Association for India’s Development

Delhi Chapter Newsletter June, 2006

Table of Contents Procrastination @ Volunteering

Editorial 1 A few months back I was talking to one of the AID

Articles volunteers (actually I know only one). He was telling me
Procrastination @ Volunteering 1 about AID, how it works, what are their goals and so
Events on. Soon I caught his enthusiasm and was all ready to
Operations Review 2 go out and help the less privileged and ‘be the change’
Project Updates as he puts it. I made big plans about doing this and that,
Timarpur 4 and I realized two months later that I was still planning.
Prayas 4 I was waiting for the right time you see, a time when I
Khoj 4 would be relatively free.
Parichay 5
Volunteer Profiles Isn’t this the story with most of us? We do want to help,
Sudipta Ghosh 5 but are so engrossed in our own lives that we just don’t
Aparna Bhatia 5 have the time and energy left for anything else. Once in
Jyoti Gupta 6 a while when we do stop to catch our breath, we realize
that we aren’t doing what we wanted to and have given
in to the mechanical lifestyle. And then we are filled
with guilt which is soon replaced by bigger plans and
Editorial some more procrastination. Now, what I don't
understand here is that no one has asked us to do big
This edition features a pleasant dose of our project things. I mean let’s face it, not all of us can dedicate our
updates and volunteer profiles. Coupled with the lives to this. But we do want to help, don’t we? A friend
complete coverage of Operations Review held on 11th suggested me that I could collect money, may be put a
June, this newsletter truly captures the pulse of AID few rupees, whatever amount I can in a box everyday
Delhi activities. and then use that money for some worthy cause. And as
I start to think of ways to utilize the money, I would be
This newsletter also mark s a change in the more involved with the volunteering work. Isn’t this
responsibilities of newsletter coordination with Puneeta simple?
stepping up to take the charge from now on. She has
already proved to be a good resource as a dedicated But first I guess we need to change the way we think.
volunteer with Parichay and as an editor for AID Delhi All of us have our own share of joy and sorrow. And
newsletter since a long time now. I’m glad at her seeing someone else’s problems doesn’t make ours any
acceptance to coordinate and wish her all the best in smaller or less important, but it does help us appreciate
taking this newsletter to new heights. what we have and use it wisely. We don’t need to go out
and solve the poor man’s problems; we need to help
As of now, newsletter is handled completely by him become self sufficient to solve his own problems.
Peeyush, Puneeta and me. However, we urgently require All we need to do is share a small part of whatever we
more volunteers as there is a lot to cover. Hence, have with someone who doesn’t have much. Even if we
anybody who wishes to contribute is welcome. can bring a smile across the tired faces and make their
day a bit easier, we have done our bit.
Positive feedback and criticism are welcomed by AID
Delhi newsletter team, so feel free to express your Contributed by: Sudipti Pahuja
thoughts by emailing at aid.delhi@gmail.com (IInd Year – B.Pharma, Indore)

Contributed By: Riputapan Editor’s Note: The person being talked about in first
para is none other than Anirban!
 Operations Review
The Operations Review (OR) for Aid Delhi was held
on 11th June, 2006 at IIT. It proved to be an effective
way of bringing forward the achievements and
challenges faced by the projects that are initiated by
AID as well as those that AID has collaborated with.
Several commonalities were discussed, such as the
need for funds and dedicated volunteers. The OR
started with a wonderful play by Khoj children.
The meeting discussed:
KHOJ:
This NGO is dedicated towards teaching street
children. They are operating at different places across
Delhi. They plan for a greater involvement of the
community and also greater interconnection between
various teaching centers by bus or else, creating a
common teaching center. More trust needs to be built
amongst the children and then involve volunteers who
can teach in their localities. However this requires
increased funding and a greater number of volunteers.
PARICHAY:
Four programs running under Parichay were
discussed:
v Education: Formal education for 13 children
has been sponsored and updates of their
academic progress are maintained. Parichay’s
plan is to admit these children into better
schools. A volunteer is required to teach in
English, preferably someone residing in east
Delhi. However the location of Parichay is
inconvenient for many volunteers.
v Nutrition Program: This has shown some
good results as health indicators among
children have improved and school attendance
has increased. A plan to conduct a health camp
is on the cards.
v Masala Making Unit: Only 3 women are part
of the masala manufacturing unit. Parichay is
looking for avenues to expand, for example, a
center for 400 destitutes in Timarpur area can
be supplied with masalas from this unit
thereby accruing mutual benefit.
v Handicrafts: Last years’ collections amounted
to Rs.50,000 and this year the expected
earnings are up to Rs.1,00,000.
