Visit to Garden School (Premdan Mumbai)
Garden School
The Garden School is built in Wellington Gardens, the exact place where, at the very start of Prem Dan, Mother Felicity would teach street children the basics of literacy and numeracy under a tree back in 1976. It is a bungalow building with 3 classrooms, 2 offices, a kitchen, a staffroom, a covered terrace for meal times and a beautiful lush green garden which offers a cooling respite from the Mumbai noise and heat. The Garden School has three KG (nursery) classes with three full time teachers providing a solid education to give the street and slum children attending the best possible chances of entering the local English medium schools.
The Garden School is the heart of Prem Dan. It also includes the main office from which Prem Dan is run by Sister Felicity who still comes to work every day. She is ably assisted by Sr. Zelia and Sr. Louisa. The office is where all the sponsorships and donations are processed by Prem Dan’s clerk, Miss Queenie and Sister Zelia. Prem Dan’s accounts are audited every year by external government auditors.
The Garden School is finally the centre of the food program. Food is prepared in the Garden School for the various food programs. The daal prepared by Prem Dan’s cook is one of the finest around. Food is also collected from local renowned hotels, brought back to the garden school and distributed from there.
