We Volunteer Workshop......the paper creativity




Success does not come in heaps rather it is achieved with every effort towards a desired goal, no matter how miniscule that effort is. It is the harvest of such moments when a number of hands join together beating with synchronous rhythms in the heart, chant a common melody; a melody so mellifluous and pervasive that it could muffle the cupidity and ignorance of the world.

Another day and yet another feather in the cap of “We Volunteers” and the
“Little Angels.”
We received an overwhelming response to the “We Volunteer Workshop” at the Rose Garden today. Nearly twenty kids joined us at the workshop to learn and implement at the workshop.

The workshop pushed off with a small introduction of the kids. The whole gathering was divided into groups with a ratio of two volunteers to three kids. The things finally fell in order as Preet and Kaval took over their usual supervisor roles:) …Every volunteer who had attended the previous workshop was supposed the demonstrate to the other volunteer in the group and to the kids about the methodology which goes into making a
“Paper Bag”

So here starts the fun………every individual present at the workshop, be it the kid or the volunteer, got so engrossed into the Paper Bag Making that time just flew by( obviously with some exceptions off course….:)

Within a span of two hours, 22 paper bags were made, left drying in the sun. That’s a good target achieved owing to the skill level of both the volunteers and the kids.

So here comes the second set of goods from the We Volunteer Factory:)
We have an order of a thousand such bags from a store……so there’s a long way to go.
At the end of the workshop, some refreshments in the form Samosas were distributed the all in attendance. I wanted Coke too…but Kaval turned my demand down on the pretext of Cola being harmful to health….What Crap!!!....Nobody died of Cola anywhere….besides Milk has Urea too…she still has to give me some satisfactory clarification….:)
Meanwhile, Priyanka noted down the names of the more willing kids in each group and the ones who have the dexterity for Paper Bag making so that we can put the rest to some different projects.

The workshop ended with loads of fun, some elementary teaching and 22 Paper Bags. Yahoooooooooooooo!!!......Well Done Comrades…

Most of the kids will join us tomorrow aswell at our office for some more help with the bags.
A few volunteers went to the office after the workshop for some feedback and deliberate over the day’s event.
With Shyam and Raj showing their Engineering Skills climbed up on the table to put up the very much needed ceiling fan in the Office…Good work guys…really good work…..and ya with Yashodhara at her usual senseless commentary inbetween.
Some more plans and discussions about the plan of action for tomm and nest week, we signed off today’s workshop……….

We Initiate…………………Do You???

The first success

“WE DiD iT”

All the hard work and dedication put in by the “Alternate Source of Income Team” finally materialized by making bucks from waste clothe.

How???

Well as I mentioned in the previous posts, We Volunteers have utilized the waste clothe and made hand bags out of it. The bags made their maiden display today at “Urban Roots” in sector 10, Archie’s Gallery in sector 17 & 35, in Chandigarh at a price tag of Rs 49 and Rs 99 for the two different sized bags. And the most amazing part is that within the span of two hours, 3 bags were already sold.....CHANDIGARHITES - please do check them out....at the above mentioned stores and help the little angels with your purchases.

As soon as the SMS about the sale of bags flickered on the screen - Kaval, Keerti and Kanupriya, yashodhara, all went into frenzy. And why not!!...that was a job well done..A step initiated which could be a source of income to the kids begging around us. Great going guys!!!

I and karan had gone to meet the kids at sector 36, where we had fixed a tryst with them. But unfortunately, they ditched us :) ..they were nowhere to be found…and that’s bad because they will miss the tomorrow's workshop at Rose Garden.
Anyways, we decided to take a shot at sector 17 to look for some other kids for the project. Kicking the engine into a start we roared to 17. And there we saw Kaval standing at Neelam, all exhausted coz of the hectic and proud work done, and also smsing, waiting for the rest of the team to assemble. Joining her at the waiting line :).

Meanwhile, a girl of around 10-12 years came to us to beg…So here starts the first practical of the day for Beggar Rescue Team. Incidentally, her name was Neelam and we all were standing at the Neelam Theatre only..so we were somehow skeptic if she was telling her real name….but in the end..that actually was her real name.
She told us that she had landed in Chandigarh from Bihar with her family just a month or so back with her family. Parents are still looking for a job and she has two siblings. She comes all the way from Mani Majra to sector 17. She had a bruised foot. The wound was covered with a paper (just like we help ourselves with a band-aid)..Kanupriya and Yashodhara bought some anti-septic cream and some band-aids for the kid…All thanks to Kanupriya, she helped the girl cleanse her wound and applied a couple of band-aids to cover the bruise. The paper which the girl had initially stuck on the wound was pretty hard to get off….as it at gelled with the wound
While Kanu was helping out the girl with the first-aid, I heard a voice calling for me..

