Treating the teeth before the treatment!

Link to all the snaps..

http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2100991924

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=dy4523d.bn8k2srp&Uy=96mxnb&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

Eventually the much awaited event was on the chart and the date was finalized.. It was to be held on 8th October 2006. But I was very skeptical about its success due to a number of reasons like Varun's absence, very short notice, no real preparations. But my worries did not materialize and we all together made it a success.. :)

This was the first time something like this happening in the Borivali chapter of Dream India. We all wanted this to happen as soon as possible especially with the Dengue and other diseases increasing. This was the first step towards the health related events. Arti was co-coordinating with Dr. Tarun Ahuja for arranging this dental camp and finally last week she came up with the date of this Sunday, the 8th of October. I panicked initially as I knew that Varun would be on leave and Abhi and I would not be present on Saturday. I thought there might be a crunch of volunteers. But Aniket, Arti, Sanket, Abhi and I did manage to take it smoothly. We also had Meena, a basti girl who is currently doing her M.Com and also working in computer hardware, supporting us in this cause. She knows the children well and they listen to her.

Parallel to these preparations, were Aniket's cousins preparing for his surprise birthday celebrations on the same day in the DI class. When Shivangi first called me and told be about her plans I was touched by the gesture that they want to celebrate it with kids and that would be their best surprise t0 Aniket. I discussed the same with Varun as was not sure if this is a great idea. Children should not start expecting it on each one's birthday plus we cannot make the classes as a ground for our celebrations. Also, they had their exams on next day so we were indecisive whether to spend so much time on celebrations. But before the dental camp they were hardly going to concentrate on studies and also we thought about the happiness the children would experience and a change before the dental camp. We thus thought of giving this a try.

Party time..

Before Aniket came to class, Shivangi and another cousin came to class with a huge huge cake and more than 50 odd balloons! The children were already excited. They themselves had prepared cards for Aniket. Not just that, but they also had made bouquet and wall hangings and some gifts to present it to Aniket. They sure deserved a party!! We all assembled on the first floor hall and sang for Aniket as he entered the class. This was around 10.30am. All the children were happy to be a part of celebrations. The birthday caps and balloons helped in increasing the celebration mood. Aniket cut the cake and we all sang for him. A few other cousins and friends of Aniket also joined us in the celebrations. Later they distributed cakes, wafers, chocolates, and samosas to the children. Everyone wished him separately and I loved to see the children so happy and enjoying themselves. They fought with each other to select the balloons and caps.

Aniket enjoying his birthday with children..

I always have to shout aloud to keep them quiet and believe me its not an easy task to make everyone sit down in pin drop silence. But this meditation thing has helped a lot. Once we are able to make them close their eyes, they do rest for 5 minutes without any noise. After they were done with having their breakfast of cake and wafers, the children performed some dances, songs, etc. Even Aniket sang a patriotic song 'Ye desh hai veer jawano ka..", after which Geeta told in detail about a mishap that happened in the basti. It seems four girls drowned in an open manhole. One died on the spot, one died on the way to hospital, one is still not found while only one survived. We all kept silence of 1 minute and together sang the song "Itni shakti hame dena daata". It was now about time for the doctor to arrive and so we cleaned up the hall as the children had littered eatables and wrappers around.

Meditation caps on..

Initally we had planned to keep the dental camp in the temple and take the kids in batches of 5. But as the temple was being cleaned up, we arranged for a bench and few chairs in the hall itself. Arundati, Aniket's friend who herself is a dentist was also present on this occasion. She explained them the importance of brushing the teeth, the techniques, the drawbacks, the consequences of not brushing etc. She explained them by means of pictures about the various form of cavities and the different ways to brush. We distributed the xeroxes of these pictures to each one of them. She also examined a few kids' teeth till the time doctor arrived.

Arundati explaining the importance of brushing the teeth..

Arti came with the doctor along with one of his assistants at around 12.40pm. Without wasting anytime, the doctor started examining the children. Arundati wrote down the specific details for each child as described by the doctor on a prescription sheet. This was written in medical terms and so we did not understand a word of it. I kept the chits together along with the individual status report file of the children. In an hour the doctor examined around 30+ children. There were three children with no cavities in their mouths and we all gave them a huge applaud. The doctor later told us that we can bring some kids to his clinic for teeth extraction and clean ups. He will do this free of charge. After examining all the children he left the place. He had brought a set of tooth brush and tooth paste for everyone and while we left the kids for the day we distributed them to each child.

Examination time..


