Follow on twitter: @sistaKAA

After living abroad on and off for the last 12 years, and in an attempt to make the transition back to the US (semi-permanently) a little smoother, Sista K or @sistaKAA , has decided to join the masses and start contributing to and participating in twitter.

Not to worry folks, I have no plans on telling you what I had for breakfast via tweets (a mango orange smoothie and coffee with milk sans suger, if you're interested). This will be an informational, news reporting and sharing, education focused twitter feed. I'll be following education news as it relates to India specifically and developing countries in general, as well as domestic educational issues and policies. I'm also interested in general issues, updates and feeds concerning international development (i.e. microfinance, public health, MDGs, environmental issues.), ELT, EFL/ESL, literacy, and global news. I'll also be reporting on the production of the Ready to Read DVD modules over the next few months. And as a member of my local community, wherever I am, you can guarantee I'll be posting about local issues and events.

I'm also hoping it will inspire me to be a more active blogger again. Perhaps the two can be mutual beneficial if used correctly. Still playing and learning about the twitter tool...lots to discover. But already impressed at its reach and ability to communicate quickly and effectively if used appropriately. These are exciting times, I'm trying to keep up.

Tweet tweet,
@sistaKAA

Can you handle Mysore Masala?

Congratulations, Nithya and Vali! Mysore Masala presents a spicy dance item to wish you a lifetime of love, happiness and of course...lots of spice.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Happy Birthday Dad! See you in just two months and we will celebrate in style! Love you!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Happy Mother's Day!

To the world's greatest mom on mother's day...I love you!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Fliptastic Films presents

Do it yourself: Curd in the Kitchen from Kirsten Anderson on Vimeo.

A quick update

I dream of blogging again one day. In the meantime, here is a link to the blog I posted on the AIF blog in December.

More recently, however, the English team and I've been doing a lot of traveling. I've visited almost all all the districts where the Ready to Read program is being run this year. During those visits I visit schools and observe classes, interact with students and teachers and we try to screen the DVD at least once a visit. We are getting great feedback and seeing how the program is both working and how we need to adjust our teacher training to make it a stronger program in the future.

I've been on the road a lot these days--overnight trains, buses, share autos, autos, walking through rice paddies, and riding on the back of motorbikes--seeing a lot of rural Tamil Nadu. It's humbling and inspiring. It makes me appreciate coming back to my sanctuary in Chennai, and yet makes me dream of spending quiet weeks in a village learning to milk cows and sleeping under the stars.

I feel very lucky to be where I am doing what I'm doing, but my time (and funding) here is coming to an end. I need to make a plan. What's next? I'm usually great at planning. I love planning. But for some reason, I feel overwhelmed at the options, and overwhelmed at all there is still to do. Have I made even a dent? Can I ever? And will that ever be enough? Or has this just served my selfish desire to try and do some good in the world?

I posed with a class of 5th graders and their teacher in Dharmapuri district.