Help Fund A New Light in Kalighat

A New Light in Kalighat, by Breanna Reynolds and myself, was originally funded by the American Councils for International Education.  Their grant funding helped pay for the printing costs, shipping, and a few other incidentals.  Though their grant was generous, it doesn't go very far with printing costs, and thus, our print run was fairly small, with New Light receiving some books for their use and Breanna and I receiving a small amount of books for use with students in our schools (the original grant was education-based). 

We wanted the book to be available to many people, though, because the faces, the stories, and the work of the kids just seemed so powerful, not to mention the caring work of Urmi and others behind the scenes.  Thus, we put out the e-book version:  http://issuu.com/kylev75/docs/newlight

But, we believe that funding another print run would be beneficial for many reasons.  While the e-book is accessible to many and nice in many ways, the print version lends an atmosphere of authority to a subject that deserves serious attention.  New Light also hopes to use the print version to reach some in their community that do not have internet access.  And, with the new print run being for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to New Light and a portion going to fund further similar projects, the print version could help the giving and good news keep going.

At the moment, we are trying to figure out how to set up the funding.  In the coming days, we will likely have a Kickstarter set up.  Please be watching this blog for future announcements.  We are hoping to raise at least $6,000 and hopefully more for the next print.

In the meantime, if you would like to donate, please contact me at kylev75[at]gmail[dot]com.

And, here are a few New Light outtakes, some Polaroids and film:

WMD

WMD HYPE. Film. Chicago. 2011.

Yesterday, Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for exposing crimes committed by others.  This is wrong and shameful.  I agree with Cornel West that it is "morally obscene and spiritually profane." 

Smile Pinki

Just watched this powerful documentary about Pinki and providing surgeries for cleft lip.  You can watch the entire documentary below...

Smile Pinki from asg on Vimeo.

Adoption

Here is a link to our adoption blog, where you can read all about our adoption journey:

http://ourindiansparrow.blogspot.com/

A New Light in Kalighat

Of all the amazing things that happened in my time in Kolkata, without a doubt the best was getting to work with the kids served by New Light, an organization that works with the children of sex workers and Dalit children in the Kalighat district.

Here is the e-book version of a book project that Breanna Reynolds and I had the great fortune to complete.  Check it out and learn about these great kids, about New Light, and about Kalighat.

India, among other things

Time for the semi-annual blog post.  Perhaps I can make this more regular.

Much has happened since my last post, really much of it in 2012.  I spent a life-transforming summer in Kolkata, traveled several other places, including New York, and watched a childhood icon, Big Tex, burn to the ground.  Needless to say, it was an incredible year personally and artistically for me.  While my poetry career seemed poised to take off, but fell just short of the book contract, my photography got a huge boost.  In my next post, I'll add a link to an e-book version of a project I was able to undertake with Breanna Reynolds while in Kolkata.

For now, here are some of my favorite photos from last year: