Our Christmas Visit

“Coming together is the beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success”——Henry Ford.

Place 1: Missionaries of Charity.

Date: 25th December 2005

Team Pankhudi: Adept (Praveen),KK (Klueless), Sumanth, Ramesh,Shilpa, Pranathi, Soumya, Bindu, Shailaja, Sandeep.

We the team Pankhudi , reached Missionary Charity by 9:30 am today. We were welcomed into the portals by parrots with red beaks……haan many cute little kids who had their lip-stick session 5 min back. We found children of all age groups here, from kids below 1 year to 15 years. They are altogether 55 in number. They were of all kinds but, basically orphans. Some were mentally retarded ,physically defected and even normal kids as well.The kids are being sent to 3 schools,one St.Andrew’s and two other telugu medium schools.We greeted Merry Christmas and distributed chocolates. Music was being played and 2-3 girls were dancing, adding color to The Missionary Charity on this auspicious Christmas Eve.

The children seemed to be mal-nourished and the orphanage conditions are unhygienic. Now the tragic stories…………..

A 1 ½ year old kid Anish was laying on the bed.The sad part of it is this Anish, has some problem with the spinal chord and has to permanently lay on the bed, can’t sit, stand or play around like other kids. He is’nt having proper senses and even defected eyes.We tried feeding him with bits of chocolate but all went in vain as we were told later that he is given only horlics everyday .God!!! How is he surviving only on horlics in that gloomy dark room on a tiny bed??? My friend Soumya brought him out and we could a little smiling Anish. He was realizing that he’s been brought out.

A kid was sitting on the floor to one corner of the door, with all his fingers in his mouth …I noticed that he was sitting in the same posture for the 2 hrs that we’ve been there.He is utterly mal-nutritioned ,seemed to be a bag of bones. Even he seemed to be mentally retarded. The happy part was he ate the chocolate we gave him when feeded by one of his friend there at the orphanage.

The most horrible part was, a girl child of the age of 6-7 years with some skin allergy and having wounds bleeding on her face. I couldn’t just stand that but geared up myself saying “looking at her seems so awkward to me, how is that girl surviving with such an allergy?”Anyway when working for a social cause we should have the mettle to bear anything and everything. Its been told that she is been brought from a dustbin in a place, Guntoor and she has that skin allergy by birth. But, I feel if attended by doctors properly she would have been alright by now. One kid was mentally retarded. He was craving for touch. So, we fondled him.

These kids will be given breakfast (idli, dosa etc.) and lunch. We’ve seen the orphanage kitchen. It seemed very insalubrious. Some kids of 1-2 years age group were just playing around. Today being Christmas I think they are well-dressed. Two other visitors came and distributed apples and books. There are not many nurses but, orphans of the agegroup of 12-15 years are taking care of small kids. Unlike St.Theresa’s kids these kids seemed ignorant and illiterate.They were not asking us when we’ll come next. On the whole I can say they are happy with the chocolates that we gave them.

Chat with the sister……….

They don’t Allow adoption and people keep coming on special occasions and sponsor lunch or dinner for kids.They contribute soaps, hair oils etc. The doctors visit this place as if on government duty. We couldn’t leave poor Anish out there…….Overall very bad state.

Our voices…….

How can we help them? How do we improve the conditions there? Are theseconditions indomitable??? What can we contribute there?
Thanks to holy Mother Teresa for providing asylum to such poor babies.We need to visit that place once again .

Place 2: St.Teresa’s Tender Loving Care

Team Pankhudi : Same team members.

To keep up with the word we have given to St.Teresa’s kids we visited that place around 12 am.The children there entertained us and we reciprocated as well.We had the Christmas cake and then departed,saying “Bye Bye Doctors, Bye Bye Doctors,Just now”:)

Cheers…
Team Hyderabad

Visit to Subhodaya School

Date : 9th December `06

Place: Vidyarthi Subhodaya School,Yellareddy Guda,Ameerpet. Time: 10:45 am.

Team Pankhudi : Surya, Sunil, Abhishek, Jyotsna, Padma, Krishna & Preetam.

We gathered at the school by 10:45 am. We had a caring welcome from the kids and we could clearly see the excitement by every child’s expression. We started the day by a customary interactive introduction session and despite the fact that most of the kids were from the local slum, the surprising element was they were able to comprehend and reciprocate in decent English. Students were divided into four groups explicitly- Red, Blue, Yellow and Green.

We saw healthy competition among them when we carried out events like Singing, Dancing and Pictionary during the earlier part of the day. We had good number of kids turning up by taking the initiative to demonstrate their flair with interest. The lunch break was at 12:15 and kids from 1st std. to 4th left homes while the others stayed back. We guys finished our brunch around 1:15 and resumed the sitting at 1:30. During the later part of the day, we conducted Quiz among the high school students for which the response was not up to the mark and we personally felt that, given proper guidance along with sufficient resources they would shine well. After the quiz we conducted Antakshari and Role-plays.

