Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Monday, November 16, 2009
Updates- September and October
Month of September and October had been really eventful and full of bustling activities. Some of the major developments were:
1. Initiation of regular academic classes for kids. A qualified teacher has been appointed who takes classes from Monday to Friday.
2. A Core Team of Aashayein has been set up responsible for taking major decisions in the project. Volunteers to be recruited in this team were selected based on their availability and commitment.
The core team comprises of:
I) Project coordinator & account manager: Prachi Aggarwal
II) Volunteer coordinator: Prachi&Swastik
III) Event coordinator: Anandita
IV) Publication coordinator: Zulaikha
V) Skill building session coordinator: Deboshree & Vipra
3. Three volunteers have been appointed to keep a track of the kid's progress as well as of the teacher.
4. Skill building classes have been going on with great fervor and would be continued in a similar manner. Another step is the introduction of Music and Art classes.
5. English classes have been started every Sunday to improve the reading and writing skills of children. Along with that a session of GK is being done regularly.
6. Volunteer meet has been happening regularly at second Sunday of every month along with the collection of Meal a Month.
7. Self evaluation and Introspection of the volunteers through the means of a questionnaire with the intentions to improve the quality of work and to increase their contribution to the project.
Some major events that happened in last 2 months were:
University Awareness Drive:
-Light to lighten-
http://picasaweb.google.com/aid.delhi/UniversityAwarenessDrive2009#
Our aim was to create awareness among the students about the kind of work we at AID Aashayein are involved in and various other pertinent social issues.
The Awareness drive was initiated in Kirori Mal College where the screening of AID Aashayein movie was followed by a brief talk about the project. To spread awareness about AID and Aashayein, raise funds for the children, a stall was put up to sell hand painted shirts worth 200/- each. Along with that we also distributed pamphlets of AID and Aashayein among the interested students.
This was followed by an awareness drive in Indraprastha College for Women which took place on 5th of September. While the movie Poison on the Platter based on Genetically Modified Foods was screened in the Seminar Room of the college by the Women's Development Centre, the Aashayein stall was put up alongside. Mr.Selva Ganapathy gave a talk on GM foods and its potential threats to us and why it should be avoided. This was followed by the screening of the Aashayein video after which Anandita and Deboshree gave a brief introduction of Aashayein, its present activities and its future aims to all the students present.
As a part of fund raising, T-shirts with the AID logo and the slogan of BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD were sold in various colours (blue,red and white) along with hand made bags. Fortunately, our initiative was met with a lot of enthusiasm by the college students who poured in with names to volunteer.
Diwali stall in Corporates
-Another successful venture of Aashayein-
http://www.facebook.com/delhi.aidindia#/album.php?aid=155443&id=107287737145
To create awareness and raise funds for Aashayein, a novel idea of putting up Diwali stalls was initiated. This was done in collaboration with Jagriti. The hard work put in by the volunteers to make beautiful diyas and candles along with chocolates and envelopes was met by an enthusiastic response.
The employees at ST Microelectronics and Evalueserve were astonished by the plethora of multi-coloured items on display at our Diwali stalls. The Diwali stall catering to the employees of the company was set up by Prachi, Deboshree, Zulaikha, Swastik, and Anchit. It was a grand success for the team, which was overwhelmed by the response for their products. With a theme of Diwali essentials, the Aashayein stall was crowded with impressed buyers who bought things in bulk.
Whilst the employees of the corporate left with exciting artefacts to flaunt this Diwali, the team of Aashayein and Jaagriti walked back with smiles and a sense of satisfaction for bringing the cause closer to its vision
Diwali celebrations at Aashayein
-Fun and frolic all the way-
http://www.facebook.com/delhi.aidindia#/album.php?aid=156136&id=107287737145
http://www.facebook.com/delhi.aidindia#/album.php?aid=156327&id=107287737145
The Diwali celebrations at Aashayein encompassed two days.The main theme of the programme was having a great time with the kids.
On Saturday,10th August,2009:The children sang the song-"Itni shakti hume dena" followed by various dance performances. They performed various dance styles which ranged from GIDDA to JAZZ to BOLLYWOOD and it was plain to see that they were having a wonderful time. After a little more of dancing with the children, snacks were distributed amongst them after which we called it a day.
Volunteers Present:
Prachi, Vipra, Harpreet, Srishti, Nikita, Deboshree, Renuka, Niharika, Zulaikha, Anandita
Diwali festivities are never complete without a few colors. Thus the celebrations continued on Sunday 11th August,2009 and the kids were in joyous mood to compete for the Rangoli competition.
