Recently we had the opportunity to return to Diversion House, a place of refuge for young girls, aged 12-16, from the streets of Delhi. Diversion House is located in Dwarka, an eastern suburb of Delhi.
This was a hilarious activity organized around the concept that we see ourselves incorrectly as a result of various traumas, abuses, or negative experiences. Hence the theme, "through a lense darkly."
We wanted to present an alternative way to view ourselves, a way that looks at their own innate meaning, value and purpose. The girls were very receptive, seemed to understand the connections, and greatly enjoyed the experiences.
[Our friend and neighbor was able to accompany Janis as Chuck became quite ill the night before and wasn't able to go this time.]
This girl just had heart surgery last week. As a result of the surgery it was discovered she will also need open heart surgery in the coming weeks, so this was an especially significant time for her.
Here are more photos of the day's activities [the last photo is of the House Cook, also part of the program that rescues young people from the streets of Delhi. He is being trained with a viable profession to independently support himself and his family one day. He always wants a chance to share at some point in the girls' activities]:
Day 1 - Sketching Five students attended the Young class taught by Janis and Salhu; seven attended the Older Class taught by Vikhor and Chuck.
Mythili, a potter from Mumbai who has been working at the Gallery this past year, was leading the sculpture classes. The first two weeks were with clay, the last two weeks with "found objects." Following are pictures from the adult class....
Janis continues to explore this concept, primarily with the children of our neighbor's servants (with one very valuable exception). This activity is usually done on a bench in a parking area in front of our flat, so it receives a lot of attention from passersby, almost always very positive. Apparently it has inspired at least two other residents of the enclave to begin teaching English to their servant's children!
We wanted to present an alternative way to view ourselves, a way that looks at their own innate meaning, value and purpose. The girls were very receptive, seemed to understand the connections, and greatly enjoyed the experiences. [Our friend and neighbor was able to accompany Janis as Chuck became quite ill the night before and wasn't able to go this time.] 
