Balakalakaar - An AIESEC Initiative

Date: 2nd December `07

Attendees: Surya, Ramesh, Madhura, Karthik, Sunil, Jyotsna, Jyoti, Sidhartha, Padmaja, Tanvi, Santosh, Nishanth, Aninda, Rahul, Dhananjay, Vikram.

~Pankhudi Hyderabad participated in “Balakalakaar”, an event by AIESEC conducted last Sunday, the 2nd of December at Lalitha Kala Tooranam. As the part of the event, a painting competition was held which saw a participation of around 3000 street and slum kids from across the city. ~Pankhudi was one of the NGO partners for this event besides which, around 300 kids from the NBT Nagar Govt. school and Teja School (places we are currently teaching) took part in this activity.On arriving at the venue, each of the kids, much to their delight were given small carry on’s, which consisted of a drawing kit(pencils, crayons, scales etc..) , wafers to munch on; and other small fun accessories like masks etc…No sooner did they receive it, than they started exploring them and began to show them off to each other and the volunteers.

Once they were settled they were given their respective drawing sheets. No particular topic was specified for the competition and the kids were given complete freedom to express their artistic talent.The atmosphere at the venue was fully charged and electrifying. All the kids were engrossed in their painting. More than half of them were seen drawing huts or the National flag. Our hearts were filled with pride seeing the little tots draw our National flag. The kids kept comparing their drawings with the others, some were seen asking for ideas and suggestions, while a few wanted tips and feedback from the volunteers regarding their paintings; in short the kids had a rocking time!!!! After the competition the kids were provided lunch. This was followed by a small light hearted dancing sessions to entertain the kids.

The entire activity was wrapped up by 4.00 in the eveningThis fun-filled activity has not only provided us a platform to familiarize ourselves with the kids (esp. those of Teja school), but we were also able to make some significant observations and annotations which would prove beneficial in planning for their extracurricular activities in future.There were few minor hiccups, which we have identified and complete care would be taken in future to ensure that the same would not repeat.Each of the ~Pankhudi Hyderabad volunteers deserves a pat on their back for the active participation , but above all for the amount of hard work each one of them has put in. It was indeed an uphill task to manage the 300+ enthusiastic kids among the thousands present there. Great work guys!!!! We also congratulate all the AIESECers for putting up a great show!Hope the same response would continue in all our future endeavors too…

Cheers!

Teja School: Weekend classes

As most of you are already aware, we have commenced with the weekend classes for the kids at Teja School in Champapet. We are conducting the classes based on their academic curriculum for the students who are pursuing their 10 th standard. Since the major areas of concern for them are English and Hindi we have started with the English classes. In the coming weeks, we intend to extend the classes not only for kids of other standards but also in other subjects besides English.

For this betide we need more active participation, resources (in terms of “time”) and ideas from all the volunteers.Over the weeks we have been continuously analyzing and monitoring the performance of the kids. Based on which, it’s been perceived that though there is lot of zeal and enthusiasm among the kids to learn and in spite of all the hard work that they are putting in, due to their inadequacy in basic fundamentals they are unable to achieve significant results. Thereby it becomes all the more imperative on our part to abridge this gap and help them in shaping their future.

In the coming days, we plan to intensify the educational activities in this school. As of now the classes are being conducted on Saturdays but based on the availability of the volunteers we would extend them on Sundays as well. Also, Keeping in view the continuity of the subject and rapport with the kids, distribution and demarcation of the curriculum among the volunteers, it is expected that the volunteers take the classes continuously on all the 5 weekends ( i.e..5 classes) in the coming month of December (excluding the days when the AIM3 will be held, making it to 4 classes)All those of you who are interested in taking up classes for these aspiring kids, do reply and let us know your availability as soon as possible.

Anticipating a prodigious and an affirmative response.

Visit to Teja School - Champapet Slum

Date: 6th October 2007
Attendees: Sunil, Karthik, Surya, Tanvi, Sidhartha.

