KINGS WORLD TRUST FOR CHILDREN (INDIA)

Pongal Celebration

Our students and teachers celebrated the harvest festival of Pongal that marked the first day of Tamizh month Thai, to thank the sun, rain and farm animals, on Friday January 13, 2023. With beautifully-painted earthen pots in different sizes, students and teachers of Matric and CBSE schools, wearing best traditional, glittering and colourful costumes of multiple colours and designs, assembled in the allotted areas in the serene, scenic, vast and picturesque playground and other areas on the school premises in jubilant and celebratory mood to prepare sweet Pongal.

The celebration was led by the honourable correspondent along with his family members who exchanged Pongal wishes with the gathering after tasting the sweet Pongal. Earlier in the day, students, in their allotted areas were decked with strings of flowers, mango leaves, festoons and drawings made of flour. Auspiciously, with turmeric, ginger, nuts, fruits, vegetables, sugarcanes and farm produce of multiple types, students prepared sweet Pongal with Jaggery (a type of sugar), milk, raw rice mixed with special ingredients of ghee, raisins, almonds and cardamom etc. The hot sweet Pongal was served to all and was consumed with relish. Soon after eating the Pongal, students danced in the playground, unconcerned by the scorching sun at noon and foggy weather in the morning, and kept the tradition alive as Pongal is all about gratitude and thanksgiving to the lord Almighty.

Finally, all the winners of both the schools were awarded numerous prizes and praises.

Successful Stories of Ex-students

Pusphalatha

Pusphalatha is an orphan and has two older brothers, all having been brought up by their grandparents. Pusphalatha was taken into KWTC in 2004, being admitted into 4th standard in the Tamil medium school at Chinnamalpuram. Then in 2005, she joined the 5th standard at King’s School. She completed her school education, choosing to specialise in pure science and scoring 977/1200 marks in the Board examination. She took her nursing degree course at Isabel College of Nursing, Chennai. After completing her studies, she worked as a Staff Nurse in the same college multi-speciality hospital’s ICU ward from 2017 to 2019. She then married in 2019 and is blessed with a baby girl. Now she is working as a nursing tutor at G. Kuppuswamy memorial Institute of Nursing.

Augustin

Augustin has started his own physiotherapy clinic. He comes from a financially poor background. His parents were separated and Augustin, along with his three siblings, were taken care of by his mother. She sought the help of KWTC. Eventually, Augustin was under the Residential care and completed his schooling and higher studies in Bachelor’s degree of

Physiotherapy. Soon after he completed his graduation, he was placed in MIOT Hospital, Chennai for five years. Later, he went abroad and found a job in Maldives and worked there as a physiotherapist for eleven years. Gaining good experience there, he returned to India and started his own clinic in Tirunelveli which is running well.

Jeyaselvan represents Indian team

Jeyaselvan who is an ex-bursary student of KWTC, is physically challenged due to a polio attack since his birth. He studied in Kings School from his Year 1 and completed his Year 12 with accountancy as his major group in 2021. He joined Sathya Bama College of Arts and Commerce and is doing his second year in Bachelor of Commerce. He started playing basketball at the age of 13, while he was studying in Year 7. He played several wheelchair basketball matches. Later, in 2019, he represented the National Wheelchair Basketball team, when they finished as runners up. The best 29 players from the match were selected to participate in the camp conducted by Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya at Coimbatore in October 2022, from which the top best 12 players were selected to represent India in the National Level Wheelchair Basketball games between 5th and 11th November. He said, “I learnt a lot of new techniques during my interaction with the coach and other co-players. It was a great experience!”

King’s World Trust for Children, 1 Stonehill Cottage, Wilsons Road, Headley Down, Hampshire GU35 8JE Tel: 01428 712365 Email: kwtc@haslemere.com

Quote for Easter

All the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of mankind on this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life. –

James Allan Francis