Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has - Margaret

Mead.

‘Pratibimb’ continuously serves as a platform to reflect upon the various efforts invested by AIDers in their quest of bringing about a change in ar-eas of education, social justice, relief and rehabilitation, environmental sustainability, health and livelihood generation. It was through the com-

bined efforts of a few members of the AID NCR Publication team, namely, Ankur, Varun, Aakanksha, Tanvi, Vaibhav, Munmun, and Arpita that the

March-April issue of Pratibimb took its present shape. The team would take the opportunity to thank all the content contributors for this edition. We

hope this issue lives up to its mark of being an interesting read for one and all.

PRATIBIMB Page 2

Page 3 …………………………… AID Workshop on Zero Waste Management

Page 4 …………………………… Domestic waste management

Page 5 …………………………… Green Building concept

Page 6 …………………………… Entrepreneurial Means to Drive Social Change

Page 7 …………………………… Environmental cell updates: (Micro) Crediting the Green Paddlers

Page 8 …………………………… If I educate a parent, I educate a society

Page 9 …………………………… Treasury updates

Page 9 …………………………… Campaign updates

Page 10 …………………………… PROJECT UPDATES: PEHAL

Page 11 …………………………… PROJECT UPDATE: GURGAON UPDATES

Page 12 …………………………… PROJECT UPDATE: PRAYAS

Page 13 — 16…………………………… Partner project updates

Page 17…………………………… AID SAATHI: C. Srinivasan

Page 17 …………………………… Volunteer Speaks

Page 19 …………………………… The Great Indian Mentality

What's Inside...

EDITORIAL

There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed. - Mohandas K. Gandhi.

As the ‘world environment day’ approaches lets all dedicate 15 minutes of our time to understand the impact of a few unintentional actions on our surroundings.

Click on : http://stimulating-videos.ideagutter.com/2010/05/15-minutes-of-must-watch.html

AID-NCR successfully hosted its last Operational Review Meet (ORM) for the financial year 2009, at IIT- Delhi, on the 14th of March, 2010.

The entire day witnessed a huge crowd and a very interactive session between volun-teers spread over the AID NCR chapter. In addition, the ORM, served as a platform to orient new and interested volunteers by enlightening them more about AID and its phi-losophy.

The day started with everyone introducing themselves and their roles within AID NCR. Anshul Sachdev initiated the session with his presentation defining AID NCR and its activi-ties. Stress was put forth on explaining the deeper meaning behind the AID philosophy, i.e., ‘problems are intercon-nected, so must be the solution'.

Pulkit Parikh explained how various efforts in development, activism, individual and environmental responsibilities contrib-ute to this philosophy.

The next session was a brief presentation by Ms. Devahuti Chaudhry, on ‘Microfinance and Social Development’.

She was the regional in-charge at SKS Microfinance Ltd and has been working in various areas of social development. She explained the positive effects of microfi-nance on the rural community. Ms. Devahuti was able to instil into the audience, an immense interest in the concept. A lot many were eager to know as much as they could, as they were able to see its potential in their respective projects.

Treasury and project updates followed next. This wrapped up the entire ORM, after which everyone converged at the canteen for lunch. Discussions on various cam-paigns and activities followed and ended the day at IIT Delhi.

Mr. C Srinivasan’s concept of Zero waste management (ZWM) has been widely acclaimed as the ‘National Model’ for ZWM. He has been appointed in the 7 member core committee looking into waste management across the country. Municipal Corporations are in the process of replicating his model.

According to Mr. C. Srinivasan, waste can actually help generate money, promote em-ployability, and most importantly, promote environment

sustainability.

In an AID NCR workshop at IIT Delhi, Mr. Srinivasan enlightened a wide audience with the details of his initiative.

Zero Waste Management is a self-sustainable project. The main strategy is to collect pri-mary segregated waste (recyclable and unrecyclable) from residences every 12 hours.

After collection, waste is segregated in two steps: Secondary (organic/inorganic waste and glass items) segregation and Tertiary (plastic, paper and metal items) segregation. While the wet waste is set for composting and fed to the cattle, dry waste is segregated and sold.

AID Workshop on Zero Waste Management

PRATIBIMB

Ms. Devahuti Chaudhry, SKS microfinance

AID NCR- Operational Review Meet (ORM)

Page 3

DID YOU KNOW : Every week about 20 species of plants and animals become extinct!

Through the ZWM program, unwanted materials collected from people get processed scientifically. A concept such as ZWM is one of the golden steps taken by responsible citizens such as Mr. Srinivasan towards a clean, green and sustain-able society.

More information can be found at www.Dailydump.org.

A stop-gap solution: Cut all the uncooked vegetable waste (e.g. vegetable n fruit peels etc except lemon and oranges) into tiny pieces and drop it in plants. They will compost themselves. Since the waste is uncooked, keeping it in open air won't give you any smell or maggots. I generally drop it to the nearby garden or trees. Else you can also give all the leftover food (not composted) to cows or dogs to eat.

3) Non-biodegradable waste

Here are several things we can do to minimize damage caused due to non biodegrad-able waste:

Whenever possible, get raw milk in a vessel to avoid the use of milk packets on daily ba-

Domestic waste management By Sejal Parikh

With the little experience I gained in my in-house waste management efforts, I have tried to compile some easy-to-do things, which can be adopted in our daily routines that can help us limit our waste: 1) Waste Segregation

Segregate your waste in 2 bins: Bio-degradable and non-biodegradable.

Try to avoid the use of dustbin bags.

The biodegradable bin can have a newspaper in the base, to soak all wetness.

Non-biodegradable bins do not need anything. If the dustbin gets dirty, wash it once a week.