~Pankhudi Hyderabad volunteers visited Teja School at Champapet Slum to have an interactive session with the kids and the teaching faculty of the school. During the previous visit, on the 30 th of September, a complete picture of the ground situation there could not be assessed as it was a Sunday. The visit this Saturday has been very productive; it has acclimatized us with the academic curriculum and activities of the school besides having helped us to get acquainted with the kids (most importantly) and the staff.

Five of us assembled at the school by around 2:30 P.M. Mr.Devender , the founder of the school then briefed us about the working of the school, the challenges that they were facing and the academic schedule and practices that they were following. We then went in to interact with the kids. The kids initially seemed a bit nervous and withdrawn. We indulged them in a few fun filled educative activities like using flash cards and games. All the kids participated actively and a few of them also came forward enthusiastically to recite and enact rhymes for us. This activity served as an ice breaking session with the kids and also enabled us to gauge the standard of education that was being imparted to them.

We also received important info and inputs from the teaching staff of the school. Various issues were discussed ranging from the sanitation and hygiene of the kids and the people residing in the slum, to the resources, challenges and teaching practices that they were following. We also got to interact with a couple of students who were privately pursuing their 10 th standard from the same school. They shared with us their experiences and informed us about the subjects in which they were weak and required help. (No brownie point for guessing the areas of concern are Math’s and English). The activity for the day was wrapped up by 4 pm.

The response and the warmness that we had received from the staff and kids was overwhelming and the details that have been provided to us would prove very beneficial in planning our future activity. Hopefully we have a great association with this school and hope to contribute in the growth and development of these kids!

Documented by - Tanvi Rao,for ~Pankhudi Hyderabad.

MOM

Team Meet – 15th September, Youth Hostel.
Date: 15th September 2007

Attendees: Surya, Kranthi, Sunil, Madhura, Jyoti, Santosh, Kunal, Nishant, Dhananjay, Tanvi, Aparna, Manish, Aditya, Karthik, Balachandar, Rahul, Ramesh.

A team meet was held on the 15th of September at Youth hostel, in view of the coming weekend's Oracle-Pankhudi volunteer joint activity. This meet was also to discuss the progress at the NBT Nagar Govt. School and decide on future course of action. All the volunteers had assembled at the venue by 6 pm and we started the proceedings soon after.

The first point of discussion at the meet was regarding the progress and the current stance at the NBT Nagar School. All the volunteers were of unanimous opinion that there were many irregularities in the school administration and that the quality of education being provided was mediocre. Various views and opinions were put forth by the volunteers, as to what should be our future course of action regarding the school and the activities concerning the education of the kids.

A list of long term and short term objectives for the school were presented, which if implemented successfully, could bring about a lot of progress and also prove very beneficial to the kids and the school. The significant points that were covered in it were regarding the establishment of a Library for the kids in on of the rooms, creating awareness regarding Sanitation and Hygiene, counseling the kids; besides providing them additional resources for their over all personality development.

It has been a while since we have been contemplating to extend our educational activities in another locale besides the NBT Nagar and the proposal for the same was put forth in the meet. In the area of Champapet, near LB Nagar, a school named " Teja School" had been established for providing educational facilities for the kids in that slum. The school was established by a Mechanical engineer, who had dedicated his services totally for the upliftment of the kids in that area. Of late, the school has been facing severe financial and manpower constraints and is almost on the verge of shutting down.

This school has been doing some significant work over the past few years but there is still a lot left to be done. Hence it has been decided that in the coming few weeks we would also carry out some ground work there, assess the conditions prevailing and based on the findings, we could commence with our activities for the kids in that area, particularly that school. If things fall in place soon, we will also be carrying out some educational awareness drives in that slum area.

