University Awareness Drive 2009

The University Awareness Drive in Delhi University started this Friday on 28th August.

The first college chosen for the awareness drive was Kirorimal College of North Campus. Srishti, our fellow volunteer who is also the President of Film Society in Kirorimal helped us in the screening of the movie.

To spread awareness about AID and Aashayein and raise funds for the children, we had kept a stall to sell hand painted shirts worth 200/- each. Along with that we were also giving pamphlets of AID and Aashayein to spread awareness and bring in more volunteers.

AID Delhi screened the latest Aashayein video at the movie screening organized by PRAVAH, so that people get a glimpse of Aashayein. After that, Dr. Prachi gave a brief introduction about Aashayein and it's future aims.

On the whole, we got a few people who were quite interested to volunteer and have already followed up.

The awareness drive in Kirorimal College is going to be followed by another drive in Indraprastha College for Women.

What can you do? How can you volunteer ? How can you help ?

What can you do? How can you volunteer ? How can you help ?

At AID we believe that everyone counts. We believe that everyone of us has something to offer to the society and also the capability to be an agent of long-lasting positive change.

As Gandhiji said "What you do may seem insignificant, but it is important that you do it". So, even while we may think that we have just about 10 minutes a day,you can make a difference to lives of many people with what you do in those fewminutes.

Based on your skills, interest and time available to you, you may decide to volunteer in one or more of the following ongoing activities. This list is just a sample and definitely non-comprehensive. Please contact us at to know more about these volunteer opportunities and also to know about what other volunteer opportunities exist within AID Delhi and also with AID Worldwide.


Education

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Teach Underpriviliged Children - AID Delhi and its partners hold teaching classes in different parts of NCR. So, if you think that you love children and want to work in non-formal teaching environment with them, we invite you to join us there.
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Translate - If you know more than one Indian language, then you can translate short children stories, health pamphlets, concept cards etc. from one language to another. This will help create awareness amongst people who we at AID Delhi are unable to reach because of language barriers.
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Digital Unify Programme - Since you are reading this on a website, you are already computer literate. Digital Divide bodes huge inequities in the future. Through digital unify programme we reach out to communities and train members of the community on how to use computers and then internet. If you think that you can share your skills - jump in :)
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Initiate an education project in a nearby slum


Networking and Marketing

* Help us in putting up AID stalls in your college, company, society, factory, function.
* Help us in fund raising activities
* Networking with various like-minded organizations.


Spread Awareness

* Spreading awareness about women rights
* About issues of national interest like ILR, energy and water conservation
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Social Justice Campaigns - Being the capital city of the country, Delhi offers the wonderful opportunity of participatory governance. If you are interested in fighting against social injustice that is prevalent in almost all spheres of life, then we have lots of opportunities for you.


Presentations/IT Support/outreach

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Website Updates - If you have been surfing long enough, you already know that updated websites are a pleasure to visit. So, help us in the challenge of keeping this website interesting and exciting to visit over and over again.
* Make teaser campaigns, posters, presentations for AID Delhi.


Buy or donate

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Tshirts, diaries, calendars - Buy them and support our work.
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Books - After academic year is over please collect books from your friends or relatives.These will be distributed to poor children.
* Clothes - Give your old clothes (in good condition). This is on a need-cum basis.
* Buy handicraft items, spices made by our partner NGO - Parichay (check projects section).
* Join our meal a month program.
* Donate your PC/Laptop and other computer accessories in working condition.
* Donate digicams so that our volunteers can take pictures of our work on a regular basis.


