A Saturday at Unnati's School

So another weekend had come for volunteers!!!

But it was a typical school day for the children of Unnati. So we thought of making it fun for the children. Afterall, going to school should also means fun.

A Saturday at Unnati's School............!

So here comes another weekend for the volunteers!!!

But it was a typical school day for the children of Unnati. So we thought of making it fun for the children. Afterall going to school should also means fun!!!

So the day starts with who all can recite poems.

One needs confidence to speak in front of everyone!!!

Even I don't hesitate in coming forward!!!

Here the drawing session begins for the children. All want to show their creative skills. No theme is given to them. Everyone starts drawing according to their wish.

I can draw really well; just give me some time to finish!!!

Some younger children just want to do the coloring. So they ask their teacher to give them something to color :)

Teacher, please give me some drawings to fill with colors!!!

My name is Priya, and what is yours??

Everyone is busy with their work!!!

See I can read this book!!!

Given the right kind of environment to learn, along with some guidance and encouragement can do wonders for the education of these children. Every child needs proper nurturing to grow up as a competent individual.

I want to fill this drawing with so many colors!!!

I want to ride on this school bus!!!

Will I get a "good" for my work?? Please tell me teacher!!!

Want to meet my friends??

Meet my new friends at school!!!

We girls are no less than boys!!!

Whose smile is the best??

Can you see my "close-up" smile at behind??

Even I want to be in the photo along with these kids!!!

Time for a group photo.......Say Cheese!!!!

How is my drawing??

And how is this one??

Which is the best one??

An online drawing exhibition!!!

We had a great time with the children at their school. It was reminiscent of our own school days too.

We all should try a little from our side to enable education for the children, for whom going to school otherwise just remains a dream. A little bit of time from our weekly schedules and some fund raising on a regular basis for running such initiatives can help in starting hundreds of such schools across India. Let's not wait to do it when we will get some more time, when we will be a bit free, when we will go to this place, when the things will seem right!!! Let's start the change from where we are.........We will be able to find the time...........Things will get right........Let's be the change we want to see..........!


~~Nishank

Unnati at its best!!!

A view from inside..

Can you see how happy these kids are studying in school...

They want to study... they are different... they are not the ones who want to spend their life picking rags...

They are just like us..

Have you ever seeen a hand like this...

This picture is drawn by 'Hansa', a very good student and an innocent girl at Unnati. You would always see her similing in the classroom.

She wants to fill everything with colors..

Here she comes...

This is our teacher :)

She reminds me of my Hindi teacher. I was very afraid of her in school.

When i visited the classroom at Unnati for the first time, she looked at me and I couldn't stop gazing at her and I felt like she would say "Deepak!!! where were you, I don't know how many times i have told you to write clearly, when are you going to learn"

But she is good :) bach gaya

Did you see that...

Commitment of these kids!!

They have came up with their own ways to come to school. I also felt like cycling... it would be fun!! :)

I am bored of bikes :(

Now look at her, she would be half of my size and see her dedication...

These children really want to study.... they want to be like us!!

Shouldn't we help them...

Help them

First day at School for children of Unnati !!!

Last Saturday, i.e. April 28th was the scheduled day for the inauguration of school at Unnati. The volunteers had gathered there by 9:30 a.m. Sumanji (children's new teacher) had also come along with her husband. First we had to go inside the basti to gather the children for the class. It seemed that many of the children had forgotten during the week passing by that they had to get ready for the school!!!

We tried to gather as many children as possible. Some were feeling a bit reluctant while some were very excited. Many of the children told they will get ready in few minutes. We had to convince few children to come with us. Some of them asked where the class is, how they will go etc etc. We were a bit worried as how the children would go in the scorching heat. Immediately few of the elder children suggested that they will take their Redhi (the rickshaw used to carry goods) with them and the younger children sat in a group in that. (Now that's called best use of the resources available !!!)


In half an hour we all went to the classroom. We then arranged the different things we had bought for the classroom. Also Lord Saraswati's photo was arranged on the table for Puja. Meanwhile all the children had gathered in the new classroom. Few were making lot of noises. But still they were far more disciplined in front of their teacher. Then we had a small prayer session where all children recited the prayer along with Sumanji. After that we distributed sweets among the children. Few of people living in that area who were passing by asked us as what was happening there and we explained them that we have started a new classroom for children.


