January 16, 2006: First, again thank you all so much for responding either directly to me by email or by writing comments or in the guest book. It's really great to hear your thoughts.

Today Maureen and I went to see ORT India here in Mumbai. ORT is a Jewish organization devoted to providing skill-based training so that Jewish (but not exclusively) people can get a job in practical areas such as hairdressing, computers, early childhood education, and the travel industry. Maureen works with ORT in Toronto, and was interested in seeing what they are doing here, and I naturally went along.

Their driver, Anand, picked us up at our hotel and weaved his way through the Mumbai traffic to bring us to their offices and school. When we pulled up, half the children were just going home, assembling with their teachers at the front door, waiting to get on the buses. They were all in little blue uniforms, and completely adorable.

We then met with Benny Isaac, the Director of ORT India, who told us about the history and mandate, and was, in true Indian style, very hospitable. He introduced us to Mrs. Archana Jagtiani, the Principal of the School and 35-year veteran of ORT, and she stayed with us throughout our visit there. The third person we met at lunch, Mr. Baba Harmon, has been involved with ORT for many years, and was also a choreographer in the Bollywood film industry (he is taking us for a Bollywood tour on 18 Jan).

We learned that the young students are pre-school (nursery and junior kindergarten) children from the neighbourhood. They pay to come to the school, and are generally from wealthier families of all religions. Their tuition fees provide ORT with much needed funding which allows them to fulfill their mandate of providing practical training at minimum cost to older (Jewish) students. We stopped in at a few classes: at the first class of 2 ½ - 3 year olds they were practicing writing by joining the dots, which they did quite well. The next class was about the same age, and they sang a song for us. The third class was older, 4 years old, and they also sang, this time in English and with some hand movement that accompanied the song. It made me want to jump in and lead them in a rendition of “The wheels on the bus go round and round . . . “, but it didn't feel appropriate. As you can see from the photos below, they were incredibly sweet.

As we were going around, Mrs. Jagtiani pointed out one girl (see photo) who came to the school unable to use her legs. She has worked with doctors and physical therapists to restore at least some of her mobility, and is scheduled for another operation in a week. Mrs. Jagtiani spoke of the need and their ability to include special ed students in this pre-school, including autistic, developmentally delayed, and physically challenged kids. Perhaps we have something to learn here, because inclusion in the west still seems to be a hit and miss affair (from my experience mostly “miss”).

Other fundraising programs include after-school lessons in classical Indian dance, the abicas (spelling?), computers, and a few others. They have a lovely hall that they use for special occasions, and they also rent it out to others. Like many other NGOs, they are always searching for ways to fund their projects.

Recently ORT is helping six schools in the Andaman Islands (look to the right off the east coast of India). These schools and communities were hit by the tsunami, and ORT is funding them to rebuild, with ORT India being the main overseers.

Some of you will know how I feel about the exclusivity of giving reduced fee or free programs to only one specific group (in this case Jewish students). But I include this because of its unusual nature—the whole idea of a thriving Jewish community in India is pretty unknown—and to simply present what I have seen. I look forward to other experiences that are more secular and humanist in perspective.

Take care everyone,

Ellen