Medical Activity at IGIA on 5th DEC,2009

I had a blended experience at IGIA, Yelahanka last Saturday. Yes, it is yet another milestone for Udhayam Welfare Foundation. As already noted in the previous articles that we are in need of Doctors to regularly visit IGIA so that the students there will get a general health check up. With the efforts from Sridhar, we got permission from M.S.Ramaiah Medical College and Hospital for a free medical check up for the students. As the doctors over there were committed to other medical camps till Jan-2010, they are not able to visit the IGIA in person. So we decided to take the students directly to the hospital in batches. Myself, Sridhar, Hema, Aarthi, Shanmugam, Anup, Indra and the 2 wardens from IGIA accompanied the students to the Ramaiah Hospital. As we are taking these students out for the first time, we took utmost care for their safety during travel.

We reached the hospital around 10AM. Lakshmi Narayanan, who is the one helped us for getting approval for this free medical check up was waiting for us. Depending upon the disease they are suffering from we categorized the students. After that we made the registration for the patients at the respective counters and our members took them to the corresponding wards which varied from Ortho, Dental, Pediatric, Opthalmology etc., For some of the cases we need to take X-rays, Scan, Diagnostic reports. As there is shortage of members from our side, we managed within ourselves by roaming here and there to get these reports done. Basically these students are migrated from Srilanka in the recent war and they were staying in Refugee camps at various parts of our Country. Due to the climatic changes here in Bangalore, most of them were suffering from skin problems.

The worst case was with a kid named Keerthi of 5 years old. She got some kind of skin rashes with itching due to allergy spreaded across her body from neck, shoulder, arms, legs and to the foot. As she is not aware of the problem, it gets worsen. The doctors took utmost care to analyze the problem and gave her the treatment.

Another student named Reega got severe skin problem at her foot. She can’t even walk and she was crying like anything. The doctors advised her to get admitted for the treatment from Monday. As the students were having these kinds of problems for a long time, the doctors were wondering as why we didn’t take the necessary steps in time. The doctors were not aware of the present situation in IGIA and we explained them about the same. All the doctors were very kind with the patients and even some doctors interacted with the patients in Tamil. In some cases, our members translated the problem the patients were facing in English to the Doctors and Vice-versa.

5 patients got treatment for eye and the doctors advised them to wear spectacles. Yet we have to buy the spectacles for them.

A students named Prabhadharani got treatment for Ear as she was not able to hear properly through her left ear and few students got treatment for ortho. It took a long time to complete the various medical tests for a student named Dushanthini who is suffering from severe leg pain.

The hospital provided them lunch for free. After taking the lunch, the students took rest for some time and then we started towards IGIA at 4pm and reached IGIA by 6pm. As we have to buy the medicines for the treatment they had, myself and Shanmugam started to silkboard by 6.15pm. We got the medicines for all the students in a medical shop at HSR layout, well separated in covers for each of them and stapled. The next day Sridhar distributed the medicines to the respective students.

We need more volunteers to help these students in getting their medical check up properly. I have used few medical terms in some places as I can’t avoid.Please bear with the terms.

Special thanks to Aarthi and Hema as they travelled a lot in bus through out the day from 6AM to 10.30PM.

Special thanks to Sridhar to get the contact with the Ramaiah hospital authorities and Lakshmi Narayanan (Ramaiah Hospital) who arranged and helped us for this medical check up.

I thank every one of you who supported us throughout this medical camp and last but not the least, on behalf of Udhayam Welfare Foundation; I thank everyone who is giving us support and encouragement.

Intouch,
Mathi.

Week-End Activity- 28th and 29th December,2009

As a part of our week-end educational activity, last week-end, Muthu, Sridhar, Karthic, Anup, SivaRajan and three new volunteers namely Karthick, Indra and Ramakrishnan joined them to IGIA.Here is a short and brief of the updates.

SivaRajan Handled Rockets and Artificial Satellites in Physics to the X std students. He conducted a test on Gravitational Force.

Karthic handled Mensuration Phase II in Mathematics for the X Students

Sridhar handled Library and Computer Lab management to the IX and XI students

Ramakrishnan handled basics of accounts and cash book in Accounts for the XI students

Indra handled Mother and MotherLand in English for the IX students

Muthu handled Elasticity in physics for the PUI Students and Basic sentence formation and spoken English to the IX students. He Conducted test on Elasticity and gave an assignment in English.

