Highlights of May – June, 2008
Udayan Care is a Public Charitable Trust, working for the last 14 years,
for the quality care of disadvantaged children and women. The vision is
to �Regenerate the rhythm of life of the disadvantaged�.
*
Mr. Suresh Neotia, our long time associate and Ms. Meera
Sawhney, our Board Member were requested to join us as our Trustees.
Both of them gracefully agreed to the same. We thank them for accepting
our request.
* Credibility Alliance has given Udayan Care accreditation for
compliance to Credibility Alliance�s �desirable norms�.
*
One of our Alumni, Ms. Swasthi Udayan left her cushy career in
Hospitality and decided to work for the cause of orphaned and abandoned
children. She joined us as Executive Assistant in the month of May,
2008.
Our New Abode!
Udayan Care now resides permanently at 16/97 A, First Floor, Vikram
Vihar, Lajpat Nagar- IV, New Delhi. Shri Gobind Deoji Trust and Mr.
Suresh Neotia, our Trustee, very kindly gifted us this premises and
sponsored its entire furnishing and d�cor. We just cannot thank them
enough.
UDAYAN GHAR PROGRAMME :
Dreams turn real!
A joint effort of Singapore Airlines and Singapore Tourism Board made it
possible for our children to realize their dreams of traveling abroad.
11 children from our 3 girls� homes received an opportunity to visit
Singapore between 9th and 12th of May, 2008 alongwith their Programme
Coordinators. The entire expense of travel, boarding, lodging and also
of visiting places was taken care of by them. Not only this, they also
took care of a medical emergency wherein, one of our girls had to be
taken to a Doctor as she suddenly became unwell.
At Singapore, the children were taken on a Night Safari and then to the
zoological park to have breakfast with Orangutans. On a trip to Santosa
Island, they enjoyed Luge, Cable Ride, Dolphin show, 4D Animation Show,
Underwater World and what not.
Shopping rides to Boogie�s Village, Mustafa Shopping Center and China
Town and delectable cuisine formed a part of the schedule.
Shows such as �Songs of the Seas�, Bird Shows and Animal Shows tugged at
their heartstrings as the children kept talking about them for days.
A certificate was presented by the Captain of the Flight in which the
children traveled, which marked the beginning of wonderful and memorable
moments ahead.
Skirmished Summers!
One-week camp was organized between 25th and 31st May, for the children
at our Greater Noida Home. All children from all our homes participated
in the Camp and enjoyed learning new skills. A range of articles such as
scented sand candles, decorative glasses, rag dolls, bead jewellery and
coasters were developed by the children for the purpose of fundraising.
The fund raising team led by Ms. Isabel Sahni, one our mentor mothers
organized this �learning through fun� activity.
Another volunteer, Martin Honel taught the children how to create
Balloon lamps, Pom-poms and sceneries, handprints, paperweights made of
clay.
Besides these creative workshops, children also participated in debate,
extempore, essay writing and poster making competitions. Mr. Daman Dev
Sood, another volunteer conducted a workshop on Possibility
Thinking.Prizes were given away to the children who came out with best
looking products. Besides these, Mani Sharma Awards were also given to
the children for best academic performance. Mrs. Sharma has launched
this award in the memory of her son Mani Sharma. This monetary award is
given away to our children every year.
The Camp wound up with an evening full of cultural programme and prize
distribution followed by a joint celebration of Birthdays of all
children born in the month of May.
In Feature !
An enchanting article on our Alumni, Ms. Swasthi Udayan and her life at
Udayan Care Home featured in �andpersand� magazine in the month of May,
2008. Extensive details of our organization also found many interested
readers.
Corporate Collaborate !
As a part of Corporate Mentoring Programme, Xansa India invited all our
girls from Greater Noida home for lunch at their office on the 6th of
June. A video conferencing was organized between our children and the
CSR Chief, Ms. Gayatri Mohan, who was in Chennai at that time and wanted
to talk to our girls. Discussions on global warming followed games and
the children spent a good time learning new things.
American Express organized training for our 17 children on Personal
Effectiveness at their office in Gurgaon on the 7th of June. This was a
full day training packed with activities such as personality grooming,
table manners and professional etiquettes, dressing sense, time
management and team building. Certificates of participation were
presented to the children.
Volunteers from Google organized an event on environmental issues at two
of our homes; Greater Noida and Mehrauli on the 18th and 19th of June
respectively. Children from rest of the homes joined too.
Essay writing and Poster making competitions were organized and the
children were briefed on various environmental issues such as �Global
Warming� and �Green House Effect�.
The team performed a very interesting skit on saving trees and made
presentations on effects of pollution and on saving the environment.