2) Biodegradable waste

Home composting: With an approximate 3*3 space in the house balcony, one can easily convert the kitchen waste into compost, which can later be fed to the plants in the house or road side trees. Debamitro-Satabdi, two old Delhi volunteers who used this daily dump bins after shifting to Bangalore, have created a very nice video demonstrating the same (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfwSAkof0-Y)

‘Waste is a misplaced resource and an unrecognized

wealth’ - ZWM

Page 4 PRATIBIMB

For more information visit: http://www.zerowastemanagement.org/

DID YOU KNOW : An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now!

sis. If the milk is in a package, then empty it, put a little bit of water, and stir well. This will wash the cover from inside (try to minimize the usage of water). Place the bag upside-down to dry and reuse it. Replace plastic bags with cloth bags. Hand over plastic bags, papers, tins, cans and dry waste to the kabadiwala. If you yourself know someone in the recycling industry, you can give it to them. Interested people can also try this - http://www.kabaadiwala.com.

these buildings. Additionally these structures use passive cooling techniques that help in reduced use of air condi-tioners leading to reduced en- ergy consumption. Some of these techniques include breeze catchers and roof ponds.

Another important feature of green buildings is use of renewable sources of energy, especially the solar-wind energy hybrid. This hybrid involves the installation of small windmills on the rooftops and solar cell panels wherever possible. These two energy sources work in conjunction to reduce the dependence on conventional electricity grid. The energy generated from these renewable sources is stored in batteries. This energy might not be enough to meet the energy re-quirements of these buildings in totality but it can definitely augment the conventional electricity supply and help in bringing down the energy costs drastically.

A recent survey claims that installation of rooftop solar panels alone can help most buildings to reduce their energy con-sumption costs by 10-12%; which is significant considering that the application can be extended to residential areas, especially independent houses.

When the pre historic man constructed a hut for the first time using bamboo trees and coconut leaves to protect himself from sun and rain, he was starting to exploit nature for his humble needs. Apart from destroying trees he also disturbed the natural habitat of the insects and birds in those trees and interfered in the cycle of nature. That was just the begin-ning. We have come a long way now. As the buildings get higher and stronger; using more and more concrete, energy and other natural resources, we are dangerously close to an ecological disaster. We are using resources at an unprece-dented pace and slowly, but surely digging our own graves. Does this mean we stop constructing houses or for that mat-ter other buildings for our comfort and safety? No! This brings us to the concept of green buildings.

Green buildings are called so because of their eco-friendly nature. Even though these buildings consume almost as much natural resources as the normal ones, these buildings are designed in a manner that they “give back” to the envi-ronment. Use of renewable sources of energy and eco friendly measures to reduce energy consumption during con-struction as well as in the nor- mal course of its existence are two important features that distinguish these buildings from other conventional build- ings.

These buildings rely on natural light for most of their lighting needs. They have glass exteri- ors that enable sunlight to pass through, thereby reducing the lighting costs inside

‘Even though these buildings consume almost as much natural resources as the normal ones, these

buildings are designed in a manner that they “give back” to the environment’

PRATIBIMB Page 5

Green Building Concept By Deepak Nanwani

DID YOU KNOW : Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours!

And last but not the least, there is always a water harvesting system. This system helps in harvesting rain water to meet water needs for sanitary and gardening purposes and thus, reduces the water consumption. Even solid kitchen waste is recycled to generate some form of energy (biogas, electricity etc). Ministry of Renewable Energy is giving huge subsidies for commercial and personal use of solar heaters, solar cookers and solar cell panels. The concept of harnessing naturally available resources in an environmentally acceptable manner is not a new concept – a lot of Mughal monuments includ-ing Fatehpur Sikri use the concept of passive cooling. So all that is needed now is a will and realisation that green build-ings are not just a fad but the need of the hour.

names that immediately come to mind when one thinks of social entrepre-neurs in India. Ashoka, the earliest proponents of social entrepreneurship, started its activities in India about 25 years ago when it chose its first ‘Ashoka Fellows’- people who have an innovative solution to a social prob-lem and the potential to implement it. Since then, Ashoka has been sup-porting the ventures of these ‘Fellows’ through training and capital.

There are many other examples of social ventures that are doing good work in the country. George Foundation, established in Bangalore in 1995, leads co-operative farming projects such as Baldev farms, which trains rural illiterate women in farming and cattle rearing and encourages them to share resources such as wells, tractors etc. Vision Spring is a social business that provides access to low-cost eyeglasses to the poor allowing them to be able to work and support their families even after their eyesight be-comes weak. Headquartered in Hyderabad, Vision Spring not only provides quality vision care to people in professions that need good eye-sight such

Entrepreneurial Means to Drive Social Change By Munmun Nath

Social entrepreneurship involves identifying a social problem such as illiteracy, unemployment etc. and using market-based solutions to drive social change. The key difference between a social venture and a non-social one (regular business) is that the former measures its success by social returns generated while the latter is primarily about generating financial returns. A social venture is self-sustainable and does not depend on aid. In this respect, it is different from NGOs and not-for-profit organizations.

Though the term social entrepreneurship was coined in 1960s, social entrepreneurs have always existed throughout history. David Bornstein, an author who specializes in writing about social innovation, writes that even Florence Nightingale, who created the first professional school for nurses and established stan-dards for hygiene and hospital care, that have shaped norms worldwide, was a social entrepreneur in her own right. However, the idea of social entrepreneurship was truly put to practice only after 1980’s with the founding of ‘Ashoka: The Innovators for Public’ by Bill Drayton, the father of social entrepreneurship.