Karthick handled Trignometry and Basic Algebra in Mathematics to the PUI students and gave an assignment on the same.

Anup handled Revision of Journal and Basic accountancy in Accounts to the PUI students and conducted test for the chapters 1-5 in Accounts.

Intouch,
Mathi.

Weekend Activities: 22 Nov 2009

This was a special day for UWF as two new people were joining us for the noble cause. It was none other than Siva and Dinesh. Siva is from Arupukottai and we got to know from a UWF member Kishore. Dinesh, who lives near Chikka Ballapur, is a relative of our volunteer Sridhar and is from Cuddalore. Both were much interested to teach students. Siva had well prepared Physics for X standard as he was informed in advance. But we were yet to allocate subjects and classes for Dinesh.

The plan was decided the before night that Siva and I will come together in Siva’s two wheeler. Sridhar would meet us at IGIA around 10 am. And, Dinesh will come directly to IGIA. Sunday morning, Siva and I reached IGIA by 09:30 and Dinesh joined us by 10:00. We met Kokilavani and called in IX, X and XI students to their respective classes. But we were told that she will ask all the students to assemble after their breakfast. Finally all students came by 11:00 am. I introduced Siva to X students and Dinesh to IX students. I left to handle XI commerce girls.

Siva handled Physics while Dinesh Mathematics and Social Science. Siva covered Gravitation lesson fully and an introduction to Rockets and Artificial Intelligence. All the students were very attentive and very interested to study about physics. Kamal had come and handled Kannada for X standard.

I went to XI students only to see them very dull. Then I decided to take them to the computer lab after they assured me to write the test in the evening. In the computer lab, I opened up a spare CPU and was telling about the motherboard, processor, RAM, SMPS, HDD, CD ROM, FDD etc. They were very much interested to learn and many people jotted down what ever I told them. Their understanding was revealed in the test which they wrote in the evening.

Sooner, Sridhar joined me to help out the basics of computers. He posed a few questions to check their level of understanding. I found it to be too good, expect the same from him! Later I told them about keyboard, keys, mouse etc and asked them to work individually. After the classes were finished for X and IX students, Kamal, Sridhar, Siva and Dinesh joined me in the computer lab. We decided to teach each student individually on the MS Office package. We started the work with making them understand the folder structure, how to create a file, how to adjust the font size etc.

After this, we went for lunch . During post lunch, we had one hour of computer practice and again we went back to our class rooms. Siva was busy with physics, Dinesh with Social Science & Biology and I with Accounts test.

Around 5:30 pm, after the tea break, a few XI boys approached us that even they want to go to the computer lab and learn about computers!!! It was a shock for us. We can even state that its a success story for our association. Congrats people!!! Each one of you are part of this success! One of the Diploma students approached us to teach some physics experiment. He told that he sees us almost all the weekends and so he decided that we would help him out. Though we were not helpful, he was happy with us and our work. This is the second success story. When XI students were writing the test, Kokilavani had come inside. I was not in the class. And asked her if there were any problem as she was in the class. She told “neenga irukra varaikkum engalukku endha problemum illa, pasanga rumba nalla padikraanga”. This is the third one!!! XI student Sutharshana who was once saying that she is not interested to learn/study has started to say that she is afraid of the exams because she just started to learn things with interest. This is the fourth one!!! The fifth one, Warden accepting what ever we say. Its because of the trust!!! 5 success stories in about 4-5 months.

We were close to 07:00 pm and were about to end up the day’s tasks. As Sridhar was busy handling XI boys, I went for collecting feedback for Siva and Dinesh.
Please find the comments from the students:
X Students:
“Naan idhu varaikkum classa kavanichadhae illa… aana siva anna edutha classa rumba nalla kavanichaen… endha timela endha question kaetalum answer pannuvaen”
“Siva anna edutha concepts apadiyae en manasula nikkudhu. Epo venum naalum test vainga”
“Physicsku Siva annava thavirthu vera yarum venam”

IX Students:
“Biologyku Dinesh anna dhan venum, avaru illana Shanmuga anna… vera yarum venam!!!”
“Supera edutharu. Endha subjecta eduka sonnalum, azhaga enga ellarukkum purira madhiri edutharu”

After the feed back session, we started from IGIA.
Members, let us bring in many success stories in the future. It’s a happy information that almost everyone at IGIA has started to listen to us. They have started to show interest in studies. We can achieve more if the same pace is going on.