"Bhai saab zara idhar anaa…"
I looked up and saw the man who had been watching us for quite sometime.
I went near him and he simply shook my hand and said thank you….
“Tusi bahut acha kaam kar rahe ho, madam aur aapko THANK YOU”
ME—Jee yeh to hamara farz hai (I know it’s a banal answer…but I could not gather any other words)…

So back to Kanu…she the band-aid was applied very neatly and the sight seemed a little better.. We asked the girl to apply the anti-septic cream regularly at home…As we were about to leave, the girl with beholden appearence, very sheepishly said “Shukriya deedi ..bhaiya”
WE - “arre koi baat nahin”

She also promised to join us at the Workshop tomorrow. Let’s hope that she turns up.

Me, Kanu and Keerti took a walk around again to look for some more kids. Seemed strange but as we tried to approach them, most of them ran away: )

A few more conversations with some more kids, but not much success.

Meanwhile, Karan, Yashodhara, Kaval, Karun met some more beggars at their end and told them about the tomorrows' event at Rose Garden. There seemed a positive reply from some.

It seems easy wooing kids, but trust me…legs ki waat lag jati hai..
At the end of the business day, We sold our BRAND …Yipppieeeee!!!! And also asked a few kids to join us at the tomorrow’s workshop…
Me and Karan took a round of 36 market again on our way back home…but no success…
Chalo …Koi Fight nahin hai….NeXt Time sahi.

P.S. Snaps on the right most frame

I Initiate………………..Do You????

Stinking Reality


Ghar se to nikle the khushiyaan baantnein, apni kaksha mein hasil kiya gyan baantnein
apni shiksha ki seekh gareeb bachchon mein jagayen to sahi.
A,B,C to kya sikhate, unke paas to rehne ko ashiana bhi nahin.

