The essence of the discussion is given below:

• Teachers were selected and training began in April. Most of the teachers are some of the educated Irula girls.
• School committees were formed in May. 3 member committee is there for each villages to help run the motivational schools.
• Schools have started informally under trees. The building construction work should also have started.
• Nirmala (a volunteer of Bharathi Trust) helps a lot in the administrative work. She is the one who goes from village to village to coordinate the administration with the committees.
• The Irula children are approximately 20% of the children in the area. (This and the previous points were with regard to questions that were raised during the WAH review.)
• One Dr. Saraswathi is working on curriculum development. This is something that Siddamma would also like to concentrate in the future.
• A lot of families live within the mills. From the description I got, it is clear that everything is not going on according to our labour laws. Children also live there in poor conditions.
• Siddamma is not able to use her internet connection because her computer keeps breaking down. The hardware, she mentioned, is not in good shape. I asked her to consult with Shanmuga when he visits her next.
• Shanmuga is supposed to visit the project on the 8th of this month.
• Siddamma asked whether we can send the money in the future by wire transfer. This usually costs around ~$40 but is fast (same day) and overall will be cheaper both for Asha and for Bharathi Trust. I said it should be no problem.