Enrolment Drive - Bandra Public Action Group

CRY works in a very organized and structured manner with its group of volunteers who are highly determined and passionate about creating a positive impact in the society through their activities. 

Last few days were full of activities for the Bandra PAG. They put up a fabulous effort of creating awareness about child rights. It started with a formal survey done in one of the communities in suburban Mumbai. The intention of the survey was to understand the level of awareness and prevailing conditions related to child education. The analysis suggested that nearly 20 percent of students dropped out of their schools due to various reasons. One of the reasons was lack of knowledge about child education in general and its importance in developing a child’s personality among parents. Also, many parents had no cognizance of school admissions and hence, found it difficult to get their children enrolled in schools. This is where CRY stood up and played an instrumental role.

CRY volunteers worked hard to make posters with appropriate quotes. These posters were pasted at various places in and around the community. These posters are expected to make a significant impact when people living in the community would read it, understand it and take some action in promoting the cause of child rights. The volunteers did an enrolment drive in the community on 30^th April, 2016.

The volunteers shouted slogans, talked to families and tried to understand the condition. They ensured that people understood about upcoming school admissions and also volunteered to assist in the same. Moreover, volunteers also noted details about the students who dropped out of schools or are currently not enrolled due to lack of knowledge or financial resources. It was, indeed, an enriching experience not only because of the sheer passion put into the effort but also due to success of it. The families in community showed genuine interest in talking to volunteers and received the suggestions or advice made by the volunteers positively. The volunteers would carry it forward by talking to families in the community and helping the students get admission in schools as soon as school admissions are opened for this year.

It gives volunteers a sense of confidence in the work they are doing and makes them stand true to the mission of CRY. 

Volunteers speaking with community people
about importance of Education

At Kunchikurve, Kalina

Enthusiastic Volunteers braving the heat to spread the message in the community

Volunteers reached out to the shopkeepers as well and urged them
to send children to school and not employ Child Labour

The children also joined in the rally

“ children must be taught how to think not what to think” – Margret Mead

“ children must be taught how to think not what to think” –  Margret Mead

CRY  along with volunteers  came up  with a consent  that it is very important for children to know about their rights so that they can prevent themselves from exploitation and to make it a fun activity , more interactive and most importantly to grab children’s attention it was decided  to show them animated videos which addressed  common issues that affect children  and it was a privilege for me to be part of this journey.

I along with my team when reached in schools was greeted with hugs and beautiful smiles. Even scorching heat  could not low down their enthusiasm  for sports  seeing them engaged in various  physical  activities took me to memories of my childhood.  All students got very excited after seeing  screen and one of the  little girl in crowd exclaimed  with delight , “ CHOTA BHEEM  DIKHANE WALE  HO NA”.

We presented three videos in front of them. First video was about  importance  of education in a child’s life.  It made significant  mention of how education can help a child to achieve anything  in life. Following this an interactive session was conducted where students mentioned that they worked after their classes.  They were explained that at this  age education  is more important and they  should work only on this .

Second video was on child safety. This video passed on message of basic Do’s and Don’ts that are usually told by our parents and teachers. It emphasized on facts like Why chocolates and candies from strangers should not be accepted from strangers , why they should avoid walking alone at night, why they should never accept lifts from strangers, and always follow their parents instructions was explained in detail to them. They were also enlightened about the fact that inappropriate touching and caressing by is also not acceptable. The CHILD HELPINE number, 1098 was also introduced to them.

Third video was about drugs and alcohol abuse. During interactive session many kids told  about  their family members consuming Tobacco  and alcohol but they weren’t aware about  the fact that how life threatening it could be. Some of the kids even told that they were offered alcohol by their friends.  During interactive session children were told about threats and  repercussions  that they can have in their lives after consuming these hazardous things. They took oath and said ‘ NO’ to any form of drugs .

 CRY Pune Volunteer  Siddhant  says “ Regular interaction with students for 15 months  and community surveys  gave us sneak peek  into their home front. Teens looking up to elder  family members for tobacco and gutkha , alcohol was everywhere. We took it on us to waive them away from bad habits and it was really moving to see their eyes lit up when they were able to relate to video. Awkward silence after video suggested that there was something that clicked in their mind and our goal was achieved. For younger kids it was all about danger stranger. Excitement during and after video was refreshing. Their responses were filled with innocence and their favorite Tais and Dadas  (us).Children were asked  to scream for help whenever in need. Recent fad was about taking selfie. People have habit of taking selfies with random people  but when we asked children would they click selfies with random stranger answer in unison was “NO” which gave us a hope.”

It was a  serious session  in which students were briefed  about  importance of education , their  only job  should be to study and not working . Volunteers used innovative idea to convey message through animated videos so that children grasp the message more and understand the intensity of conveyed message. Children were asked to understand the message and practice the same. These effective sessions should be conducted very frequently with children, so that  they grasp all  Don’ts implement the same and save themselves from exploitation like  child labor, child abuse  and not  get  vulnerable to drugs.