In new developments since March 2006, classes are
being held for the wo men of the community and a
newsletter has been published. Parichay has planned
to organize a fund raising event and set up a library.
The idea is to also build Parichay as a resource base
as it deals with issues and problems that are inter-
connected in na ture.
MOBILE CRECHES (Gurgaon)
v Volunteers are involved in teaching basic
Maths, English, and Hindi to children on
Saturdays.
v Recently, a clothes drive was held to meet
some of the basic needs of children.
v ‘Kids Yoga’ was held to break some of the
monotony of teaching. The response of the
kids has been one of enthusiasm. A need has
been felt to generate health awareness.
v The plan is to enroll the children into Sankalp
which provides a more formal educational
atmosphere and has better teachers. The aim is
to teach higher Maths and English.
v A move has to be made towards solving the
problem of attrition. This can be done by
getting the children to create things which can
be sold and hence provides a motivation to the
parents to continue sending their children.
v Interaction with the parents of children has
been thought as necessary, as well as to plan
and track activities which would involve
observing and learning from similar projects.
v Problems faced are lack of proper
infrastructure like class rooms, low attendance
and low volunteer participation.
NAI DISHA (Noida)
v General knowledge and health awareness
classes have been started keeping in view the
holistic aspect of education.
v Future plans include increasing the frequency
of computer classes to make children more
equipped for further education.
 v The need is to get sponsorships for more
students and to fund further education from
class VI onwards.
v Problems being faced are that classes are held
by Nai Disha only on Saturdays and Sundays.
There is a problem of attendance of students
and volunteers.
TIMARPUR VOCATIONAL TRAINING
(Timarpur, North Delhi)
v This initiative is located near the DU metro
station in a community consisting of 200-300
families.
v Vocational training is provided to the girls of
the community such as teaching crochet work
v These women want employment and therefore
this initiative can expand to include handicrafts,
masala making, pickle making etc. in the future.
v This apart, awareness on nutrition, hygiene,
family planning and preventive health can get
included.
v Skilled teachers are required for the project as
well as more volunteers and for this DU
students need to be targeted.
v There is a problem of infrastructure and there’s
no proper room where the classes can be held.
PRAYAS (Basti in Naya Bans, Sector 15/16 Noida)
v Hindi reading and writing and basic maths are
taught and the aim is to teach roughly up to
class IV level. A plan is on to introduce
computer classes.
v However it is tough for the volunteers to teach
and it is being noticed that the children are not
grasping or retaining everything that is taught
and discipline also seems to be an area of
concern.
v Some health awareness classes have been held.
Volunteers want to make use of NCERT
textbooks to teach children.
v Future plans include beginning English classes,
increasing Prayas’s penetration into the
community by keeping parents informed of their
children’s progress, holding health awareness
camps, providing vocational training and adult
education, especially targeting the women. For
this, female teachers are required but the late
timing and location could prove to be a
hindrance.
v Classes should be made interactive and
entertaining through activity books etc. This is
to ensure that children pay better attention.
VAPP – VOLUNTARY AGENCY PLACEMENT
PROGRAM (LSR College)
VAPP is a society in Lady Shri Ram College that hopes
to foster the spirit of volunteerism amongst its students.
Through this society students can be placed or involved
with NGOs, groups or movements dealing with social,
economic and political issues. The potential that AID
and VAPP can mutually benefit has been identified.
PUBLICATIONS
The newsletters are coming out regularly now but
reporting of various initiatives needs to be more
frequent and regular. Due to delayed project reporting,
the publication team faces a daunting task of releasing
the newsletter on time. Another requirement is that of
good articles to make the publications more interesting.
A plan is on to introduce an html version of the
newsletter.
More volunteers are required for the newsletter and also
to ensure good coverage of events such as the OR,
Volunteer meets etc.
H.E.L.P. – HEALTH EDUCATION AND
LEARNING PROJECT
v There are different levels at which an
intervention can be made in the sphere of health
care. The level which has been adopted is that of
educating the community by creating awareness
about health services.
v Some dimensions of health education were
recognized and then aids and tools for education
(both audio and visual) were highlighted.
v An important point reiterated was that
information should be constantly reinforced.
Therefore, Gunjan and Somendra plan to hold a
series of 6-7 lectures for this.
v For this project, apart from volunteers, doctors
are required in order to give correct facts and
other information.
JOY OF LEARNING
v JoL views children as a social asset who must be
honed by giving them proper guidance and
holistic education. Children need to start
‘thinking’ and analyzing and hence they require
some soft education for holistic development.
v The idea behind the project is to develop
educational material, which can strike a balance
between holistic and academics.
 v Some health awareness classes have been held.
