AF-Mysore launched the much awaited HALLI SUMMER CAMP on 24th April 2010 at the BNSS High School, Hadinaaru Village, Nanjangud taluk, Mysore. The Principal and the staff of the school were highly supportive and helped the volunteers. It was learnt during one of the pre-camp interactions that the children had never attended a summer camp before. This set the expectations high. The children were informed of the activities that would be conducted as a part of the camp and the tentative schedule.
The camp kick started with an introductory speech from Mr. B. Mahadevappa, principal of the school. He welcomes the volunteers and appreciated their intentions and efforts in sharing knowledge and spreading joy amongst the children of their school.
The programme schedule for the first weekend was as given below,
A total of 54 children attended the camp on the first two days. Going by the response and the enthusiasm, one was sure that more would be joining in the coming weeks.
The AF-Mysore team is in need of monetary funds to keep the Summer Camp going for the subsequent weeks. Please write to info.mys@aashayeinfoundation.org to know how you can contribute.
The volunteers of AF-Mysore visited 'Ashadayaka Trust' as a part of their '12th Sunday Breakfast Serving' activity on 18th April 2010. It was the second visit to the place from the team (Earlier Visit).
The volunteers reached the venue at 8.30AM and the children were taking up poems and singing lessons from a teacher who visits the facility every Sunday mornings. After the singing classes, it was time for the breakast. the kids were served with Idli-vada and sambhar. They were also given badam milk to drink.
After the breakfast session the group resorted to the 'paint the balloon' game. The challenge was to dip a needle-tip in water paint and paint a face on the a balloon. The children took turns to paint the balloon. Every bursted balloon was cheered by the group.
Those who managed to paint the balloon withou bursting it were declared winners and given chocolates as prizes. While the game was in progress, some of the voluteers made some time to discuss and finalize the plans for the upcoming ambitious "Halli Summer Camp" from AF-Mysore at Hadinaaru Village, Nanjangud Taluk, Mysore.
The members and the followers of the community would know that the AF-Mysore is conducting a summer camp for the kids at HADINAARU - a village 25 kms away from Mysore. One of the members - Akhilesh pens down the events leading up to the endeavor. (Read the Story)
ps: Coming Soon - The detailed schedule of the summer camp.
The volunteers visited the ‘Home for special Children’ of Anugraha Trust as a part of their 11th SBS on 11th April 2010. The trust is run by a committee of 7 trustees and has office in Chennai and Bangalore apart from the one in Mysore. A child with disability is considered a liability and more often as a shame. The situation aggravates if the child belongs to a poor family. Under such conditions people around fail to understand that this child too has a heart to feel, a brain to think and a desire to lead a normal life. The trust believes that such children require constant attention, love, reassurance and affirmations of hope so that they can rise above their impairment.
The volunteers caught up with Smt. Vanajakshi, Founder Trustee to know more about their endeavors. She is staying in the premises where the children are taken care of and has dedicated her full time to the good cause. She is involved personally in the Trust activities and attends to the children on a day to day basis. She informed that they have children with about 20% mental retardation (MR) to those with 80% MR. “These children need special care and constant monitoring. It takes years of care, mentoring and medical assistance to see improvement in such cases. There are been instances where in we’ve been able to keep the MR under check”, said Smt. Vanajakshi. She further added that two teachers trained in special training visit the facility every day. There were also two physiotherapists who frequented the ‘Home for special Children’.
The facility is maintained with 5 caretakers apart from the supervision of the trustees. Mr. Dinakar Surve, Trustee was also present during the occasion. He mentioned that the government has appointed a doctor who will visit the facility once a fortnight for the routine checkups. Apart from the routine checkups, he is also available in cases of emergencies. It was learnt that these children usually do not have any physically disability from birth. It is because of their inability to exercise control over their hands and legs (due to MR) that the limbs go weak, hence making physiotherapy essential along with the regular treatment. Mr. Dinakar informed the volunteers that it would cost up to Rs. 1,500 per person every month towards the medical expenses alone. Some of the general medicine is given free by the government but many others have to be brought.
The children arrived at around 9AM for their breakfast. They prayed to the almighty before the volunteers served them with Idli-Vada and badam milk.
The inmates comprised of children of varying age and levels of MR. The most touching moment of the day was witnessing the more capable of the children helping others in their daily chores. Those children with more control over their MR helped others in eating their breakfast and also in washing their hands. The volunteers were told that some of them even regularly wash their clothes and were reaching a stage when they could be almost considered normal.
The volunteers then handed a balloon each to the inmates and bid farewell. More smiles to be spread, more hopes to be nurtured… The Aashayein Caravan shall go on…
Volunteers of the AF-Mysore visited the Odanadi Seva Samstheon the 4th of April 2010 for the weekly SBS activity. The SBS is an endeavor to reach out to the underprivileged sections of the society and especially the children. The members of AF-Mysore visit one facility every Sunday to understand and appreciate the effort towards child rehabilitation.