Guru handing the Thank you card..

Tooth-brush tooth paste distribution..

Arundati later explained the meaning of the details she wrote on the sheet. I now know the terminology used for deciduous teeth, permanent teeth, cavities, root canal etc. If you want to know the same, attend the next dental camp ;)

Remembering the Mahatma

Links to the snaps of the event..

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?&mode=fromsite&collid=14405674211.90497594411.1159877478715&conn_speed=1

We had decided about this event even before we took the children for Lage Raho Munnabhai..

1st October was the date chosen, as keeping on THE day i.e. 2nd October was not feasible as the children have their exams from 3rd.

The ones present for the event were Varun, Aniket, Sanket, I, Aniket's cousin, his mom, Sharmeeli, Shirish and Varun's friend (minus Arti and Apeksha). As the temple where we usually hold classes was occupied due to some meeting, the class was held in the hall on first floor of the basti temple. We all assembled there by around 10 am.

This time we started with meditation. We told everyone to close their eyes, keep their hands on their laps and sit still for 5 minutes. The sight was really worth capturing. The ever so restless kids had a calm on their faces and everyone seemed to be in deep thoughts. Surprisingly no one tried to open their eyes in between. Once they were at rest and still we asked them about their experiences and it seems that everyone saw Gandhiji in that short period ;) Ajay even talked to Gandhiji and he said that Gandhiji was praising him for his good deeds and performances in class. Later we tied satin ribbons to each one around their wrists as per the pre-decided groups (Saffron, White and Green). This gave them the team spirit!

Meditation time..

Sanket tying ribbons..


Then wasting no time further, we started with the first event of the day, the group singing competition. Each group came forward and sang a song. All three groups recited it without taking a look into any paper. The songs they chose were ‘Vande Matram’, ‘Insaaf ki dagar pe’ and ‘Saare jahan se accha’. Aniket’s mom rated them on basis of their co-ordination, pitch, posture etc. She then told them what were the strengths and weaknesses of each group. White team (Shubham’s team) won in singing competition.

Saffron team performing the group song..

Whenever the kids started wandering around and the noise level went high in the class, we had the meditation session as fillers in between. They all said that they liked the concept of sitting still with their eyes closed and it gave them mental peace and helped bring nice thoughts in their minds.

After the singing session we started with the elocution. 3 kids from each group came one by one to speak about Gandhiji. The effort they all had put in the preparations was commendable. Everyone spoke in Hindi except for Guruprasad who gave his speech in English. Everyone applauded generously after every speech. They had written around 15-20 lines on Gandhiji. Most of them had similar contents which consisted of details about Gandhiji’s family, his birth and death, his principles, and various freedom movements. Some even managed to goof up to the extent of saying that Rajiv and Indira Gandhi were Gandhiji’s children ;) But the confidence with which they spoke in public and the mere courage to speak in front of so many people without seeing is really something I have to learn from them. They had this feeling of making their mark in class and so even the ones who had not prepared prior to the class came up and spoke of whatever they had grasped from others.

Geeta giving the elocution speech..

Ajay reading from book..


Also the feeling of making their team win by maximum participation was growing in each of them. Shubham Sharma (for his contents), Omprakash (for his body language) and Deepak Maurya (for his pitch and confidence) won the 1st prize from each group in the elocution competition. We gave them certificates for the same. As a team the elocution was won by Green team (Omprakash’s team). Aniket’s mom very well explained them the various points on which they were marked in elocution. She also elaborated on various topics covered by some of the children and what she liked specifically in each of them.

Aunty explaining the kids..


Now was the time for last event i.e. the quiz conducted by Sanket. Before that Varun came up with the idea of letting the kids’ come up and imitate us. Little did he know that he would be the only subject! Everyone enacted the way he says "Shuup" instead of ‘chup’ ;) They also performed some skits and songs. Meanwhile Sharmeeli and I filled names on the certificates. We then started with quiz, in which Sanket asked one question to each team and then passed it to subsequent teams in case the previous team was not able to answer. All the teams did a good job and almost scored equal except for the green team who won by one point. All the children were very happy and we were happy too that the event went so smoothly.

We again made them sit quietly for sometime and then I addressed them on future plans of having the same teams for various activities of the entire month. We then started with the much awaited prize distribution. Aniket’s mom did the honors. We did not give the participation certificates but only the elocution certificates and the best student’s prizes.

