Roshini At A ScHooL For BLind Kidz

Today was a perfct day for me ...it had to b coz the strt was so
awwwwwwwwwwwesomeeeeeee :) I was all alne in BLIND SCHOOL ....ws alne coz
excitement mein i landed ther bfre time ;) I was really early i guess coz i
hd to wakeup the grlz in grlz hostel...i becme their didi jus in 5 minsss.
..v wtched tv 2gether...Voice of India shw ....sme fan following man!!! n
woopz hogayaaa thy had examz frm monday grlzzz here wer very disciplied had
to study so coludn't join us in hall.

Chalo i head 2 the hall n here Manish,Aman,Neha,Andi wer alrdy interactin wth the
boyz.V had a special Chotu Guest'NONU' Neha's brther...he was reaaally nonu.
Sab ka intro liya ...humsab ne bhi apna intro diya ...n all of a sudden v all
turned into didi's n bhaiya's which was a total joy 2 be ...especially me
bein the youngest in family ...hardly get u hear Didi, n frm sch angelzz was
toh a complete joyy :D :D

Kya Karien kya karien ....karna hai kuch kaam...toh shuru karo antaksharii
...yup yup wohi kiyaaa ...v strted wth antaksharii ...whch went on to boys
singin their fvrte sngzz ...punjabi was in demand .....n choclates khayiii
...gappe bhi marii ...evry volunteer alwyz findz a fvrte kid to chat wth
...yahaan bhi wohi hua ...evry1 was busy chattin ....me 2 me 2 maaroed
gaappaz wth Dinesh n Amanvirrrrrrrrrrr :) .....he realy pronounced it wth mre
stresss on vir ...n yes by the end of the event i knew it ...he was a
vir.Remember ths nme u gonna hear mre abt him ...N Dinesh was a cute shy boi
:) who also sang 4 all of us ...BOI'S hve their examz later...n thy all
prepared for it ...amazin confidence yaaar!!!

Get Exctedd ...v cmin to the Best Part ....Kricket ..yo!!! I lke it wth a 'K'
yaar :p Two teams New zEALAND V/S Australia ......India ne kal hi naak katvaaii thi
...so no1 wanted 2 b India ...awwwwwww maybe nxt tme :)Ankita & Navneee ..thy
really wanted an Indian Team naaa...

Did The thght cross ur mind these kids r Blind ...n v all wer playin Cricket
here ....i Tld u v had sme stars here ...infact all wer Starsss :) It was
amazin to c thm maaro shotzz ....yes the ball had sme particles in it which made a special noise ..jisse thy managed their sachin type shot ...yeah here cmez Amanvirrr ...he was r
liltle sachin ...wht shotzz man ...amazinn ....volunteers toh bas audience
ban ke reh gaye ..thy wer playin so gudd ......Andi & Manish wer the rival
captainzz ...Krish was r commentator :) Whch team won...ths wld b revealed in
r nxt blog ...:) so dn miss it ...haha match ended well ....v shared tofees
amngst the kidsss n volunteeerzzz ...n it was buh byeee time :( can i get saddd
???

So ths was my sunday fUNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDAAYYYYYYYYYYYY :) now me zombieee itz
lke 2.45 am ...n i need sme sleepp ...so gudniteyyyyyyyyyyy

KaVaLJeET

zOMbIe :)

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It ws a GREAt eFfort guys!!!!!!!!!!!!
i hv nvr been a part of such kinda thng earlier...........wen kaval msg me abt dis dat day i thot i wud definitely go thr bt 2day wen i got up in d mrng i ws feelin lyk to go nowhr..........as i got a sunday aftr a longgggggggg longgggggggg tym n lyk always i ws confused......."JAON KI NA JAON" n atlast i dcided to go..........
n wen i went thr it ws realy gud...........one chotta sa bacha ws singin a realy gud pbi song.............n krish fish ( 2day we got a new name 4 krish....hahaha) ws lyk d pesrn hu'l sing a song wud get a chocolate...........bt d bst singer awrad goes to "PREM" ..............he sung realy wel..................al othrs were also amazin......... n tbi krish said ki nw deepika wud sing..........arrey m to nt evn a bathroom singer..............bachon ko bhagna to ni tha na!!!!!!!!!! so muje chocolate nhi mili.............vry bad na.......:) bt last me i got 2 toffees.........hahaha
n d best thng ws cricket..........ina njoy to india pakistan k match me ni kia hoga maine jitna wahan kia..............bacha log were really gud............spcly wo sachin tendulkar n dat guy jo kisi ko b battin ni de rha tha............dey played a gud ckt ...........i think 1st team mange to score arnd 40..........muje b battin chaiye thi bt kisi ne len i ni di...........

hey wahan pe waise to sbi bacha log mere frn the bt i made 1 spcl frn.........dats vikrant.........thoda chup chup tha bt wen i talked to him na he ws realy nice..........usne muje ek acha sa pbi song b sunaya..........n he told me abt his frns n family..........it ws a grt xperience talkin to dem n spendin sm quality tym wid dem........frns ke sath v daily share our lifes bt wid dem is totaly different n really gud............
nw at d end of d day m thinkin it ws a viable decision dat i tuk............maine to khub njoy kia n khub tannin b krvai itni dhoop me.................n i lovedddddddddddddd it ppl............

dEEPikA sHaRmA :)

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me and navnee were as usual late for da event...da moment we went inside we were a bit puzzled....didn't know how to interact with those kids...this ws the first time we got a chance to be with the blind ... bt after a while it became quite easy nd fun too..... i talked to a kid named ANUJ SHARMA... he ws good to talk to.. a huge fan of SACHIN TENDULKAR he even knew hw much did he score in the last one day...this guy from himachal pradesh was full of spirit...the best part was that the kids out there were independent enough... they did their stuff on their own without anybody's help... but unfortunately i missed the CRICKET MATCH... i really wanted to b a part of it... neways.. it was a nice and an innovative idea 2 hangout with the BLIND...for me it was a new n intresting experience....waiting for more such events to come..!!!
Ankita Jain :)

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It was such a wonderfulexperience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!unforgettable......now when i think about it..,it seems so tough to put it into fewwords....i can write a complete book about it now.They are so verycooordinated.....they are no less then someone,infact they are the "SPECIALPEOPLE" and we need to value them.They are full of zeal and energy,alwaysready to mingle with new people.,we met them as strangers but now theyare a part of our friend circle already.I am looking forward to seethem again!!!!!!!!!!