The response for Role-plays was very captivating and every guy out there enjoyed it. Couple of students also enacted like their teachers which was quite interesting. End of the day, we handed over the education material to the Library and informed the students to collect it whenever required. The students thanked and expressed their gratitude. We promised the students a very soon come back and our best efforts to cater with all the basic requests.

The major requirements what the school needs is good Teaching faculty and Infrastructure. Even with very low resources, students were very enthusiastic and bright. Given proper supplies and guidance, we are sure even they can make a difference.
And with our dedication and their cooperation, we are sure to see the School achieve much better standards in the course of our Association.

Cheers…
~Pankhudi Team Hyderabad

Weekend Visits to Govt. School, N.B.T. Nagar

Date: 4th November 2006

Place: N.B.T Nagar Government School, Banjara Hills.

Time : 10: 30 am

Team Pankhudi : Surya, Kranthi, Mrs.Montero (Pattu), Ruchira, Sunil.



We had gone to the School to finalise the number of kids who are going to take part in the Drawing Competitions on 5th, i.e. the next day. The headmistress there had already selected 8 from among the kids, who were good at drawing.

Initially, we had some interaction with all the kids regarding their performance in the previous exams. As we could see, the kids were faring well, raising the school’s grade from C+ to B this year. We felt happy for the development and applauded the children.
Today, We tried teaching those kids for the first time. The response was really good as the children were very co-operative and excited seeing us teach, out of their routine. Me and Sunil taught Mathematics to class 1. One problem we faced was that we weren’t able to de-code the Telugu technical terms in their text books, but managed with the help of teachers there. We felt it would be really good if we can take some classes during weekends .Some of the teachers there were not even aware of the basics of math. Probably, we might include teaching in our Schedule from next month.

Later, we sent a formal request to the parents of all those 8 kids, whom we were taking for the competition. It was necessary to have a letter of consent from their parents. We got positive responses from all of them, and in fact, some came to the school personally and thanked us for it. Once done with it, we asked those kids to practice some drawing. We gave them some sheets and asked them to draw anything they felt like. While these kids were busy doing this, Mrs. Pattu was busy telling stories to all the other kids. They were totally immersed in the stories; some even related to themselves and enacted. Next we engaged them in some games. I apologise for not knowing the name of the game as it is in some local terminology . All the kids enjoyed the session thoroughly and so did we. With the close of the game, we wound up our day and asked the respected kids taking part in the competition to assemble the next day at 7 30 am.

Sunday 5th November

We assembled at the school by 7 30 am. Vasanth and Jyotsna had joined us today. Also, one of their teachers took interest in coming along with us. We waited for all the kids to come. At 8, when everyone was there, we started off to the Venue of the competition- B.M.Birla Science Centre.

It was a huge turnout for the competition. There were around 250 kids from various schools taking part. We were keen on the participation of these kids, than actually winning prizes. We wanted to develop an exposure in them first. The kids enjoyed the outing, as they are not used to such trips. They scanned the whole of the surroundings and made themselves comfortable moving around there.

The competition started at 9 am and was of one hour. As the kids went inside, we sat outside and had some discussions about our activities and functioning. Thanks to the kids, we got time to do this physically, after many days of postponement .

At 10 am, the competition was over and the kids came zooming out of the halls. They were all to excited with their performance and each of them were claiming a first prize for themselves . Some were too modest in saying they were happy with the Pencil Boxes and Crayon Sets, which they got as gifts and those were no less than Prizes. We had then got them some tiffin, and they recharged themselves for the next lap. It was actually a sudden plan that we take those kids to the Planetarium, for some knowledge and thrill about our Universe. As there was a show scheduled for then, we booked tickets for all those kids and took them in. There was mixed gossip from the kids during the show and even after about it. Some were fascinated by it and for some it was just another fun activity.

It was 12 30 pm when the show ended. As we promised their parents to get them back by lunch, we had no other choice than to call it a day and drop them back homes. With all the fun and excitement, the kids were looking forward to share all that with their teachers and friends, in school the next day. I am sure the other kids will envy these guys . They thanked us in their trademark style and bid adieu after we left them at their place.
With two days of solid fun and satisfaction, we were very happy that the kids had enjoyed it thoroughly. Hoping to see them enjoy the children’s day activity much more……


Cheers…
~Pankhudi Team Hyderabad

Diwali at Krushi Homes

Date : 21st October 2006.

Place : Krushi Homes, Medchal.

Team Pankhudi : Kranthi, Harini, Jyotsna, Vasanth, Lakshman,Prabhakar and Me.

The Festival of Lights this year was Glowing Brilliant in Hyderabad. Team Hyderabad had Spent its Diwali with the kids at Krushi Homes. It was a Bright and Sunny start of the day while Team Hyderabad ventured on the Long Drive to Krushi Homes. It being a Festival, not many could make it there. But it was not the Quantity, but the Quality that really matters. With the wishes of all the other team members, seven of us had made it. We could reach the Place at around 9 am, by when the kids had just finished their Breakfast. Vasanth had the Privilege; rather the kids were privileged to have their Breakfast with Vasanth. He reached a bit early as he was on his Yamaha R1 . Since they were energised with the Breakfast, they were too Jubiliant for our first session. Now that we share a very good Rapport with the kids there, we really didnt need any Ice-Breaking session.