Today, social entrepreneurship has evolved from being an individual’s calling to the mission of large net-worked organizations. It is estimated that in 2007, around 40 million people were employed in the social entrepreneurship sector. The number of volunteers was even greater and stood at 400 million. India has been a centre of the social entrepreneurship movement right from the beginning. It has a large percent-age of population living on less than a dollar a day and the government’s resources are severely limited to meet their needs. Micro-lending was one of the earliest social entrepreneurship initiatives launched in India with NABARD being established as an apex agency for rural finance in 1982. AMUL and SEWA are

“If a business

entrepreneur

is a change

agent of

economy, a

social

entrepreneur

is a change

agent of

society.” -

Joseph

Schumpeter

(Economist)

Page 6 PRATIBIMB

DID YOU KNOW : Energy-saving lightbulbs last around ten times longer than ordinary lightbulbs- over 10,000 hours!

as tailoring and watch making, but also provides rural employment opportunities through its direct sales forces who are given kits to sell these eye glasses door to door. Acumen Fund provides small loans and training to enterprises that pro-vide affordable healthcare, safe drinking water and clean energy to the poor. Projects include building water pyramids in Rajasthan, low cost treatment of chronic diseases at AyurVaid hospital in Kerala, and providing all-purpose, low cost LED lamps as an alternative to kerosene lamps.

India has ample opportunities for entrepreneurs to be innovative and make a difference to the lives of those at the bot-tom of the pyramid. Someone said, when it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it hap-pen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened. For social entrepreneurs who believe in mak-ing the future happen, surely the sky is the limit.

Not very long ago, through an article, Deepak had urged us to step up the use of cycle rickshaws. Complementing the previous article, this article will take you through one of the initiatives of AID aimed at the rickshaw pullers. Rickshaw pulling is sometimes refrained from due to a misplaced sentiment of guilt - one human carrying the load of another. The truth, however, is that the pullers would much rather desire to have you hire them than pity them. More importantly, the work conditions of rickshaw pullers are far healthier and safer than those of most indus-trial workers who are confined to a close, often polluted environment. Rickshaw pulling is also one of the few truly green jobs without which Delhi alone would consume a thumping 5 lakh litres of additional fuel each day and choke the lungs of many of its residents, affecting the poor and the homeless the most.

Reiterating the appeal to favour rickshaws over autos and private vehicles, though, is not the prime motive of this article. Most pullers across the NCR region do not own the rickshaws which they ride. They shell out Rs. 30 to 40 everyday as rent to the rickshaw owners, who often happen to be members of what is called the ‘Rickshaw Mafia’. Indisputably, this is a considerable loss which prompted us to ponder on how to do away with it.

Taking loans is certainly not a feasible idea for the pullers. Like all other poor people, they have no collateral security and hence, no access to traditional banking services. So, it will have to be micro-finance for them. The heartening thing about applying micro-lending in this context is that if a loan of around Rs. 10,000 is extended to a puller for purchase of a rickshaw, he can actually own the rickshaw in a year, with the same daily amount (say Rs. 40 ) going into loan repay-ment. We have begun digging into the implementation possibilities of this concept in Delhi and Noida. For capital, a Rohini-bound cycle rickshaw cooperative spearheaded by NGO Path is one group which we have identified (potentially) for grass root coordination. A micro-financing venture like Rang De which connects social investors to needy micro-entrepreneurs, is to form the other half of the system. Our role in the simplest case could be that of a facili-tator. We have already initiated preliminary joint discussions involving Path and Rang De. Depending on Rang De's priori-ties and constraints, it could well come down to us having to assume the key role of a micro-financer ourselves. How-ever, these are the initial days of the project and the picture is likely to remain blurry for some more time. For now, we just wanted to give you a heads up and sound you out.

The wicket is far stickier in Noida. Through a meeting with a distinguished Ashoka fellow, Dr. Pradeep, who has attained precisely what we envisage and much more in Guwahati, we learnt that there exists no regulatory body to license Noida's rickshaws. Dr. Pradeep, who has been based out of Noida for the last few years, has met with various bureau-

Rickshaw pulling is also one of the few truly green jobs without which Delhi alone would consume a thumping 5 lakh litres of additional fuel each day and choke the lungs of many of its residents, affecting the poor and the homeless

the most.

PRATIBIMB Page 7

Environmental cell updates: (Micro) Crediting the Green Paddlers

DID YOU KNOW : A laptop is more environment friendly than a desktop. It consumes five times less electricity!

Educate a PARENT..!

crats in Noida Authority but to no avail. Post meeting, we filed an RTI application concerning this matter. We are in touch with Parivartan for mapping out the future plan of action. Micro-lending to the rickshaw pullers is obviously contingent upon the legitimization of the service.

For more information please drop an email to pulkitparikh@gmail.com

If I educate a parent, I educate a society By Nishank

Community Connect is that component of AID where volunteers visit the parents of the children of our projects, based in the ‘bastis’ and slums. The underlying objective is to build an everlasting rela-tionship with the parents and ensure that the children come to school on a regular basis. It is also very essential as interacting with the parents helps us in discussing problems which the children face at home and school.

After being involved in one such visit, it occurred to me that to make our education initiatives more effective, we must consider initiating Adult Literacy modules into our program. During our community connect programs, we often come across parents who cannot read and write. This, however, is a challenging task, as many of the parents shy away from learning alphabets claiming that they are too old to learn. At times, they are so busy with their work schedule that they find it hard to take out time to learn new things. Hence, it becomes imperative to make them aware of the significance of literacy and how it can help them to stay informed esp. of their basic rights. Being illiterate, makes them soft targets.

The module can only be successful, if the volunteers taking up this initiative hold some experience in dealing with adult literacy or hiring teachers of similar expertise. Whilst this process is put in place, I would like to compel everyone, conducting small awareness talks among the parents from time to time, to make them aware of the benefits of reading and writing. We also need to inculcate a proc-ess through which these parents are made aware of the day-to-day government initiatives and per-sonal rights.