Oriental Zaika, a restaurant in Neeti Bagh invited our children from
Greater Noida Home for lunch on 26th June 2008. Its owner, Ms. Rekha
Vohra Bhalla sponsored this event. Children enjoyed Chinese cuisine,
which was different from their regular menu.
Adidas continued with its efforts to make �sportsmen� out of our
children. As a part of their intervention, the Adidas team took children
of Gurgaon Home to watch live cricket match at Firozshah Kotla.
NGO Collaborate !
Youthreach continued to support our children by providing them with
tennis coaching. Mr. Jaideep and Mr. Naresh coached our children at
Panchsheel Club. Also, dance classes were held under the skillful
guidance of Mr. Feroze from Ashley Lobo group. Family Vision, another
non-profit organization visited our Sant Nagar Home and showed CDs and
DVDs based on Value based Education to our children. Later, they
presented us with 4 suitcases full of such CDs to be distributed to our
other homes. This effort was made in collaboration with Oriental Bank of
Commerce who organized funds for dissemination of CDs.
National & International Camaraderie !
Four students from Bluebells International School, New Delhi started
teaching our girls at Sant Nagar while some students from Modern School
joined us to complete their 50 hours of Social Work. A talented bunch of
research students from Punjab University, Allahabad Agricultural
Institute (Deemed University), Lady Sri Ram College and University of
Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun joined us in carrying out various
researches. Thus, all our homes received opportunities of meaningful
interaction with a number of volunteers from Delhi and outside.
Kristen Benson from Australia, Nikki Hartley, Jyothish Krishnan, Sonya
Nanda, Adrien Lane, Dave Prager, Jenny Steeves, Katherine Rollins and
Caitlin E Mason a biologist from USA, Steve Pearson and Jesse
George-Nichol from Princeton University, USA Keren Williams and Danielle
Laograo from UK and Hannah Behrendt from Germany volunteered with us at
our various homes
Our Scorebooks !
Six of our children who appeared in Boards this year passed out with
flying colours. Pinki, Ruchi (Greater Noida Home) and Kiran (Sant Nagar
Home) passed out class XII with 80%, 72% and 60% marks respectively
while Neelam (Greater Noida Home), Jyoti (Mehrauli Home) and Sachin
(Mayur Vihar Home) passed class X with 75%, 68% and 59% marks
respectively.
11 children scored above 90% marks while another 11 scored above 80% in
their classes. 4 girls and 3 boys received A+ grades in Primary section.
Building Capacities !
*
Participated in a training programme on �Utilization of
Volunteers�, organized by Joining Hands and conducted by Dr. Ajanta
Chakravarty.
*
15 children from 4 homes participated in a programme �GENext�,
that was organized by Doordarshan on the issue of �Drug Abuse and
Youth�.
*
Were a part of National Convention on Child Rights, organized by
Open Forum at National Bal Bhawan.
*
As a part of our capacity building programme, two interns from
Punjab University did a Research study on �Essence of Relationships in
Institutionalised Children�.
*
Attention- seeking Behaviour and Reinforcements were a few
issues taken up under our Para Counseling Workshop during these two
months. Our Mental Health Programme continues to be supported by Home of
Hope.
UDAYAN SHALINI FELLOWSHIP :
Bonding Anew !
The first residential camp of the year was held at Jagshanti Udayan
Care, Greater Noida from 15th June to 21st June 08. Besides a series of
workshops held on �Leadership qualities�, debates on various social
issues, quiz competitions and essay writings enriched the girls. They
also received a chance of going to a nearby village for a survey and
imparted information on the importance of Computer education in life.
Ms. Priyanka from Breakthrough, an organization working on the rights of
women, took a session on �Domestic Violence� with our girls. The Fellows
also attended a comprehensive workshop on leadership by Mr. Vikram Dutt,
our honoraray Advisor, Core Committee Member and Mentor.
Scaling Newer Heights !
The USF Programme has spread its wings to two more places; Dehradun in
Uttarakhand and Aurangabad in Maharashtra. A Core Committee has been set
up in Dehradun and our workstation is in place now. Mr. M.P.Mittal has
agreed to be our convenor for Dehradun chapter. Efforts have been
initiated for inducting 200 Fellows at our Dehradun chapter, which is
being supported by Kusuma Foundation. As a result of our successful
communication with the Ministry, various government institutions have
been directed to provide all necessary assistance to us for making this
programme a success.
At Aurangabad, the Committee has been formed by a group of devoted and
dedicated ladies who have taken up this challenge. Ms. Monika Dass has
very gracefully agreed to be our Convenor there. 8 girls have already
appeared for our induction test �NAT�.
Donors Assist !
Besides helping us with funds, the Bharti Foundation has this time gone
a step further and identified for us a few more dedicated souls who
shall be mentors to our Bharti Udayan Shalini Fellows. We were able to
organize an initial meeting of these Mentors with our girls on 14th
June.
Grouped together!