Time: 5 PM, Date: 26th March 2007, Venue – 36 Market, Chandigarh.
The We Volunteers assembled again to follow-up the task undertaken a month back to woe small children away from the menace of begging and make them aware with values of education and self-respect.
Call it a chance or whatever-we met the same child bully who accompanied us to the lake sometime back for an outing. Bheem, Sonu, Rakesh were absent from the scene.
As the new volunteers into the project tried to get into a conversation with him, asking him about his “Motive of Begging.” The same answers flowed out of his mouth and ignorance towards whatever we told him was visible on his face. Another thing that came into light was his ability to fabricate answers impromptu. Anyways, this question-answer session did not last long as one of the volunteers eager to transform his fate, mentioned “School and Education” in the talk. As soon as he finished the question, Manoj (the subject) turned and ran away (he attended school just for one day)
So what conclusions can we draw from this? Well, with a couple of sessions with the child beggars who once went to school, has brought out certain facts about the begging and the drop-out from school.
~~~Most of them beg due to peer influence.
~~~There is no particular motive associated with begging.
~~~They beg just to eat some snacks and drink some cola.
~~~Some parents are unaware that their children beg
~~~Most of them dropped out of the school after a beating from the teacher in class.

Anyways, we handed him our contact numbers again and just as I was composing this write-up, I got a call from Manoj. He and the kids will meet us at the same place tomorrow at 5.

Preet, Rajat, Karan stayed back at 36 and me(Ankush), Rajdeep, and Dr. Sudheesh Moved towards sector 35 to look-out for some more children begging at the eating joints and parking lots. Surprisingly, we could find none……has Chandigarh changed? No beggars???
Neh I don think so….well one reason could be that the sector was still not alive. The party and date hours had still not started. The Flashy cars, roaring bikes, beautiful damsels and the cool hunks had still not descended on the scene (the “business objects” for beggars).
Meanwhile I got a message from Kaval to regroup at the Fragrance Garden with the “Alternate Source of Income Group”. So again we rode our bikes and zoomed to the spot.
The “Alternate Source of Income Group” has done a great job. Making Hand bags out of waste clothe, Paper Bags from the waste newspapers. Great job. And we are ready to put them on sale with highest price tag of Rs. 130 for the Large hand bag. Some boutiques have agreed to buy the Paper Bags with an order of 500-1000 bags per shop.
Ok so the “Beggar Rescue Team” again left for 35 to catch hold of some beggars. Making our way through the back lanes of the Showrooms to save parking fee:)
As we parked our bikes, we saw a boy and girl struggling to push their cart laden with stinking garbage from the shops and houses. When we asked their names, pat came an excited reply from the little boy, Shahrukh KhanJ. Then we talked to the girl and asked her name. Well this seemed more realistic, “Sabeena.” Then later he told his name was Ali. They were brother and sisters with no parents and living with their maternal grandmother. The boy went to school once but dropped out due to a beating from the teacher. They get five rupees from their grandmother daily who is a rag picker aswell.
A little more talk about their whereabouts, family and interests.
“Jheel Dekhi hai?...
Nahin dekhi.
Humare saath shanivaar ko chaloge jheel par?
They wanted to go but could not say a yes (after all we were strangers). But they were excited.
We asked them to take us to their grandmother so that we could get her permission and take them for the excursion. They pushed their cart along the busy road, through the cruel traffic and we followed them on our bikes towards their so called “Jhuggi.”
On reaching their habitat, we were aghast, agape and speechless.
If you think that your dustbin stinks and only insects and germs stay in sewerage pipes, then you better get your notions redefined.
Now Jhuggi in my regards is still a better term than the squalor in which they were living.
Residing in huge pipes left waste by the Municipality along the road, smoke rising from their “open kitchen”, flowing stench from the household garbage they collect, heaped all over the area. You will not even notice these souls while riding your bikes or driving your cars and tuning in to the latest FM.
There were some 15 children, an elder woman (the grandmother). She told us that they have been residing in and around Chandigarh since 20 years and still they do not have a house. Wherever they put up their makeshift houses, the Administration razes them to clear away the land. So in these conditions, how can they go to the lake? How can we ask them to study? How did they bear the harsh winters and the rains that swept the city few days back? Answers are disturbing to think.
On being asked, they vented out their names with enthusiasm, smiling over the dark realities they have been living in, with no shelter and not much future. Sabeena, Ali, Mohabbat, Muskan to name a few

So what was shining in India a few years back?
Nothing more to say from my side


Feedback: Need to get them a roof first of all


Ok so finally we seem to be heading towards a more structured approach towards our social cause…”We Volunteer.”
Let’s keep our fingers crossed so that we are able to achieve the ultimate aim and reach out to the masses.

This blog is specifically for the “Project Formulation and Implementation Team.” So if you do not have anything constructive about the cause then please keep your hands off.

As discussed in today’s meeting, the two projects which are already underway are:
“Beggar Rescue Project” and “Alternate Source of Income Project.”
The “Beggar Rescue Project” was initiated a month ago but due to lack of time and unavailability of man-power the follow-up procedures could not be adopted. Anyways, the day starts when you wake up. “The Alternate Source of Income Project” is keeping up good pace and we are about to launch the first hand-made articles into the market. Keep up the good work comrades!!!

Volunteers in the Project Formulation and Implementation Team:

Kavaljeet (T.C.)
Amanpreet
Ankush
Keerti
Karan
Karan Arora
Kanupriya
Meenuka
Manujanshu
Pratik
Rajdeep
Rajeev Sachdeva
Rahul Kadian
Shyam Gupta
Sudheesh
Vasundhara
Williampreet
Yashodhra


Begar Rescue Project Feedback

Week 1:

Talked to three child beggars at Sector 36 market and promised them a trip to lake just to interact and get them into confidence.

Names:

Rakesh: age 10 yrs. Goes to school and is a student in the 3rd grade. Parents do not know that he is a begging. Reason for begging: just wants to spend that money for his appetite. Could be a victim of bullying by another child beggar (elder to rakesh). Begs out of ignorance. Resident of sector 38(shahpur).

Bheem: could be a 7-8 year old. Has a younger brother along with him. Did go to school earlier but dropped out. His mother married a second man after his father expired. That is when he started begging. Seems to be submissive and very much a kid. Does not even have a pair of chappals. Need more information on him. Resident of sector 38(shahpur).

Sonu: Rag picker and beggar and works in some house. Has no father. Mom works as a maid. Has an elder brother. Need more information from him(was not part of the lake excursion due to lack of conveyance.). Resident of sector 38(shahpur).

Pandya(not real name): Suspect of bullying Rakesh and Bheem. Arrogant and Ignorant. Very outspoken and bold. Could be a victim of drugs. Not interested in studies “at all.” Works at some place, Could be candidate for the Child Labor Rescue Team. Tough nut to crack though.

Event for these beggars (3rd March 2007, 5 PM at Sukhna Lake):

Volunteers Present:

Ankush, Prateek, Palak, Roohi, Vikrant, Sumit, Sachin

Event Details:

Had an outing with them at the lake. All of them had come to the lake for the first time. Very much excited.
Talked to Rakesh and Bheem to give up begging. Made them aware about the benefits of studies. Had a good response from them. Promised them goodies to lure them out of begging. Need to keep a watch on them for sometime at 36 market. Need to arrange a teacher for them They admitted of giving money to Pandya.

Shortcomings of the event: Acute shortage of volunteers.
counter