Implementation of the concept of adult literacy can start right at our homes. Most of us have work-ing women/men, and drivers employed at our residences. Taking an initiative to educate them would have a ripple effect on them, their kids and eventually-the society.

Hence, it becomes imperative to make them aware of the

significance of literacy and how it can help them to stay informed

especially of their basic rights. Being illiterate, makes them soft targets.

Page 8 PRATIBIMB

DID YOU KNOW: A ton of recycled paper equals or saves 17 trees in paper production.

and passed, it would open the back doors

for GM foods and crops.

AID NCR has been able to gain confidence of a lot of opposition MP's and provided dossiers to them. We have also shared the list of questions that they could possibly ask while the bill is being tabled. In addition, a few NCP MP's have taken a stand in favour of us.

With our new coordinator Kabir, we are now planning to re-start our public awareness and outreach program within Delhi to strengthen our campaign- GM FREE India campaign.

‘The verdict is out. Our good old indigenous, natural Brinjal has knocked out the BT Brinjal. After several public consulta-tions held by Mr. Jairam Ramesh, a moratorium has been placed on the entry of BT Brinjal into the country’ – www.iamnolabrat.com

Vehement opposition of Genetically Modified (GM) food by masses ensured that GM crops were not introduced into the Indian food chain...not there, not then. However, the new BRAI (Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India) bill proposes to take away the power from people to consider and discuss GM food, let alone oppose it. The campaign led by a few young volunteers under the Youth for Safe Food is now focusing on the BRAI bill. With the government

planning to table it in the upcoming parliament session, it has been challenging for us to lobby among the MP's and ministers to discuss with them the flaws in the bill. If the BRAI bill is tabled in its current form

‘The verdict is out. Our good old indigenous, natural Brinjal has knocked out the BT Brinjal’

PRATIBIMB

Treasury updates By Selva Ganapathy

Page 9

Campaign Updates By Selva Ganapathy and Aakanksha Purohit

AID NCR funds that have been carried forward from the last year

INR 4,50,000/-

Funds raised this financial year INR 13,000/-.

Funds raised through AID Merchandise [this fi-nancial year]

INR 2,800/-

Meal a Month funds are at an all time low. As the expenses details will be re-corded only by the end of the month, we shall update the expense break up in the next edition.

DID YOU KNOW: A plant on your desk acts as a natural filter, absorbing airborne pollutants and computer radiation

Education: Pehal has recently intervened in 2 MCD Schools in Shalimar Bagh and is catering to 300 children. Our initia-tive involves remedial classes for school going children, informal classes for non-school going children, computer classes, and setting up of a small library to improve the reading skills of the children. Eureka Kits will be introduced in these schools. A summer camp would also be organized during the school holidays. Apart from this, a teacher training program will also be organized for the MCD School to help them understand the needs of every child in a more prolific way.

Skill Building: Theatre classes were started for children to enhance their personalities. Art, Music and Dance Classes are being organized. Child development sessions are regularly taking place. Craft classes for children are held every Sun-day.

Craft session: Recently, craft classes were started at Pehal to promote creativity of children. The USP of these classes is the usage of waste material to make beautiful and artistic products such as Folders, Photo frames, Book marks, Wal-lets, Message Boards etc. Stalls will be put up during festive seasons and the products will be showcased.

Community Connect: After an extremely successful Family Planning session in our community, volunteers took up the Herculean task of accessing government portals that would assist them further in their initiative of getting the interested individuals operated and gain access to other birth control methods.

Community Survey: In an attempt to enroll more children to the Pehal Centre, an extensive survey was carried out by the Pehal Volunteers in nearby slums. The classes would start from 7th May in the MCD school premises.

Health: Our volunteers visited nearby dispensaries and the information collected was shared with the parents. Parents were urged to visit the dispensaries to avail free medicines and birth control aids. Sick children were taken to the dispen-sary by the volunteers and were registered. They were checked thoroughly and were given free medicines.

Environment: A session on tree plantation at Pehal was held where our Pehal teacher told us "how to plant trees" which was simultaneously demonstrated by la-bourers. Following that, Children helped them fill the ditch with soft mud and wa-tered the trees. Each one of them adopted a tree and promised to water it every day. It was a great learning experience for the children.

Fun Activities: Pehal Children visited the National Science Centre, Doll Museum, Chil-drens Museum and India Gate. It was both a learning and an enriching experience for children as well as the volunteers. The little ones were quite inquisitive but well disciplined throughout the excursion.

Planned Activities: Adult Literacy classes, Livelihood centre for the Community women and CSR initiatives by the Volunteers.

To volunteer, Please Contact Prachi Aggarwal, aid.prachi@gmail.com

PRATIBIMB

PROJECT UPDATES: PEHAL http://projectpehal.blogspot.com/

Page 10

DID YOU KNOW: One-third of the water used in most homes is flushed down the toilet.

Dental Camp at PRERNA: The dental camp at Prerna was the first event after Prerna’s up-gradation. The day started with preparing the 50 kids to be checked by the final year BDS students. After interacting with them, the team conducted a session on ‘Danthrogya Gyan’ that communicated the importance of hav-ing healthy teeth, especially in children. After the check up, our young doctors displayed some tech-niques of brushing teeth. Finally we distributed brushes and toothpastes to the kids. Six cases of root ca-nals were identified and were taken into consideration.