We had taken some Diyas with us. So we gave one to each and asked them to light them, to mark the Begining of the Festival. They did so, and as u can see in the album, they were too creative and made different shapes, out of which one or two are seen in the Album. We asked all of them to sit with their Diyas for some pics. A they were stable and Quite (which is rarely seen), We started telling them about the Festival, its Resemblance and Significance in today’s lives. The kids, i think, found it Boring at first, but then they were Interested when I actually told them the Whole story which was the Reason for celebration. They were eager to share the things they knew. And we found some really great Questions like “If Krishna was residing in India, why cant we see their houses now” etc. etc. Vasanth very patiently answered all of them.

They then were eager for their usual Dance session. (Now that Vasanth has joined Shamak’s classes, we Hope we have another Puneet with us [:D] ). While they were on the Dance session, we Distributed sweets to all the Kids and Faculty. We were actually lucky to meet the Management Members who had just dropped in to wish the Children and Brought along some sweets and Crackers as well. We had an oppurtunity to talk to the Management and we shared our Learning Experiences with them. The kids were too close to the Management, they couldnt resist dancing along with the Kids. As we knew the Dance would go on and on and on, we thought we would move onto the Most Awaited and Interesting part : The Cracker Bonanza.

We gave them our gift-wrapped kit of all the Ammunition. (It was a tragic scene when the kids tore open the Wrapper in seconds, which i took some Half an hour to pack [:(] ).The Management also Joined them for sometime. As expected, the kids were more keen on the Bombs than any other items. We didnt want to restrict them, and hence had to put mine and Naval’s principles aside for them [:(] . The kids enjoyed this for Around, say, two hours. They wanted more and more of it. But we were Philosophical that everything is limited in this World [;)] .

After that, we had an Oppurtunity to talk to the Management there about our plans with them. They were too happy to listen to what we were planning and said we would always be welcome to conduct any program with them. Our Boss (Read- Kranthi) has discussed the possible timing for Conducting some Workshops at their Splendid Campus. They were ready for it and they gave us many Useful tips for Progress. As it was already noon, and we needed to have Attendance at Home as well, we started off around 12 30 pm. The kids thanked us for making it upon their request, and we too had a lot of fun with them. I take the side of the whole of Hyderabad Team to say that it was Great Fun and it was one of the Best Diwali we had. Thanks to the Kids……

Cheers..
~Pankhudi Team Hyderabad

Distribution at Govt. School, N.B.T. Nagar

Date : 16th September 2006
Place : Government School, N.B.T Nagar, Banjara Hills.

Team Pankhudi : Surya, Kranthi, Praveen, Gowtham, Sunil, Siddharth, Ramesh K, Ruchira and two of Praveen’s colleagues


On Saturday we have visited the Government school to distribute some Slates, Pencils and Erasers among the kids. The kids were waiting enthusiastically for us as we have told them prior that we shall be spending time with them on that day. As we couldn’t inform to all our volunteers well in advance, the Attendance was limited to 10 people. We were at the school by 10:30 am and the kids had just finished their Exam. As we went, we were Welcomed us with Reverberating voices of “Good Morning Sir” and “Good Morning Madam”…. The excitement of the Kids could be felt form their Tone itself. There were around 150 kids present there. But unfortunately, we had only 50 Slates with us. So we had to distribute them to those kids who didn’t have Slates. As we had some 100 Pencils and Erasers, we first distributed them among kids who didn’t get the Slate and followed to rest kids.


After distribution, we engaged in some Dialogue with the kids. We asked them to Sing Songs, repeat some Rhymes in Chorus and asked kids who could Draw and Paint to exhibit their talent the next time we come and win some Gifts . So we are sure of having some Masterpieces the next time we visit them. As always, Gautham had thrown some light on the Necessity of Education in today’s World in order Prosper in life. His speech was so appealing, that I am sure those kids grasped it. For some Lighter Moments, we asked them about their Favourite Film Stars.

They also danced to some songs of their Favourites. As it was time for Lunch, we had to Wind up our session for then.Later, we talked to the 6 kids, whom we got admitted into the school. They were Happy with their own progress. We also talked to their Elders who were equally satisfied. At the school, we tried finding if there are any Immediate Necessities and we felt they need some Chart Papers for Activity work and more importantly some Motivating Spirit, which we promised ourselves to fill them with. This school was no Exception from other places; we could cast our Spell on the kids and Teachers there and that they didn’t want to leave us so soon. They were happy and excited about the Prizes to be won for their Craft works.

Promising them our next visit as soon as possible, we made our way out among those Repeated Resonating “Good Afternoon, Bye and Thank you”s. We were happy with the outcome and are planning for some further Assistance to the school. Hoping and wishing to have the same Response form our Members for every visit. We are sure we can take ~Team Hyderabad to greater heights with our Efforts and Encouragement.

Cheers !!!~Pankhudi Team Hyderabad

Teacher’s Day Celebrations

Date : 05th September 2006
Place : Government School, N.B.T Nagar, Banjara Hills.

