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.