Miscellenous

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Write - Pen is mightier than a sword. AID works at the grassroots in different parts of India. We partner with hundreds of initiatives doing great work. They were almost always started by someone like you and me. Write about them and spread the word so that we spark off many more minds and similar initiatives.
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Read Newspaper - We know that you must be reading it already. Just keep a pencil and paper handy and also record the coverage given to different topics in your daily newspaper.
* Spread the word about AID - There might be some of your friends waiting for an opportunity. Why not you show them a way. Spread the word about the activities of AID.
* Join and invite your friends to join AID Delhi fan page on facebook.
* Join and invite your friends to join AID Delhi/Gurgaon/Noida communities on orkut
* If possible please share AID related events posted on AID Delhi fan page @ facebook onto your personal profile and request your friends to do so from time to time.
* Set your gtalk/yahoo/facebook/orkut status messages to socially relevant news links or AID Delhi website link
* Use orkut promote feature to spread the word about AID. Look for AID videos and click 'spread'.
* Share AID Delhi news items, pictures, videos etc. on your facebook/orkut profiles.
* Use AID Delhi website URL or AID video/article URLs as your email footer/signature.
* Email our newsletters/website articles to your friends.
* Publicize our work through your blogs/websites.
* A picture is worth a thousand words. Click photos and share with people far and wide.
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Travel - Travel to different AID projects. Meet like-minded people. Critically evaluate projects. Give suggestions for future growth and feedback for improvement.
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Talk - Have you ever felt strongly about an issue. Don't you want to talk about it? Talk about it to us. Your views will enrich ours and our inputs may add perspective to yours - a win-win relationship :)

Meal a Month

Please write to prachiaggarwal85@gmail.com for donating your Meal a Month.

My Experience at Aashayein

It is going to be close to 2 years that I am associated with Aashayien & the journey from day one to the present times has been very exciting and overwhelming. To be honest, words fell short when I thought of summarizing my experience with Aashayien.
After being a part of this project for so long I have realized that if anyone wants to know the correct meaning of the word ‘Aashayien’ then he/she must come and meet our kids. Because they have to overcome so many obstacles in order to get their share of things and the driving force for them is hope or aasha to become what they want to.
Hence, all our kids stand as a source of inspiration for me. Also here I met some outstanding persons who seriously want to bring some changes in our society and moreover without any self interest. Dedicated, committed, courageous etc are certain common characteristics which binds all the volunteers of Aashayien together.
There is a wonderful quote which says “Hope is a good thing, may be the best of things and good things never die”. That is project Aashayien all about.

Swastik Kulkarni

Aashayein's first dance class

This Saturday Aashayein's first official dance class was held. They are being taught Jazz, an Afro-American dance form which originated in the late 1800s and includes a wide range of dance forms under it. The current form being taught to the children is FUNK JAZZ.

The children are surprisingly enthusiastic and serious about learning a new dance form eventhough it is western in origin. They showed a remarkable talent for grasping the steps easily and performing them with grace and spunk.

The classes will be conducted every Saturday for one hour and let's hope that the children enjoy the classes and learn how much dance has to offer.

Aashayein video

Dr. Prachi, the ray of sunshine for Aashayein

Our very own Prachi was covered with her story of Aashayein by DAINIK JAGRAN for her contribution to Aashayein and the way she made things possible when all was bleak.

When Prachi joined the project, things were rather bleak and the project itself had reached a dead end. She was the one to take over and make things possible and because of her dedication and hard work, today Aashayein finally has a classroom for the children.

When volunteer crunch was a serious obstacle in our path, she took up the initiative of organising regular volunteer meets. She also organised a Dental Camp for the children which was followed by organising a dance workshop for them.

So a very special thanks goes to Dr. Prachi Aggarwal who has been the change she wanted to see.

Direct link to the artice: http://www.jagrancityplus.com/storydetail.aspx?articeid=15651&editionid=100&catgid=6&cityid=19

INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS 2009

First of all, Happy Independence Day my dear friends.

The schedule of the day was to be in this order-

1) Flag Hoisting
2) National Anthem
3) Independence day speech by Manoj
4) Song performance by the kids
5) Picture identification competition
6) Rapid fire question round
7) Art competition for the kids (Time limit- 1hr.)
8) Refreshment distribution
9) Kite distribution

The Celebration was attended by the following volunteers-
1) Manoj
2) Swastik
3) Neelu
4) Harpreet
5) Srishti
6) Nikita
7) Vipra
8) Anandita
9) Deboshree
10) Amit


Now I come to the detailed description of what a day we had. I have to say that this was the best Independence day celebration of my life.