Team Pankhudi : Surya, Kranthi.

Today Team Hyderabad has visited the Govt. school in B’hills; in which we had joined 6 children from the local Slum. We had informed the Headmistress in advance coming today, to spend time with the Kids. They Welcomed us and the kids said they were looking forward to celebrate the day with all Extracurricular activities, Sans Studies . We promised to keep the Spirits Soaring High.

We were at the school, Sharp Half past Nine. The kids Assembled on time, as they were the sole in-charges of the School today . They welcomed us with a Bouquet which they had very skillfully arranged with the flowers from a local garden. Today the attendanc of kids was in full number. After all, it was their day.They gave us an Itinerary composed of Dances, Songs and more Songs . Also, the Six children (joined through ~Pankhudi) turned up very neat and trim. Although they were new, they took part in the Activities along with other kids. They Sang, Danced to many songs and gave their best possible Pose for the Pics .

Sitting with all those kids there, we felt Nostalgic about our school days. We had the Reminiscences of Teachers day celebrated in our schools with all the Hype and Hard sell. Even though that Infrastructure was missing, I can doubly surely say we had no less fun here. All that’s required was the Spirit and it was Abundant. As always in our visits, we found multi talented children even here. We were amazed by their update on the latest Entertainment buzz. But then we were equally depressed seeing the amenities they had in that very small so-called school. There were 230 kids in-toto and there was a single fan. There were not even chalks to write on the Boards. The Boards were in no good shape. They had worn out their finish long ago.

The kids didn’t have proper Notebooks to write in. More Importantly, to go by what the teachers said, they have not been receiving Salaries regularly and the Government has stopped sending supplies to the school some two years ago.

Considering all these Hitches, we assured the Headmistress that we would definitely do any help we can afford from our side. We can in fact supply them with basic Stationary like Chalks; Pencils, Erasers and Notebooks for the kids, some Chart papers to start some Creative Activity and some Slates if possible. They were also requesting for any number of Disposable Water Bottles for the kids to use , which we would otherwise trash in our households. They is also severe Water Shortage and they put forward a request for Water Container.

We were very disappointed with the quality of Clothes these kids were wearing. The headmistress said the kids would accept any help even with Clothing. So I thought we could help them with the clothes as well. And as we are now registered, we shall also accept Funds now on; and any help from anyone in that regard would be a Welcome Development.
Please try playing ur part as we are planning to Concentrate on this school and take it from Grade ‘C’ to Grade ‘A’ with regard to the Govt. Standards. Spending a Nominal share of our Time or Money on such Activities will never be too tough, Provided we assert the real intention to do so.

Come… Join… Together, WE can make the Difference!

Have a look at the Pics at: http://www.pankhudifoundation.org/photos/hyderabad/Banjara+Hills+School/

Hyd Team Independence Day Celebrations

Date : 15th August 2006
Place :Teja School, Champapet Slum. Saidabad.

Team Pankhudi : Praveen(Adept), Ramesh, Gautham, Sandeep, Kapil, Shiva, Madhura, Priyanka, Sunil, Ananth, Satish, Sampath and 2 of his friends.

A very Happy Independence Day to all…

Here goes the update of the events of ~Pankhudi Hyderabad…

Like our previous summer camps, today’s celebrations were also a big success with many volunteers coming in to participate for the event today…We all assembled at Teja School in a slum close to Saidabad. The day started off with Flag Hoisting followed by Prize distribution for the kids. We had talked to the kids about efforts of our great leaders that went in to gaining India’s Independence and the advangates of being an Independent nation. We also tried to inculcate within them a Patriotic feeling for their country and its men. We felt we were successful seeing their response. The school conducted games and pankhudi team had conducted Essay Writing and Drawing. Our pankhudi team was aksed to distribute the prizes for all the events. It was good to see those kids assemble there so promptly for the occasion.

After the prize distribution, the kids gathered inside the school. We talked to the parents of few kids who were also present for the event. Many of them had a lot hardships which they were managing to overcome and get their kids educated. But many of them are still in a pathetic condition. After that, Gautham and Sandeep spoke to the kids and tried to motivate them about studies and also to inspire their friends to study along with them. Later we distributed choclates among the kids and bid adieu to the kids for the day.

After the event in the school few of the volunteers assembled for a meeting to discuss regarding our activities towards the slum.

It was nice to see so many of u guys there!!! Hope to have the participation of all the volunteers for the further events too…

Jai Hind!!!
Team Hyderabad.

CSR Week at TCS

Date : 8th August 2006
Place : TCS Kohinoor Park, Hitech City.

Team Pankhudi : Surya, Chinnu, Gautham, KK, Shiva, Sandeep, Sunil, Kapil.

Hyderabad Team got an opportunity to put up a stall at TCS on this 8th of August. One of our volunteer Mr.Chinnaswamy is with TCS and he had put forward the request to the concerned authorities, who accepted his request and allotted us a stall. Even though it was for a short duration, we had a good kick start into the Corporate publicity.We had taken some Posters and a Banner.