Then Sumanji first took attendance of the children who had come there. After that, she started with the teaching basic alphabets to children while the volunteers were helping in managing the children. Many of the children they were taking a good interest. Few of the children had already gone to their schools in villages and they were more eager to come forward and show what they know. But most of the children among them had never gone to school. For them, this was for the first time a classroom experience. The fans in the room were a lot helpful in offsetting the effect of summer. Nearby a bucket filled with water along with glasses was kept for the children if they felt thirsty.
After studying for sometime children were getting a bit restless. Moreover, since it was the first day we expected that it would be the case. Meanwhile, Sachin and Pratik had also brought few old clothes which we had collected earlier and we distributed it among the children. We told the children that they would need to come to class daily from Monday onwards. We also told them that they would be getting stationeries to use if they would come to classroom regularly. Finally the children and volunteers departed around 11 o'clock.

Now we need to ensure that we are able to successfully run this school for children. Such a classroom means that even these children won't be deprived of education, though in a bit informal way. What is more important that they should also be able to read and write and move ahead in life, so that their future doesn't remain dismal just because their parents couldn't afford to send them to school.


~~Nishank

Have you tried teaching kids??

If you are reading this blog, there are 99.99% chances that you have gone through typical school education, with teachers teaching in classrooms. Do you remember your school days?? Going to school every morning, meeting friends there, playing with friends during the break, sometimes getting scoldings from our teachers and what not!!!

Every child wants to go to school. It is a place where one gets to learn so much. Just imagine how different your life would have been if you had not been able to go to school. We should be really thankful to our teachers who have helped us all the way in our journey of education. But still there are so many children in our society who cannot go to schools because their parents cannot afford to send them to school or may be they have to work as a child laborer.

Even if not a regular schooling, at least some form of alternate education should be enabled for underprivileged children. We at Unnati, have been trying to teach the children on our own whatever little things we can teach to them. It constantly reminds us that how difficult it is teaching children sometimes :-) !!! But at the same time it is so much fun trying to explain things to children. After all what's the use of all our education if we are not able to teach at least few children.

Aashish explaining to kids how a clock shows time!!!


Manoj is the favorite teacher of the kids these days!!!


Not that difficult to make children listen to you!!!


Sometimes you also need to play along with children!!!


Children @Unnati are missing Gyanesh these days!!!


It's not always that easy to explain things
to children!!!


Every child wants to learn!!!


What if these kids go to regular schools??

We are in process of starting a classroom for these kids. We have arranged a teacher with the help of Literacy India for these kids, who would teach them from Monday to Saturday. We have also rented a room not very far from Unnati and the kids would be going there in a group daily along with their teacher. Our aim is to ensure that these children should also benefit by education like other children with whatever means possible. We thought that this may not be possible by just teaching or spending time with them on weekends.

So when these kids would go for the regular classes, they would be provided with required stationeries, some nutritious thing to eat, uniforms in future etc. This would help in keeping these children motivated towards studies. We are also having a talk with their parents to send their children regularly for the classes. Once this initiative starts running smoothly, we would definitely be seeing some visible changes in a period of 6 months to 1 year. Moreover, since Literacy India already has a great deal of expertise in providing education to underprivileged children, these children would be benefited too with the curriculum followed by Literacy India.

But to support such a initiative requires money too. Given below is a rough estimate of the expenses that would occur every month.

Expenses	Amount in Rs.
Teacher Salary	2000-3000
Room Rent	1500
Meal for Children	2000
Literacy India School Monitoring - Transport	0500
Miscellaneous (Books, Stationary etc.)	1000
Total	7000-8000 /Month

Moreover, we need to ensure that at any point of time we have sufficient funds for at least 3 months to ensure that the classes for these children doesn't get hampered due to lack of funds.

You can also help these kids!!!

We really need people like you.

To know more how you can help these kids, please have a look at the following link:

http://gurgaon.aidindia.org/node/16

To know more about activities and details related to Unnati, please go through the following links:
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AID Gurgaon New Project - Unnati ( A look inside the basti, and the people living there!!!)

Republic Day - Initiation day for Project Unnati! (Well what could have been a better day to give it a start)

Unnati off-league ( Time to think how we can bring at least some progress ("Unnati") in lives of these people!!!)

Deciding the Strategic Moves ( Teaching the kids and also brainstorming as how to take things ahead)

Unnati - A parallel world ( Implementing a Modern Open Gurukul!!!)

If you would like to get more details related to this initiative or have any other queries, you can get in touch with following people:

1) Deepak Syal : deepak.syal@gmail.com; Ph no: 09810297880

2) Nishank: onlynishank@gmail.com; Ph no: 09910067703

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Sponsorship of education of 10 children for an year facilitated by AID Gurgaon.