                                                                 

CRY PUNE IN Action

“When I grow up, I want to be a doctor.. a scientist.. an astronaut” ..

At least these were the lines murmured by us, “the privileged ones” on the journey to life. Ever thought of someone who could never even think of this?

Since I have got your attention now, let’s talk about us. We are CRY (Child Rights and You), the Pune ones. All we buzz is one mantra; let’s make someone’s dream a unseen reality.

After teaching at a government school for almost half a year, we realized there are many of us who don’t get education. They work in peoples houses and hotels and where not to earn some food for themselves.

Situations are not so bad for all, but steadily, we volunteers realized that the children who live in slums are no so equipped with resources as much as we have. So what now?

The team of CRY Pune volunteers has been continuously involved in doing whatever we can to build this up in the community. It all started by getting a team of trustworthy members in place, with a common vision, and planning to uplift someone else’s future, the future of little children living on rock bottom.

We entered school and took classes. Attendance increased swiftly and the kids started interacting with us, on the most personal level possible.

Our interaction was in various ways, classes, sports, winter camps, rewards and many more.

The kids loved us and most importantly we loved them. Ever Saturday they would wait for us to come and take their class. They grasped their little hands tightly and pulled us to their class, murmuring, “bhaiya, aaj humari class”(Brother, today take your class). This motivated us to dig more into their lives and enhance their dreams. We taught them the value of culture, etiquettes, manners and many more blissful life values. They taught us the meaning of togetherness, for everyone little child cared for each other.

CRY Pune volunteers are now looking to do some more campaigns, including, diet, health, medical checkups and various other enrollment drives.

We are also looking into getting these kids equipped with the modern technology, teaching them the value of education and making them understand their rights.

Hope all moves as planned! So if you also are interested to be part of this amazing change then do volunteer with us. We are always looking for people like you. Please contact vol.mum@crymail.org or post on CRY FB pages - https://www.facebook.com/CRY.Pune

Volunteers Feedback on Summer Camp

Ø  

“   When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things."

This is exactly what happened when the North Mumbai group came together for a summer camp. It was super fun with kids and a very memorable experience. Every child seemed to be so happy and excited, learning many new things. No one wanted to leave. We conducted many sessions to teach them how to get a better and safe life and more importantly helped them cope with such circumstances, turning everything negative into something positive that they can look forward to. These fun filled sessions enabled them to look at life positively and enjoy life to its best. Dance, Fancy dress, Music, theatre workshop and a session on child sexual abuse were among the things that the volunteers conducted. A memorable experience to gather knowledge, the camp was a very good platform to maintain the enthusiasm and recall the fun which a child can have with education.”

-Malvika Saini

Senior motion graphic artist

Volunteer since 2014.

Ø  “The summer camp was a pretty good experience for the volunteers as well as for the kids. I think the parents should also be invited to such events, as they drive their children into the future. The camp was a fun-filled experience and more such camps should be held for the children.”

Dewang Kamdar

Internal audit head at Parekh Integrated Services pvt. ltd.

Volunteer since 2015.

Ø  “The CRY summer camp gave me a chance to peek in my own childhood. It taught me to be humble and sincere for what life has given me. I see a lot of them growing up to achieve greater heights. I wish the best of life to kids and appreciate CRY for accepting me into their wonderful world.”

Kush Sharma

Research Scientist at Reliance Industries,

Volunteer since 2014.

Ø  “It was my privilege to be a part of the CRY summer camp. It was a fantastic experience where we got to know about kids and their dreams. Video clips were shown to the children on informative topics like cleanliness and child sexual abuse which will help kids to improve and stay alert. I look forward to participating more in CRY events.”

-

Vijay Singh,

Manager, Chola MS general insurance
Volunteer since 2015.

Summer Fun 2015

200 children, 30 volunteers, 6 interns, 2 locations and 3 weekends

From last year CRY west VA started conducting summer camp for children. Last year it was one location and 80 children and this year we expanded, with help of volunteers and interns we were not able to just have fun activities but talk about some serious issues like child sexual abuse ,  health and hygiene; mad science experiments ,  child labour and education also touch base on motivational activities for children.

It was amazing to see how volunteers from different PAGS came together to help each other reach out to their friends and family to arrange for resource people to conduct sessions, we had professional dancers and their team , musicians , counsellors and theatre artists to help us

Philips supported us again this year to distribute bottle and Tiffin packs ; also sponsored food and stationary material for the summer camp. There 10 employees and senior officials also volunteered.

We conducted camp in Aeroli government school –  80 children were regular participants and on last day we had 120 children join us .

Jogeshwari with Aakar children – 80 children 

Modern Melody helped get professional musicians and singers to conduct sessions

Paper dance helped them understand if you work as a team you can always win 

Children understanding safe and unsafe touch 

We had coordinator from Child Line ( Anupama ) come and talk about good touch and bad touch and what to do in the difficult situation. Volunteers were divided among the children to make sure children understand the whole session. 