We had a very good response. Many of them from TCS were willing to help us out in any way they can. Most of them were very willing to help us monetarily. But as we are not accepting donations now, we said we would get back to them when we would accept. Apart form that, We have got some 25 volunteer forms and many feedback forms. We have the data and will try to stay in contact with them whenever need be.

We felt that even if 10 people turn up to be active in participation, it will be of good help. As they were all the employees of TCS, they were all from Hyderabad and not many out station queries arouse. But one man from Chennai approached us and took the contact details of Chennai Representative and I learnt that he already did contact her. And one more person from Maharastra had said that he knew ~Pankhudi in Mumbai and took their details.We had some paintings done by the children and collages of Orphanages on display. They were quite attractive on the walls. Some people working with other organisations were interested in knowing about our activities in Hyderabad. Many of them were impressed to know we were majorly students and youth working for this cause.

When it was time to wrap up, we had our routine Photo session. All our team members at the stall and individual pics too. We pasted one poster of ours on the Notice board there in TCS. That will remain there for another two weks or so. We are expecting some more people to turn up with queries.

Welcome Party at Govt. School N.B.T. Nagar

Date: 30th JUNE 2007
Attendees: Uday, Tanvi, Surya, Ramesh, Jeevan, Madhura.

After a long wait, the new school building which was constructed atN.B.T Nagar was finally inaugurated and the kids were shifted intothe new premises. We had scheduled for a welcome party for the kidsthere, before the commencement of their new academic sessions inorder to encourage and counsel them and also to create a good rapportwith their teachers. This event was initially scheduled on 23rd Junebut due to bad weather then, we had to postpone it to 30th June.Nevertheless we still had a rocking welcome party!!!

It was almost 11.00 am by the time all the volunteers arrived and weall assembled in the office room of the school. Here we had abrainstorming session with the teachers. We discussed various issueslike the availability of books and resources for the kids and the newmaterial that they had received which would make teaching moreinnovative and interactive. The teachers there were very verysupportive, not only did they enlighten us on these issues but theytook pain to show us all the available material and also answered allours queries with great patience.

After this we all sat down to plan a rough academic schedule for 1month for the kids in English, Math and Telugu; right from alphabetsand numbers in order to brush up the kids with their basics.Meanwhile the kids underwent a counseling session from Surya where heencouraged and motivated the kids to study , simultaneouslyreprimanding them for not working hard and finally he took a promisefrom everyone that from now on they would work hard and performexceptionally well in their exams.

It was almost 12.30 by then and while the kids left to have theirlunch, we made arrangements so that on their return they couldparticipate in the games we had planned for them. We first dividedthe kids into 2 groups based on the classes they belonged to. Theyounger ones (classes 1st and 2nd) were made to play a tumbler game,similar to Bowling where the pins were replaced by the plastictumblers , while the older ones were made to play Doggy Tail(”tookaaata” as the kids called it in Telugu) where they had to draw thetail to the Dog drawn on the Board. The kids were very energetic andenthusiastically took active part in the games. There was chaos attimes since everyone wanted their turn first; and in order tomaintain certain order we had to use lot of lung power…thankfully wemanaged to get things under control with all kids getting their turnand we completed the session successfully..

Then the winners were declared and the prizes were given out. Somekids were disappointed on having not won, and we had to console themand advised them not to get disheartened as it was only a game. Suchactivity sessions are necessary in order to inculcate in kids ahealthy competitive spirit and would also help them in acceptingdefeat in a more sportive manner. At the end we had a singing sessiontoo, where few kids came forward and exhibited their vocal talent,and they were well versed to all the latest tunes much to ourastonishment
Finally we distributed chocolates to all the kids and wrapped up forthe day. We all said our goodbyes and left feeling very Satisfied,Happy and Yup… Exhausted too….:)

Documented by ~Tanvi.

SIDUR meet…

“The hardest job kid’s face today is learning good manners without seeing any.”——–Fred Astaire.

Date : 26th June, 2006

Place: SIDUR , Malakpet, Hyderabad.

Team Pankhudi : 12-15 members

This week’s meet was at SIDUR as planned earlier…As we found out, SIDUR means “Society for the Integrated Development in Urban and Rural areas”.Some of us were there last week too. And we already developed some rapport with the kids to facilitate things. .Some 15 of our volunteers assembled there around 1 pm.

After the initial ice-breaking, it was some gossip and then we insisted the kids have their lunch as it was already half past one. The lunch was sponsored by ~Pankhudi. Being PACCA HYDERABADIES, we got them BIRYANI from the most famous hangout for Biryani in Hyderabad viz., BAWARCHI…. The kids enjoyed the lunch as it was an off-routine Menu.
Then these guys were injected with high levels of energy, post lunch… so we thought we could start off with our REAL (read Academic) interaction….We had given them some books last week. So we asked them if they were of help and were they practicing anything from those. Very reluctantly and with all artificiality, they replied and thanked us ;-) . And we asked them if they would love to be taught lessons by us.. Some of them were tight lipped while others were brave enough to show us the door . Smart enough to understand their gesture, we dropped the plan of Academics on a Sunday…..