Three small group workshops were conducted on issues such as �Choice of
Career and Courses, Leadership etc. during this period.
Kurukshetra activated !
The first quarterly workshop and cheque distribution for the year
2008-09 was conducted on 9th May 08, for our Fellows at Kurukshetra. Dr.
Kiran Modi, Mr. Vikram Dutt, and the Senior Programme coordinators
visited Kurukshetra University where Mrs Usha Bajpai the wife of the
hon�ble vice chancellor of Kurukshetra University graced the occasion.
The theme of this workshop was �Developing Effective Communication
Skills�.
UDAYAN OUTREACH PROGRAMME :
Putting Life in Rhythm !
Workshop on �Rhythm of life of the HIV+ve� was conducted wherein a
discussion was held with an aim to develop a desire amongst the HIV+ve
to lead a quality life. Time Management was another topic on which
discussions were held with them.
With an aim to develop confidence and a feeling of trust in the children
of the HIV+ve people, workshops were held with them. Over 64 children
affected by HIV participated in these workshops.
We Embrace!
Home visits were conducted not only to assess the health and financial
status of the HIV affected but also to make them feel a part of the
society. It was found that people in general estranged such families and
avoided any contact with them. Our visit to their homes not only brings
joy to the families but also helps in transforming the prejudiced
society.
Efforts succeed !
Our efforts to motivate children of HIV+ve parents resulted in 3
children (2 girls and 1 boy) passing out Class X with very good
percentage.
UDAYAN CARE COMPUTER TRAINING AND LEARNING CENTRES:
150 new students were enrolled at our Centers while 51 certificates (30
at Dharuhera, 11 at Badarpur and 10 at Gurgaon center) were awarded to
the passing out students.
Mass Awakening !
A publicity campaign was conducted on 28th and 29th May, 2008 in the
Badarpur area by the students and faculties of Kisawarna Udayan Care
Computer Learning Center. The purpose of the campaign was to make people
aware of computer education and its importance.
On 19th June, our Survey Team consisted of Fellows from our USF Program
who approached around 100 people in Sakipur village, Greater Noida and
gave them information about our Udayan Care computer Training & Learning
Center, Microsoft certification of the courses provided by the center
and other facilities. As a result, lots of queries were generated which
were deftly handled by the Coordinators.
Match �Mobilizing� !
Cricket being the most popular game in India, there could have been no
other medium to mobilize the local population and make them aware about
the importance of learning computer. With this idea in mind a cricket
match was organized to mobilize the community and get them interested in
computer learning, in Dharuhera Center on 31st May.
FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES :
Draped for Udayan Care !
Andpersand Magazine, India’s leading luxury lifestyle magazine hosted a
party on 8th May at Kuki, GK II to raise funds for Udayan Care. The
evening was highlighted by an auction of a one-of-a-kind haute couture
creation by Gauri and Nainika Karan. One of these creations was
purchased by Mr. Naveen Talwar, our long time donor and associate.
Besides the auction, the party also saw an exhibition of paintings by
India’s leading painters to raise funds for Udayan Care.
Young inventors !
A plethora of articles were designed by our children during their Summer
Camp this year. Under the skillful guidance of Ms. Isabel Sahni, Ms.
Julie Lantry, Sukhmani, Shipra Harshita and Swasthi children from all 7
homes joined hands in creating beautiful articles such as scented sand
candles, decorative glasses, rag dolls, bead jewellery and coasters.
The Design Team was sad to bid farewell to Inger Alsted, who has
returned to Denmark. We will remember her every time we look at our 2009
calendar, which she designed. We acknowledge, with grateful thanks, the
help given to us by Mr. Dinesh Joshi in finalising the details of the
calendar
The team has been busy developing products to show to Indian companies.
It is hoped that Udayan Care will be able to procure orders and create a
new source of fund-raising. Julie Lantry, a leading member of the Design
Lab will be returning to Australia in July and we are very grateful to
her for all her help. She will be representing Udayan Care at the
Melbourne Trade Fair. We have high hopes of not only achieving good
orders but also of increasing the visibility of Udayan Care. We look
forward to welcoming Julie back towards the end of this year.
In the coming weeks we will be approaching corporates with samples of
our products and would be grateful for any assistance in this effort.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS :
* In the forthcoming months, we plan to do a series of events
ranging from music concerts to fashion shows.
* A new Udayan Care home is coming up in Kurukshetra, courtesy
Yaakov�s Light and Home of Hope.
Head Office, Udayan Care
16/97 A, 1st Floor, Vikram Vihar, Lajpat Nagar-IV, New Delhi-110024,
Tel.: 011-29840151/32603837, Telefax: 011-29840151
For further details, visit us: www.udayancare.org
e-mail us at: udayancare@gmail.com, ucare@udayancare.org
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