Christmas and New Year Celebrations

Folks! We celebrated Christmas on a bright and sunny afternoon at Jaagriti where we had a variety of fun-filled and happy activities. With the help of our cheerful and ever smiling volunteers we gathered the sparsely dressed little children who came braving the chilly weather of Delhi. We decorated the premises with Christmas trees, festoons and colourful balloons. Cold cream and snacks were also distributed amongst kids. The children, who were the most active participants in the occasion, cheered and jived on various bollywood numbers.

And it would be incomplete and unfair if I don’t mention about the show stealer i.e. our very lovable and adorable Santa Claus who came, played, sang and doled out chocolates to the largely restive but enthusiastic crowd. At the end of the day we cherished several innocent smiles and came back with hearts filled with satisfaction. We are determined to keep these smiles alive and to fulfill the promises that we have made to these angels. I am sure that posterity will be proud of us!

- Piyali

Origami Classes

“A chilly Sunday morning…lots of used A4 sheets in one hand…color-boxes in the other…where the hell are you going ??”…that’s what an acquaintance in my society asked me when we met at the society gate. I just smiled back. The mission was to revive the arts and craft classes at Project Jaagriti.

So we reached there at Open Skies site and found the class going on as expected. The attendance was good and the excitement quite evident when the kids spotted us. A hearty ‘Good Morning’ welcomed us and erased all my doubts about whether the kids will be excited about this class or not. We quickly made the kids sit in circles and assigned one volunteer to each group to help them. One of the kids took the paper and got his pencils ready as he thought we are going to paint something. He was puzzled when he was told that we are going to make something using only paper.

Origami, the art of paper-folding, has been on our mind for some time for the project. What can be more interesting than witness a useless-looking paper turn into a bird or a frog or just about anything under the sun? So for our first class we chose a simple yet interesting shape … a jaw-snapping dinosaur (http://www.origami-club.com/en/fun/wiggle/index.htm). As the dinosaur took shape fold-by-fold, the kids’ excitement was a treat to watch. Even the coloring part was fun, with someone drawing as many as two pairs of eyes on his dinosaur!!

As we continue to dig the internet for more interesting origami, a word of caution to others who plan to conduct such sessions with kids: The number of pages missing from kids’ notebooks is directly proportional to the quality of Origami classes!!

Happy Volunteering!!

Ankit

Picnic @ Jaagriti and Aashayein

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open”. This famous quote by our beloved Jawahar Lal Nehru, was brought to realisation at AID, when the ever enthusiastic kids of Aashaiyen and Jaagriti, were taken to the Nehru Planetarium, on the 8^th of November, 2009.

The journey began early in the morning on a Sunday, when the kids, gleaming with radiance and filled with excitement boarded the bus en route to the planetarium. The entire journey echoed with cheery voices and a small antakshri session between the kids and the volunteers. Getting off at the Teenmurti house, the kids were assembled and taken in. All went mum when we entered the planetarium. While we lay back on the flexible seats, the dome shaped roof, projected a beautiful display of the solar system, wooing our kids and scaring some. A Well informative session of our solar system followed, projecting different planets and their surrounding environment with excellent visualisations.

Our young astronauts further quenched their curiosity by visiting the museum, where different systems existing outside earth surface were explained in detail, with model replicas and pictures. An understanding of the basic concepts of science was considered crucial for children by Nehru, and his endeavour proved to be a success amongst the kids of Aasheyin and Jaagriti.

The kids were then given refreshments consisting of tasty patties, samosa’s, chips and cake. A small gaming session followed where a boy’s v/s girl’s team was made to play, what is popularly known as, ‘Dog in the bone’. The entire atmosphere was tense, as the girls and boys cheered and sneered at each other. In the end, the boys tasted victory! Next, was a fun game of ‘Passing the parcel’, where kids caught with the parcel were made to sing and dance.

The whole day left the entire team tired and exhausted but with a sense of achievement, as the kids walked back to board the bus, screaming for more!