So we decided to play Dumb Charades and the kids were DEFINITELY ready for it…We joined them and divided ourselves into two groups… Briefed them abt the rules and the kids were too sharp and didn’t need much explanation… But it was needed for some of our volunteers I guess … We played for around an hour ….and as it was already guessed before the start of the the game, the most powerful team won as I was part of it.….and the others could do nothing (inspite of cheating many times), but applaud…..Iit was pretty interesting and all of us had great fun….
Then we moved to Talent hunt….as u could see in the previously posted pics, SIDUR has some real good dancers and we didn’t want to miss out on them….so we did some DJ’ing and the kids danced to our numbers ….whats noteworthy is that some of the very shy kids came out to dance today, in contrast to their last weeks performances….and that was what we were looking for….
Next we had our Kodak Moments session with some 6 odd cameras clicking around (like on the Cannes RedCarpet)…..we along with the kids posed for the cameras in various angles and moods…..this is clearly visible by the pics posted on Pankhudi web …..this session lasted for some half an hour with some masti with the kids ….some of them even tried their hand at circus feats, no matter they succeded or otherwise…:-D

Then we decided to wind up the session…..the co-ordinator informed that they would be moving to a new home the month end and welcomed us there as soon as they move in….we promised to visit them with a House Warming session……One thing noticible is that…..In course of our association with Krushi, they were gifted with a vast new campus with all facilities…. and now, its SIDUR’s turn… even they were blessed with a new ,bigger,bettter home …. Three Cheers …HIP

HIP HURRAY !!!

SIDUR meet…

“The hardest job kid’s face today is learning good manners without seeing any.”——–Fred Astaire.

Date : 26th June, 2006

Place: SIDUR , Malakpet, Hyderabad.

Team Pankhudi : 12-15 members

This week’s meet was at SIDUR as planned earlier…As we found out, SIDUR means “Society for the Integrated Development in Urban and Rural areas”.Some of us were there last week too. And we already developed some rapport with the kids to facilitate things. .Some 15 of our volunteers assembled there around 1 pm.

After the initial ice-breaking, it was some gossip and then we insisted the kids have their lunch as it was already half past one. The lunch was sponsored by ~Pankhudi. Being PACCA HYDERABADIES, we got them BIRYANI from the most famous hangout for Biryani in Hyderabad viz., BAWARCHI…. The kids enjoyed the lunch as it was an off-routine Menu.
Then these guys were injected with high levels of energy, post lunch… so we thought we could start off with our REAL (read Academic) interaction….We had given them some books last week. So we asked them if they were of help and were they practicing anything from those. Very reluctantly and with all artificiality, they replied and thanked us ;-) . And we asked them if they would love to be taught lessons by us.. Some of them were tight lipped while others were brave enough to show us the door . Smart enough to understand their gesture, we dropped the plan of Academics on a Sunday…..

So we decided to play Dumb Charades and the kids were DEFINITELY ready for it…We joined them and divided ourselves into two groups… Briefed them abt the rules and the kids were too sharp and didn’t need much explanation… But it was needed for some of our volunteers I guess … We played for around an hour ….and as it was already guessed before the start of the the game, the most powerful team won as I was part of it.….and the others could do nothing (inspite of cheating many times), but applaud…..Iit was pretty interesting and all of us had great fun….
Then we moved to Talent hunt….as u could see in the previously posted pics, SIDUR has some real good dancers and we didn’t want to miss out on them….so we did some DJ’ing and the kids danced to our numbers ….whats noteworthy is that some of the very shy kids came out to dance today, in contrast to their last weeks performances….and that was what we were looking for….
Next we had our Kodak Moments session with some 6 odd cameras clicking around (like on the Cannes RedCarpet)…..we along with the kids posed for the cameras in various angles and moods…..this is clearly visible by the pics posted on Pankhudi web …..this session lasted for some half an hour with some masti with the kids ….some of them even tried their hand at circus feats, no matter they succeded or otherwise…:-D

Then we decided to wind up the session…..the co-ordinator informed that they would be moving to a new home the month end and welcomed us there as soon as they move in….we promised to visit them with a House Warming session……One thing noticible is that…..In course of our association with Krushi, they were gifted with a vast new campus with all facilities…. and now, its SIDUR’s turn… even they were blessed with a new ,bigger,bettter home …. Three Cheers …HIP

HIP HURRAY !!!

Summer Camp at Krushi Homes

Date : 6-7 May, 2006

Place: Krushi Home for Street Children, St. Francis College Lane (Lane beside LifeStyle).

Team Pankhudi : 15-20 members


Finally the D-Day,the most sought after day ,May 6th arrived.Filled with warm wishes from everyone, we launched the ~Pankhudi Summer Camp 2006 at Krushi homes for Street Children with the ~Pankhudi banner soaring loftily in the blue skies. This home basically consists of 52 children in the age group of 7-15 yrs, all Boys.
But, it being summer vacation most of them left home.There were 14 students left. The Sainik school alumni provides funding to this home.These students attend a govt. run school nearby.

