New Delhi, March 1: The President will have his hands full. So will his wife.

Laura Bush, the first US First Lady on an official visit to India with the President, has a busy trip ahead, with visits to a juvenile aid centre and a home for the mentally and physically challenged lined up as part of her schedule.

Because of the tight security, there is no elaborate shopping plan on her agenda. But she will be making an appearance on Galli Galli Sim Sim ? the Indian version of Sesame Street, the well-known US children’s educational show ? at production company Miditech’s Eagle Studio in Noida.

Jacqueline Kennedy and Hillary Clinton have also visited India, but they came without their husbands.

The President’s wife is expected to spend about two hours tomorrow talking to the disadvantaged children being rehabilitated at the Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre at Tughlaqabad Extension.

A joint programme of the Delhi School of Social Work, Delhi police, the Union ministry of human resource development and the department of women and child development, the centre was bustling with activity today. While employees were being issued security passes, a canopy had been put up at the entrance as a “view cutter” following instructions from US security officials.

“This visit is a sequel to our efforts over the last 18 years. We have been trying to develop a good practice model for education for out-of-school, victims of trafficking and abused and exploited children,” said director Rajeev K. Haldar.

The First Lady is expected to attend a cultural programme by the children and be briefed on alternative education schemes for out-of-school children. A business parlour run by the rehabilitated children and outlets selling cookies, milk products, greeting cards and other items made by the children are also on her agenda.

“She is also expected to participate in a discussion with the disadvantaged children and listen to their positive life experiences,” Haldar said.

The First Lady could also visit the Jeevan Jyoti home run by the Missionaries of Charity at Jangpura. “We are delighted to learn that Mrs Bush may visit our institute. Details of the visit are yet to be divulged by the US embassy,” a worker at the home said.

Bush and his wife had met superior-general Sister Nirmala in New York in 2004. “We are running a home for physically and mentally handicapped children here. We get lots of visitors from here and abroad and the First Lady will be seeing the work that we do here,” said the nun in charge of the home.

The Noida studio, where Galli Galli Sim Sim’s production got under way this week, might be the next stop for her. In 2003, she had made an appearance on the Egyptian version of the show funded by USAID. The show will be aired on Cartoon Network and Pogo by mid-2006.

While the American original was designed on inputs from child psychologists and sociologists, the Indian version will celebrate diversity cutting across the rural-urban divide. The emphasis is on what unites children across the country.