Newsletter Q1 2010Coalition To Stop The Use Of Child Soldiers
John Arnold - April 2010 Salaam Baalak Trust To continue the stories mentioned in the newsletter at the end of last year, the new boys' shelter provided by Delhi Metro is now nearly up to its capacity of 120 children and the acquisition of a new girls' shelter is just about completed.
The people who actually had full-time railway jobs have new accommodation, legally and officially provided by the Railway. But the majority have to make do or rely on their extended families. Anil is now doing his father's job as railway electrician, but since he's still technically in training he doesn't qualify for any housing. In mid-afternoon he was still looking for a place for his mother to spend the night. Some families will probably be fine; some will really struggle. And the communal activities, the classes for children who were learning from SBT teachers in the run-up to exams and the community feeling are suddenly gone. Nick Thompson - April 2010 Seeds of Hope
Anna Ray - April 2010 The Choir With No Name For more information on the choir click here.
John Arnold - April 2010 Other News
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In February, OPS were able to organise their own event in aid of the Coalition when we helped to put together a screening of Johnny Mad Dog in London. Our very own Marcus set up a screening of the film, about a group of child soldiers in an unnamed African country, at the Rio cinema in Dalston in east London. Cheers to all of you who came along, and thanks very much to Sarah Matthewson for introducing the film. For those who haven't seen it yet - make sure you get it on DVD. It is really well made, with real ex-child soldiers playing the parts of the kids; very harrowing but good. Check out the guardian review 
Much more unexpected and emotional though was the story of how the railside community where SBT had one of its contact points came to a sudden end. Many people who went on the City Walk in the last couple of years said their favourite part was the visit to this little settlement which had been home to about 60 families for 35 years. The people who lived in the small houses or shacks - a mixture of brick, corrugated metal and tarpaulin - were mainly railway workers, so although the settlement was illegal it was tolerated by the authorities. Many people's entire lives had been played out here, like SBT's Anil (former City Walk guide) and Anju (current City Walk trainee). That was until Thursday, March 18. 
After 2 weeks' notice, the entire community was demolished together with SBT's excellent little school called Akanksha (pictured above). Bulldozers and JCBs moved in and made quick work of all the buildings. By late morning Anju was sitting in the rubble of the house where she was born, watching as her family's entire possessions were loaded onto a truck to go to their temporary new home, about an hour away on the outskirts of Delhi. The staff at Akanksha stood guard over their gas stove and filing cabinet, now out in the open, while hot food for the children arrived for the last time.
It’s been the school summer holidays for the kids in Peru which for the children at Seeds means even more lessons and learning! During term time the volunteers mainly help the children with their homework but the holiday season gave them the chance to do some teaching of their own. They’ve also been doing activities to help build the children’s self esteem, such as providing each with a certificate detailing their qualities and showing encouraging words written by the other children. The volunteer coordinator told me that the children who usually don’t even say ‘hola’ gave them big hugs that day. The best news is that our money has enabled Seeds to employ a psychologist so the positive mental attitudes at the school should keep growing and growing.
Monday night rehearsals and the free dinners continued at Kings Cross throughout the first quarter of 2010. The Choir also held a very successful gig in a trendy east London venue called 93 Feet East. The gigs are an important part of what the choir does: they give the rehearsals focus, increase the participants' confidence and raise some money for the choir along the way.
As mentioned, you can also now follow OPS on Twitter. We won't be updating you on what we've had for breakfast, our bowel movements or our opinions on Nick Clegg but we will (hopefully) be adding any news about the charities we support and any general OPS developments as well. Fingers crossed, it could also be a good way of spreading the word about OPS and might bring in some more donors so if you use Twitter, please have a look and start following us - just click 
Also, ms marcus fairhurst, Rachel Creed a.k.a Queen of Facebook, has started a One Percent group on there as well. Click here to find the 
Fruity News… John, Anna & I went to a another really cool night put on by the Youth Funding Network (