Sonal Kapoor :)

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Rakhi celebrations with our LITTLE ANGELS

by Ravneet





I arise in d morning torn between a desire to improve the world, and a desire to enjoy the world, well this makes it hard to plan aday....lolzzrakhi isnt just all about tying a thread and getting the money!surelymore than that.!but this was not the perception that these kids had........ Ask themabout the day, the answer starts from tying the thread to having rupees 20/- or more..A thought then came, to why not celebrate rakhi with these kids..


On monday, 27th of august, we went to pustak.. a small school in sec 25 opened by an NGO.. The event started off with a little story kinda intro about the whole affair of rakhi.. We saw many enlightened faces.. :-)


As far as the competetions we had 2.. Card making and rakhi making..Well looking at the prizes kids were oh so motivated..!! A lot of zealcould be seen surely through the consequences..!Prizes made all happy in the end followed by a little treat....A happy rakhi we had....!! :-) :-) :-)To waken interest and kindle enhusiasm is a sure way to teach easilyand successfully...!! :-) :-)

“Rakhi Celebrations”

Organizing Team : Ravneet, Neha and Aman

Volunteers Present: Ravneet, Neha, Aman,Navnee, Ankita

YUVA PARLIAMENT 2nd Session-The Youth wants to BAN TOBACCO

Hey guys ,after a successful first session , we had an awesome 2nd session of “YUVA PARLIAMENT" on 28july, 2007. Majority of people were from the age group of 18 to 25. There was a discussion on cause and effect of Tobacco.This time , YP was supported by BURNING BRAIN SOCIETY and CHANDIGARH ADMINISTRATION.The session stated with a movie clippings on the use of tobacco in the films and media. The actors in the movies deliberately flash the cartons and cigarette cases to display the brand logos and names. Surprisingly, most of them claim to be “Socially Responsible Citizens”. This was followed by presentations, discussions and debates on various issues relating to tobacco abuse, facts and misconceptions.A lot of prominent personalities of the likes of Toursium director Vivek attray, who was a guest of honour , G.S Channi a theatre personality and V.N singh ,director of museum, also participated in session
It was a planned and organized parliament which knew everything ie we started the interaction with discussion then cause and effect, and with solution(action plan on the issue).Sushma and Rekha, two school girls from Morni – a village in Haryana about 35 km from our Chandigarh, attended the session to give a rural perspective over the issue. We all got to know that the awareness about the danger and lethal consequences of tobacco was growing in urban areas; people in rural areas remain ignorant of the possible outcome.Youngsters also discussed why tobacco should remain a legal product for consumption.SOME SHOCKING FACTS, WHICH THE YOUTH PARLIAMENT GOT TO KNOW:Indian govt indirectly gives subsidy to biddi,( yes , biddi …which is mainly sold in the villages and also by lower income group in cities)The total revenue generated (only revenue ,not net profit of companies ) is 5000 crore but the health infrastructure and spending to combat the diseases from the tobacco ,costs the Indian government more than 5000 croreThere was also debate that when net loss occurred from tobacco industry goes into govt revenue/ expenditure account, then why for just a handful of people as compared to the masses, the governments keeps this item as a legal product.Do they know that every year 10 lakh people die due to the harmful effects of taking tobacco?

YP concluded with creative action plans, where all groups decided to take initiatives with their skills to make people aware about detrimental effect of tobacco.The initiative of action plan taken by groups shall be made public during the next session of youth parliament in September.

YUVA PARLIAMENT

Second Session

28th July, 2007 (Saturday)

10 AM to 1 PM

Art Gallery Museum, Sector 10, Chandigarh

Entries Open!!

Apply at yuvaparliament@gmail.com

Yuva Parliament - First ever time in Chandigarh !

Continuing on the objective of ‘Changing Mindets’ & ‘Initiating Volunteerism’ amongst the Youth of today, We Volunteer has initiated a concept named Yuva Parliament for the first time in the city.

Yuva Parliament, is a platform for the youth of Chandigarh to come together and

Connect - Discuss - Formulate

action plans on how the youth can impact the society.The first session was held on 29th June, 2007 at Punjab Kala Bhawan.

The idea behind Yuva Parliament is to bring together the youth from sundry domains and provide them with a common forum where they can share their views and opinions on the most imperative issues in Chandigarh and also formulate methodologies to work collectively to alleviate the problems.
The basic idea lies in letting the particpants decide how they can impact the society in their own ways, using their own areas of interest or profession.
So, to create a CHANGE you need not wear a khadi-kurta, carry a jhola & set off to the slums. Society can be impacted in a lot many other ways & that’s what We Volunteer is working on, to redefine what people call “Social Work” !

For the first session, the major umbrella domains were,

> Performing and Visual arts
> Creative arts
> Media
> Sciences
> Activism
> Miscellaneous

85 participants from the above domains were present at the first session. Youth Icons, like Dr. Gaurav Chabbra (spearheading an NGO called Hum Log in Chandigarh and also winner at the WHO short film awards, for his film titled “MudCake”, Mr Gaurav Gaur, a leading social activist in Chandigarh were present at the session.
The session had an NGO Resource Panel chaired by the heads of various progressive NGOs in Chandigarh. The chair comprised of Col. Bedi (YTTS), Mr. Bhullar(Educare), Mrs Harleen Kohli(CEVA), Mr Ajit Tomar(a leading RTI activist from Burning Brains Society).

