Aruna: Avidly Adventurous!

The journey began in 2012. I always wanted to do something in the field of education and so when the opportunity arose, we purchased a kindergarten school.   . I had no knowledge of the Montessori method. I had to take over the school and then study the method. Then the owner left after the handover. I had to compress a two year course into one year. We took over when just thirty students were enrolled. I was teaching and studying as well as trying to implement what I was studying.  So it became more interesting. Then it started becoming very fascinating as I began implementing innovative ideas. These were not exactly in the syllabus but closely connected to it . Then I began studying child psychology to understand young children better. Then came a point when I wanted to educate more and more mothers about the Montessori method so they could implement it at home too. Thus children would benefit more. I used to do home visits to educate mothers. I also used to invite them to s...

Two years ago, I met a young lady at a function organized by my temple. While chatting with her, I told her about my school and the Teacher's Training college I run on my campus. Before I knew it, she had enrolled for the course and over a short period of time, we became good friends. She was actively following my posts about all the work I had been doing for various social causes. She became very interested in the sanitary pads project and approached me to showcase the project to people from our community, during the seventy five years in existence celebration at the East Africa Satsang Swaminarayan Temple. I met the fund raising committee of the temple to explain the details of my reusable sanitary pads project as well as the dry foods collection project. Fortunately it was approved quickly and we started working on the finer details of our plan. One Sunday was demarcated for my speech, when the temple attendance would be maximum, ensuring that we could reach a large number of ...

A Unique Place… A couple of days ago I visited an establishment which houses young girls who, for various reasons, have to stay there.  I was genuinely delighted to find that it was neat, clean and tidy place and well maintained. The girls were studying in a class room when we reached there.  In their spare time, they make handicrafts, which are then sold and the money kept aside for the creator of that particular craft item. They are talented young girls! It seemed to be a caring and nurturing environment but some of the girls need counselling in order to process all that they have been through in their young lives.  Everyone has a dream for themselves and it is important to give young people a second chance. All of us make mistakes in life and a chance to redeem ourselves in our own eyes and in the eyes of the world is essential. Most people we know have fancy wish lists which include Items like expensive cars, branded clothes, antique jewellery and foreign hol...

A year ago the cooking club that I was part of, decided to fund raise for good causes that abound in Kenya. We received applications from around ten to fifteen charitable organizations and we chose Amref Health Africa In Kenya.  https://amref.org/kenya/ We fund raised via an auction and by cooking delectable food and sold tickets for this exclusive event which was held at Capital Club, Nairobi.                                 Chefs For The Evening! (Ladies Of The Nairobi Cooking Club)                                  The Gracious Husbands Who Turned Bearers For The Evening The Results Of Training Under A Michelin Chef: Mohsine Korich: A Decadent Dessert To Wrap Up The Evening! A large amount was collected which we handed over to Amref Health Africa In Kenya. A part of this amount was used by them to s...

10th May 2018 Unceasing, furious rain lashes the Kenyan countryside, there is no relief, no respite, villagers wait in vain for the downpour to stop so that life can resume, but what happens next is a tragedy of epic proportions. The river was in spate, water pushed hard against the dam, and finally it gave way, bringing down millions of liters of water upon the houses of hapless villagers, burying homes, people, life stock under up to ten feet of water. Kenyans and other residents all over Kenya remained mute, stunned spectators of Nature's fury. A Brazillian friend of mine, Larissa, called me up and asked me if I was interested in helping to collect material over a period of two weeks to distribute to the affected people. Posters were hurriedly made, social media messages were posted and shared across various forums and magically we were flooded with offers of help and dry goods, clothes, books, baby items and cash (which was directed to the Mpesa account especially made for th...

The Tsavo Tale: Aruna's Story Of A Walk With Rangers And An Encounter With Poachers.                                                   Only Elephants Should Wear Ivory We see a different Africa, a luxurious one, ensconced in tents in five star resorts, devouring international cuisine and going on safaris in top of the line safari vans. And then, one day, I met Aruna Varsani, who had taken on the challenge of venturing into a different part of Africa, the one we had only heard about, felt sad about and seen pictures of…I was shaken  to the core when I heard Aruna’s Tsavo story and looked at her detailed pictures. I began by asking Aruna the motivation behind undertaking such a unique adventure. She candidly revealed that she wanted to come out of her comfort zone (very similar to the one I am currently wallowing in) and that she wanted...