Bharti Pal from Group I i.e. Arti and Sanket’s group, Sandeep Rana from Group II i.e. Apeksha and my group, Guruprasad Kahar from Group III i.e. Aniket’s group and Shubham Sharma from Group IV i.e. Varun’s group won the prizes for the best student of the month. Varun had brought the prizes for individual category. Sanket had also brought school bags for all the children. Children were very excited at the thought of getting school bags. Aniket’s mom had brought sweets for the kids and while the children left from the class she distributed them leaving the children with a broad smile on their faces.

Prize distrbution..


We all were satisfied with the success of the event and after the chidlren had left we had a quick meet on the future activities and ideas that can be implemented in the Borivali class. Aniket’s cousin Neha who is doing her M.A. in psychology suggested some self development ideas for children, Varun came up with the idea of going multimedia, Aniket had some ideas on simple science experiments that can be carried out.

I did the handover of my responsibilities to Aniket for the October month as a coordinator for the Borivali classes. Basically handed over the huge bag of so many files which I had to carry every weekend to the class ;)

So that was about the 'Remembering the Gandhi' event organized in the Borivali DI branch.

Jai Hind!
Neha

Lage Raho Dream India

Link to all the snaps of the event..

http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2101533486

I was waiting for the 24th September since the time Varun told about the fantastic plan of showing the movie to kids. I had seen ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’ twice already but the thought of watching it again with the little angels was what made me wait for this weekend. This movie was planned because Gandhi jayanti is just around the corner and we wanted an activity which would be related to this and also be fun for the children. Arti did the main task of arranging for tickets well before time. She also arranged food coupons of popcorns for the kids. We informed the kids about this a day prior i.e. on Saturday evening. We did not anticipate that they would face any problem in getting permissions from their homes. Luckily most of the kids got permission and for those who did not, we went and talked to their families. We assured them about the safety of children. Only one or two of them had seen the movie before but they were equally excited at the very thought of watching it with us. They had started thinking that they will have to wear nice clothes and bring eatables. When we went to their houses to tell the parents about this plan they asked us as to how much will they have to pay for it? It was difficult for them to believe that their kids would enjoy at no cost at all and so they agreed eventually!

Sunday morning I got ready by 9am. Abhishek reached my place by 9.15 and we headed towards the temple, where we hold our regular classes. Some kids had already assembled and I could see that they had worn best of their clothes. Girls had put makeup and accessories. Some children had even brought chips, water-bottles and some eatables. We had to tell them to go to and keep it back as it would not be allowed in the theatres. Some children’s mothers had come to ask us to take their siblings too. It was difficult to say a no. We warned the kids to behave well in the mall and listen to us. We gave a lot of instructions as to keep quiet in the theatre and not to leave any of us and wander around on their own. Varun had brought printouts with our phone nos. which we handed to each kid and told them to call us in event of them getting lost. I was nervous and prayed to God that everything should go fine.

Inside the temple..

Everyone including the volunteers was so very happy. I was waiting to see the sight when the children would enter the mall. Varun and Sirish had brought their friends too. This helped a lot in taking the kids to the mall in one round itself. Varun arranged for auto-rickshaws and I sent the kids in batches with one volunteer each. A total of 29 kids with 8 volunteers reached the mall. The moment we got off from the auto and reached the Fame Raghuleela mall,in Kandivali, the kids gave an expression of disbelief seeing the hugeness of the mall! We clicked snaps before entering the mall as I was not sure if we would be allowed to take camera inside. But Varun managed to bring it inside and also capture lot of moments inside the mall :). Initially the security panicked seeing so many kids with us and it made me angry to know that he sounded rude to us just because the kids did not look as they were from so well-to-do families. We then told him that we had brought tickets for all the children and we were not here to have a stroll in the mall.

Outside the mall..



Once we were inside, I noticed that all kids observed so many minor things and were amazed at the entire atmosphere! Some were still wondering at the automatic opening and shutting of the doors. One exclaimed looking at the huge teddy bear peeping from the glass door of Archie’s to the right, some others just could not keep their eyes at one place and had a look of disbelief seeing so many shops inside one building. One exclaimed that this was just like in the Hindi movies while a lot of them had their eyes locked at the escalator. They related to the escalators they had seen in the movies at the airports. We decided to take them on the second floor through escalators. They waved at their other friends who were in the balcony of second floor. I was enjoying every moment of it. The mere sight of seeing these kids so happy made me feel happy too :). I wished that Varun joined us too even during the movie but he had other commitments and so he left after accompanying us till the gate of the movie hall.

While climbing the escalator..


