Serve Samman is a non-profit organization that works with people from weaker sections of the society
The world is home to 45 million who are blind. In fact, every 3rd blind person in the world is an Indian. About 90% of the worlds visually impaired live in developing countries. Globally, uncorrected refractive errors are the main cause of visual impairment; cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness in middle- and low-income countries.80% of Indian population especially the elderly poor lives deep in the rural countryside having little or no access to adequate medical aid.
NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AT OUR NGO
The New Year was brought in with a lot of joy and festivity at our Centres. The kids were given a pizza meal along with a slice of cake to celebrate the beginning of the new year. There was also dance and music, to which the children enjoyed themselves to the core! We also gave jackets to the children as their new year presents!
TEACHER TRAINING FOR TEACHING KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Serve Samman is very thankful to Amity Institute of Psychology and Allied Sciences, to conduct a Training workshop with our Teachers at the Tughlakabad Centre. The teachers were trained in identifying various behavioral, emotional and psychological problems in children and were taught ways to identify children with Special Needs. Further the teachers were also given tips to handle and teach kids with special needs.
MENTAL HEALTH CAMP FOR CHILDREN AT SERVE SAMMAN
Professors and M.Phil students from Amity University set up a mental health check-up camp at our centre. All the students were assessed for any mental and emotional difficulties. Apart from this IQ of all the students was also checked. Based on their IQ scores, children were divided into two categories, one with average intelligence and one with sub-normal intelligence. Post this, the teachers were given tips to teach the kids with sub-normal intelligence. The students from Amity, will personally be taking care of these students in helping them improve their intellectual abilities.
MORE AND MORE YOUNG STUDENTS JOIN HANDS WITH SERVE SAMMAN AS VOLUNTEERS.
We are very happy to share that more and more volunteers are joining Serve Samman and doing their bit of serving to the society. It makes me immensely proud to share that most of these kids are students studying in schools and colleges. Seeing their dedication and compassion towards the underprivileged kids makes us sure that these kids are going to go a long way in life! Kudos to their parents and teachers who encourage these young souls towards social service at such an early age. These kids come to our centre for either teaching the kids something, such as English, maths or simply come and read stories with the kids. Participation of any kind is more than welcome and we are open to people of all ages and all calibers to come and volunteer with us.
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS WITH SERVE SAMMAN
Serve samman’s new campaign is all about celebrations for our little ones. While all of us celebrate our birthdays, throw parties, eat good food, meet friends, play games etc, the concept of celebration does not exist in the lives of our underprivileged kids. Hence, in order to break the barrier, we encourage our donors to come and celebrate their special days with our little lads at our NGO. Celebration can be done in any form you like from simply eating a cake to taking the kids out for a movie! We are very happy to share with you all that in the month of January itself we celebrated three birthdays with our children. The experience was more joyable than having a party for 100 people and the cost for 80 children was not even one-fourth of what you would usually spend on a dinner for 10. So we at Serve Samman, urge you to kindly come and celebrate your special days with our little kids.
MAKKAR SANKRANTI CELEBRATIONS AT OUR NGO
Makar Sankranti is considered to be one of the most auspicious day in the Hindu Calender, and is celebrated widely all around the country in different forms. In order to Celebrate Makkar Sankranti at our NGO, our donors gave Socks and Coloring kits to the less privileged children at our NGO. The children were thrilled to receive their gifts
Another surprise visitor!
Saint Gobain visit, Chennai
Given our long standing partnership with Saint Gobain, it was indeed a pleasure to welcome Mr. John Prem, social responsible investment coordinator of the company who visited 5 schools in a span of 2 days starting 22nd of January.
His curiosity for the functioning of the program and its impact led him to take time out of his busy schedule. He also glanced through the notebooks and other teaching materials used by the staff and discussed the challenges faced by the students.
14th Anniversary Celebrations Of Naandi Day
Naandi Foundation began operations on the 1st of November, 1998. Celebrations were held in all the mandals to celebrate the occasion. Programs to celebrate the same were organized by the Academic Resource Coordinators of respective mandals. Sport competitions were conducted for the children and parents of Nanhi Kali. And prizes were distributed towards the end of the event. But amongst all the fun, the gathering was also educated about the Nanhi Kali program. – Drop this if there are no supporting images
Tuticorin Talent Hunt
Inter-school competitions were organized at the RC School, Therespuram on 9th Feb 2013. Project Nanhi Kali along with Sterlite Copper jointly organized the "TALHUNT", attended by 1500 children from 72 different schools across Tuticorin. Events like such as 200m dash, lemon race, memory games and numerous others were enjoyed by the kids.
Mummy Exhibition, Mumbai
In the last week of February, Reliance Foundation and BP, in collaboration with the British Museum and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, brought to India an award winning exhibition, ‘Mummy: The Inside Story’. The exhibition focused on the secrets of an Egyptian priest who died nearly 3000 years ago depicted by a 3D film.
This was an eye opener for 22 Nanhi Kalis that got an opportunity to participate. Nanhi Kali hopes to continue providing several more underprivileged girls in India with such opportunities.
