, students, teachers and our guests leave the morning distribution feeling fulfilled and intensely satisfied.
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