We then moved on to finalize the next weekends activity which would be held jointly by Oraclites & ~Pankhudi volunteers. It would be a 2 day activity. The events for these days and the schedule were finalized. All the volunteers were assigned responsibilities and grouped into the various committees (those of publicity, general arrangements, refreshments, sanitation drive, educational awareness etc…). It was overwhelming to see the participation and enthusiasm of all the volunteers. There were some brilliant ideas that came up, besides a few "healthy" arguments.

We concluded the meet by watching the ~Pankhudi Hyderabad video and with plans to come up with an updated video J. We wrapped up the session by 8.15 pm, to get outdoors and enjoy the drizzle of the evening. Someone of us went around the Youth hostel recollecting the days of the AIM 2, and all the masti and fun we had in the premises. The Army lawns where we had out "Celebration" were lush green with the monsoon, and so were our hearts, filled with desire to add a smile on the face of these kids, and the enthusiasm to be part of a Fun-filled and Productive AIM 3.

Rock on Team Hyderabad!!!Rock on ~Pankhudians!!!

Documented by: Tanvi

Independence Day

Place: Govt School, NBT nagar Slum

Attended: Surya, Sunil, Kranthi, Tanvi, Aparna, Madhura, Jyoti, Anwesha, Nishant, Ramesh, Siddharth, Vasant, Shilpa ,Dhananjay.

Pankhudi Hyderabad has yet again done a commendable job for the Independence day celebrations. All the students and the volunteers had assembled at the school by 7.30 a.m.It was refreshing to see all the students and the volunteers so early inspite of it being a holiday.We started the activities with the March - Past. All the children including the high school kids lined themselves excitedly as we were ready to march through the street. The excitement of the children was visible all through the march as they chanted slogans of “bharat Mata ki Jai”.

Sadly we had to cut short our march - past as the MRO who was invited for the flag hoisting had already arrived.After the flag hoisting, the MRO gave a small speech followed by a few more speeches by the teachers and a few students. The patriotic feeling was pretty visible as all of us sang the national anthem at full volume.Wonderful performances given by the children, two patriotic songs a dance medley and a skit about importance of education, made us forget ourselves for a while. The children who participated and attended the practice sessions without fail deserve a round of applause, so do the volunteers who taught them the dance so well in such less time.

Chocolates and sweets were distributed among the children that made them all the happier.After the children dispersed, we had a small meeting with the teachers about the academics and it was decided that a test would be conducted on every Saturday by our volunteers.To put it precisely, the spirit of freedom and patriotism was visible just by the attendance of the children and the volunteers.

View the pictures at

http://picasaweb.google.com/kkranthi/EyeCheckUpCampIndependenceDay?authkey=tbNMS1a-yKM

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62436939@N00/

Cheers..~Pankhudi Foundation Hyderabad

Documented by-Madhura Walvekar

Visit to Spoorthi Foundation

Day: Sunday, 5th Aug 2007
Venue: Sphoorti foundation, ECIL RoadAttendees: Karthik, Sunil and Jyoti

Sphoorthi is an organization, which works for underprivilegedchildren, their basic aim is to provide home, food, long-termeducation and above all love, affection and upliftment of theirmorals……..

We reached there at 12.30pm as per the time fixed on phoneconversation with the whole soul of the organization Mr. Srivyal.While entering the building we saw lots of volunteers from differentorganization enjoying with kidoosssssssss. But the moment we enteredthe premises the children ran to us with their drawing sheet in handsand started introducing them and demanded remarks on their paintingskills….

At last after a “brief” introduction( tough time for us to remembertheir names) we started tying friendship bands, they were very happyand excited for the band and promise us to nicely keep it till ournext visit. After this we started talking with Mr. Srivyal and came toknow many issues regarding financial support, care takers, school,food, their daily routines etc…Suddenly somebody switch on the musicand all the bacchassssss started dancing …their co-ordination andcraze was awesome!!!!!! infact we cleared our doubt with Mr. Srivyalwhether they all go for dance classes but no the fact is they all areborn dancers…..