Health Camp at Unnati, Disha and Shikshaarth: After the successful dental camp at Prerna, the team was ready to organ-ise a health camp at Unnati and Disha. Dileep, Nishank and Mansi set up everything required for this camp. This health ses-sion was conducted by Dr. Aggarwal, who did a check-up for the 75 kids and their parents. Kanchan and Shraddha, from the civil hospital took up the responsibility of organizing this camp and handled it smoothly. They were involved in scaling some children’s teeth. The day ended in a volunteer meet that discussed about the team to be responsible for follow-up schedules.

Unnati and Disha Updates: Twenty four kids from Disha and Unnati have now been successfully enrolled into Vivek High School. In addition, we have got 5 laptops for computer classes which would be starting shortly.

Prerna Updates: At Prerna, 35 kids come to classes regularly in 2 batches. The first batch consists of kids whose education level is confined to basics of alphabet learning and counting. The second batch of kids is currently learning English, Maths

and Hindi. Prerna has now moved into a tin shed structure surrounded by a bamboo wall. Two serious health cases have been identified amongst the children and their condition is now being followed up by regularly consulting the doctors. In order to get Nisha admitted into a deaf and dumb school, efforts to get a deaf and dumb certificate for her are being made. Four kids have been admitted for RSEP in Maharana Pratap School.Plans are on to enrol some kids in the Maharana School by 15th May, 2010.

Shiksharth Updates: We conducted a plantation drive during the first week of March, where we planted 20 trees of different species. We have taken another major step by opening a ‘Free Tuition Center’ for kids studying at Government schools.

RSEP: This year Gurgaon team has managed to send around 45 kids into regular schools. School bags have been distributed to the kids at Prerna.

Livelihood Program: Sewing classes are going on regularly at Unnati from 1pm to 4pm. PDP classes for kids are being taken by Elizabeth and Marie at Unnati. Arts and craft classes are being conducted by Robyn at Disha. Spice Making activity at Shiksharth is progressing in full spirits. We have started with 4 spices ‘Haldi’, ‘Lal Mirch’, ‘Daniya’ and ‘Zeera’. So far the response is very good and we were able to sell spices worth Rs 5,000.

Environment: A barren land nearby Prerna was unusable. The Prerna team decided to make the most of it and plant trees. Around 25 volunteers along with Brigadier A.S.Yadav joined us in the activity. Some of the planted trees were Ashoka and Bougainvillea. The immense dedication and enthusiasm of all volunteers was commendable.

For more information please contact: munishdvd@gmail.com

PRATIBIMB

PROJECT UPDATE: GURGAON UPDATES http://gurgaon.aidindia.org/

Page 11

DID YOU KNOW : Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute!

Prayas successfully admitted 14 children into formal schools: Our full time teacher prepared around 31 kids for their admis-sion to schools. Entrance examinations were successfully cleared by 14 kids, who are now admitted in the Om Foundation, Nai Disha and Sankalp. These kids performed superbly in their written test which was followed by a successful interview, conducted by the school, of their parents. This triumph marks the onset of a relationship between Prayas and the other three free education schools.

New batch enrolled in the Prayas informal education initiative: 32 new chil-dren from the community have registered at Prayas for the 2010-2011 batch. These children will now be prepared so they could get an admis-sion into formal schools. A commendable observation amongst the Prayas community was that the parents were now keen to send their kids to Prayas and other schools for admission.

Female Literacy module introduced in Prayas: Mothers of the kids of Prayas and other women in the community showed keen interest in our women

literacy program. Within 4 classes they have learnt a lot and are now perfectly tuned in Hindi " वर"(Swar) अ से अ: tak.

Relocation of Prayas: Prayas has now relocated to a new centre which is located within the community.

Smokeless Chulhas: As a part of our environmental initiative, an experimental project has been set up at Prayas in which smokeless chulhas have been installed in a few huts. Impact of this initiative would be observed and further actions on pro-moting the concept would be taken.

For more information, please contanct: darshanmehra@gmail.com

Page 12 PRATIBIMB

PROJECT UPDATE: PRAYAS http://aidnoida.blogspot.com/

DID YOU KNOW: A single quart of motor oil, if disposed off improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh

water.

JAMGHAT- A group of street children Jamghat Activities: Kids at the indoor centre were busy with their school annual exams in the last quarter. All children have come out with flying colours.

Angels with Dirty Faces: Jamghat was proud to present the play ‘Angels with Dirty Faces’ in collaboration with Going Solo. Angels with Dirty Faces was directed by Manisha Ashra. The cast comprised children from Jamghat’s Outdoor Centre. They performed a fantabulous hip hop adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic -Oliver Twist entwined with Shakespeare’s love story Romeo and Juliet. Jamghat has also been actively participating in the UN’s End Poverty 2015 Campaign for which it performed a play on child mortality and gender related issues.

Outdoor Update: Jamghat’s outdoor centre kids went to the Zoo where they loved watching all the animals that they only been seeing in books. Doctors from Max India Foundation are visiting our centre regularly for health checkups. Furthermore, Mr. Willem Grimmick and Mr. Franz Gastler helped kids learn life skills through football. Both of them are from YUVA, an organization that provides a win-dow for opportunity with global reach, equipping India’s youth to create change through teamwork, scholarship and leadership. Through Jamghat’s various pro-grammes, we aim to touch several other factors that contribute to the nourishment and the development of young minds.

For more information please contact: priyanka@jamghat.in

For more information, contact : pritha.ghosh@gmail.com

PRATIBIMB Page 13

Partner project updates

HAMARA SCHOOL ‘Hamara School’ has been voraciously preparing for the next academic year. It has enrolled 82 children out of which 52 received mainstream education. Out of the 30 students not attending mainstream school, 3 children were enrolled in to mainstream school in April whilst 7 children awaited their entrance results for middle-school. The rest will be given their admissions later this year through secondary school examinations such as the National Open School and NIOS exami-nations. The teachers at Hamara Schools have built strong relationships with the Government schools to ensure that the admission process would go smoothly. Weekly training sessions for the schools’ teachers at LearningInq focus on retain-ing the most difficult children. The Family Unit Profiling, now 1.5 years into the program, engages parents into discussing about drug peddling activities, the addictive gambling activities and the lack of parental attention towards the kids.