Kudos to the team of Aashayein and Jaagriti , namely, Prachi, Zulaikha, Vipra, Deboshree, Anandita, Pinky, Nikita, Srishti, Navya, Vandita, Ritu, Anchit, Ankit, Mohit, Pallavi, Saurabh, Vivek, Chandan for making this day another memorable addition to the list of initiatives working towards the cause.

Zulaikha Rahman

For photographs, visit http://www.facebook.com/tos.php?api_key=4afca19df87d1f06a2d7ec108b6a507f&next=index.php%3Fr%3D8008%26_fb_fromhash%3D32ffdaa6cc05a731eddbcfb5bc2cfcda%26ref%3Dnf&v=1.0&canvas#/album.php?aid=165518&id=107287737145&ref=mf

Rangoli Competition @ Jaagriti

The Jaagriti team thought of celebrating this Diwali in a very joyful and colourful manner and so decided to have a Rangoli Making Competition for the children and volunteers on the day of Diwali.

'Rangoli' signifies creative expression of art by means of colours and is also considered a symbol of good-luck. Rangoli is made on the entrance doors of homes, to welcome guests and goddess Laxmi (the goddess of wealth and fortune).

For the competition, the children were divided into 6 groups of 6 Children each, along with 2 volunteers with each group. They were given 1 hour to complete their Rangoli.

Volunteers: Anchit, Jasraman, Gaurav, Abhishek, Saurabh, Joydeep, Chandan, Manish, Kumkum, Guhan, Ankit and Sneha.

In the end, the Rangoli were judged by Ankit and Kumkum and they selected first, second and third prize winners and one special prize winner.

Winners

First Prize

Children: Suruchi, Hari, Parvati, Hasim, Seema, Vinod

Volunteers: Anchit and Chandan

Second Prize

Children: Laxmi Prasad, Vikas, Vimleshwari, Dhool Singh, Goamti

Volunteers: Jasraman and Gaurav

Third Prize

Children: Nazrana, Asiyan, Aakash, Preeti, Vikas

Volunteers: Saurabh and Manish

Special Prize

Children: Prince, Ankit, Khushboo,

Volunteer: Gaurav

All the winners received lots of chocolates and snacks and fruits were also distributed among everyone.

Happy Diwali !!

A fun filled morning for Jaagriti children

Date: 5th October 2009

Venue: Wave Cinemas (Rajouri Garden)

Movie: Dil Bole Hadippa

Show Timings: 9 am to 11:30 am

The children enjoyed to their fullest and for many it was like a dream come true. :)

Special Thanks to NSIT Rotaract Club and Wave Cinemas for the transport arrangements, free movie show and refreshments.

Pics available online at:http://picasaweb.google.co.in/anchitgoel/MovieScreeningAtWaveCinemasMovieDilBoleHadippa#

Jaagriti Celebrates Joy of Giving

Project Jaagriti is celebrating Joy of Giving week, a national movement, a platform which giveseach one of us the opportunity to reach out and do something good- something that you have always wanted to do. More importantly, it offers us the chance to use the power of collective individual action to make a difference.

Last week, we launched a campaign to collect various old reusable items, such as old clothes, old newspaper, stationary, study material etc. for the benefit of the children and their families under the project. The campaign, already conducted with over 600 families, friends and relatives at various locations, has been a great success and is still ongoing.

Locations

Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology (NSIT), Sector-3, Dwarka(Changemaker: NSIT ROTARACTCLUB)

An Amateur Theatre Group- Dramatech, IIT Delhi(Changemaker: JASRAMAN)

Dakshinayan Society, Sector 4, Dwarka (Changemaker: JOYDEEP)

Bengali Colony, Mahavir Enclave (Changemaker: ANKITA &SNEHA)

Sara International, Noida (Changemaker: JASRAMAN & LALIT)

Mansarovar Apartments, Sector 5, Dwarka (Changemaker: ANKIT)

Over 400 Kg of old clothes, 50 Kg of old newspaper, lots of stationary and reusable study material has been collected.

The Collection:

Segregation Process:

Distribution:

After segregation, the clothes are being partly given to GOONJ (An NGO) and distributed among the children and families under the project.