The first session started with an open house discussion on the impending issues that are affecting the society today.Issues related to Depression problems in youth, Slum Education, HIV/AIDS, child beggars, and environment formed the crux of the debate.

The second stage of the session comprised of the youth being divided amongst teams based on their areas of interest, that were Performing & Creative Arts, Activism, Helath & Sciences & Media. The teams chose their own issues , brainstormed on them, discussed & then formulated Action Plans to find solutions to these issues.
It was really an interesting view to see the youth being so actively involved in the discussion & formulation, being eager to contrubute their share.
The last stage was the presentation of the Action Plans formulated by all teams, one by one, to the dignitaries present there as well as the parliament. The parliament was open to suggest any modifications for the plans or to offer any help with the resources the teams would be needing during the execution of the plans. The projects were critically analyzed by the dignitaries. The dignitaries proposed to provide support and resources for the projects of the youth.

The parliament session was declared closed after a small presentation on Volunteerism 2.0, which is all about redefining how people take the term Social Work.

Not a complete instantaneous impact, but “a Perfect Start” is what we could call it. The work for next session has already begun. Its going to get BIGGER & BETTER each time.

“CHANGE INITIATED”

Kya aap jaante hain ki Fun Republic naam ke Shopping Mall mein ek McDonald’s hai aur usmein ek bahut swaadisht Chicken McGrill naam ka burger milta hai….sirf 20 rupees…..??????

----- Oye Khottte iss wich keri navi gal hai….saari janta nu pata hai..te saareyaan ne khaya hai….

Ahaan!!....do you think so…well then talk to the kids who accompanied us to Fun Republic on Saturday Evening…..these little children beg right in front of the Mall..but hardly knew what went inside….untill today….

We Volunteer organized a day out for these little kids to let them know what “fun” really means. What is there apart from dust laden feet, gadding about in the scorching sun, sleeping empty stomach in the nights, bully fights on the roads, rudeness of the cops and a feeling of being “unwanted” in the world…

The event incharge Navnee and her team - Ankita, Auro, Prabhjot, did a splendid job while organizing and implementing the event.

New Clothes and Footwear where provided to the kids at the start of the event. The kids were instructed to take a bath and then come for the event. And the kids, very religiously, followed the instructions. The kids very neatly dressed in the new set of clothes….Wow!!...now that’s kool..

Combing their hair, buttoning their shirts, clipping their slipping pants from their skinny waist, the team did all they could do to make them look like some photo shoot models:0)

The excitement on their faces, the eyes teeming with enthusiasm and gaiety…..and that’s what is a million dollar scene….some where busy combing their hair while looking in the rear view mirrors of the parked cars…..who knows….may be some damsel would drool over them in the mall:)

So all set….with some minor instructions on the ways to behave and other tit bits….each kid was assigned to one volunteer….and then get set goo……here WE gooooo!!!

Crossing the security check…..and with their first ever step into the MALL….I could see the kids agape with astonishment and wonder……………Does such world exist???

Well yes…it does kiddy!!!

We roamed around inside the MALL…jumping into the lift at every floor and then making round trips on it….aaah!!...that made me remember my childhood days…how we badgered the lift wala bandaa!!

Showing the glitzy glamour of the world..the expensive shops…the games parlour…

Yeh!!..the kids enjoyed the games parlour the most….but obvious…driving Moto GT bikes, smashing cars with Preet helping them drive without licence and shooting the ducks…..where auro was busy playing her own gimics…..clicking snaps(her own) and then stupidly smiling to strike a pose…:)

Snaps snaps and then more snaps….jaise baaara hi aaa gayi ho…I would have some job to put them on the blog…

Ahh!!...now comes my favourite part….McDonald’s…..

The kids were served…Chicken McGrill ...I know they must have enjoyed the Burger..

It was fun, ebullience, frolic and loads of laughter everywhere to be seen and felt…

The vibes were just amazing….

So the burgers were thoooosofied pretty fast….aaah!...i forgot to mention something…

THE POOR VOLUNTEERS WERE JUST WATCHING THE FACES WHILE THE KIDS ENJOYED THE MEAL:0) BECHAAAREEE….EHEEHHEHEHEHE!!

Then the kids played some games, sang a few songs and mimicked some of the volunteers…..that was funny…hehehee!!....i’m loving it :)

Meanwhile….some softies came for the kids only….again the volunteers bechaare….kaam ke bhojh ke mare….thishshshhsh…kuch nahin milegaa…

The volunteers interacted with the kids…..talked to them..their likes and their dreams…and that’s what makes the day to remember…a day to celebrate ..a day to enjoy and bring smiles on the faces of these little angels…..that’s what is

“RED DAY”

Organizing Team : Navnee, Ankita, Auro, Prabhjot

Volunteers Present: Navnee, Ankita, Auro, Prabhjot, Preet, Ankush, Kaval, Capt. Padmesh, Hasmeet, Vikas, Raman, Ishleen, Simran

Special thanks to Hasmeet for coming all the way from Ludhiana to show up at the event…and also heartiest thanks to Orkut, Airtel, Hutch…..Balle Balle!!

We Volunteer………………..We Initiate…Do You?????

--------------------------------------------

@ Auro

Fun Fun Fun...Masti came in for a live concert yesterday. Reached FR as clueless as i always am. But soon the smiles on the faces of the kids from one corner of the face to the other explained it all....

It was their day....Surprisingly this outing was much more than normally hanging around with frenzz..

Adventure and Sharaarat on full swing...Best was our experiences in the lift, when people were kinda amused at us....Ha Ha Ha Ha HE he hehehe!!!!1 hu hu hu hu...bahut mazaa ayaa:)

Phir se Phir Phir...aur chahiyeeee!!!!

We Volunteer!!

@ Hasmeet

Great effort volunteers! I have never been part of any such kind of effort. It was a great experince. A little attempt is better than 10,000 words and those cute smiles on faces of kids have said all about success of event.