DID YOU KNOW : Avoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide

emissions a year!

JAAGRITI All school going children at Jaagriti have passed with good results, majority with more than 70% marks. In the current academic session, Jaagriti is admitting over 30 children under regular school education program, taking the total to over 45.

We are also working on developing an innovative in-house curriculum for teaching those children who have never ex-perienced any sort of learning.

Our annual event, Sadbhavna-2010, was organised in association with NSIT Rotaract Club at NSIT in Dwarka. The event witnessed the participation of 80 children and more than 20 volunteers. It started with a sports event which was followed by lunch and confidence building session in the auditorium. A general introduction session followed next. This particular

exercise not only made the children familiar with one another but also helped to allay their fears about public speaking.

A Mobile Library has been started in order to inculcate reading habit among chil-dren, to enhance their learning and to make them aware of the world around them. We have started with around 60 books, each containing short stories in Hindi or English along with several pictures. The response has been good so far with children actively taking part in the reading sessions.

In association with the Rotaract Club of NSIT, Jaagriti has started a Community

Development Program. The chief objective of the program includes understanding the various challenges faced in the areas of economic development, education and health and nutrition, by the families that come under the purview of Jaagriti. Around ten volunteers have been actively working on this program, conducting surveys and awareness sessions every week in the communities. Once the surveys are finished, Jaagriti would publish a detailed report on the same.

Page 14 PRATIBIMB

DID YOU KNOW : A dripping tap can waste over 20,000 litres of water every year.

PARICHAY Gyan Ganga Project on mental retardation: Survey of two areas (Village Tukmirpur and Village Beharipur) has been completed under this project. The Gyan Ganga Pro-ject involves preparing case histories of mentally challenged kids and parental coun-seling along with the assessment of these special kids. Parents, whose kids have under-gone these assessments, are now showing willingness to support the project, especially in establishing a special school in the neighborhood. This program is going on smoothly at Parichay Bal Vikas Kendra and Gyanodaya. From 15th April to 30th June, the chil-dren will be introduced to the world of creative and recreational activities including, art & crafts, music, dance & drama.

Parichay’s “Sponsor a child’s education” program : Our program is now six years old. Results of school going kids have been declared; all the kids have been promoted with good grades. New session has already begun with the kids,

To volunteer with Jaagriti, please contact : Anchit Goel @ +91-9555086554 or send a mail to : contact@jaagriti-india.org

busy and happy in their new books and new classes. At present 23 kids are enjoying the benefits of schooling. Recently the eldest of them has been promoted to class X. After school, all the sponsored kids attend Parichay’s non formal edu-cation program that runs five days a week. The formal and non formal schooling has enabled an environment for developing self esteem, self-confidence and value orientation for participation in social change.

Adult literacy program for women of Swayamsiddha Mahila Samooh is being con-ducted by Bulbul and Roshanara, two senior girls of Parichay.

For more information, contact : vijay.parichay@gmail.com

PRATIBIMB Page 15

LEU FOUNDATION- Learn Empower Uplift Vocational Computer Center at Happy School

L.E.U. Foundation collaborated with Happy School, Gurgaon to start vocation computer training centre in school premises. The aim is to equip 17-20 year olds from low income families who have either dropped out of school or are unable to pursue further studies with the skills needed to face the job market. The area in which the organization shall train them is data entry. The skill sets imparted will be knowledge of English and computers. The business model is such that these op-erators shall be sufficiently trained to graduate to better jobs after a stint at LEU. The classes started with 8 students (adults with secondary education) and 1 pro-fessional trainer.

Parent-Teacher Meet & Holi Celebrations

LEU had a parent teacher meet. This was a new concept tried for the first time by LEU FOUNDATION as suggested by some of our enthusiastic interns. The meet helped in bridging the gap between us and the parents. It made parents more aware of their wards performance and in return, it helped us to better understand their families and we could actually convey the right message to them – how im-portant is education. This event was followed by a small session on career aspira-tions for senior students which again was beneficial in boosting the morale of stu-dents. Finally, we had a small holi celebration with the kids which was great fun.

For more information, contact : agrawalmayank@gmail.com

DID YOU KNOW: Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth and soaping your hands can save around 16 litres a day.

KRITI The Neighborhood Project, Community Service Wing of Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology in association with LEU Foundation, organized KRITI, a fest for children from various NGOs on 17th April in the NSIT campus. The fest saw participation from 11 NGOs such as LEU Foundation, Prayatna, Navjyoti, AID NCR, Protsahana, Ja-griti,Happy School, Teach for India, Asmita, and Deepshikha and Communiserve - the CSR wing of E-valueServe and about 150 kids from the non formal schools run by these NGOs. The event started with a short introduction by each NGO and an inter-active session with the kids. The fest had active participation from little kids from vari-ous NGOs in different competitions like Sports, painting, Quizzes and Talent rounds

with singing, dancing and Skit performances. There were movie sessions for the kids in between. KRITI 2010 for the first time had an Inter NGO Collaborative Meet running parallel with the competitions. Representa-tives from different NGOs discussed about many relevant social issues such as the role of NGOs in implementing Right to Education Act, Common Problems faced by NGOs, starting collaborative projects, volunteer sharing and fund raising. The session was very informative with the representatives sharing their experiences and prac-tices. The event ended with a thanks giving and a prize distribution ceremony for the kids.

