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.