"Nic-Pic"........ek Chotti si picnic

A SCORCHING Saturday morning… the Chandigarh Earth sizzling at 45 Degrees. But all this sun furry could that really hamper the chirpy and lively atmosphere at Pustak, a special school for underprivileged children.

So it was Picnic... Oops! ‘Nic-Pic’ time for all of us. Reminds me of my childhood when picnic meant just fun and food. But times have definitely changed. Strangely Children this time initially wanted to study. Yet nobody could have escaped the fun. This was the first event that the "New Team" of We Volunteer had arranged all by themselves, of course with some outside help from the senior volunteers.

A decent number of volunteers turned up for the blast but, those who were there were quite involved within the event. Our idea of dissolving the distance between the underprivileged section and the empowered youth is definitely working... May be not in terms of quantity... but in terms of quality we are not lacking. Moreover from children's side... they’ve grown more confident, mixing and expressive... only to make themselves a healthy part of our lives.

The day started with Ankush trying (hard) to put the kids into a classroom kind of format. But I guess the kids were more successfully making him dance to there tune. They were nowhere lagging in flaunting their knowledge. So after this noisy round of interaction, there was a game. Passing the parcel over music and anyone caught with the parcel without the music had to perform. This was the moment of stunning performances. Lakshmi sang as well as danced on ‘bhoomro bhoomro..’. Neha (who was there along with her toddler sister) recited a poem ‘upar pankha chalta hai..’ and here, her sis actually preferred sleeping below the fan while nobody below that roof had the power to disturb her. Those kids who are not regular to the school also participated in the event. This shows that such events are effectively attracting as well as inspiring the kids towards education.

While Akash was busy trying to attract the camera onto himself, Muskaan made sure that she modeled a cute smile everytime she eventually came across it.
And all this while, a tiny pink entity (toddler) out of them remained the star attraction, who quite tactfully managed to remain under the spotlight by hook n crook (sometimes jolly n sometimes crying loud).
Our computer wizard Manish also was seen caught up between kids and the laptop. I am sure the kids would now onwards know what not to do to a lappy.
At the end, it was ‘Chijji’ time. ‘Chijji’ - the cute name they’ve given to whatever we give them(candies n pencils). Preet and Karan has sneaked to the market in between to arrange for some goodies and refreshment for the kids.

And then, now was when we had to say ba-bye to them and the day, which in our memories will continue to inspire us towards more... more of volunteerism and innovation. And of coarse… towards WE VOLUNTEER.

Volunteers present at the event were
Karan,Aurodeepa,Prabhjot,Kaval,Preet,Ankush,Mukul,Bikram,Rohit,Manish,
Sudheesh,Navnee,Amanpreet, Charan

*Sincere thanks to Anoop who needed only a scrap just a day before to join us at the event.
Hope to see more Chandigarhians initiating.


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@kaval

me was late 4 the event.....rushin in 43 degree temp n sun right over ma head on ma kinetic ....60 ki speed pe coz i had told karan i wld b in Pustak by 10.40 .....me rched 10.50 decent enough :) so i enter the computer room n all lil angels were settled and doin smethin ....sme music was on n all wer sittin in circle .....tuk ma brain cells sme time 2 discover ...thy wer playin passing the parcel :)
N ther wer mny volunteers 2 ...sme in we Volunteer shrt, ya coming bck to passing the parcel...a small boy was asked to act like sunny deol ...apna punjab daa puttr...n he goes ahead n says 'Maar dalunga' in fultu sunny deol style ....so it went on sme bachaas did dance ..sme sang ...and so on...
nxt was movie session ....timonn n pumbaa ...movie tht 2 in english :D ..thora flop idea hogayaa ....considerin the volume of laptop verses laptop of kids.....who wanted 2 c smethin in hindi ......nice time ke liye itzz hindi guyssss....
lekin thrz alwayzz smethin guddd evn frm a flop idea ......v jus turned on the sngzz on r lappy ....yippie auro n ankush teachin them dance steps .....n thy chotu chotu bachkuss .....hilaaving their kamariyaa hehe :p it was guddie ...n thn i jus discvered thr wer sme girlzz smilin behind the cupboards whr computer class was goin on ..... ...those wer teenagerzz n shy 2 cme n dance so wer jus njoyin the musick in their computr class....n i reclld i actually knw 1 or 2 of thm ...so off i go n ctch up wth sharmila n all ......thy shwed me picss of their last weeknd outing ....2 mansa devi .....and tht remindz me hamaarii outing kahaan hai ........we want outing we volunteer outingg :( nahi toh hum bhuk hadtaal pe bhet jaayenge cordinator sahaabbb, yeah so cmin bck ....was kool thy wer askin me abt cloth bagss and i din hve a gud answer to give them .....as of now...so jus tld them itz on hold abhi .
by this time Preet, Karan r sensitive guy...recently turned into rajesh khanna :p ...n bikram came wth guddies .....since party was over n kidzz wanted 2 rush home ,,,vaise bachkuz ka patience level is better then us .....thy wer sittin so lng ....yeah thr r exceptions ...joh khap daal re the ...lekin masti bhi toh honi chaiye ...."so line mein lagoo" was repeated by Preet no line no guddie ....naa.so..guddies like pencils,biscuitzz n toffess wer given 2 r lillte pyaru angelss ....n guess wht mein bhi line mein tha n managed 2 get a toffee frm Preet :) em i kid or em i kid :p
so zhaala zhaala event zhaala .....al done all fun ......i laaaved(loved) it :)

awwww ......mein aur meri kinetic...n kadakti dhupp ......n ma journey bckk hme .....wth those smilin faces still cmin up ma mindd
:D :D

@ Bikram's

the event today was a good effort.
however small details should be taken care of wen organizing an evnt
On the whole a good effort


We Volunteer.................We Initiate..do you???????

Sugar Cubes: The 13 ad libs

Ambi#1

Confused right now…what to write??…..but the experience this week was great.