Page 16 PRATIBIMB

DID YOU KNOW : Lawns only need watering once a week, post rain only after two weeks. Do watering early morning for

minimal evaporation and water conservation.

• “Going Green” doesn’t have to be a daunting task that means sweeping life changes. Start by planting a tree in your backyard or neighbourhood. It’s good for the air, the land, can sshade your house, save on cooling and they can also improve the value of your property.

• Plug your computer, monitor and other home appliances into a power strip and turn them off when not in use- don’t leave them in sleep mode. Sleep mode adds im-mensely to the electricity bill and unnecessary greenhouse gases.

• Do not dump oil, grease, antifreeze, pesticides, fertilizers, paints, cleaners, and other toxic household products down the storm drain. These drains, found in the gutters on the sidewalk, are not treated by the sewage treatment plant–they go straight into riv-ers, lakes, and maybe even the ocean! By putting these toxic chemicals down the drain, there is a great biological threat to marine life.

• One less meat-based meal a week helps the planet and your diet. For each ham-burger that originated from animals raised on rainforest land, approximately 55 square feet of forest have been destroyed.

GO GREEN!

AID is privileged to have Mr C Srinivasan, a young and dynamic environmentalist from Vellore as an AID Saathi. Mr. Srinivasan’s first encounter with environmental fury was in the early 90’s. The water table of Vellore had dropped very low and the local river Palar had dried up due to prolonged deforestation and heat. He took up the challenge and formed the Exnora Green Cross (EGC) in 1995, as an affiliate of Exnora International, with a vision to “bring about socio-economic change through employment generation based on environmental conservation by enlisting people's participation”. He then, initiated the Vellore Hills Restoration Project. Soon, check dams were built, ponds de-silted and new ones were dug, rainwater was harvested resulting in reju-venation of precious water resources. His next project aimed to utilize sunlight to its full potential and after carrying out a year-long experiment in growing vegetables on roof-tops, he established the Vegetable Roof Garden Project. Soon, Vel-lore faced a huge crisis of dumping waste; Mr. Srinivasan then initiated the Community Composting Project in collabora-tion with UNICEF where he recycled waste from five neighbourhoods. This was followed by the path-breaking Fish Market Composting Project which collected and composted fish waste and hence rid the town from diseases that were being spread. A Temple Waste Composting Project also came into being and was followed by a barrage of projects aiming at composting waste from markets, hotels, and marriage halls. Mr. Srinivasan has taken up solid waste management through innovative solutions, generating more than 1,000 jobs, mostly for poor women. He has used cattle dung and urine to gen-erate biogas in 6 plants and for composting in 40 projects, which have so far generated 50,000 tonnes of good quality manure, replacing chemical fertilizers and saving 200 cattle from slaughter. His hobby is to develop creative schemes like the Coconut Tree Scheme, for which he has 177 families registered to plant coconut trees on all their family functions like weddings, anniversaries and birthdays, this in turn has, reverted the professions of 22 poor villagers previously involved in felling trees. Mr. Srinivasan is a great source of inspiration to AID volunteers, and has provided great insight into develop-ment dynamics.

Volunteer Speak: My journey through AID By Vipra Dhawan

AID recognizes certain outstanding social and environmental activists in India as "AID-

Saathi". The program creates a mutually enriching relationship between AID and the

Saathi and entails not only support in the form of a stipend, but also non-monetary

Page 17 PRATIBIMB

AID SAATHI: C. Srinivasan

“So how was your experience”- Prachi asked me after my first day at Aashayein. ”Good”, I said.

I didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t that it was the first time I had seen something like this, but indeed this was the first time when I realized that it’s not just about volunteering, it’s more of a responsibility and when responsibility comes into play, you cannot be very casual about things.

It took me some time to decide whether I’m really capable enough to take this responsi-bility? But soon enough I realized it was not about being capable to take responsibility but it was about doing what you are capable of. So, I decided that I will do my bit.

Then, I began going to Aashayein almost every week and soon things started to fall in place. Within a short span of time, we had a room where we conducted classes, had regular interaction with kids, music, dance, education and celebration all became enjoy-able. It indeed was a great learning experience. This was the first time I tried making di-yas, candles, selling t-shirts at stalls at various colleges and much more. Unfortunately, we

DID YOU KNOW : Tissue paper is a major source of waste. It takes 60,00,000 trees to make 1 year’s worth of tissues for the

world.

had to close down Aashayein due to some community issues.

Then we started afresh with Pehal. It was altogether a different experience as these kids had never been to school. We got so involved with these had to close down Aashayein due to some community issues.

Then we started afresh with Pehal. It was altogether a different experience as these kids had never been to school. We got so involved with these kids and it felt really nice to see that we were making a difference, no matter how infinitesi-mally small it may be to someone’s life. Since, Pehal kids had never been to school, it was much bigger a challenge, however, since the kids were not very interactive, it was easier to mould them the way we wanted them to.

Whatever they were taught they would understand and implement it to a greater extent. Our teacher- Uttam Sir played the most important role shaping their lives. Every day at Pehal was a new learning experience. It made me realize that sitting and cribbing about things is very easy. But it’s really difficult to take a step forward and work towards improving something that makes you crib. Also, it brought a sense of gratitude within me. I thank God for what I am, my parents for giving me the kind of life I am leading, my teachers for having taught me so much which I could use here with these kids.

Its now time to take Pehal to new heights thru AID NCR MCD School adoption program.

The following may arouse a lot of anger or rejection; however, pragmatic pondering could lead to affirmation. Now I question my fellow Indians - what do you mean by mentality of a person? It means nothing but our mind-frame, our way to look at things. But do we know how crucial can it be, being the citizen of a developing country such as India, to have the right mind-frame and attitude?