The morning greeted us with pouring rain but that wasn't enough to dampen our spirits. By the time we reached Timarpur at 9:35, the heavens were in full action. All of us somehow reached the room and started the decoration work. Our dear children helped us ofcourse. By 10:40, the room really looked lovely after an hour's labour.

At 11:00 am,when all the children were settled, the programme was started with flag hoisting accompanied by the National Anthem. This was followed by a speech from Manoj on Independence day. Manoj, the leader of the gang, held the quiz and the picture identification round amidst a lot of laughter and cheerful participation by the kids. The children who gave the maximum answers were to be awarded later.ext came a song and dance performance by the children (I tell you, they really know how to dance!).

Next came the drawing competition (12:00 PM), in which the children were divided into senior and junior groups. The senior batch was given water colours to paint with while the smaller children were given crayons. It was interesting to see their imagination in action. Our dear photographer, Swastik did his best to make sure that every moment was captured.


By 1:00 PM the competition was over and works of our little artists were collected.

Since our children were so enthusiastic, they once again sung a song for all of us.


Next came the prize distribution for the quiz and the drawing competition. The judges were from the volunteers. One of them Srishti is also the President of Film and Photography in Kirorimal College.


For the quiz and picture identification round, the children who got the prizes were-
1) Savitri
2) Sandeep
3) Pinky
4) Seeta
5) Chancy
6) Shikha
7) Pankaj
8) Abhishek
9) Rehan
10) Amir Khan


The children who won prizes in the drawing competition were-

Junior Group
Manu- 1st prize
Abhishek- 2nd prize
Chandni- 3rd prize


Senior Group-
1) Pooja- 1st prize
2) Pinky- 2nd prize
3) A special prize was given to Rehan for his creativity.


After a round of applause for the these children, the food packets were distributed among them which was followed by distribution of kites. Around 2:00 PM, the celebration came to an end amidst loud cheers of Jai Hind!


All in all it was a wonderful day. The volunteers had a great time with the children. A special thanks goes to Swastik and Manoj without whom the whole celebration would have lacked laughter and joy.

Independence Day Celebrations 2009 Schedule

Schedule of activities :


1. Welcome and Flag Hoisting

2. An introductory speech

3. Quiz competition related to Independance Day

4. A song performance by Aashayein Kids

5. Painting Competition

6. Skit and Song performance by Volunteers

7. Picture Recognition Competition

8. Prize Distribution

9. Refreshments distribution

10. Kite flying

Venue : Mcd Godown, Timarpur area, Near Delhi University

Timings : 11am to 2 pm

Day : 15th August 2009

Independence Day Celebrations : Udaan (Sit N Draw contest)

Ongoing and planned Activities for the year 2009-10

1. Educational

Number of Children	Classes	Activities
25-30	Monday - Friday	Non formal education by a trained teacher. Basic subjects like English, Hindi, Maths will be taught.
	Sunday	Educational classes in a fun way. Gk, Educational movies etc.

Volunteer activities:

• Regular tracking of the progress made by the children. Assesment of kids based on various parameters like displine, hyginene, attendance
• Distribution of stationary as and when required
• Exams every 3 months
• QSEP (quality school education program)

2. Skill Building

• Art and craft classes
• Dance and music classes
• Theatre
• Alternately on Every saturday for 2 hours by the volunteers.

3. Celebration and Picnics

• Independance day celebration - 15th August 2009
  
• Immunization week - Octover 2009
• Diwali celebrations - October 2009
• Christmas celebrations - 25th December 2009
• Republic Day celebration - 26th January 2010
• Picnic in September 2009 to science museum
• Picnic in Febuary 2010
• Screening of educational movie will be done every 2 months.

4. Health and Nutrition

• Immunization week October 2009
• Health Camp November 2009
• 2nd Dental Camp March 2010

Nutrional Food to be distributed amongst kids during Classes.

5. Community Outreach

• Parents Volunteer meet once a month.
• Involving parents in various celebrations.
• University Awareness program - September 2009

6. Fund Raising

• Meal a Month
• Selling printed tshirts during awareness camps
• Stalls during Diwali, Christmas.