GOONJ Collection Center:

Distribution among children and their families:

This is just the beginning…..

So join the movement, now!

“Be the Change, you want to see in the WORLD”

Art Bank by AID Delhi and AID Gurgaon

On the eve of Independence Day, 2009, AID Delhi and AID Gurgaon in association with MyWebEra had organized a painting competition under the name “Udaan”. The competition, in its most healthy form among kids produced some creative and colourful results.

We are glad to share these priceless possessions with you- it is priceless because it is crafted out of the most purest abilities and enthusiasm by our children. Please find the links below –

to the event:

http://picasaweb.google.com/aid.delhi/UdaanPaintingCompetition#

and the paintings:

http://mywebera.com/paintersera/eventinfo.aspx?eventid=1#tab2

AID Delhi and AID Gurgaon under its different projects named as Aashayein and Jaagriti in Delhi and Unnati and Disha in Gurgaon are initiatives to provide primary education to the underprivileged children and enhance their living by educating them on right nutrition and through various skill building exercises.

“Udaan” meaning Flight (of Freedom) symbolizes the spirit of independence in the heart of every child. The ‘Udaan’ purpose was to make sure that the kids paint their imagination and dream.

The entire amount generated through the sale of the paintings will go towards the education and development of these children and to organize such events at a larger scale in future.

On behalf of the children, AID Delhi and AID Gurgaon, I present to you this opportunity to support and recognize the value and the talent of our budding generation and buy their paintings.

Looking forward to hearing back from you soon.

For further details, please contact me.

Warm regards

Anchit Goel

Founder and Coordinator

Project Jaagriti

+91-9818115226

Jaagriti team..

Long pending but it finally happened, the get together of Project Jaagriti team. The rain did try its best to restrict us from coming together but we all finally managed to reach the destination. It was great fun, brainstorming on new ideas, playing fun games, laughing to deadly PJs by Vivek, Kshitijand Jasraman and the photo session by Manish and Abhishek. We all wished that we could have stayed longer but we had to leave, with a promise to be back again with a bigger team and to celebrate new achievements, with a movie and lunch next time!

Volunteer Experience Sharing..By Jasraman

Happy Independence Day. My first day with Jaagriti and my first celebration with them! The day began at 9 and I found my self surrounded by enthusiastic lot of young friends. I was on a different high for almost an hour, realizing and grasping the activities revolving around. It was a call and ultimately I was one with them. What amazed me was the simplicity in everything. Whether it was an interactive session between the kids and the volunteers; ease of holding crayons and paint brushes by kids who were simple in their creations and yet so real; the balloon session; the sound of music in their own melodious voices and bringing the lighter side out by sharing jokes that brought smile to all. Followed by flag hoisting and singing of our National Anthem; distribution of sweets and prizes for the art. The highlight of the day was to leave our palm impressions on the chart in tricolour. It looked a Master Piece! Thank you Jaagriti for this opportunity and my appreciation is ever growing.

Regards,

Jasraman Sayal.

Independence Day Celebrations @ Jaagriti

The Independence Day has been an event that was much-awaited at Jaagriti, more so for the volunteers who recently became a part of the initiative, because for the first time we would be having so much time to interact with the kids. The day started pretty early as we had decided to start the proceedings at 9AM at Pragati Public School, Dwarka. When I reached there I was pleasantly surprised to find that kids had turned up in large numbers, all neatly dressed up and full of excitement. They were so eager to get started that it was a bit of a challenge to control them.

We started off with Abhishek telling them the significance of this day in a very interesting way. It was nice to see that quite a lot of kids already knew why we celebrate Independence Day. After this initial chit-chat we headed outside for rest of the activities planned for the day. The kids presented some songs that they had prepared for the occasion and everyone joined them in singing. But they did not stop at just presenting the songs, the meaning was also explained very lucidly to everyone present there. So while we volunteers were taken back to our childhood memories (the way Independence Day used to be celebrated at school), we got to know some new things as well.