Dance continued till their lunch around 3.00pm, they insisted us tohave lunch with them and we couldn’t deny their request …we reallyenjoyed the lunch in their special company. After lunch we played forsome time and finally distributed chocolates to all the kids andwrapped up for day with the sweet memories.

Comments and Observations :

There are 36 children including 14 girls and 4 caretakers…. theyhave 7 rooms (2 for girls, 3 for boys, 1 kitchen and one for caretakers) in the rented building for which they have to pay 4k permonth. Basically quite a few good friends and contacts of Mr. Srivyal in USfinancially support this organization. These children are studying inprivate school(English medium) and daily going for tuition afterschool. They have special English classes on Sundays for an hour and afterthat a special feast….

Although they claim this organization is in grass level but I feelthey have already reached a lot and wish them to continue in betterway……

Documented by : Jyothi Singh
for ~Pankhudi Hyderabad

Eye Camp at NBT Nagar

Date: 29th JULY 2007

Attendees: Surya, Sunil, Tanvi, Aparna, Kranthi, Siddharth, Abhishek, Preetam, Karthik, Krishna Rao, Karun Kumar, Ganapathy, Trinath, Naveen Kumar, Raju, Jyoti, Manish, Dhananjay, Padmaja, Kunal , Nishanth.

Pankhudi Hyderabad deserves a pat on our back, for the eye camp held on 29th July at NBT Nagar was a great success. By 9.30 A.M all the doctors and volunteers assembled at the venue of the camp and immediately involved themselves in organizing the equipment in the various rooms where the eye checkups would be carried on.

The check up was a 3 step process. The people had to first register themselves by providing their personal information (like their age, name, and for the kids the class and school in which they were pursuing their education). They were then given an Out-patient slip (leaflet) which carried their details along with a Registration number which was allotted to them. They were then directed into another room from where the medical team took over.
The general ailments observed during the camp were reddening of eyes, bad eyesight and loss of vision. People who were advised to use spectacles could obtain them from the very adjacent room.

The response that we had received for this camp was astounding. Within the first 30 minutes of the commencement of the camp more than 100 people got themselves registered. By the end of the day the total number of people who turned up were around 250, a number that left a smile of satisfaction on our faces

Based on the information gathered during the registration, it was possible for us to identify the school dropouts. A few of our volunteers went forward and spoke to their parents and took their feedback so as to be aware of the reasons for letting their kids drop school. Another aspect that had come to our notice was the fact that many of the localites were not aware of the introduction of High school in the same Govt. school premises, resulting in sending their kids to off schools or making them discontinue with their education.

Throughout the day the turnout was on the rise and the camp was conducted very efficiently, without any hassles. The doctors and the medical team took only one break for lunch throughout the day. It was heartening to see their commitment, passion and dedication towards their job. The doctors were presented with a certificate from ~Pankhudi Hyderabad, as a token of appreciation for lending their valuable time and services. A special mention of thanks to the “Rogi Sahayata Trust” for sponsoring this medical camp. The entire activity was winded up by 4 in the evening.

After the camp, a few volunteers stayed back to plan for the Independence Day celebrations that would be conducted at the Govt. school. There were many ideas being popped besides a number of heated passionate arguments and above all a great number of hilarious moments, which are always an integral part of the Parivaar A.K.A Bakar gang, while finalizing on the events.

The eye camp conducted as this week’s activity has been a very satisfying experience for all the volunteers. It was encouraging to see the participation of all the volunteers for this event and hopefully the same spirit and attendance would continue in the future, making each activity as successful as this one!!!

PS: There is an extension of the medical camp (General Checkup) conducted at NBT nagar in the govt. school on 31st July, Wednesday. This would be Exclusively for the Kids of the School, and the details of each child shall be recorded by our Volunteers and a Database maintained for the future camps.

Cheers…~Pankhudi Team Hyderabad
Documented by: Tanvi Rao