Today is the first day of the new school year at our 22 slum preschools. Over 2,500 children are enrolled, including over 800 children who are entering their first year of classes. For those first-year kids, this is the first day of school ever!

It's also the first day they’ve ever been separated from their moms and grandmoms. Tears were flowing freely throughout the morning. And we expect more tears in the mornings and afternoons ahead. It’s the same every year. But by the second week, the new kids get the hang of it; and their tears turn into giggles, laughter, and pure, unadulterated enthusiasum as they approach each new lesson of the day. (Photo above – second-year students are happy to be back in class; photo below – a first-year student thinks her world is over.) Photo gallery here.