After flag hoisting and National Anthem it was time for some fun. We divided kids into four groups and had a balloon-blowing competition. It was a mad rush as all the volunteers joined the kids to blow as many balloons as they could and win the coveted prize!!! Equally exciting was the teamwork displayed by all participants, with everyone screaming jaldi…jaldi…jaldi fulao. As one of the teams was declared the winner, there were tri-colored balloons all over the lawn literally flooding the place with colors of our flag.

Just when we were planning to have some more outdoor activities it started raining and we rushed inside. Now it was time for painting competition and kids were pleased to see the prizes to be awarded to winners. Lal Qila, India Gate, Kites, all were there on the drawing sheets in all possible colors. And most rewarding were the smiles on their faces, the spirit to outdo all others and take that prize home.

While talking to kids during painting competition I just jokingly asked a few of them -- ‘Who is going to win 1^st prize?’. The unanimous answer was -- “Me.” Three cheers for everyone at Jaagriti for making this a reality.

All in all, the best Independence Day I have celebrated in past few years. Jai Hind.

For pictures of the event, please visit

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/anchitgoel/IndependenceDayCelebrations?feat=directlink#

- Ankit Kesri

JAAGRITI Speaks .....

I am one amongst u
constituted by people like u...

thoughts no different then u think
acting on what u ink...

enlightening the souls
future out of the holes...

growing all strong
JAAGRITI is what i am called...

helping children of slums
getting them out of dumps...

education is what i impart
giving them essence of art...

polishing their skills
medicating their diseases with pills...

nurturing with food
to be a healthier dude...

Hey people come forward
support them to stand
all what a child needs
is your helping hand !!

(This poem has been written by a Jaagriti volunteer- Rahul Bana)

Arts Classes and Volunteer Experience Sharing

I was introduced to Project Jaagriti by Anchit, who also happened to be my senior at the college. He told me about the work being done at project Jaagriti for the children of construction workers in Dwarka and how the privileged youth of the society is bringing about a change and awakening the poor. At that very moment, I decided to get associated with the project and work for the education and skill building of poor children. I also introduced the project to some of my friends and motivated them to volunteer for the project.

In our first meeting, Anchit briefed me and my friends about the objectives of the project, its various activities and the various volunteer opportunities available at the project. The amicable decision that we took there was that we would impart Basic Computer Education to all the children and would also teach them how to Draw and Paint. So in the following week, I and my friends drafted the curriculum for the Computer Classes which we are planning to start in the month of August.

On 18^th July 2009, we have also started with regular weekly Arts and Craft Classes for the Children. About 8 volunteers were present, who taught around 35 Children, how to draw the shapes of different fruits such as apple, banana, mango etc. Apart from drawing these fruits, they were taught about the utilization of these fruits. Then they were taught how to identify colours, through association with the colours of the fruits and how to color those fruits in their respective shades. And before I end, I must say that some of the Children are so good at drawing, even the volunteers could not match their talent.

Overall it was a great learning experience for first timers like us and I along with my friends look forward to create a long lasting impression in the lives of these poor Children at project JAAGRITI.

Pictures of the Art Classes

Thanks

Gaurav Sharma

Videos of Theater and Dance Show

Videos of the Theater and Dance show, held at Project Jaagriti on 14th June 2009

INSAAN YA SHAITAAN PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7oorv0XL7M

INSAAN YA SHAITAAN PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLO1ksPZrQY

Thanks
Anchit Goel

Project JAAGRITI Updates- June 2009

Apart from the already running elementary education classes, following are the updates-

1. Theater and Dance Classes- Regular theater and dance classes were held for 2-3 hours every day at 7 am in the morning. Abhishek taught the children a 15 min play cum dance, which was a step forward towards development of theater and dance skills in the children.

2. Theater and Dance Show- The RBS event was canceled but we did not wish to upset the children with this news. So we organised our own show on 14th June 2009, where children showcased the play and dance they had learned in the classes. We also had volunteer interaction and a prize distribution ceremony. Audience included volunteers, their friends, parents etc.