Ambi#2

Think about Kasauli seriously!!! (in pink)

Ambi#3

Something needs to be done about the funding

Ambi#4

I am concerned about the progress of the sector 35 project with the kids there.
PS : plan a We Volunteer outing

Ambi#5

Poor & rich, we don’t know. ‘We Volunteer” is ours that we know
Baki Kabhi aur (in Hindi)

Ambi#6

That’s a great planning!!
Before you move ahead, get it registered so that people out there can’t challenge credibility

Ambi#7

It’s gono get BIG!!!!!............
I know for sure!!!
Keep volunteerism…keep initiating

Ambi#8

All the best to new members. Hope they work for We Volunteer as their own organization. Raise it to great heights and have great fun along the way too.

Ambi#9

GuyZZ, atleat this time we have to stress to all that we presented and make sure that the spirits remain uplifted….!!!

Ambi#10

Sugar Cubes!!

Meetha hona zaroori hai kya??

Thinking of formulating something that ensures entry of worthy members into the organization????

Ambi#11

Keep up the Good Work & Your Spirits HIGH

Ambi#12

Concerned about the next generation, who will be taking charge once the existing ones leave.

Ambi#13

O!! Ji koi Fight nahin hai…….it takes time to put things in order. It’s very easy to crib…but I would just restrain and look ahead

Winds of Change

So here we are. After the astounding success of the campaign, “We Volunteer” has lived up to its promise; actually not promise rather the responsibility and duty to show the child beggars the right path of living. The classes for the kids formally kicked off on 4th of May, 2007(Friday). Education is not the only ingredient of the learning process. Rather, the most important things which we people take for granted are certainly missing in these kids. The feeling of brotherhood, team spirit, compassion and an ear for listening, all this is totally missing in their conscience. They have a great inclination to “beat the hell out of the other” on petty issues. Some kids are too violent and coercive. Infact, they just do not know how to settle things with dialogue. A girl named “Taqdeera” is taller than the group and she is just “wild”. But then again, these traits are visible in the privileged children too. To a lesser extent though. Teaching the child beggars the word of discipline is, and will be the most daunting task. Just as any normal kid, they cannot ensconce at one place even for a minute. They keep hopping around from one corner to the other, continuously badgering the “so called teachers” J. Sach mein…dimaag ka dahi banaa dete hainJ
But there is good news too. A few kids have started showing glimpses of inclination towards studies. An iota of improvement and the zeal to learn has been visible for the past two days. With 7 days of sessions the learning curve has still not risen to satisfactory heights for most of the kids. We have taught them counting and English alphabets. But they certainly have problem identifying them. So we have decided to teach them Hindi first and then move towards English. Any other teaching methodology is certainly welcome from anyone who knows about the classes or reads this post. Apart from the lessons, we make them play games like dumb charades, dog and the bone and treasure hunt. The idea is to get some team spirit and sensibility into the group. Dumb charades is a great hit amongst the kids. They are asked to pose or act like a contemporary object like a car, scooter, train, tree etc and the rest have to guess the object. “Dog and the bone” was also like by them. Treasure hunt was not much helpful. Infact they could not understand how to go about it. Anyways, a lot needs to be taught and learnt from them. It is strange that we have to actually go looking for them in the market and gather them to attend the class. But at the end of a 2 hr class, they do not intent to leave us. For the whole session, most of them forget about begging. This is not the case with just the classes. If we sit with them in the market, even at that time they just forget about their begging business and just talk to us or just smile around.

A few words from the volunteers

@Manish

Fisrt things first......i would like to congratulate we volunteer team
for starting their teaching project on a succesful note.
I visited sec 17 centre on May 4, the day when the teaching project was initiated and then i went on May 11,exactly a week later. The changes i could notice were remarkable. Earlier the children were very undisciplined, lacked unity, were abusive, hardly cared for one another. After a week,most of them could be seen playing in teams, in a disciplined manner. I can say for
sure if not all ten atleast half of them have improved a lot. No more abusive words could
be heard, and some like mithun, govinda, vinod and acp were eager to learn too. However
attitude of deepak and taqdira had hardly changed. Little girl Pooja deserves a special
mention as a i found her very keen to learn. she was grasping both alphabets and
numbers quickly. and trust me, govinda can beat hrithik in a dance competition. Another
thing that i observed was that children were not only intersted in learning themselves but
also encouraged the likes of deepak to learn. The signs of team spirit could be
well observed.

@Navnee

i had an experience of a lifetime working with those kids in sector-17....i've been going there since past 1 week or so and have learnt so many things from these kids that sometimes force you to think that despite so many facilities that we've got,we still are unsatisfied...but these kids have nothing with them and still they know how to live life......it was on 5th of may that i met these kids for the first time....i was actually happy with the way these kids welcomed us....all of them just getting up and coming to shake hands....all that they wanted was studying with a bit of masti....not all of them were serious about studies...although just the people like ACP,MITHUN,POOJA,VINOD who are actually interested in learning things....it is fun being there and spending a few hours of the day with them.....it actually gives u a feeling of satisfaction...the classes started on 4th of may and we had to start with the basic stuff like ABC nd then 123 and yea...most importantly the basic etiquettes...what we people noticed was that these kids lacked unity and constantly indulged into quarrels......so we had to think of some games to devise unity among them....games like DUMB CHARADES,DOG AND THE BONE and TREASURE HUNT were the ones which we thought could be helpful....DUMB CHARADES was sooooo much fun.....the kids really liked this one...they were alwayz eager to get there chance to enact something or the other......and to some extent we were successful in acheiving the motive with which the games were played....the quarrels were reduced...although still some elements are there which tend to disturb others as well..!!!during the study sessions we faced some problem in teaching them english i.e. the general ABC so ankush suggested that they should be taught hindi first so that its easy for them to recognize things.......hindi classes wil be started from monday....now let us see what happens..!!!the best part during these classes was wen the children gave their dance performances.....GOVINDA dances so well...!!!!u must c dat..!!!!!!!....dis guy GOVINDA has a totally DON kinds behaviour although hez the youngest of all i guess..!!!!!!! lol..!!!!!another thing which i gotto know was that one of these kids named MITHUN is into gutkha.....i was actually shocked that a guy of his age is into such stuff....it was at that time that we told mithun to stop all this on a condition that we'll get him a chewing gum everyday...and i guess....it was the last time he had gutkha....and now....he gets one chewing gum everyday...!!!!!!all in all....we are successful in what we wanted to some extent...but still a lot more needs to be done...!!!!!!