We made the children form a queue and then everyone entered the hall outside the theatre. It was still sometime for the movie to begin and so we thought of taking the children to the restrooms once. The children were initially hesitant to use the WCs and did not know how to use the flush and use the taps and hand drier. Their expressions reminded me of the childhood story 'Alice in wonderland'.

We had almost entire two rows booked. These were 5-6 rows from front and we arranged the kids with volunteers seated in between. We settled down just in time. Surprisingly that day there was no national anthem before the movie started. I was hoping that they play that. But alas!

Before entering the theatre..



Anyway, the movie began and the children had their eyes fixed on the huge screen. Before that they enjoyed playing with the handle beside their seats and time and again turned around to see the crowd. They were aware that a lot of people were looking at them. I wonder what they thought about the staring glances! But most people wore a smile at seeing these sweet children :). In between the movie for around 40 min or so everyone was quiet and watched intently. They laughed aloud at the shortest of jokes. After sometime some of the kids started to feel hungry and their restlessness grew. Arti and Aniket then went and arranged for the popcorns. Thankfully the popcorns arrived almost when a song started and so it wasn’t much of a disturbance. We knew that soon they will be thirsty and would ask for water. Arti and I went to ask about water and the person in charge was ready to give us Pepsi at a cheaper rate than water. For once we were tempted to buy few bottles of Pepsi but then decided against it and went for water only. Handed one bottle each to the volunteers and resumed watching movie. Some children showed surprise at the very thought of water being sold. For them water is something which should be free everywhere J. I smiled at their innocence. Some were unaware of what popcorn is but they knew that they are going to get one during the movie. So in the intermission they realized that what they had during the movie was called popcorn :). Seriously, so many things which we never questioned since childhood are wonders for these children.

In intermission the kids had started feeling cold. I felt bad that we did not warn them to wear full-sleeves clothes and did not have any backup too. But then it was the first time for us too at the theatre with the kids. We volunteers exchanged places and gave company to other kids in the second half. The second half of the movie was more on the learning aspect and kids were quietly watching the movie. Some asked questions in between and they all laughed together at humor which they understood. But I also noticed that they laughed with the crowd in the hall even without understanding the jokes at times. What mattered was seeing them happy and enjoying the time there :).
We all clapped once the movie was over and remained seated to allow the people to vacate the hall. We again told them to form a queue and did a head count again. We then took the way via mall and exited the mall through escalators. By this time the children seem to have overcome the fear of stepping on it and they enjoyed their downward ride.

Downward ride on escalators..

They all were so happy and so were we. Varun had come again by the time movie got over. We again formed batches of four kids and one volunteer and headed towards the temple. Once all of us reached there we did a headcount again and asked them about their experiences. Everyone had smiles on their faces which told us all.

It is such a fulfilling experience. And thus ended the first venture to take Borivali kids on an outing! Looking forward to more such events!

Neha
DreamIndia – Borivali.
http://www.dreamindia2020.org/.

Dream India - Dreams unfolded

I am no great writer or composer and to put something which is extremely close to your heart and which you do, not really to please someone but yourself, it becomes difficult to pen down everything the way you would want to. Nonetheless I will try to share my experience about the Dream India Borivali classes.

It all started with a common dream in three individual hearts. A dream to make a difference! A dream to make this country a shade better than what he/she got! These individuals, sharing the same dream, then shook hands and the horizon expanded. And thus was formed –Dream India 2020! We now are strength of 150+ numerically. But truly, number doesn’t matter, what matters is the passion and determination which each one of us carry to make a difference.

In around March-April 2005, a close friend of mine, Vivek told me about this community/team called "Dream India 2020". After he explained about it, it seemed more like a dream waiting to become reality in the eyes of each of the founders. The concept of four people starting something like this as a group and taking it forward to yet another area was quite inspiring in itself. Knowing that despite the busy schedules, the project pressures, Mumbai commuting problems, there are willing hearts who want to make a difference in whatever way they can to the ones who were not blessed with the same situations or facilities, moved me. More so, as a dear friend was involved in the Borivali chapter, I immediately extended my hand towards this noble cause. Initially I wasn't actually a part of DI2020 and had just started to go to the Borivali class. Those were the days when Dream India itself was in the budding stage. There was no official site, no mailing group, not many people involved, and I wasn't even aware of the big picture. What I knew was, there exists a group of selfless hearts who have started this in Andheri and I wanted to be a part of the bunch.