Volunteers want to make use of NCERT
textbooks to teach children.
v JoL in Delhi plans to create a ‘kit’ for this
purpose. Each kit would comprise of many
sessions each lasting from half an hour to an
hour. Different topics would be covered such as
moral values, historical facts etc. To foster
creative skills of the kids these sessions would
be informal. A variety of media, including
flipcharts, visual aids, story telling, games,
physical activities, discussions etc., will be used
to make learning interactive.
v Kits should be cost-effective so that the
program may be expanded in urban and rural
areas. Choice of topics would be flexible and
cover a range of issues.
v Where volunteering is concerned it is suitable
for those who can devote themselves to this
project over a long period of time but do not
want a heavy weekly schedule.
v Talks are on with Kathalaya to train volunteers
in Delhi, and Nai Disha will start JoL sessions
with class V from July.
v Future plans include collaboration with similar
groups in India.
MAATI
v Maati is a women’s collective comprising of
agricultural workers, students, and housewives
in a remote area of Uttaranchal at the tri-
junction of the borders of India, Nepal and
Tibet. It is a non-profit, unregistered group and
does not believe in any hierarchy. It works on
situational leadership basis. AID Saathi Malika
Virdi is associated with this NGO.
v Maati deals with various issues such as violence
against women, domestic crisis situations,
livelihood issues, and land rights.
v Malika Virdi spoke of the acute shortage of
water in hilly areas. A major issue was ecological
and the urban insensitivity towards the effects of
consumption on rural areas. Maati is working
towards bridging this gap.
v There is an opportunity for volunteers to visit
this area and look at the way the Van Panchayat
is at work and ecological issues are being
handled.
v Malika Virdi questioned the rollback of the state
from its responsibilities, the increasing role of
the market and individualism, which led to
shrinkage of spaces where community living is
more the way of life.
Project Updates: Timarpur
Activity Highlights:
v Basic classes in English, Hindi, and Mathematics
for kids have started.
v The community is extremely positive and
enthusiastic about the classes.
v Vocational training classes will soon be starting.
Meanwhile crochet classes for girls have begun.
v There’s no proper place to conduct classes.
Currently the classes are being conducted in a
small space in front of a jhuggi. Aparna is still in
touch with the local counselor and is trying her
level best to seek permission so that classes can
be held at the local MCD godown.
Volunteers: Sudipta, Aparna, Anuj, Mukta,
Vijayender
Project Updates: Prayas
Activity Highlights:
Through his HELP project, Gunjan has been sharing
good/healthy living practices with children at Prayas.
He has been visiting them with flipcharts, dentures etc.
and teaching them about good and preventive health.
Volunteers:
Gunjan, Rahul, Rajat, Abhishek, Shammi, Pheroza,
Saurabh, Ashish, Pratyush
Project Updates: Khoj
Activity Highlights:
v An educational trip was organized for the
children. They visited a museum and children
park.
v Smita and Selva along with some other Steps
volunteers will arrange for conducting
Workshops/Seminars/Skits at various colleges
such as Kamala Nehru, IIT, LSR etc, which will
create awareness and turn out more volunteers.
v Selva and Pawan will be preparing a requisition
letter for the college.
v Girish and Kshitij will be working on preparing
Pamphlets for Khoj.
v Avishek Jha has agrees to provide his room as
office for Khoj where we will be keeping our
stationary and other stuff. Avishek is interested
in volunteering for other projects also.
 v Jasmine is interested in teaching kids at Jor
Bagh/Dilli Haat. She has come up with a
splendid idea of making a movie clip on
Khoj which can be used later in our fund
raising activity. It will be just a clip of 5 to
10 minutes and not a documentary.
v Selva/Girish will make efforts to get a
handycam for the same and some volunteers
from Steps who are already with Theatre
activities and have done proper course in
Editing and Direction will be shooting the
movie clip.
v A questionnaire will also be preparedwhich
will be useful in ascertaining the socio-
economic back ground of each kid.
v Jyoti Gupta has committed to take classes at
Ber Sarai on Saturdays.
v Fund Raising activity needs to be carried out.
Resources: Fund-raising remains a critical issue at
Khoj. Pawan and Zubair are putting in earnest efforts
to arrange funds for the items listed below. We urge
you to lend active support to keep this initiative going.
(Donate Old or New resources as convenient and
feasible)
Contributed By: Selva
Project Updates: Parichay
Activity Highlights:
v Parichay’s first step towards developing
itself as resource center has been widely
appreciated. Four interactive sessions were
conducted on the topic “Understanding
children and providing a conducive
environment for their development”. The
participants have shown a positive response
to the session.
v Four more sessions on “Let Learning Be a
Pleasure and Teaching a Joy” will be
conducted in the month of July.
v Students are being trained in making hand
made paper.
v Classes are being conducted by Somen.