It leaves me flabbergasted to discover that in a country like India it is considered a sense of pride to have the same point of view and opinions on most of the things. No people, in past era you could have called it unity or like mindedness but in the present era I would term it as obsolete thinking. Our minds act as computers that are in the “hang mode” and refuse to come out of it.

The “Gen-X “-youth of India defines modern thinking as the ability to freely converse on bold issues, the freedom to wear and speak anything, anywhere, without any coyness, so called audacious attitude, using hi tech gadgets, et al. Does this really direct us towards pragmatic thinking? No! Not at all! To me modern thinking is the ability to expand our thoughts, ideas and interests in multiple dimensions, to be pragmatic in our approach and not become a monotonous individual.

“Minds are like parachutes, they function only when they open “.

I can give a flurry of examples which corroborate my stance:-

Some of our interests are mainly confined to movies or cricket. How can we so audaciously neglect other things? Due to our stagnant thinking no other sport in India is able to pop-up while cricket has become like the “burj khalifa” of India. Do any of my so-called pragmatic thinkers know who Pankaj Advani is? Hardly a handful, right? He is the world snooker and billiards champion from our very own India. Being a world champion doesn’t even buy him sponsors for his travels abroad whereas, our Indian cricket team receives heavy pay-checks for just showcasing their mediocre brand endorsing skills. Is this fair?

Take soccer or our national sport – hockey for example. Who has given us the right to blame the players and tag them as untalented? Being a sportsperson myself, I know what encouragement and applauses can do. It means a great deal to be playing for your country and motivation in any form is bound to enhance the performance levels.

PRATIBIMB

Page 18

The Great Indian Mentality By Vibhor Gupta

DID YOU KNOW : With accelerated global warming, and the ice covering melting, the earth would be absorbing more

sunlight, and is on its way to becoming hotter than before.

How can u expect the soccer, hockey players to deliver in front of empty stands, with a feeling of insecurity popping at the back of their minds? Take a determined stand and persuade even a million (a thousandth of our population) to watch a local soccer, hockey, match on those Delhi doordarshan channels. Take my word, from the next day itself these sports would be flooded with sponsors and if every-thing is properly directed and managed, it would yield positive results.

Leaving sports aside, look at our industrial infrastructure, it is so limited in terms of type of employment opportunities it has to offer. If we do not change our thinking we will continue to remain in the shackles of under developed countries. Our indus-trial setup and our uni-directional ambitions are designed to create unemploy-ment. It is confined to a few sectors and industries which obviously cannot create enough jobs for the entire country that houses a billion people who obviously hap-pen to be running for the “ same good job “.

On similar lines are our country’s law & order and political setup. Till how long we will bear the mediocrity and biasness of our judicial and political setup?

Promote entrepreneurship, go unconventional, and explore new horizons!!!

You’ll get what you want only when you demand for it; make some noise and become a trendsetter. Even a very minute but valid change in our constitution has to sit gaping, “with eyes wide open” at the millions of signa-tures required to approve it and a good long year to finally come into action. Till how long we will let all this happen? Wake up Indians! Like a phoenix from the ashes” and break free from all the shackles lets stage our country on the world map with great elan or else continue “fickling as a weather cock”.

Page 19 PRATIBIMB

DID YOU KNOW : Lighting an empty office wastes enough energy to boil water for a 1000 cups of coffee and doubles a

company’s annual electric bill

Be the change with AID NCR!

Join us!

Visit http://delhi.aidindia.org - Register yourself as a volunteer. On receiving a welcome note, subscribe yourself to the volunteer e-group. One of our volunteer coordinators will contact you within a week.

Contact aid.delhi@gmail.com for any further questions Volunteer on ground or online; every contribution by you is of extreme value to us.

Simple steps by which YOU can make a difference:

Donate to AID All donations to AID Delhi are directed towards education, health & nutrition, skill- building/vocational training

initiatives, campaigns and related activities. You can donate towards AID via the following routes: Meal a month: An initiative to donate an amount equivalent to one meal of yours to build future-India. Even a

single penny counts! Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 500...Whatever a meal costs you, we’d like to share your platter. Donate Books: Donate academic books of your children after they’ve completed studying from them.

Formal education of a child at our partner NGOs: These contributions are entitled to a 50% tax exemption un-der Section 80G of the Income Tax Act.

How to donate in India

AID-India - ICICI Bank Details Branch: Royapettah High Road (RHR) Location: Chennai

MICR code: 600229007 Account No.: 602201200299 (Savings) Beneficiary address:

7/4 Besant Road, Royapettah, Chennai. Phone: +91-44-42106493, 28350403

To receive a receipt for your donation, please send the following details to aid.delhi@gmail.com Your name and permanent address

Date , amount and mode (e-transfer, cheque, cash) of donation Bank details together with the Cheque/Receipt number or E-transaction ID

If you are outside India and want to contribute to AID India’s Delhi chapter, then do mail us your cheque

(in any currency), drawn in favour of "AID-India", along with a cover letter stating the purpose of donation. AID-India – Mailing Address

c/o R. Selva Ganapthy, Department of Chemical Engineering,

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi - 110016 Phone : 9891358457, 9213797167

Reach us at: http://delhi.aidindia.org AID Delhi on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/delhi.aidindia

ELECTRONIC TRANS-FERS

Internet banking users can make electronic transfers to AID-India's ICICI Bank Account.

CHEQUES Cheques can be drawn in favour of AID-India's ICICI Bank Account and can be either mailed to or deposited at any ICICI bank branch.

CASH Cash may be deposited at any ICICI bank branch quoting "AID-India" on the deposit slip.

AID Delhi on Twitter: http://twitter.com/aiddelhi AID Delhi on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AID_Delhi