~Anup

Weekend Activities: 21 Nov 2009

I reached IGIA by 2:30 pm and was asked to handle IX Standard. I just advised them on to use dictionary and posed a few questions related to the words they had written from the dictionary. On the later part of the day, a few students from the Zepher group had come to handle IX and VIII standard. We asked them to handle the XI science group students also. They were very much eager to teach the kids of IGIA. Because of their college commitments, they are not able to attend the IGIA students on a regular basis. So we decided that only committed people would be handling X and XI students.

Karthic was handling mathematics for class X and VIII, while Sridhar was handling IX standard in the pre-lunch session. After tea break, Sridhar and I was into XI commerce girls. They were very much interested in Computer Science. So we had to teach them the basics of computers (from io devices, OS, program, interpreter, compiler etc). We spent time till 7:30 pm with the XI commerce girls. They asked us to take them to the computer lab and tell about the various hardware and software. They agreed to write a test on Accounts the next day.

There was a concern from the warden that we have to complete our classes by 5:30 pm. We later spoke to him and explained him about the practical difficulties on completing the classes. We had to tell about the time left over for their exams etc. Finally he was convinced with our words and agreed with a very few conditions, which was fair. These conditions would be posted after discussion/ consultation with the volunteers.

We spoke with the Zepher group in bringing in a doctor whom they know. There is no update from their side till date. We have to get in touch with the concerned person. We need to bring in a doctor for the various medical problems the students have.

While leaving, we discussed with Kokilavani regarding the trip and computer lab for XI students. We got a positive nod for the computer lab immediately. But for the trip, we were told that she has to consult with Mr. Rajan. After this we headed towards the main gate and left IGIA for the day.

~Anup

Children's Day Celebrations at IGIA on 14th NOV

Last Saturday, as usual Myself, Gomathy, Karthic, Muthu, Sridhar and Shanmugam assembled at Silkboard and reached IGIA around 10.30AM. The day was Children’s Day. We had a plan for the entire day and we had prepared to take classes for the students over there. But to our surprise, as soon as we entered IGIA, we hear sound coming from the students through the Audio System. Then we went to the Dining hall where arrangements were made for the Children’s day celebrations and some program was on the stage. Anup was waiting for us there and watching the stage shows. The School Principal welcomed us with a warm smile and she explained us the program schedule. She asked the students to repeat some of the shows for us. The students performed a lot of stage shows which showed their enthusiasm towards developing their talents apart from their studies. Few students sang tamil and kannada songs, few students played skit and few played dramas.

(Role Plays and Dramas)

At the end, they had fashion show. Students dressed like Dr. Radhakrishnan, Mrs.SoniaGandhi, Aadhivaasi, Spiderman, Bharathiyar, Foreigner, Traditional Malayalee Girl, Actor Vikram(PidhaMagan) and many many. I expected to see Our Nehru Mama in the form of any student. But they forgot him, even though they were celebrating the day because of him.

(Mrs.SoniaGandhi(back)and Malayalee Girl)


(ModernGirl)

(Aadhivaasi)


(Spiderman)

At last, Sridhar and Karthic addressed the students. Sridhar asked the students to improve their talents apart from studies. Karthic conveyed them the importance of Education and the reason for the children’s day celebration.

(Karthic addressing the Students)
Finally the students were distributed with the snacks.

(Students having their snacks)

After Lunch we continued to take classes for the VIII, IX, X and XI standard students till 8.15pm. This was a wonderful experience for us as we usually go there for taking classes or do our regular activity. We could see happiness on all their faces. Let us keep the spirit!!

Intouch,
Mathi

Weekend Activities: 15-Nov-2009

After a tiring journey the before night, I got up bit late in the morning and prepared Journal, Ledger, Trial Balance, P/L account, Trading a/c and Balance sheet to teach PU I commerce students. I started by 9:30 from Silkboard and reached IGIA at 11:00 am.

I met Gokilavani and called up PU I commerce group girls for accounts class. I started the class at around 11:30 after everyone were in. Initially 6 of the girls (Sujanthini, Sharmila, Subha, Priya, Sutharshana and Bhavya) hesitated to listen and stating a common reason: Tomorrow is exam and wanted to study.

But when I explained that accounts is an easy subject if we understand, they started to pay attention. I started with the first sum of their book. It took me 3.5 hours to teach the basics of accountancy problems. Once I finished telling them the concepts, they got full interest and started to ask for more sums and were doing it correctly on their own. Only at a very few places, they got confused seeing the data (it was even confusing for me). I asked them to figure out themselves. They were right 95% times. One or two incidents they couldn’t figure it out. But, they were able to solve sums on their own in 4 hours. It was a great achievement from their side.