 Art and Craft workshop children learnt to make pen stand , quilling etc

Philips senior officials dressed as warrior by children in fashion show workshop 

Little dance and little exercise can make you healthy wealthy and wise ( North Mumbai PAG summer camp 

Theater workshop by Amey ( New Mumbai PAG)

Thank You to all volunteers , interns and CRY team it was not possible without their support


Volunteers                                              Interns
Suraj                                                      komal
Amey                                                    Prinson
Ajay                                                      Amrit
Suman                                                   Prithvi
Kush                                                      Ishita
Mohit
Ashish                                                    Maria
Rahul                                                    
Rahul
Suchi
Rashid
Bhakti
Pavitra
Surbhi
Madiha
chandani
Vijay
Anupama
Fatema
Nilesh
Hitakshi
Shweta
Neha
Malvika

Jogeshwari Community – Our Recalls

Jogeshwari Community – Our Recalls

Creating a balance and breaking the ice

We started with a motive of getting to know the community well by interacting with the kids. To make it attractive for them we preferred the mode of games. We also tried to get into showing them alphabets and numbers but we realised getting someone introduced to these basics required sustained efforts and most of the kids used to mix up the alphabets and numbers.

The group therefore started to tell them about shapes and even more basic “holding the pencil”.

The response was good for this activity and kids loved to colour and draw shapes.

The level of knowledge & way of communication

Moving ahead we felt that we had a good mix of kids of various age groups and we were telling them the same things. As a result some found it too naïve or for some it was above their level.

The group then decided to split the kids into groups and the volunteers also started interacting with the groups and spoke to them as per their level.

We employed games, origami, storytelling, dance and acting as our mode of communication.

A good innovation was BINGO number game a customised version of housie to get used to numbers

Motivation for enrolment in schools

After spending some time in the community we now had our next target getting the kids go to school. However it was not possible without the engagement of the parents in our program.

We planned a pseudo enrolment drive and invited the parents. There we explained the importance of education and noted down the names of kids who wished to attend the school.

The kids were divided into groups and a volunteer was assigned to each group to mentor them.

Are our plans working?

After the school session started we came to know that the attendance is poor in school. It was a setback as we had worked hard and got everyone aboard.

Our group therefore proposed the following strategy:

1.       Getting the attendance collected from school every 15 days and emailed to all. So that each mentor can actually figure the exact situation.

2.       Allotment of an intern to keep moving the initiative on weekdays.

We did our best before the festive season to get the kids to school. Our group members even visited the community in the mornings and evenings to take them to school personally or to discuss the issues.

We even visited the schools and discussed the problems with headmaster to figure out a solution.

The attendance improved but still was not impressive.

What to do we feel stuck?

After a break of two months when we resumed our activities we felt stuck. We felt we are doing the same activities that we were doing few months back.

We really had to decide what to do we want? Are we teachers or just mentors?

The group decided to give it a fresh start and we started with teaching them basics. Like alphabets and numbers. We used blackboard, chalk to make the session more interactive.

The result looks to be better this time.

Getting closer

We decided to celebrate Diwali with the community this year. All of us who could make it went to the community, lit diyas, made rangolis and spread love.

We wanted to make them feel special and we hope we have succeeded. We have made some changes by being more closer to children and they hear our basic instructions on health and hygiene,  taking bath etc. they show the excitement of us being there and doing various activities. 

The Road Ahead

We wish to inspire and motivate them to realise the importance of education and try to get most of them to school.

The Thorns:

1.       Kids have a habit of begging.

2.       No one to take care of a small kid at home so the elder one misses school.

3.       Kids work and support their family so making them attend school increases burden on the other earning members.

4.       Lack on constant motivation for education.

5.       Volunteer availability.

Thorns which we can pluck:

1.       We came across a kid who was brilliant and needed tution for English. We managed it in the end somehow but we can have something better for them or else whats the use of motivation.

2.       We should filter our bright kids and run some scholarships or lets say a scheme where if a kid attends 75% in a year the parents get some money. This will reduce their financial burden will more willing to make the kids to go to school.

3.       We should have a permanent member to take care of the activities we do and we act as enablers.

4.       The permanent member should collect various datas and inform our group weekly. We never know the exact situation and our impact. We make guesses.

5.       We should let them if there is some scheme under which small kids can be taken care of like a day crèche which allows the other one to go to school.

Special Applause:

Rashmi’s friend Katyayani has really helped us in a great way by taking up the tuition responsibilities of the kid in need of it. Her efforts will surely help him ahead.

We the team:

Kaustubh, Malvika, Siddhartha, Abhishek, Ananya, Rashmi, Hitakshi, Sudeepta, Kavita Ghosh,  Kavita More, Priyanshi, Avanish and the new volunteers.