Today we completed the mosaic on the four columns in the main building. We decided to go out and celebrate by having ice cream down by the river. The kids were excited and it was a well deserved treat! As you can see below in the picture the ice cream didn't have the time to begin melting in the 40 degree. Poran was the fastest eater!

Using sticks collected from the garden, we began mixing grout and water to fill in the gaps of our mosaics. What an exhausting job directly in the sunlight, sweating, laughing and eating while completing our works of art. As children, volunteers, and customers of the cafe wondered past with praise and encouragement, we were able to persevere and complete the first few columns. 

We started the mosaic project. Here are few pictures to ilustrate the kids work. With this project we want to decorate and put some colours on the front of the school. It is good to see the kids concentrated and trying to figure out flowers and snakes by placing the tiles. The inspiration for the mosaics come from the pictures taken by the children and from the flowers and plants around us!
The most important in this process is to have the surface clean, then make sure that the cement has the right texture and that you leave space between the tiles, otherwise won't hold forever.

We wanted to explore with the girls how they see themselves by drawing their portraits. Some of theses portraits will be used as a postcards to send to the donors!

Summer Event: We have organised an event at Ramana's Garden to raise funds. The compound was filled with workshops ran by the children and volunteers, including face painting for kids, Indian bridle face make up, face massage, jeweler stand, decorative henna, home made fresh drinks, postcards for sale and a Bollywood dance workshop. 

This event helped Ramana’s to attract more visitors and customers in the café. We also gained visibility and loyal customers and donors who enjoy the café organic meals and getting involved with the children in each workshop.

We have been taking photographs around the compound. There was much laughter, conversation and fighting over who was next in line to use the cameras! The children have a wonderful eye for composition, texture, space, lighting and cropping. 

Today we have a look in the room number 7 "the art room". They store all the materials in there, so we thought that we can classify the materials in boxes and painting the walls, we would love to make it nicer!