Great going volunteers!!!!!!


The kids who have been the attending classes are:

Mithun, ACP, Taqdeera, Deepak, Pooja, Savitri, Rahul, Bidiya, Sanjo, Monika, Govinda, Sunny, Vinod, Chottua, Sonu, Pooja(sunny’s sister), Aakash(not a beggar).

Volunteer Teachers

Preet, Kaval, Ankush, Ankita, Navnee, Rohit.

Sincere thanks to Manish, Dr. Vineet, Bikram, Prabhjot for chipping in too.

If anyone has any views, suggestions and better methodologies, please let us know...
Give us ideas through which we can inculcate a sense of team spirit amongst these kids.


We Initiate.....Do You???

Curb the Beggary Industry

Do you provide alms to child beggars?

If your answer is YES to the above question, …Thanks a lot then….you are inadvertently contributing in ruining that child’s future to some extent. Usually people donate money to child beggars out of shear compassion and empathy. But, little do they know that whatever money is being provided to these children is actually rendering them incompetent for the future. Most of these children start begging from a tender age of 4-5 years. Some are school dropouts and just run-away holding their slipping pants if you mention the word “school” while talking to them. For the past two months “We Volunteer” was involved in a research focusing on the child beggars in Chandigarh. We collected statistical data and profiles of these children begging in public places (sector 17 plaza, sector 36, sector 35 and many more). Most of the children who are begging in Chandigarh fall within the age gap of 5-13 yrs. People in Chandigarh are very generous I must say. All thanks to the highest per capita income in India.
Most of these children somewhere around 50-100 bucks per day in cash; apart from the usual food which people buy them. The cash flow follows a structure:

Let’s say a person gives a 10 Rupee note to a child beggar. 50% of that money is wasted into Junk Food (Zero nutrition value) and Cheap Drugs (fluids, tobacco). The other half is either snatched by an elder bully or is offered as a “Hafta.” Then the cycle continues where the money is further put into drugs and gambling. The child beggar seldom gives any money to his parents. And more surprisingly, some of the parents don’t even know that their kids are into begging. So much unregulated money is being fed into this industry that just in the city of Chandigarh; a whooping money mending industry is flourishing under the aegis of your compassion. A one rupee donated as alms to a child beggar is not serving any purpose; rather it is acting like an imprecation on him/her. The motive of “Curb the Beggar Industry Campaign” is to make people aware about the social irresponsibility they are doing by giving money to the beggars. If you really want to help a child then give him/her affection, put an arm around him/her, ask his/her name, get him some clothes to fully cover the body, buy him food to eat, put him into a good school and follow this up….try it on one child….nurture him/her but DO NOT GIVE MONEY.

“Curb The Beggar Industry” campaign kicked of at Sector -17 Plaza on 26th April (Saturday). It was signature drive where people had to pledge and sign then they would not provide money to the child beggars. As usual the Saturday fever was slowly beginning to sizzle with the backdrop of the sun slowly settling down. The campaign started at 3 PM and continued till 8 PM. Every volunteer was briefed before the campaign started.

Volunteers Present: Preet, Kaval, Prashant, Ankush, Rajeev, Richa, Aurodeepa, Shyam

With the campaign banner in place, the volunteers moved around the shopping centre stopping the Saturday revelers and telling them about the facts and findings of the research we carried. Some listened carefully and very cooperatively signed the sheet. Some did not care to stop and listen to the talk…”Time nahin hai”…..huh!
Meanwhile, there were a few who carefully listened to the briefing but did not affix their signatures. A total of 450 people signed at the end of the first day…Not bad!

The second day at sector 17 turned out to be more effective.
Some of the people had read the press coverage of the previous day, so they were a little aware about the drive. The drive started at virtually the same time and continued till 8:30 PM.

Volunteers Present: Preet, Kaval, Ankush, Richa, Raj, Abhishek, Sudheesh, Vrinda, Simran.

By the end of the day, another 680 people signed. Not bad at all!!...

The drive continues in schools and colleges all through the week.

Meanwhile, today we are going to start classes for some beggars to raise their knowledge to some level before putting them into a school.

*Special thanks to the guys who volunteered to help us in the drive at the plaza.

We Initiate.....Do You????

Health Checkup Camp............Healthy India, Stronger India

Look to your health; and if you have it, praise God, and value it next to a good conscience; for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of; a blessing that money cannot buy.

Slowly and steadily, the Guardian of Angels project is moving at it’s pace with some more volunteers adopting the little angels; Raj Kishore, Rajeev and Shikha to name the new guardians in the project.

We Volunteer held a “Health Checkup Camp” for the little angels today at our Office.
The kids present at the camp were Najakat Ali, Abdul, Muskan, Shabnam (younger), Rubeena, Sapna, Shamsher Ali, Chanda, Sabeena, Neena, Shabnam(elder), Sher khan:)

There were more kids expected from an another sector but due to some unavoidable reasons, they could not accompany us to the office for the camp.
Anyways, alls well that goes well and ends well………as much clichéd as it seems :)

The kids were ferried to the office at around 10:00 AM. Meanwhile, Dr. Vineet, who was supposed to examine the kids, was already ensconced in the office….accompanied by a make-shift nurse (Kaval) :)

