2007-2

New Delhi, Volume XV No. 2, April - June 2007
Children Pledge To Make Delhi Green

Delhi Chief’s Minister, Smt. Sheila Dikshit, joins our children
on Environment Day

 
In June ‘07 Deepalaya children
participated in the World Environment Day exhibition inaugurated by the
Chief Minister of Delhi, Smt. Sheila Dikshit at ITC Maurya, New Delhi. The
inaugural of ‘Welcome Environ Expo’ also marked the plantation
of saplings by the children of Deepalaya along the ridge in the heart of
the city.
Children undertook a 3 km trek, with the objective
of telling Delhites that it was their responsibility to treasure
the city’s natural resources and promote forestation as the forest
cover across theglobe is fast depleting. The Exhibition displayed stalls
of various organizations working for the cause of environment and allied
subjects. The rainwater-harvesting plan by ITC Maurya in its vicinity was
also displayed. Smt. Sheila Dikshit appreciated the concern shown by the
children of Deepalya about the environmental issues and posed for a picture
with them. Needless to add, the children learnt much through this hands-on
experience.

Girls find safe haven at Gusbethi
On 30th April’07, the Deepalaya Girls Hostel located
at Deepalaya Gram Haryana) was formally inaugurated. Present on the occasion
were Ms. Fazia Tewarie (Foundation India Run, Netherlands) and family, Shri
C R Rana, District Commissioner (Gurgaon), Mr. Hardeep Singh Doon, Superintendent
of Police, 82 representatives from Edukans, a Netherlands based funding
partner, Mr. Sukhbir Jaunapuria, local MLA, friends and well wishers, Board
members and staff of Deepalaya.
The Hostel has been constructed with the financial support
of the Japanese Embassy (Ground Floor) and the Foundation India Run (Ist
Floor). Ms. Tewarie and a group of ladies from Hilversum (Netherlands) completed
a challenging relay cycling over a distance of 2500 km, crossing Sweden,
Denmark and Germany. The Run raised a whooping 80000 Euros, which supported
the construction. The Hostel reaches to girl children off the streets, of
drug addicts, HIV +ve parents and from other vulnerable conditions. The
age group catered to is 04-14 years. Apart from the emotional and social
rehabilitation, the focus is also on the academic and vocational rehabilitation.
With the facility available many girl children can be weaned away from falling
into their parents footsteps.

Mr. A.J. Philip, President of Deepalaya,
lights the lamp
Speaking on the occasion Mr.Rana, appreciated Deepalaya’s
work. According to him,”Mewat is still living in 1981, which is almost
25 years back from other developed parts of our country. Schemes are no
doubt formulated but either are partially executed or never at times’.
He added, “There was a strong need for organizations like Deepalaya
and wanted others to replicate Deepalaya moves in order to foster a self
reliant and legitimate society”. He later announced a grant of Rs.
51,000 from Child Welfare Fund. Ms. Fazia was happy that the situation has
changed now and the girls could feel safe with the opening of the hostel.

On this occasion, Deepalaya launched its Merit cum
Means Scholarship program. This program shall award scholarship
to meritorious students who are unable to pursue higher education because
of financial constraints. Mr. Anand Swaroop Yadav, who is pursuing Bachelors
Degree in IT from Madhav Institute of Science and Technology, Gwalior is
the first recipient of the merit cum means loan. The gathering was oblivious
to the soaring temperatures as the Deepalaya children presented a colorful
cultural program.

Booking the Right
Places
During a recent visit to New Delhi Mr. Thomas S. Shilen,
SVP Global Reporting and Deputy Controller, Keith Cornelius, VP Corporate
Controllership and Kevin Grant along with officials of AMEX Financial Centre
East inaugurated the library at Deepalaya School, Sanjay Colony. Books worth
Rupees 15,000 were donated on this occasion. These books spanned a wide
spectrum designed to catch the interest and fancy of the children –
there were encyclopedias, general knowledge books, story books like the
tales of Panchatantra and picture books.
Mr. Thomas distinguished the efforts of Deepalaya as a ‘wonderful
experience’. Mrs. Monideepa, Principal, said “We are very thankful
to AMEX for their courtesy. The need of a library was long felt and now
when it’s there children seem so eager and excited about it that it
cannot be expressed.”. She further adds, “Such steps by corporates
benefit the children largely.”
The AMEX team has been consistently supporting Deepalaya
through various ways – it has built a playground for the children,
donated warm clothes, taken the children on trips among other things.

Devouring diverse information
American Embassy Elementary School also has donated 200 books
worth Rs. 84,000. The students found the books fascinating as they deal
with a wide variety of interesting subjects. The above picture show our
students lapping up the contents of the books.

Learning Before Teaching
Unless one is a good student, he or she can never hope
to be a good teacher. And the more diverse the training of a teacher is,
the better his or her teaching is bound to be. Keeping this in view the
second Edukans Education program was organized for 72 teacher trainees
from Netherlands in April 2007. The trainees and 12 teachers were teamed
with students of Delhi’s three Teacher Training Institutes. The
program began with a presentation of our education system right from historical
times with special emphasis on marginalized children. The guests developed
lesson plans and taught at five Deepalaya formal schools using teaching
aids and play way method. Keen to learn the Indian living, they attended
the wedding of a student’s elder sister. The group stayed at Transit
Home, Gusbethi and experienced the rural way of life. They also visited
the Taj Mahal. One of the trainees, Liehe Cohen, had this to say, "The
exchange program was more than I ever expected. Thank You very much for
making us feel so welcome. I enjoyed it very much and I am impressed with
everything you do.”