The activities in chronological order…

DAY 1:

1.Ice-breaking or Introductory session: We divided the children into 4 groups and named them with their favourite cartoon characters Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Donald Duck,Bugs Bunny.We tied colored ribbons to their hands ,like mickey with red,Donald with blue etc.Then each group introduced itself at the centre stage and performed a dance or a song.

2.Ad Mag(Advertising): Here we gave each team a product and 30 minutes time to prepare and 2min time to perform.We could bring to light the creativity and talent of the children.Each one exhibited their product well.A few of them can become future managers in Advertising!!!

3.Drawing: We provided drawing sheets,crayons,pencils etc and within seconds these plain white sheets were filled with bright ,colorful pictures.You might have already seen few of them in our photo gallery.Especially the yellow house drawn by little Rajesh.

4.Treasure Hunt: It was about finding objects hidden by us in all possible secret corners in the home.Kids enjoyed this activity a lot. The children went totally gaga over all the events and were waiting for more to pour in but,as it was evening we had to finally depart and wait for 14-16 hrs to resume our non-stop,rocking summer camp!!!


DAY 2:

1.Dance class: Our dance master Puneet started his jazz class at around 10 am and this went by continuously for 3 hrs time.This bubbly Puneet took all the pains to come to the camp inspite of his busy schedule.He encouraged children not to get tired soon saying “No pains,No gains”.His dance sequences shenai,shimmi-shake 1,2 ,3,4 still reverberate in our minds.He taught some 6 steps and a dance sequence in just 3 hrs time which takes nearly a week’s time to learn in a dance institute.Three cheers Puneet!!!

2.Mime: Here each team was give a moral science topic and they had to portray the message through a mime.The topics were 1.Cleanliness 2.Traffic rules 3.Save energy 4.Each one,Teach one.The way Harini , Gautami and her troop brought in the moral of cleanliness impressed the judges and they bagged the first prize.

3.Outdoor activity: We team played cricket with children and it was fun altogether.

4.Closing: We cut the cake, ~Pankhudi written on it with yummy,delicious cream.(you should check this photograph in our gallery). We then distributed gifts to the winners of the games. The camp ended with a last photo session with our celebrity kids.Yeah they should be celebrated for all the prizes they won in our summer camp!!!
One last look at this “Krushi home for street children” reminded me of an inspiring old telugu film song written by Sri Veturi.

“Krushi unte manushulu Rushulautaaru…. Mahaapurushulautaaru…. Tarataraalaki taragani velugautaaru…. Ilavlupulautaaruu”

If we youth put a little bit of “Krushi” we can surely make a difference in the lives of such unfortunate children.Hoping that this summer camp will remain a milestone in the history of ~Pankhudi…


Cheers…
Team Hyderabad.

MOC and St.Theresa’s Visits

Team Pankhudi : Shahzad,Mohan,Ramesh,KrishnaKant,Sandeep,Sumanth,Harini,Nitin.

Place 1: St.Teresa’s (Erragadda)We team reached the place around 10 am.We interacted with those sweet little kids for sometime.Shahzad and Mohan were happy to meet these kids personally.Then they introduced themselves to the sister there.She narrated some of the pathetic stories of the kids before they weren’t brought into her home.We spent some one hour’s time here.

Place 2: Missionaries Of Charity(Opposite Clock tower,Secunderabad)Sumanth and Sandeep joined us here at around 11:30 am.It was unfortunate that we weren’t allowed to meet the kids as it wasn’t the visiting hours.On requesting the sister for sometime she finally allowed us but, most of the kids were to the Sunday prayers at the nearby church.Mohan and Shahzad went around the whole place and started inquiring regarding the prevailing conditions.But,all their efforts just went in vain as the sister as usual gave a convincing reply to each of the questions asked.We spent some 30min time in here.

Later our guests had a yummy,sumptuous lunch at RV(begumpet) then met with Harini and Nitin at CCD secunderabad and had a discussion about the site and the future course of action.

St.Theresa’s Picnic

“Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.”

Date : 19th March 2006

Place :NTR Garden, Tank Bund.

And we, the Team Pankhudi at Hyderabad realized this on the 19 of March, when we took a group of 17 kids from the St. Teresa’s orphanage to a picnic to NTR gardens.

It was a bright and sunny day to start with and this worried us because the kids were too young to be taken out in the scorching heat. But when we saw the enthusiasm shown by the little ones, we put our worries on the back burner and started out from the children’s Home at around 3 in the afternoon.

The journey to the picnic spot was marked with the kids yelling “There goes a big bus”…”Look at the traffic light. Red says stop, Yellow says Wait and Green says go.” They were so excited about the trip that they sang to us throughout the journey.

Once we reached NTR gardens and ushered the kids in, we were faced with the dilemma of where to take them first, there were lots of rides and fountains and playing areas. We finally decided to let them have a ride on the merry-go-round. The kids had so much fun on it that they wanted to have another round on it.

After that we made the kids sit in the lawns and play a game called “Postman”…they thoroughly enjoyed it, even though they didn’t really understand the game very much. We arranged for some snacks next.