Sharmila told “Engalukku idhu varaikkum collegela nadathnadhu onnumae puriyama summa okkarndhutu irundhom, aana ipo engaluku supera Puridhu. Romba interestinga irukku. Neenga porumaya solli kudutheenga, rumba thanks!”

After asking them to solve a few more problems, I just went out to relax. I was expecting them talking with each other rather than solving the problem when I return. But my ‘expectation’ was wrong, they were solving the problem with full interest!!!

I allowed them 10 mins for relaxation. Sutharshana stayed back and was asking me her doubts. She has interest, but, something in her makes her not to study. She has got a thought that she can’t study well. If we make her throw this thought, she can come out with flying colours.

I again started with the class. Then around 4, the bell rang for lunch. I left them for lunch and asked them to come back in 45 mins. I too went for lunch to the usual dosa shop. As it was 4, I couldn’t get dosa, I was given the left over rice with bitter gourd sambar. I came back in 20 mins and was waiting for my students in the same class reading accounts book. I found it more interesting now as compared to when I studied .
All of them came back and were saying that the food was not at all good. But still they felt sleepy (unda mayakkam). Then I moved on to take Ledger accounts. It’s the mere continuation of Journals. Initially they were bit confused and when explained, they understood the concept and started to solve problems. It was close to 4:45 pm and I didn’t want to force them further as they had midterm exam the next day (Monday).

A few more comments at the time of parting…

“Please anna, enga examku mundhana naal inga vandhu thangi solli kudunga. Naanga rumba nalla mark edukanum”
“Unga naala daily varamudiyadha anna? Neenga vandheenganna, naanga supera mark edupom”

“Romba porumaya solli kudukreenga, enga ellarukkum pudichirukku”

“Continuousa neenga ellarum vanga anna, engala motivate pannunga, naanga kandippa nalla padipom”

“Naanga ellarum PU I final examla 80%ku mela vangna, engala neenga mysore palaceku kootitu poganum”

After talking for a few minutes, I called up all X std students. I wanted to complete Matrices and ask about the homework given by Sridhar and Karthik. People forgot about Sridhar’s task. They remembered Karthik’s task of writing the answers for the test and they told they will produce the same during his next class (Saturday).

At 5:15, the bell rang for tea. I didn’t want people to go for tea immediately as they have to stand in the queue. I told you can go later, a few students, wanted to go immediately and they wanted to have tea that time itself. They gathered their gang and went off. I was waiting for them in the same class and was talking with Jasidharan. I got to know from a few people that most of the volunteers are not happy with the behaviour of X standard girls. They talk a lot and disturb the class.


After they came, I was asking them what is the necessity for us to form a team, plan and come to IGIA to teach people, rather than resting and enjoying at home? They were just doing their own work. One girl writing a letter, other one reading it. One watching outside. One scribbling something on her notebook. When I was asking them, the problem creator, stood up and told she was feeling thirsty. She told that she never drink tea. I got angry and started to scold each one of them. Finally they all were sorry and I started with alphabet pronounciation, basic Indian laws (teasing physique, colour, language discrimination), role plays and team work. I said about laws as our psychologist teased one of her class mate based on her height. She felt sorry for the same.

I got a sorry letter from our “pasakaara ponnu” for behaving odd in the class. All the students wanted UWF to take them out of the campus (one day tour) if they score more than 80% in their board exam. It was 8 and I wanted to leave. The girls advised me to reach home safely and take rest.

I said bye and started home. Reached home within 70 mins, had dinner and slept well.

Weekend Activities: Snapshot

31-OCT-2009
This week's activities started after Sridhar and I reached IGIA at around 10:30 am

I went to the X standard and Sridhar went to IX standard and we both distributed notebooks, pens and notepads in each class. These stationery items would be used to take down the notes from the black board and write atleast five English words with their meanings.

After the stationery distribution, we started to handle the classes as usual with Sridhar for Chemistry in IX std and myself for Economics with IX std students. We also decided to give the same stationery for the XI students.

One of our UWF member KamalNath got inputs on what to be taught in Kannada for IX and X standard students. He would be handling two classes every week for Kannada right from the basics.