Recent Projects
Being a leader in the field of education for the deprived
children, Deepalaya also dons the mantle of capacity builder for the other
NGOs. The UTI Foundation has extended support to the tune of Rs.1.26 crores
to Deepalaya’s project on capacity building of smaller NGOs. This
will be operational from July 2007 in the slums, resettlement colonies
of West Delhi for a period of three years.
Art Venture, a Singapore based organization, financially
supporting development initiatives through the arts, has approved a grant
of USD 21,267 for implementing the program “Education on wheels
restoring childhood to educating street and working children in Delhi
– an alternative”. The project will involve a number of areas
of learning ranging from art & craft to soft skill development. The
project will be implemented in the North and North West Delhi.
Lending a helping hand
Deepalaya has been receiving appeals from various quarters
for providing emergency medical aid. Two such cases in which we intervened
are detailed below.
The Handicapped Childrens’ Rehabiliatation Association
had sent an appeal for helping baby Anna Maria Wilson (10 ½ months)
who had to undergo a heart operation. Deepalaya responded by donating
Rs. 10,000/-. After a successful operation the child is doing fine now.
Sixteen-year-old Sanya Singh of Kanpur met with an accident
that rendered her immobile. Her mother, Mrs. Tripti Singh, sold most of
her belongings to save Sanya. In desperation she offered her organs for
sale. The story was picked up by Aaj Tak, a leading news channel. Rtn
T K Mathew, who was part of the panel which discussed possible ways to
save Sanya, committed a sum of Rs. One lakh which has since been disbursed.
Deepalaya wishes to place on record its gratitude to donors who responded
to its appeal for funds.
 
Sharpening Speaking Skills
Is being articulate and expressive an important requirement
of modern world? The answer is definitely YES and it was demonstrated
by Deepalaya students in a recently held Declamation Contest sponsored
by Accenture, Corporate Partner. Open to students from middle and senior
school, the contest provided a platform to enable students master the
art of public speaking. 14 students participated. The topics for the contest
were (i) School is more fun than working for money (ii) Teachers
prepare us better for life (iii) Life is fun with education.
The students were judged on the basis of depth of knowledge,
style of delivery and the logic of arguement. All the participants did
well and according to the judges it was difficult selecting the winners.
In the Senior Group, Rajni, Neha and Renuka (all from Kalkaji Extension)
and in the middle group, Neelam, Mukesh (DSKE) and Mamta (DSSC) won the
first, second and third prizes respectively.
Advocating against Child Labour
Deepalaya organized a meeting advocating the Prevention
of Child Labour on May 25th, 2007. Representatives from various NGOs participated
and shared their views. Four children who were rescued by Deepalaya narrated
their experiences. The meeting ended on an optimistic note that more can
be done by all concerned to prevent child labour.
Vrooming for a good cause
On 24th June ‘07, xBhp, an Indian Bikers’ Association
celebrated its fourth birthday anniversary by taking out a rally in New
Delhi. Each member decided to donate to Deepalaya an amount equivalent
to the braking horse power of their bikes. Thus 40 xBhpians collected
a sum of Rs. 8,600. With this money eight-year-old Ritika’s education
is being sponsored. Ritika who is studying in Class IV at Deepalaya School,
Kalkaji Extn. aspires to become a nurse so that she can take care of the
health needs of the members of xBhp.
The members are happy that they contributed to a cause
which is socially relevant. They hope that this will set an example for
others to follow.

This is what the judges of the recently held Declamation
Contest sponsored by Accenture had to say:
Mrs. Ruma Sharma (Artist and a donor)
It was a wonderful feeling to be with Deepalaya family.
I wish to come frequently to your school so that I can develop a strong
bond between you and me. My heartiest gratitude to all the teachers, Principal,
organisers and well-wishers whose efforts turned this virgin place into
a heaven.
Your commitment and faith towards your study and further
upliftment of society is unconventional. May Almighty bless you and nurture
your

growth


Taroona Sharma
Visiting Deepalaya has been one of the most enriching
experiences of my life. The talented children along with the teachers
are praiseworthy. They evoke in you a positive emotion of never to give
up your dreams in life despite of the most adverse circumstances you might
encounter. The activities carried at the institute were great fun. Some
great minds and orators are getting prepared to make their mark in world.

Alumni in the Spotlight

I am Vikas Chander, born in a slum cluster in Sanjay Colony. My father was a low ranking employee in the Railways. Hence his income was insufficient to make both ends meet. However, my parents were keen to give my sister and me good education that would ultimately make us selfreliant. Till Class III, I studied in a private school. I had to leave it as the fees were high and my parents found it unaffordable. Around this time my father came to know about Deepalaya and enrolled us in Deepalaya School, Sanjay Colony. I studied there till Class VIII after which I moved to Deepalaya School, Kalkaji Extension to complete my XII. While Deepalaya taught me many things among which I pride selfconfidence, fluency in English and cultivation of good manners. The qualities, which I had learnt from my school, helped me get a job in Ebony, South Extension. I am pursuing my final year of graduation and also doing a computer course from NIIT. Currently, I am working in Van Heusen in Noida as customer care associate. I am the team leader there. I would like to thank Deepalaya and the teachers who instilled confidence in me and gave meaning to my life.

Published by

Deepalaya

46 Institutional Area, D Block

Janakpuri, New Delhi 110058

Phone : (+91 11) 28525908,

28528263, 28520347, 28525326

Fax: (91 11) 28520546

E-mail: support@deepalaya.org

Website: www.deepalaya.org