There is a toy train ride in the park. And the kids were very eager to get a ride in it…so we arranged for a ride for them on the train…the ride lasted for about 20 mins and once the kids were back from it they were full of stories about what they had seen during the ride.

Later we clicked lots of snaps to keep these memories fresh forever, relaxed a bit in the lawns there and distributed chocolates to the kids. It surprises me to see how little it takes to make the children happy.

At around 6 it was time to leave and it was hard to leave the adorable kids and go home. But all good things must come to an end and we decided that we would do this again whenever it was possible.

There are only two ways to live your life.One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

And that is what we learnt from the kids today.

Visit to Govt. Girls High School

“He who wants to do good knocks at the gate, he who loves doing good finds the door open”——-Rabindranath Tagore.

Date :10th February 2006.

Place :Government High School (Girls)Amberpet,Hyderabad.

Team Pankhudi : Me, Nitin, Praveen, Soumya, Shailaja, Arvind (From Pankhudi )Other volunteers from TCS, in association with whom this initiative was taken up!

The statistics are mind boggling…there are nearly 1,24,000+ students studying in the various govt. schools in and around Hyderabad and Secunderabad alone. Many of these students suffer from ailments ranging from minor eye-sight problems to some major skin problems, hearing problems and deficiencies which get overlooked. Many cases have been reported where students with eye-sight problems that could be easily rectified by usage of glasses, have been rendered permanently blind due to negligence and ignorance of the parents and children towards eye-care. The children fear that if they report their problem to their parents, the parents will not allow them to attend school any more because the treatment would cost them money.
There is an urgent need to screen these govt. schools for children who are in dire needs of medical attention.This project involves 2 steps —

1) Preliminary screening – Done by voluntary organizations such as ~Pankhudi, Premalaya etc. It involves a few basic tests like the height-weight ratio test, preliminary eye-test through various eye-charts, hearing ability tests, checks for vaccinations, mental stability tests, learning and physical disabilities tests, skin disorder tests etc.

2) After all these tests are done, the cases which need medical attention most immediately are forwarded to the respective medical institutions. For e.g.: all cases pertaining to eye-care are forwarded to the LV Prasad Eye Institute, which is a leading institute for eye-care in India. This institute has come forward to provide free treatment for all the children diagnosed to be needing help.

Today, as part of this project we happened to visit the Government Girls High School. There were about 15 of us present at the school. We split ourselves into groups of 2-3 and got started off on the tests at around 10 in the morning. The school has a batch of roughly 250 kids attending the morning school and 250 kids attending the afternoon school. It had classes from 6th to 10th.

Initially the kids were very shy to tell us about their problems, but as the interaction progressed they opened up to us. We screened through the 250 students in about 3 ½ hrs or so. During the process of the general check-ups we had the chance to interact with the kids and ask them about their family and the general state of the school. It was wonderful talking to them and they were very enthusiastic to let us know about their favorite subjects, their favorite heroes and movies!!
In the coming week another 15 schools are going to be screened for which the volunteers are going to be sourced from NSS.

On a parting note upon asking what she wanted to be when she grew up, one girl answered — “Even if we want to become something, we don’t have that chance, we are not that lucky!” Her answer really got me thinking.

Visit to Vatsalya Sindhu

Place: Vatsalya Sindhu
Date: 7th January 2006
Team Pankhudi : Sumanth, Ramesh, Klueless, Sandeep, Adept.

We the team Pankhudi, reached Vatsalya Sindhu by 11:00 am. It reminded us of our ancient “gurukul” system of education. The lush green plants, the cattle ,the children, lured us to such an extent that we couldn’t just come off that place and make it to the technical conference at 11 am:(The place was altogether a mini-village. When we were in school most of our mother’s used to call “Wake up! Wake up! Its already 7′o clock you will get late to school”.But, these children seem to be astounding.

They wake up at 5 in the morning, go for a jog and exercise till 6 ,then do their daily chores like washing their own clothes, gardening, taking care of cattle.( They do all of their work by themselves.) They go for a bath and offer `suryanamaskar’, have their breakfast and be to school by bus or auto. There are totally 22 children all boys (there is a separate home for girls too).Of these 22, 18 of them be to school. Most of them are orphans but, some of them have parents.They go to a Telugu medium school “saraswathi sishu bhavan”.Coming home they play around for sometime and study till night. These kids are taken care off by a couple.RSS also helps the home.

The kids introduced themselves and answered to our queries regarding their schooling and daily routine. We changed our `mantra’ this time…we distributed fruits A doctor visits the home once a week and the children are spruce and healthy. They entertained us with their melodious songs and even gave greeting cards on the occasion of`sankranti(pongal)’ festival which is round the corner. Now they remember our names too. This home is well-funded. They get funding from private organizations. After completion of their schooling I think we can sponser them for higher education or some sort of training like that given at `seva sadan’ at Bangalore. This reminds me of a famous quote..

“If you give a man a fish, you give him food for a day.If you give a man a fishing rod, you give him food for life.”