Sridhar and Kamal had searched for doctor during lunch time but couldn’t find anyone. Later post lunch we had a synchronization meeting with a few college students on the subjects and topics to be covered and taught. We were open to accept them as volunteers in UWF. But they are yet to decide on it.

Post lunch:

Sridhar was tutoring XI science students and I started with X Mathematics.
In the mean time were told not to be too lenient with the students and avoid creating interaction between girls and boys in the class.

We were also asked to complete the class by 6 pm, else have the classes seperately for boys and girls. There were many reasons cited.

We started back to our home by 6:30 pm on our rocket :)


01-NOV-2009

It was Sunday, and its a routine for the IGIA people to wash their bed spreads, dresses and other clothes. So we planned to reach there a bit late. In the name of finding the shortest route, we roamed around and finally reached IGIA by 10:45 am. We were welcomed by our students and many of them greeted us gud morning!

It was time for our sessions. I went to the X standard to take mathematics and Sridhar was involving XI girls for the role play. The scenario was people interacting in a vegetable market/ groceries shop. As usual I went in to take GP and HP. I distributed their mathematics test paper which we had taken for analysis the previous day. We had our session till lunch time.

We had to meet a college student before lunch and interacted with him about his plans for IGIA. We told him about UWF and its activities. We three went for lunch at the near by dosai kadai. We returned back in half an hour.

Post Lunch:

After lunch, Sridhar went to handle XI standard commerce group girls. He walked through the Economics first chapter and made them understand each and every topic. They started to find economics easy. We can still make them to be masters!!! In the mean while I was handling X std again. I asked them to write a small test on AP, GP which most of them did correctly. People who were not able to get answers were because of minor/ silly mistakes which was notified to them to correct the same.

After about an hour we interchanged our class rooms. I went to XI standard and Sridhar handled X standard. I was handling Communication and Personality development sessions. I dealt with English Homonyms, word formation, extempore and public speaking techniques. Sridhar was interacting with the X students on devils/ spirits and their existence. The final conclusion given by Sridhar was: there is nothing like devils/ spirits. People can post their views on this conclusion :) :)

Later we went back to the class room to discuss how much we were productive for the day. The students told 95% fun and 5% studies for Sridhar's class :) :) And for me it was 65% and 35%. Sridhar set himself an AI that his productive hours should atleast be 65%. All the very best, Sridhar!!!

We dispersed by 6:30 pm and we had a talk with Kokilavani. We asked her to subscribe to two deccan chronicle newspapers and UWF will be sponsoring for it. We also ensured that the paper reaches the concerned people. We need to keep a track of this!

Action Items
1. Pull in more volunteers
2. Arrange for a doctor who can regularly visit the campus on our behalf
3. English – English – Tamil dictionary for students and English – English dictionary in the library
4. Ensure the stationery provided are used effectively.
5. Bring in more commerce grads
6. Pour in ideas for the improvement of communication

Activities at IGIA on 25-Oct-2009, Post Lunch

Dear All,

Here goes my full enthusiastic update on the Post Lunch activity at IGIA

All the students were in the class at 2 pm sharp. I was supposed to start with Arithmetic Progression, proceed to GP and HP. I had planned to complete the entire first unit by yesterday. But, I was not able to move that fast. I feel that their base is very weak. They lack the basic concepts. They grasp things immediately and proceed on with sums. I covered the following topics

1. Multiplication of powers [a^m x a^n = a ^m+n]
2. Addition of powers
3. Whole powers
4. Natural numbers
5. Rational numbers
6. Prime numbers
7. Odd and even numbers
8. Sequence
9. Series
10. Terms
11. Number line
12. Addition of – and + numbers
13. Subtraction of – and + numbers
14. Solving equations: ax+b = c, solving for x
15. Solving atleast 3-4 problems in each of the topics mentioned above
16. Derivation of the formula for AP

The students were so enthusiastic that they wanted to do more and more and more. I didn’t expect such an energy from their end. For 4 continuous hours they had the same level of energy and they wanted to do more. It was really motivating me!!! I didn’t get a chance to sit or to relax, just happiness was filled in my mind seeing their interest.

A few uninterested people left the class before I started. So it added up that all people were really interested. They started to ask doubts. They didn’t allow me to proceed until they are satisfied. They get confidence.

At 5, I stopped the class and started public speaking session. I explained them the concept of mind mapping technique which is used extensively and they were able to make it up. Each one spoke for atleast 3-4 minutes without any hesitation. I asked the rest of the students to comment on what mistakes they did. Everyone’s active participation was there.