The kids were let loose in the park at a stones throw from our office. It is an amazing phenomenon that wherever the kids see a park with some swings and sea-saw, they go berserk. And to no surprise, the same happened here aswell. Most of them climbing from all sides upon the sea-saw; some on the seats, some on the bars, and the very little ones hanging in mid air clinging to the bars. The Sea-Saw looked more like branch of a tree with birds chirping over it. Abdul, as always, was smiling all the way - hopping from one place to another. Dr. Vineet called the children one by one into the office for the health examination. Meanwhile, we played a few games with the children. I don’t know how to translate the names of those games into English. But I’ll tell you what we played and you can make out yourself. Game I – all the children were made to sit in a big circle and one of the players has to go around the circumference of the circle and drop the handkerchief behind a sitting player and that player has to get up, carry the cloth and catch the previous player while he/she is still running. If the previous player sits, the second player has to perform the same thing. GAME II – Dog and the bone….if you understand this then fine enough….else forget it…I am bored explaining so meticulously :)

Everybody had a gala time in the field, with the volunteers joining that circle wali game aswell. By noon all the kids were examined by the doctor and were prescribed some medicines. None of them had any grave health problem. Just the usual calcium ki kamii and lack of vitamins….I bet all the volunteers have the same:).

Only the little Chanda had some chest problem…was referred an X-Ray………
Guardian..Please note

One funny thing happened……:)
We had distributed them biscuits just before the Health Examination was about to start. So when the first kid went to Dr. Vineet, he asked the kid to open his mouth to do some oral checkup.
Dr. – Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa karoooo
Kid – aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaa…..and all the biscuits he was eating earlier was still in his mouth………….

Later the kids were given sugarcane juice and bananas. The event went pretty well..and without any interruption. After the event, Preet presided over a meeting with volunteers for some feedbacks and updates over the We Volunteer.

Nice cute event I would say:)

Volunteers at the Event:
Preet, Karan,Kaval,Ankush,Raj Kishore, Rajeev, Sudheesh, Kanupriya, William, Ravi(first timer)

Sincere thanks to Dr. Vineet

We Initiate..............Do You????

Mellifluent Symphony…….Provoked

Mera Bacha Sabse Acha (Guardian of the little angels) project is very well into its first phase with some positive signs from both, volunteers and the angels. The project found its way into this week with the distribution of clothes to the Angels by their respective Guardians. (All thanks to Preet for the clothes)

Meanwhile, Rajdeep and Bikram also got involved into the project picking up two kids.
Rajdeep-Sher Khan
Bikram - Sapna

As decided in a meeting, every weekend event would be planned around the kids in the “Guardian of Angels” project. The first event according to this plan was held yesterday at the Lake Sukhna in Chadigarh. To be true, this event was first of so many things.
It was our first outing with the kids in the new project. It was their first visit to the lake in the city. It was the first day that we had a confrontation with a cop and finally it was the first time when I felt that our RIGHTS are slaves to the whims of the police.

The day (Saturday) started when I and Preet set off from our houses at 10:30 in the morning to inform the kids about the evening event. After informing the kids in sector 35(the family which lives in a sewerage pipe), we moved to sector 36 market where Rakesh and company are usually found. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait or were not ditched as on some earlier occasions. They were busy in their so called mundane activities in the market. Some more facts came into light about them at that time. A new kid had arrived on the scene to join the flock. Name – Arjun, brother of Bheem and Nakul(twins and very innocent). Arjun, Sonu and Manoj(Panda) are bullies who snatch money from other beggars and also from the children who roam around collecting money on the name of “Shanii Dev.” Amazingly, we stopped some such kids and asked them whether they knew the meaning of the oil they carry every Saturday. Our guess was right. None of them knew what it really means. They just set out every Saturday morning, extend that container of oil infront of the passersby and people, all thanks to superstition, drop a coin into it. Anyways, on Saturday the three elder kids were more aggressive towards the little ones (Rakesh and Nakul). Shoving and abusing them even infront of us. We segregated the younger kids from the three and I gave a few sermons to Rakesh and Nakul. Meanwhile, Preet tried calling up the Child Helpline for Arjun, Manoj and Sonu. But they all ran away from the spot. We talked for some more time to Rakesh and Nakul. We told them to meet us in the evening and accompany us to the lake. Rakesh had been to the lake with me earlier aswell. They hopped on our bikes and we went to their homes to talk to their parents and take their permission. Nakul’s father is a rickshaw puller and incidentally we met him on the way to their homes. We asked him whether he knew about his kids begging in the market places. He said that he himself was fed-up with them. But we told him that they are just kids and need special attention. We also assured him that from now onwards we are going to take care of the needs of his children. He asked us to talk to their mother. So we moved towards their habitat. It was a typical jhuggi settlement, with filth and dirt everywhere. But we could not talk to anyone. No one was home. Anyways, we just told them that we will come back in the evening and take them to the lake.

Then we spent of couple of hours in the office and finally returned home to gear up for the evening.

Act II - The Event @ Lake

The kids from sector 35 hopped on an Auto-Rickshaw with Preet. Me and Karan geared our bikes, with Rakesh pillion to Karan. We reached Sukhna Lake in some time and re-united with the other children and Preet.
Meanwhile,Shyam,Sudheesh,Bikram,Rajdeep and Kaval poured in one by one.
So the event started pretty well, with the kids brimming with enthusiasm and excitement, just like the majestic Sukhna. We gave them some pop-corns to eat. Preet’s kid Abdul had invented a new pronunciation of Preet’s name – “puhlees” or “police” :)

The fun had just started with the kids enjoying the ducks, the boats, the crowd, the evening and with the volunteers. a gentleman asked us about our organization and also donated a sum of rupees 500 for the cause. We all were having good time and even the crowd moving along were pretty happy that we were doing a good job.
But as they say, you need one “Asshole” to ruin the show. Same happened here. A policeman accosted us started question us and about the kids. I will not go into details, because I just don’t feel like talking about it and this is the reason due to which this post is one day late. You can well imagine what could have happened with the due course of the events. All hue and cry was just coz of one damn illogic from his part. Anyways, we just decided to move away from the spot to a different place to have some solace. We sat there for some more time. clicked a few snaps, had some juice and signed off the day

But I just want to say one thing,

Had the kids been in Nike T-shirts, Pepe jeans and Reebok shoes, nothing would have happened. And we thought, sitting infront of the TV sets, that there are equal rights, irrespective of cast, creed, color and status.
Anyways, we are not perturbed. We have initiated and we will make a change.