I still remember the initial days when I had started going to the Kulupwadi basti, which is just next to my office, from my house which was in Borivali West. I was very keen to see how it all happens. My room-mate and I used to go every weekend to accompany Vivek. Vivek with Varun had already done the basic ground work of asking permissions, collecting names of the kids, arranging for a room to teach, etc. So for us it was just about going and spending a few hours with the kids. Being with children has always been a reason to make me extremely happy (the other being getting drenched in rainsJ). These kids were special in their own way. They already went to school, most of them that is. Most of them went to a Marathi or Hindi medium school, but there were some whose parents managed to put them in English medium too. The bunch was a blend of all kinds, shy, extremely naughty, eager to please us, very inquisitive and talkative as well. I was surprised to see around 40 -50 kids in the first class. They gathered in a hall on first floor of their basti. There were no fans and the heat was intense. But the enthusiasm in each kid's eyes was even more intense!
We made them sit like we do in a classroom, after dividing them into two groups. The way each one wanted to gain special attention and were way too eager to please us gave us a kick to teach them with an equal enthusiasm. We made them introduce themselves in front of the whole class and tell as to what they aspired to become in future and why. I was surprised to hear the varied answers from each one of them which consisted of policeman, doctor, engineer, pilot, army man, painter, actor et al. One even said he wants to be someone who can earn for his entire family and keep his parents happy, doesn’t really matter what degree he gets. When we questioned why they chose the respective professions, they had varied answers for that too which mostly comprised of achieving money, fame and secure future. But when we questioned them how would they go about becoming these, they had no clue. We realized that there is a lot to be talked about, to be discussed and heard from them. We would need to give our sincere efforts and time to really build up their confidence level as the passion to become something was already twinkling in their eyes. These were kids who despite the adverse situations were willing to make a future for themselves. We realized we need to support them morally and also tell them the facts and truths about the outside world. The kids went to Marathi or Hindi medium schools which were around 15-30 min walk from their place which of course they covered on feet. These are the BMC Schools which do not charge any admission fees, donation or for that matter, even the expenditure incurred on books and uniforms is provided by the school. But education in these schools comes at an even larger cost, and that being poor education structure. I saw that though the kids were in 5th class they did not know the basic spellings. English was limited to the alphabets and a word from each alphabet. They were not even remotely aware of the meanings of those words.
We needed some guidance or direction to ensure that we were following right strategies to teach these children. Initially Vivek and I went to various NGOs to get an overview. We did not want to associate it with corporate organizations or NGOs. We gradually spread the word amongst our friends and colleagues and got some more volunteers. We also maintained a log book for what was taught in the previous classes and an attendance sheet as well. Kids were very excited about having someone come to teach them and that too for free. Their parents could not provide for education fees and other miscellaneous expenses and so most of them went to BMC schools. We contributed from our pockets for books and stationary. For us it was hardly any amount while for them it made a world of a difference! We got personally attached to the kids. To break the ice between the ones who were not very comfortable we started playing games with them on alternate weekends or gave them drawing exercises which they looked forward to and also distributed chocolates to all the children who did their homework right. They use to talk their hearts out, discuss about their family situations, their aspirations, their queries regarding the outer world, how technology works, how my cell phone operated etc. On Diwali they gave me a hand made card which I would treasure for Lifetime. It gave great pleasure to hear from their parents how they waited for the classes and how they use to talk about us at home. We were the hopes for their future. A bond had started to build.
But the volunteers were not consistent due to which the class strength also dwindled. Vivek was handling it single-handedly at one point. I tried to manage it as much as I could. Then I had to leave for onsite for 5 months, after which I was hardly a regular. By then Rahul had taken over a great deal. It was not until Vivek had to leave for onsite too and Varun happened to take interests in Borivali classes as he moved to a near by location, that I realized what I had been missing all the while. The joy which I got when the kids greeted me, the smile on their faces when I marked their books with ‘very good’s, the competition in their eyes to prove themselves better than the others, the experiences they shared, the innocent questions their minds were filled with! How I was missing it all as I got busy with my other silly weekend activities like watching movies, lazing around at home, meeting friends et al. Not that I did not enjoy all of them, but to take out four hours from entire week wasn’t a big deal! Moreover the satisfaction which I got was tremendous.