Kids grouped themselves in pairs and started making the drawings with chalks and filling beautiful colors in them. With the rangoli designs so vibrant and volunteers decided to declare all of them as winners. Thus Aashayein team celebrated Diwali in a style!!! Volunteers present: Vipra, Mohit, Tavleen, Anisha, Prachi
Team Aashayein
New volunteers who joined us this month: Mohit, Renuka didi, Anisha, Tavleen, Niharika
Regular Volunteers: Srishti, Nikita, Deboshree, Vipra, Harpreet, Neelu, Swastik, Prachi, Anandita
To know more and receive regular updates about Aashayein:
Picasa:http://picasaweb.google.com/aid.delhi
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dUaGt9EnEg&feature=player_embedded
For Volunteering opportunities, please contact prachiaggarwal85@gmail.com
Sunday, November 15, 2009
When the kids of Aashayein paid a visit to outer space
“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open”. This famous quote by our beloved Jawahar Lal Nehru, was brought to realisation at AID, when the ever enthusiastic kids of Aashaiyen and Jaagriti, were taken to the Nehru Planetarium, on the 8th of November, 2009.
The journey began early in the morning on a Sunday, when the kids, gleaming with radiance and filled with excitement boarded the bus en route to the planetarium. The entire journey echoed with cheery voices and a small antakshri session between the kids and the volunteers. Getting off at the Teenmurti house, the kids were assembled and taken in. All went mum when we entered the planetarium. While we lay back on the flexible seats, the dome shaped roof, projected a beautiful display of the solar system, wooing our kids and scaring some. A Well informative session of our solar system followed, projecting different planets and their surrounding environment with excellent visualisations.
Our young astronauts further quenched their curiosity by visiting the museum, where different systems existing outside earth surface were explained in detail, with model replicas and pictures. An understanding of the basic concepts of science was considered crucial for children by Nehru, and his endeavour proved to be a success amongst the kids of Aasheyin and Jaagriti.
The kids were then given refreshments consisting of tasty patties, samosa’s, chips and cake. A small gaming session followed where a boy’s v/s girl’s team was made to play, what is popularly known as, ‘Dog in the bone’. The entire atmosphere was tense, as the girls and boys cheered and sneered at each other. In the end, the boys tasted victory! Next, was a fun game of ‘Passing the parcel’, where kids caught with the parcel were made to sing and dance.
The whole day left the entire team tired and exhausted but with a sense of achievement, as the kids walked back to board the bus, screaming for more!
Kudos to the team of Aashayein and Jaagriti , namely, Prachi, Zulaikha, Vipra, Deboshree, Anandita, Pinky, Nikita, Srishti, Navya, Vandita, Ritu, Anchit, Ankit, Mohit, Pallavi, Saurabh, Vivek, Chandan for making this day another memorable addition to the list of initiatives working towards the cause.
Zulaikha Rahman
Monday, November 9, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
As the spirit of Diwali celebrations continue in Aashayein and Jaagriti
A splendid event held by Aashayein and Jaagriti in promoting awareness and bringing people closer to its cause was held at Evaluserve, Gurgaon on 12th October, 2009. A Diwali stall catering to the employees of the company was set up by Prachi, Deboshree, Zulaikha, Swastik, and Anchit. It was a grand success for the team, which was overwhelmed by the response for their products. With a theme of Diwali essentials, the Aashayein stall was crowded with impressed buyers who bought things in bulk.
Our best seller for the day was a Rs.150 worth Pooja thali with Ganesh ji and Lakshmi ji engraved with poise on the top and a round of small diya’s encircling the rest of the thali. Our new diya’s with carvings of a Ganesh, swans, and swastiks and embedded with mirrors and stones were marked by elegance. It was an aura of a carnival with potpourri’s, home-made chocolates, gift packs, homemade candles and fancy shagun envelopes decorating the entire counter.
Regards
Zulaikha
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Rangoli Making Competition
Diwali festivities are never complete without a few colors. Thus the celebrations continued on Sunday and kids were in joyous mood to compete for the Rangoli competition.
Kids grouped themselves in pairs and started making the drawings with chalks and filling beautiful colors in them
Participants- Pooja, Sarawati, Pinki, Shikha, Ekta, Maya, Kalpana, Uma, Pinki, Shikha and surprisingly 2 boys, Rehan and Abhishek.
Volunteers present: Vipra, Mohit, Tavleen, Anisha, Prachi
Volunteers decided to declare all of them as winners. Thus Aashayein team celebrated Diwali in a style!!!