Fund raising support
Dr. Reddy’s contribution
Nonprofits are increasingly taking their fundraising activities to the web. Through a web-based application on Facebook, the team of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories raised funds for supporting Project Nanhi Kali.
Alumni Meet, Sheopur
An alumni meet was organized in Sheopur on the 26th of February for all 10th grade Nanhi Kalis who had successfully cleared their exams.
Ms. Rita Singh, a criminal lawyer by profession was one of the chief guests at the event. She spoke about the rising number of atrocities against women and the laws protecting women’s rights in India. She even advised the Nanhi Kalis to use the services of 1090 in case of emergency. 1090 is a women’s helpline introduced by the Government of Madhya Pradesh across the state.
Ms. Shanti Ruhal, the Anganwadi superintendent was the other Chief Guest. She focused on the health issues faced by adolescent girls in the country. She spoke of the increasing cases of anemia among adolescent girls and also requested all the girls to consume iron tablets distributed at the Anganwadi centre. She also spoke on menstrual hygiene and how the girls can buy a sanitary napkin from the ASHA centers at Rs.1/-.
Setting an example at Project Nanhi Kali
Employee in Focus- Srinivas Chary
After 8 years of serving as a Science teacher, Srinivas Chary realized his real passion was in the development sector. He joined an eye institute where he was responsible for screening thousands of kids daily and providing them glasses free of cost and conducting a large-scale research survey.
In the Mahabubnagar (Andhra Pradesh) district for Naandi Foundation, he switched gears once again. Srinivas decided to continue his association with Naandi Foundation by coming on board for Project Nanhi Kali. Since then, he has been vital in the successful running of projects in his assigned area.
Rechristened as Naandi Sir by community members because of his dedicated involvement in the project, Srinivas has been working relentlessly since 2008 looking after the operations of 14 schools over 9 villages.
His penchant for knowledge has seen him complete a Masters in Sociology after graduation in Biological Sciences. He also holds a B.Ed and is pursuing his second Masters in Botany currently.
Meet Geeta, the unsung champion
Every Nanhi Kali is dedicated to make the best use of education provided to her. But Geeta Kumari has taken dedication to the next level. She was forced into manual labour, but her fervent wish for being educated was fulfilled by the efforts of the Project Nanhi Kali team. Apart from diligently pursuing her academics, Geeta is an extremely gifted handball player.
She was given the opportunity to travel to the historic city of Udaipur (Rajasthan) to participate in the district handball competition. This Nanhi Kali was part of the Jhadol district team which won the first prize in September last year.
In the same month on 22nd September 2012, the interstate handball competitions were organized. She was one of three best players from different teams selected to represent the state of Rajasthan at the National Level Handball competition. She traveled to Ranchi (Jharkhand), to participate in the competition held on 28th November 2012.
Geeta is now a role model and a source of inspiration to her 5 younger siblings. The local Hindi newspaper covered her achievement. The success of this Nanhi Kali is a matter of immense pride for her family as well as the Project Nanhi Kali team.
Games for Nanhi Kalis
In March, the Mahabubnagar team held a sports meet for Nanhi Kalis across the district. Interactive games such as musical chairs and spoon race was organized for Nanhi Kalis of standard 2 and 3 while skipping and athletic races were held for Nanhi Kalis of higher classes. In order to encourage such activities, the gifts for winning sporting events and for academic achievements were distributed in the presence of village elders and parents.
Women’s Day Celebrations, Chennai
On 7th March, Women’s day was celebrated at the Saidapet office. Games like musical chairs were conducted for the tutors of the Project Nanhi Kali.
Material Development Workshop, Chennai
On the 25th of March a workshop was held in order to redesign and redevelop the content of new textbooks and workbooks for primary Nanhi Kalis. The 4-day long workshop was attended by numerous tutors and coordinators in Thiruvalluvar Gurkulam School, Saidapet.
Felicitating the support
On the 30th of March, a Nanhi Kali meet was organized in Bajna block of Ratlam district (Madhya Pradesh). The objective of the meet was to recognize the efforts of all those who have been integral in uplifting the status of female literacy in the district. The balmitras of Ratlam received a cash prize of Rs 2000/- for their outstanding contribution to project Nanhi Kali. Mothers, Core Support Group members and other support staff of Project Nanhi Kali who have championed the cause of girl child education were also honoured in the gathering.
Health Camps, Hyderabad
Project Nanhi Kali has been conducting health camps in collaboration with health department officials. A total of 4768 Nanhi Kalis were covered under the year long health camps. The doctors also gave useful health tips to all the Nanhi Kalis and informed them the importance of having a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals.
Celebrating National Girl Child Day
"Education is not preparing for life, it is life itself" - John Dewey
The Ministry of Women and Child Development has decided to observe January 24th as National Girl Child Day. The ministry has taken efforts to improve the child sex ratio, conduct right-based awareness drives, empower girls by fighting for equal opportunities and achieve gender equality.
Project Nanhi Kali has been a proud partner to this cause by running one of the largest girl child education programs across India and closely monitoring the progress of the underprivileged girls. Project Nanhi Kali celebrated National Girl Child Day in its own special way.
Take a peek into the celebrations at Sheopur, Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh) and Udaipur (Rajasthan).
|
