
The staff find a place in the shade to set up for the meals. The shade seems 20 degrees cooler and is an excellent place for the children to eat. As I look at the children saying their prayers before eating, I am stuck by the number of children with runny noses and nasal mucous. They are all so dirty too. I wonder whether this is the hot weather or the poverty. Living in Varanasi in the summer is very demanding on the body's cooling systems, especially the respiratory system.
We serve a vegetable curry, puri, and a banana for dessert. All in all, 260 children are served. It is a long day because the children come sporadically from surrounding areas due to the heat and the walking distance. There are 5 rounds of servings for the children and a 6th is to the parents who are still in attendance (taking today's total fed well over 300).
Om Jai Jai Sai Maa!