Odanadi is one of the most well known institutions of Mysore that is working for the rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of trafficked women and children. One learnt that 200 women/girls enter prostitution every day in India alone and 80% of them end up as victims of trafficking. Registered in 1991, the Samsthe has rescued over 1800 girls in and around the state of Karnataka. The organization based in Mysore, has spread its wings as far as the United Kingdom. One can follow their activities in the UK from the website - http://www.odanadi-uk.org/. Coincidently, the two directors of Odanadi Samsthe were recently accorded a reception at the House of Lords at Westminister in London in recognition of their work (read more).
During the visit, the volunteers got to interact with the man himself – Mr. Parashuram, director of the foundation. He said that “Rescue operations is just one half of the mission; their rehabilitation forming the more significant half”. He further added that, “After being rescued, the girls will be provided with counseling and non-formal teaching. The counseling part aims to instill self confidence among the girls and motivate them to take up studies. The non-formal training includes awareness towards the society and imparting essential life skills. This process can take up to 4-5 years depending on the case. After this phase, the girls will be put on the track of formal education. It was learnt that the Odanadi Samsthe had helped as many as 480 girls in getting a graduate degree since its inception. The Samsthe also has the credit of conducting marriages in it’s own premises. There have been over 50 such instances so far.
Speaking of the future plans, Mr. Parashuram informed that the Samsthe had adopted about 100 villages that were isolated and inaccessible to the civic amenities. He said that an attempt is being made to impart general health related awareness and sex education among these villages. He encouraged the volunteers to come and visit one of their camps at these locations.
The volunteers reached the venue at 8.30 AM. The facility was clean and extremely hygienic. The girls were taking classes in Karate on the Sunday morning. It was later learnt that the Samsthe organizes experts to train the girls on various fields of relevance and interest. Some other popular activities were learnt to be Art and Yoga. Children soon assembled for the breakfast. They offered prayers to the almighty. The volunteers then served them with idli-vada and badam milk.
After the breakfast, the volunteers and the girls assembled at the activity room of the Samsthe. The walls of the hall were decorated with paintings and postures of Yoga-Asanas. The day also happened to be the birthday of Kuldeep, one of the active volunteer of AF-Mysore. He celebrated the occasion by cutting the cake with the children.
The volunteers then wished the caretakers of facility the very best in their endeavors. They bid farewell to the girls with the promise to visit them again soon. More smiles to be spread, more hopes to be nurtured… The Aashayein Caravan shall go on…
The volunteers of AF-Mysore visited the ‘St. Philomena’s Little Boys Home’ located on the Ashoka Road as a part of the 9th Sunday Breakfast Serving (SBS) activity on 28th March 2010. The children’s home is situated within the campus of the St. Philomena’s church – a popular landmark and tourist spot of Mysore.
The volunteers assembled at the venue at 8.30AM but had to wait till the kids returned from the Sunday prayers. As 28th of March 2010 happened to be the Palm Sunday, the prayers took a while than usual. Palm Sunday is usually marked by the distribution of palm leaves (often tied into crosses) to the assembled worshipers at the churches. While the children were busy attending the special prayers, the volunteers caught up with the caretakers of the institution.
It was learnt that Sister Hildegard and sister Jecintha would take care of the kids. Sister Hildegard informed the volunteers that the children at the home came from various backgrounds. Some of them were brought to the facility by their parents requesting the church authorities to provide the child a decent education. Many orphans get referred by various authorities operating in and around Mysore. When asked about the most challenging part of the job, Sister Hildegard said, “Most of the children of the facility are going through the transition from a life full of innocence towards realizing the realities of the society around them. It is in this phase of their lives we need to play the role of a teacher, a friend and most importantly a mentor. The real challenge is being all of them at once.”
The rooms were spic and span and the children’s home as such was located in the ambient campus of the St. Philomena’s church. It was understood that the facility was residential in nature. The beds were arranged nicely in a wide hall.
Soon the children came back from the prayers with their crosses made of coconut leaves and it was breakfast time. They spread the mats and occupied seats alongside their buddies.
The children folded their hands and prayed to the almighty. They thanked Jesus for the meal, shelter and companionship they were bestowed with. They also invoked his blessings to the Aashayein team and wished them well for all their future endeavors. Sister Hildegard and sister Jecintha led the children in their prayers.
The children were served Idli’s and Vada. They were then served with Badam milk too. After the breakfast it was time for some fun. It almost amazing the amount of happiness, joy and fun a dozen of balloons can accomplish. The children were led to a game of balloon blowing. A lesson or two was imparted on subjects of general interest like history of the nation, scientific inventions etc.
In the end, chocolates were distributed to the children and the group posed for a group photo before dispersing. More children to be reached out to… More smiles to be spread... The Aashayein caravan will go on…