3. Health Checkup- Dr. Pooja, from Janakpuri (New Delhi), had conducted a detailed health check up of the children and came out with a number of observations such as protein deficiency in the children, worms, weakness etc. We have shared the details with the parents of the children as well as all the volunteers. Medicines have been provided by Dr. Pooja for the children and we look forward to improving the health of the Children in the next 3 months. We plan to start providing regular nutrition support to the children at the classes and would be having a second health check up after 3 months to analyse the progress and improvement made in the health of the children.

4. Computer Literacy- Project Jaagriti has received 2 old computers for setting up of computer classes. We have started formulating the study module which is to be taught to the Children and look forward to start the computer classes in the next 2 months.

Volunteers- Anchit, Abhishek, Kshitij, Vivek, Dr. Pooja, Debashish, Sukriti, Richa, Paulaumi, Ruchika, Siddharth, Pallavi.

Anchit Goel
Founder and Coordinator
Project Jaagriti
Mobile: +91-9818115226

NATAK KE NAKHRE

By Abhishek Kukreja

For years theatre has been the best form of an art to spread messages & ideas which have time and again been able to revolutionalise the society. Apart from being a medium to communicate, the art of theatre helps its participants to discover himself/herself, it makes him/her realise his/her infinite capabilities & unleash the enormous potential, which I believe God has packed in all of us. What would it be like if this powerful tool reaches to every oppressed personality, how would be if it reaches every being whom society considers inferior. JUST IMAGINE!! This is what I imagined and grabbed the opportunity when Anchit in one of the regular meets of Jaagriti, told us about the event which AID Delhi was planning to organise with RBS. As he expressed the desire that kids of Jaagriti must perform at this event, immediately I had decided that this was it. And next morning I was there at the site making dance and drama team.

For kids of Jaagriti this new experience was pretty exciting. Infact the first day was quite peaceful and easy going, giving high hopes for a positive result. But let me clearly state that this first day, definitely wasn't an apt trailer of the film, that lay ahead. After my successful day I was firm that I would go ahead and get these kids on stage. I had myself anticipated a lot of obstacles coming our way but somehow my instincts gave me a green signal to go ahead. But the road ahead was way tougher than I had expected. Problems kept creeping in from every direction. Yet our determination stayed for the fact that we saw them being sorted out someway or the other. Room and music system was our first difficulty but then Pragati Public School came to our rescue. Then the next difficulty was choreographing over 20 students. Again one of my friends from dance society of my college was the one who steered us through. Similarly no costumes, kids dropping out at the last moment (as they had to get back to their village), timing problems, kids falling ill, we being unable to handle children etc. Things kept going wrong yet after sometime everything was back on track. But this one big speed breaker had almost finished everything. As we were midway to completion we got to know that planned event had been called off.

But all of us at Jaagriti had seen the amount of hard work these kids had put in and we knew this news would shatter the morale of kids. Thus we decided that we won't let their efforts go in vain so we decided to put up our own show, where every volunteer would get their friends and family as audience.

So, finally after a tiring jostling with the situations, came the BIG DAY. The day of the event and I must mention that it was this day that I learnt that all hurdles we faced were the tests that God had put to us, just to see how desperately we wanted what we wanted and I think we faired pretty well, as finally the show was highly appreciated. For the first time in my life I saw people of a so called higher level of society not only coming forward to watch the show of a class inferior to them, but also rising to give a standing ovation for the spectacular performance. I was shocked to see this heartwarming response, my vision blurred because of tears that had surfaced in my eyes. The miracle wasn't only the fact that the audience enjoyed the performance but the bigger miracle was that the kids had pulled off their act amazingly well. They were attempting a mature script, a script asking spectators to introspect and fight the devil within.

The successful completion of the venture compelled me to review the past month - this is what I realised that it wasn't me or any of us at Jaagriti who were doing this show but it was actually that divine superpower who was doing it through us. We in this case were a mere instrument to his plans. Today every human being needs to be awaken and for all of us be it volunteers, kids or the audience present that day it was God's plan to awaken us, it was God's call to bring us to the state of JAAGRITI.

Event Pictures

-- I am really sorry for the bad image quality but there was some problem with the camera.

Thanks