Recently AID Gurgaon facilitated sponsorship of education of 10 children for an year. For this INR 30,000 was handed over to Literacy India. Out of this INR 24,000 was donated by Evalueserve and INR 6,000 was given by AID Gurgaon. This amount would be used in providing education to 10 children at Literacy India under their Vidyapeeth Project (http://literacyindia.org/WEBSITE/html/Vidyapeeth.htm)

Literacy India is a nonprofit organization registered as a trust under the India Trust Act, 1872. Since its inception in 1996, Literacy India has been working towards education of underprivileged children living in slums and rural areas in and around Gurgaon, Haryana. In addition to providing non-formal basic education to children, Literacy India has set up vocational training centers for girls and village women.

Literacy India has been doing a splendid job in reaching children from poor families who cannot afford a quality education. They have different projects targetted for different age groups of children and women. By raising sponsorships we are able to ensure that at least some children are being able to get education in a regular manner.

Here are the brief profiles of the children who would be benefitting from the sponsorship:

1)

Name: Pooja
Age: 10
Class: V
Sex: F
Father’s Occupation : Security Guard
Mother’s occupation : House wife
Brother : 3
Remarks : Neat & clean, obedient
Activity : Dancing

2)

Name: Komal
Age: 11
Class: V
Sex: F
Father’s Occupation: PEON
Mother’s occupation: House wife
Brother: 1
Sisters: 4
Remarks: Well dressed and well behaved




3)

Name : Manisha
Age : 10
Class : V
Sex : F
Father’s Occupation : Sweeper
Mother’s occupation : maid
Brother : 1
Sister : 1
Remarks : Good in studies




4)

Name : Ajay
Age : 13
Class : V
Sex : M
Father’s Occupation : labor
Mother’s occupation : daily wage laborer
Brothers : 2
Sister : 3
Remarks : Hard working student and punctual




5)

Name : Rodhi
Age : 13
Class : V
Sex : M
Father’s Occupation : Gardener
Mother’s occupation : Maid
Brother : 1
Sister : 1
Remarks : Family going through financial crisis.
He is very Naughty but an intelligent student.



6)

Name : Santosh
Age : 14
Class : V
Sex : M
Father’s Occupation : Cook
Mother’s occupation : House wife
Brother : 1
Sister : 1
Remarks : He always stood I in the class.
In previous terminal exams he has
scored 100% marks in math.
He was a working child mainstreamed after counseling

7)

Name : Rajiv
Age : 15
Class : V
Sex : M
Father’s Occupation : Peon
Mother’s occupation : House wife
Brothers : 2
Sisters : 2
Remarks : He is good and obedient student.
He stood II in the previous terminal exams.
He was a working child earlier mainstreamed after counseling.


8)

Name : Srikant
Age : 14
Class : V
Sex : M
Father’s Occupation : Unemployed (Alcoholic)
Mother’s occupation : Household worker
Brothers : 4
Sisters : 3
Remarks : He always scores good marks in the class.
He is liked by all his teachers for his good manners and obedience.



9)

Name : Shyamal
Age : 13
Class : V
Sex : M
Father’s Occupation : Driver
Mother’s occupation : Maid Servant
Brothers : 2
Activity : Participated in many theatrical production of Literacy India
Remarks : He has transformed from a shy Bengali speaking boy to a good student as well as good actor.
Now he can converse in hindi fluently


10)

Name : Bittoo
Age : 12
Class : V
Sex : M
Father’s Occupation : Pvt. Service
Mother’s occupation : Maid Servant
Brother : 1
Sisters : 2
Remarks : He is a well-behaved boy. He is a very sincere, hard-working student.


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Given below are the details of the expenditure that would be incurred for each child:

Sr. No.	Expenditure Heads	Amount per child
1	Uniform Expenses	350
2	Books and Periodicals	450
3	Stationery	500
4	Snacks for children	350
5	Teaching Aids	450
6	Teacher's Salary	600
7	Visit to other places	150
8	Administrative cost	150
	Amt. /Child/ per year	3000

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Also, here are few pics of the Literacy India center at Sector-23, Palam Vihar, Gurgaon. We got a chance to capture these pics when we went to Literacy India.

Classrooms at the Literacy India Center

What a serene surrounding for the children!!

Manish with children at Literacy India

Now computers are there for everyone to learn!

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Since many volunteers of AID Gurgaon are working in Evalueserve, it helped us in mobilizing the funds through the Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) initiatives. These kind of sponsorships help institutitions like Literacy India to impart education to underprivileged children.

People working in different companies through their CSR teams can try to raise sponsorships for such children or can even undertake to sponsor one child on their own. By raising funds from time to time we can ensure that though we may lack time to volunteer due to personal commitments, we can still make a difference in lives of these children. For any kind of details required related to sponsorships, please drop a mail at: gurgaon@aidindia.org