Volunteers at the event: Preet,Kaval,Karan,Shyam,Sudheesh,Bikram,Rajdeep,Ankush,Shikha
Angels: Abdul,Muskan,Shamsher Ali,Rakesh,Sapna,Rajeeb,Sher Khan, Mohobbat

"parindon ko milegi manzil ek din....yeh faile hue unke pankh bolte hain. Wohi log rehte hain khamosh aksar, duniya mein jinke hunar bolte hain"


We Initiate...........Do You?????

Mera Bachaa Sabse Acha! ( Guardian of the little Angels)

Confused over the topic??
Ok I’ll explain.
The We Volunteers have contrived a new strategy into the organization where each volunteer will be adopting a slum kid/beggar under the name
“Mera Bachcha Sabse Acha:)” or “Guardian of the little Angels.”

The key aim of this methodology is to be more target-oriented and accountable towards the cardinal objective of “We Volunteer.” Every volunteer will take care of the basic needs of the kid assigned to him/her. The basic needs could be clothing, education, nutrition, health care and recreation. The We Volunteers will still be working as a cohesive unit but with this methodology in place, the progress would be defined in individuals rather than in groups. The impetus for this new approach is that every kid has different interests and attitude. Thus, dealing with them in groups will make some children neglected. Moreover, the volunteer will have a clear understanding of his job and duties. The finance for this project will be borne by the “We Volunteer” inhouse treasury. So volunteers find your kid and start the process of individual change.

The Start

A meeting of the Beggar Rescue Team was held yesterday to implement the concept.
Volunteers Present: Preet, Ankush, Karan, Kaval, Shyam, Sudheesh and Akashdeep.

As the discussions over the “Mera Bhachcha Sabse Acha” methodology went forward, we all decided to start the project right away. The question was, Where to start from? The first answer that came to mind was to initiate with that family living in a sewerage pipe at the Piccadilly crossing in sector 35. We all made a beeline to that so called home of that family. Reaching there we all saw the same dismal conditions in which the kids and their parents were living, eating, sleeping and playing(meanwhile, Akashdeep had to leave for some urgent work). The kids met us with same enthusiasm and affection. It is very funny that everytime we meet them, we have to tell our names again and again. They don’t seem to remember for some unknown reasons, Preet had some tough and hilarious time making his adopted kid remember his name :) I’ll come back to this episode a few lines later.

We talked to a lady who was the mother of two kids in that group of 15. She was willing to let her children take up school, but due to lack of money and income she could not make arrangements of their education. All the kids in the group collect garbage from house and shops. Yes! Garbage…at the sight of which we just shut all out senses….and these little kids make their living from it and also stay in its vicinity. Meanwhile, there was one more family which had come from Ahemedabad, Gujarat to make some living. They had some land to till back home but just to make more bucks, they travel to Chandigarh to sell and buy articles to resell them at their place. They had three kids.

The most interesting thing that we got to know was that the adults had voting cards issued on their names. Amazing isn’t it. The politicians are concerned about their voting rights but none so ever about the other most important right. The right to education and the right to live a healthy life and eat three end meals. Now you’ll argue that people like these go for voting just to make some money being offered as the lure by the politicians. But why shouldn’t they? If an IIM graduate can drop a National Company’s offer to join a firm in London because of more moolah, if the government servants take kickbacks in most of the development works in the country, why can’t these people think about in terms of money?

Anyways, we all decided to pick one kid each and start over with the project. The following is the first list of Guardians and their Angels.
Preet – Abdul and Muskan
Kaval – Neena
Ankush – Sabeena
Shyam – Rajeeb
Karan - Shamsher Ali
Sudheesh-Mohabbat:)

All the volunteers will take care of the needs of their respective kids from now on.
With each volunteer taking up his/her kid, the process of making these kids remember our names began.

Sudheesh and Shyam were the lucky ones since the kids who were assigned to them were elder as compared to the others in the lot. So they could recall the names easily.
As every other volunteer tried to make the kid remember his/her name, some funny incidents came into light. I’ll start with Preet:) his kid Abdul made different noises while uttering Preet’s name. This name evolution of Preet continued till the very last moment.
Preet – Apkaa naam kya hai?
Kid – Abdul
Preet – Mera naam Preet hai.
Preet – mera naam batao abb?
Abdul – naaaaaam
Preet – arre mera naaam bolo
Abdul – mera naaam
Preet – tumhara naam abdul hai, mera naam kya hai bolo?
Abdul – Mera naaam,,,lolz
Preet bhi kartoos…uska kid usss se bhi badaa kaartoos…lol….he was just repeating what Preet uttered:)
Me- tell him your middle name..may be he can remember that.
Preet – Acha mera naam Arjun bhi hai…Bolo Arjun….
Abdul – ashfoooooshshshshs…(this was the most hilarious)

The same happned to other kids. Though they didn’t murder our names like Preet’s kid did.
But, they had difficulty in remembering our names. It could be due to that fact that they are not used to names like ours. And this is the reason that the name of the Mascot of our organization is “Chottu”, which complies with the understanding level of the slum kids and beggars.

We talked to the few adults of the family standing there; meanwhile, Kaval played a few games with the kids.

As Preet says, if every rich takes care of every poor, there will be no poor.
So we signed of the day with some thinking to do.

All those who read this post, please take a look around and take up some initiative. For those who are in Chandigarh, we are always looking for motivated and compassionate people to join in with us. It’s not difficult…..just needs time..
If you have any suggestions, views, ideas or comments………do reply through comment posting/email/phone call/meet in person.

We can and we will…

We Initiate………….Do You??