Also when I went back to these classes I realized most of the kids remembered me very well. They were happy to see me back. I shared some of my onsite experiences with them, about how the aero plane formalities work, how is USA different from India in terms of traffic rules, what is Internet all about. I realized that to explain any of these to them was so difficult where as these have become an integral part of our lives. I am happy to be back with these little angels. Amongst them some of them are really very sharp and have a tremendous grasping power. There is a 7yr old boy, Ajay who comes regularly and knows quite a lot given the fact that he did not ever attend school. His parents once sent him to school for 20 days or so but he quit saying that BMC schools do not teach and he would rather prefer studying on his own. When we talked to his parents, we realized they were short of money and did not really realize the potential which their child had. After few talks with Ajay’s mom and dad, we convinced them to admit him to school ASAP. We went to enquire about this schools and made them realized how important his education was. As of now they have agreed to send him to school this year. Hope that a bright future of a talented child is not wasted due to lack of facilities or awareness.

Apart from that I have started taking classes of some of these children on weekdays too. When I asked them about their school timings, I was surprised that the ones who came back from school at 1pm were eager to come to classes at 2pm. I now teach them everyday from 2pm to 3pm whenever I can manage from my office. It gives a lot of satisfaction to start the day with receiving genuine smiles of gratitude and the feeling of doing something beyond your coding. I still am thankful that I joined Dream India which made me realize my own dream in-turn.

Off late an official website of Dream India is formed, we now have a yahoo group which has made it easier to communicate and keep everyone in a single loop. There was a media coverage few weeks back and was telecast on CNBC. We have a community on Orkut, a social networking site, which gives the update about various activities in different cities of India. The ideas are shared across various locations to make this effort a better one at each place.

No contribution is ever less or negligible. As we all agree, even the smallest step counts in our journey to achieve something in life! We have already started off with our journey and we know we have a long way to tread together.

It’s this devotion towards the work and the purpose, the patriotism towards India and the passion to make a difference, which would help us bring smile on all the faces that are deprived of it.

I would like to quote a few lines of my favorite article by Rudyard Kipling,

‘..If you can make one heap of all your winnings
and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
and lose, and start again at your beginnings
and never breathe a word about your loss;
if you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
to serve your turn long after they are gone,
and so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"..’

I am sure we all would hold on and pursue our dreams till the end.

Jai Hind!

www.dreamindia2020.org

Invitation from DI

Hi Friend,
This mail comes across to ask for your support/participation in the venture that we have started as part of Dream India team in Borivili. Before I brief you about the same, I would like to state that it’s not the sustained commitment that we are asking for and we are not binding anyone to this task. We don’t expect or would not force you to make it a routine. Its completely based on whatever you can readily, and of your own will do, in order to extend your hand in making this an ongoing success. We are the delighted few who can make a difference to the not-so-fortunate people around us and I would like us to together start on this journey and light the darker lanes.
It has now been a month since we started the class to teach a group of underprivileged children living in Kulupwadi, Borivali (E). Here we are not talking about slum area kids. But it consists more of children who already go to nearby schools but still are far behind today’s world in terms of English, the happenings around, and most importantly, the required self confidence. We are trying to give them a guiding light towards their future and to keep their zest for learning alive. The children are of the age group 5-15 years and currently the number of children enrolled for the class is approximately 50. After the initial few classes we have now divided them into five groups as per their skills and understanding capabilities. Currently the class syllabus consists of teaching the alphabets, day-to-day words in English, conversation skills and basic grammar.
If you have read this far, I presume you would like to give it a chance and be of help in this movement.
Generally we have drawing classes and fun games on Sunday and the children enjoy these a lot. We too have a great time with them. I am attaching a snap of the same . Currently the facilitators who have enrolled in these classes range from people who do not know hindi, who have never aspired to become teachers nor had prior experiences. What they had was a hope to make a difference! They all believed in the fact ...
"Whoever comes into this world , should leave it a shade better than what he/she got!"
What we suggest is that you come and visit the classes first on a trial basis and then decide for yourself. The following are the timings for this weekend.
Classes are scheduled on Saturday, 4th June 2005 and Sunday, 5th June.
Class timing:
Morning: Saturday & Sunday 1000 hrs-1200hrs (4th & 5th June 2005)
Evening Saturday & Sunday 1700hrs-1900hrs. (4th & 5th June 2005)
Let me know if you are interested to be the facilitator for these classes, by Thursday, 2nd June, EOD.
If it is not possible for you to make it to this session, you can give it a try for any other, but keep me informed by Thursday. This is more of a fun activity and about being between the innocent souls who yearn to learn and be a part of the world we belong to.
This is just the proverbial small step in what is a long arduous journey towards realizing our goal. But we sure hope we get the encouragement from your side in this venture. ..