Volume 10, Issue 1July 2011

For PrivateCirculation Only

Vathsalya Offices inKOPPAL & RAICHUR

Participate in the Community

Vathsalya’s Raichur officeorgan i zed a one -day

workshop on Alternative Care forHomeless Children on May 17,2011. About 25 participants fromdifferent backgrounds like CWCmembers, government officials,NGO representatives and socialwork students participated andbenefited from the workshop. Asimilar workshop was held incollaboration with UNICEF onJune 14 at Koppal.

It was a hectic but satisfying threedays that Sylvia and VineethaAustin spent at Koppal and Raichurfrom February 15 to 18, 2011. InKoppal, they met social workerNarayan and Patgaonkars at theVCT office. They had a discussionabout the challenges faced by

Raichur

Koppal office and also about theeducation sponsorship programme.

From the afternoon of February 16,2011 along with social workerHanumanthappa, Sylvia andVineetha met Gladys Peter, who isrunning a school for children of thesurrounding villages. Vathsalyasupports 50 children who study atMuranpur.

Next, accompanied by GladysPeter, they visited Sultanpur, sixkilometers from Muranpur. Thevillage comprised shelters withthatched roofs and walls made ofsticks. The mud roads made travela challenge. Children werewandering, playing, doinghousehold chores, carrying littleones, and there were a few inuniforms too. Girls are notencouraged to study and hence theyhave a crèche in a small room inthat village where 40 childrenreceive basic education likenumbers, alphabets and songs.

At the Raichur Centre(above), Sylvia andVineetha had awonderful time withRahul (two years) andGanesh (five years).

Koppal

Vathsalya Charitable Trust, No. 717, 5th Cross, HRBR Layout, Kalyan Nagar, Bangalore - 560 043.Tel: +91-80-25457360, Fax: +91-80-25452671, Email: info@vctblr.org, Web: www.vctblr.org

Communications Consultant: Yorke Communications Pvt. Ltd. matilda@yorkecommunications.com

Story for the QuarterPriti

On admission Priti with her family

Baby Priti was found abandoned near amedical college. The security was informed

of it and the baby was taken to the EmergencyMedicine. She was neatly wrapped in a blanket,had a bindi on her forehead. She wasimmediately admitted to the NICU for newborncare. The primary tests showed that she was ahealthy child. Priti was handed over to the legalauthorities for further care, then to Swanthana,a centre for care of abandoned mentallychallenged children with special needs run bythe Congregation of Daughters of St. Camillus.

At 11 months, a routine follow-up showed thatPriti had mild developmental delay, and washypotonic. Evaluation of hepatomegaly revealeda cystic lesion in the right lobe of the liver forwhich she underwent right hepatectomy on theOctober 16, 2007. A final diagnosis ofmesenchymal hematoma of liver (R) lobe wasmade on histopathological examination. Tumormarkers revealed elevated AFP, others beingnormal. Recovery was uneventful.

On April 17, 2009, two-and-a-half-year-old Pritiwas transferred to Vathsalya from Swanthanaas per the orders of the Child WelfareCommittee. Media publication was done againon May 15, 2009, but there was no response.Her growth and development were withinnormal limits, and she did not have anysignificant illness except for the abscess on her

left thigh, for which she underwent incision anddrainage of pus on July 8, 2009. At about thesame time, she also fractured her right leg.

On October 6, 2009, Priti was declared free foradoption. We were able to identify a foster homefor her and she was happy with her fosterparents, sisters, and other children. During theday, she attended informal school, and sheproved herself to be a smart and active child.She had a very friendly disposition, made friendsvery quickly, was able to grasp whatever wastaught and developed into a very charming child,showing a great interest in dancing and singing.Her charming smile captivated many hearts.

Attempts to identify a local family were notsuccessful as most of our Indian families preferinfants and older children without any medicalproblems. However, in October 2010, it waswith great joy we greeted the news that a familywas identified in the United States of America.During the next few months, the parents and Pritiwere able to communicate with each other andPriti was united with her parents when they cameto take her home. It was indeed a joyous andtouching moment when Priti saw her parents –the transition was just too wonderful. We knowPriti will be a happy child, true to her name.She will be loved by all those she come incontact with her, wherever she is. God bless Pritiand her new family.

Muranpur

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Updating SkillsNASSCOM WORKSHOPSSylvia and Vineetha attended a workshop forNGOs organised by NASSCOM Foundation inpartnership with Microsoft from January 5 to 8,2011 at AMC College, Bannerghatta. Theworkshop focused on practical skills to improveday-to-day work and not just through technicalknowledge or theory.

The training was educative, informative,effective and built upon the basics. Itdemonstrated shortcuts to save time, anddemonstrated how PowerPoint features like thevideo and hyperlinkscan help in makingpresentations. They were also introduced toonline tools, how to do marketing online, and

most importantly, to impart the learnings tocolleagues, which will help them in their dailyactivities. Sylvia and Vineetha felt that this wasan interesting experience to learn along withother NGOs.

On March 24, 2011, Sherly Thomas attended afollow-up workshop and this was attended byrepresentatives from NGOs, the Government,as well as Industry and domain experts. Throughpanel discussions and interactive sessions, shegot tips to improve quality of every day work.

Sherly Thomas attended the AdvancedBiblical Counselling level-1 training organizedby PtoP (Person to Person) from April 11 to 16,2011, in Bangalore.