There are not enough volunteers visiting the
center.
Contributed By: Puneeta
Volunteer Profiles: Sudipta Ghosh
Whenever I find new volunteers it remains a great
opportunity for me to motivate and orient them. It
interests me to see them remain motivated throughout.
I have interacted with so many people, and will not
hesitate to reveal that I can make out very easily
from few initial meetings, about the commitment and
devotion of the volunteer. Sudipta was just the type
of volunteer I expected. Her dedication remains
unparalleled.
The journey to the Timarpur project started with a
meeting which was hosted by Sudipta at PG Women
hostel, North Campus, and the association with her
proved to be the ground for Timarpur’s project. The
journey has been tough, but she has a wonderful blend
of dedication and compassion, and her grit amazes one
and all.
I remember when the space was to be arranged for
Timarpur project, she garnered support from everyone
around, talking to authorities and people around. She’s
the one who can make flowers bloom in a slum, because
she knows flowers bloom best there.
Her compassion for people sends positive vibes to
whoever she comes across. She was initially very
hesitant to talk to the people of the community. But her
compassion for people and her dedication to the cause
enabled her to overcome the odds. Very soon, she
realized that you do not need a training to share sorrows
of the people. She is very active and she has remained
devoted during those days also when she had to put
efforts for her Ph.D work. She is a doctorate in
Anthropology from Delhi University. AID team owes
special thanks to her, and we wish her all success in life.
She remains a great inspiration to us .
Contributed By: Somendra
Volunteer Profiles: Aparna Bhatia
While I was telling you about Sudipta I boasted being
very prudent of identifying people's commitment.
Well, you know, no matter how often you interact
with people, there are certain aspects of their
personality which are revealed only when a call to
action comes, and when it so happens, the most
vibrant part of their personality is revealed to the
amazement of all.
Here is someone who I thought, just feels concerned
about the deprived people and feels good in feeling
for them. To my surprise, I found there’s more to it
than I know.
Aparna has lent her support in various forms – the
first thing I can recall about her is when North Delhi’s
first VIM was held at her place. She also showed
immense dedication when she initiated the activity of
drafting a letter to the commissioner. These were the
first steps to the goal, and were extremely critical to
the project. Her suggestions, actions, critique is what
we really value about her. She’s a great observer, and
her simple solutions to practical problems come handy
when the group needs it most. She has remained truly
responsible to her duties. She has paid number of
visits to this place, interacted with the community and
laid the foundation for a social initiative. I am very
happy to be surprised. The team wishes
her all success in her future endeavor. Her dedication
to the cause has helped us to learn a lot.
Contributed By: Somendra
"Whenever I climb I am followed by a
dog called 'Ego'."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Feedback: aid.delhi@gmail.com Web: http://delhi.aidindia.org
DONATE TO AID
Online: E-transfer to ICICI Bank a/c 602201200299
By Cheque: Mail cheques in favor of AID-India to :-
AID Delhi,B121,MIG Flats,Phase-IV,Ashok Vihar,Delhi
Volunteer Profiles: Jyoti Gupta
I first met Jyoti to have a word about AID. When I was
briefing her about the things I felt that that this girl has
lots of enthusiasm to get things done. While explaining
various volunteer opportunities to her, I was surprised
as she readily agreed to take the responsibility of
designing a website for a project about which she knows
nothing.
Since then, she has been handling the responsibility of
designing Parichay’s website.
She is a second year student of Computer Science
Department, IIT Delhi.
She is energetic, enthusiastic and talks about AID and
volunteers to her friends once every hour. She is also
very enthusiastic about taking part in the Khoj
community and have committed herself to taking
classes to the kids at Bersarai on Saturdays. She is full of
ideas, which reflects her deep thoughts about how we
should be make a change. I think this will come handy
for AID.
She tends to be a bit lazy but shows good commitment
for meeting deadlines. Probably, that comes along with
her since she is an IITian. (We usually finish work by
deadlines). So, she has been given one month’s deadline
for Parichay’s website and I hope she will keep up the
tradition of IIT. She has already taken some initiative,
which she is sharing with Somen and me. I on behalf of
AID sincerely look forward for a long association with
her.
Contributed by: Selva Ganpathy
Phone: +91-9213797167
Publications Team
Editors: Puneeta, Peeyush, Riputapan
Designer: Puneeta
Coordinator: Puneeta