Visit to Pallikarnai Garbage Dump

Middle school @ Al Qamar's excursion to the Pallikarnai Marsh/ Dump.

As a part of the Ecology class, the Middle Schoolers went to the Pallikarnai marsh to see the volume of garbage being dumped. And the migratory birds living on the opposite side. As one child said, "On one side was beauty,.on the other, beauty dying." Another said "I hope to work to reduce my waste".

As a follow through, children visited the green home of Mr. Shaju John and were completely blown away. They flipped through a coffee table book written by Mr. John on "The eye of the Marsh.. Pallikarnai, Then and now", saw how Mr. John built his home by recycling waste material - glass, wood. How he uses rainwater harvesting, and has a indoor pond with fish.

Brilliant excursion which juxtaposed garbage, wildlife preservation and practical recycling.

No wonder that Tariq Akbar is now Teacher #1!

Visit to the Madras Crocodile Bank

Fantabulous trip to the Madras Crocodile Bank.

Elementary @Al Qamar had a wonderful, enlightening visit where Anjana and Arul of MCBT gave a wonderful guided tour. The highlight was the Show and Tell where the children saw live animals and learned about their lives, habitats, food etc. They asked sooooo many questions which were patiently answered by Arun. I think even a whole year of textbook learning about reptiles will not match one visit to the Croc Bank.

Children contribute earnings in Ramadhan

Al Qamar students took on household chores during Ramadhan for which they earned a salary.  The children pooled their salaries to sponsor Kanji in ECRand dates mosques. The balance was used to purchase groceries for the maids. A contribution was made to a mosque in the Ooty area where funding has been poor.

MashaAllah this was the 6th year in which children earned money and contributed their earnings with the hope of earning ajr from Allah SWT.