Reaching Out At the workshop on parenting, organized by

Holt and Birth to Three, an organization fromEugene, Oregon, from February 7-10, 2011in Pune, Mary Paul and Sherly Thomas wereparticipants. Delegates were from severalcountries, including Uganda, Ethiopia,Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam.

The focus of the training was on “makingParenting a Pleasure, with special emphasison child development, communication,nurturing oneself, managing stress and anger.

The underlying message of the workshop wasthat parenting is the foundation of the family.Participants shared their experiences onparenting, how to nurture and take care ofthemselves, and the need for parents tosupport each other while trying to use thecommunity resources.

Vathsalya was invited to speak on Rejection,Acceptance, and Forgiveness on April 12,2011 at the PtoP Advanced BiblicalCounselling level-1 training at Bangalore.

A one-day workshop on “Making adifference” was held for about 55 teachers atthe Bishop Sargent School, Tumkur, whichis about two hours from Bangalore.

Mieke enraptures with her music Chitra — Meera every day teach maths

Volunteers

Community Teams Work, a project of aninvestment company, saw two teams visit

VCT on April 26 and 28, 2011, to volunteer withour children at Vathsalya and the children fromthe community who are under our educationsponsorship programme. Two workshops –“Wonders on Glass” and “Living a CreativeLife” were held. The volunteers gave thechildren a helping hand to do the paintings onglass and make greeting cards, book marks andorigami art forms. The children enjoyed thecreative work and games organized by theenthusiastic team.

Volunteer Sheelu Raointeracts with children

The teams returned with more excitement forthe children. On May 3, 2011, ‘ScienceExplorers’ saw the children visiting aTechnology Museum. ‘Imagination Has NoLimits’, a 3rd programme, had them make carrybags, gift boxes, birds, and other handiwork. OnMay 13, 2011, volunteers for ‘A Stitch In TimeSaves Nine’ helped the children to doembroidery and bead works on white tops. Theteam provided the children lunch and chocolates.

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Vathsalya was invited to share the challengesencountered by the Trust, at a meetingconducted by Dun @ Bradstreet InformationServices and Dewan Housing Finance.

Two sessions, one on “Legal aspects ofMarriage and Family” and the second on“Social Systems” were taken for a group ofstudents of counselling organized by thePerson to Person Institute of ChristianCounseling in Bangalore.

The ACA Annual General Body Meeting washeld on January 25, 2011, at Mathruchaya.Most of the agencies in Karnataka attendedthe meeting.

The CARA Annual Meet was attended byMary Paul and Vineetha Austin on March23 and 24, 2011, in New Delhi. It wasattended by RIPA’s LAPA’s, Shishu GrehasACA representatives as well as governmentpersonnel.

Two sessions, one on “Legal aspects ofMarriage and Family” and the second on“Social Systems” were taken for a group ofStudents of counseling organized by thePerson to Person Institute of ChristianCounseling in Bangalore.

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Parent PreparationWorkshops were

held on March 5 and12, 2011. The firstworkshop on March 5was attended by ninecouples. Afterthe introduction andwarm-up, sessionswere held on MarriageEnrichment, coreissues on adoption,Child Development,sharing by adoptive parent and the last sessionwas on preparing oneself for adoption.

Group Discussion

On March 12, the topics wereAttachment and Bonding, PostAdoption Blues, Telling YourChild about Adoption, LateChildhood and Adolescencefollowed by sharing by adoptiveparents and a group discussion.

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Suresh Kumar & Kavita Suresh and daughterMahi on January 27, 2011.

Teresa Augustine Palcisko and daughter Sarikaon January 27, 2011.

Manish Gupta & Kanupriya and son Amir onMarch 26, 2011.

Sriram Bhat & Maithri Bhat and daughterKamna on April 9, 2011.

Srinivas & Nirmala and son Manu on May 6,2011.

Jitesh & Kripa and son Nimish on May 13,2011.

Beena Mathew and daughterRamya Selvi on May 30,2011

Ashwin Haldipur &Sushma and daughterBhavana on June 4, 2011

Hussain Mansur Bengali & Farida Hussain andson Abdul Qadir on June 11, 2011

Manish and Shefali Patel and daughter Lakshitaon June 7, 2011

Kaumudi Mohanty and son Vachan on June 17,2011.

Namaste In June, we were happy to welcome and

counsel older adoptees who volunteered andspent time with our children.

In January 2011, around 28 students fromUnited Theological College interned with us.Vathsalya staff attended the closing ceremonyat UTC on January 25, 2011.

Twenty students from Bangalore City Collegecelebrated Republic Day with the children on

January 27 by distributing stationery andsnacks.

The staff and children warmly welcomedCindy Arora when she visited us onApril 27. Cindy was a volunteer and has beena friend of VCT for several years. Sherelocated to the U.S. over a year ago.

Students from the Counselling Departmentof U.T.C were given an orientation onJune 24, 2011.

Activity

A second corporate organized a marketplace as part of their CommunityService Programme on July 20 and 22,2011. Visitors to Vathsalya’s stall wereshown a presentation on its programme– like adoption, foster care, andeducation sponsorship. Handicraftitems done by our children wereexhibited and some of them werebought. Brochures were distributed tothe public to showcase the work doneat Vathsalya.

We Are Family

Parent Preparation Workshop

Women’s Day Workshop

Women’s Day wascelebrated on

March 8.

Our foster motherscame together for alively discussion andtime of fun. One of ourstaff spoke on the Powerof Women and whatwomen could do toimprove their own aswell as another’s life.The fact that they have made the lives of so many children happier is a story in itself. We were alsoinvited to speak at a corporate the same day.