I later, started to ask the difference between die - dye, salon - saloon, dairy - diary. Everyone made a note about this. They wanted more words, but i forgot similar words that time :( I will take care that I would have enough words with me from the next session onwards.

Finally we made a pledge on the following points:
1. We will win in our life
2. We will help others to improve in their studies rather than helping only ourselves
3. We all would go high in our life
4. We all will score more in the final exams
5. We won’t tease others if they talk in english. We would keep our friends motivated

I have just asked Mohanraj, the director to be the leader of this pledge and Subhashini to supervise the activities. You would be knowing the reason for me to chose them!!! :)

The students told that they would put up a chart in their class room that would show the number of days remaining for their final exam. This would ensure them to plan their studies accordingly.

It was 6:15, I was worried about my travel as it started to dim. Then I told, I will leave now. But students told that they wanted me to talk more, help them. They need a regular commitment from our end.

Never I expected the students would sit for 4 long hours continuously. Its great from their part!!! Final comment to the teacher: “Anna, indha madhiri oru classa naanga paarthadhae illa. Romba romba nalla irundhadhu. Indha madhiriyae pannunga, naanga kandippa jeyippom!!!” it was too good, I feel it as a great reward for myself.

I have promised them for a Kannada teacher next weekend. This was their only concern. There are about 5 students who saw Kannada this march for the first time in their life.

Based on the interest from the students part and commitment from our part, we can win together!!! We, the people of UWF would make a difference in each kid's life.

Regards,
Anup

Acitivities on 25-Oct-2009 pre lunch

Dear All,

I was very happy and excited to go to IGIA on Sunday. The reason for this excitement is that this is my first opportunity related to my MBA. Yes! I had to handle PU I students on Accounts, Business and Economics. All were my MBA subjects.

On Sunday (25-Oct-2009), I got up at around 4:30 am and started to prepare the introduction of Economics, the first chapter of their book/ syllabus. I was able to prepare the entire 50 pages in less than an hour’s time!!!

No one else were to join me, I went all alone and I didn’t find anything odd or felt bad about my lone travel. I reached IGIA at 9:20 and informed Sridhar that I reached.

I met Kokilavani and asked about PUI students. She immediately asked PU I people to assemble in a class room. When I was waiting for the students to come, IX and X students came and were asking when they have their maths class and why didn’t others come. This showed their real interest. We all collectively can make them great with their interest.

I started the class for XI commerce. I had to tell them about various economies, what is economics, why do we need to study on economy, business/ trade cycles etc. The entire 5 girls were attentive, but this time the guys didn’t show up much interest. I stopped teaching economics though I was forced by the girls. We started to discuss on general topic like aadhavan, sports, films etc. but still, the guys couldn’t show up their full interest.

The girls group of 5 insisted on proceeding with the lesson. A girl called Sudharshana sang “nenjae nenjae” song for us. Her voice was too sweet. When enquired, I was told that she likes to sing and dance rather than studying. She wants to come up high in this field. She insisted UWF to make something on that front. After this the guys left the class room. I had to interact with the girl students.

I was guiding them on how to give a speech, body language points etc. They were very much interested in improving their English knowledge. They wanted me to come back in the evening after the X classes were over. They wanted to have a GD. I feel sad that I couldnt meet them again on Sunday as it was too late when I started from there.

Speaking to them, I got the following inputs:
1. The girl students wanted to subscribe to an English Newspaper, which would be read by only them
2. They wanted to go for an outing.
3. They need Dance classes
4. They are very much happy if we conduct English improvement classes.

A girl called Bhavya had hit her right hand against a moving car and she was not able to place her palm flat on the bench. I gave her the volini pain relief spray that I had and she had a temporary relief. The doctor had injected her and given some tablets which were of no use. In the same way, Sharmila had fever, but was given a paracetamol tablet and injection. They were not happy with the doctor’s prescription. Hope we people can help them on medical grounds.
And after this, we broke for lunch at 1:15 pm. Though I was invited for lunch, I went out to have dosa.

I will discuss about my post lunch session with X standard in my next thread...

Regards,
Anup

10-OCT-2009 - AET Activities

Hi All,

It was a sunny day. Sridhar, Shanmuga, Suresh and Anup met at Ejipura signal around 8 and headed towards AET. We had a warm welcome from the students and we eased ourselves there. We were just inquiring the students on how they were and a little about studies.

In a short while, Mathi along with Arthi and Gomathy arrived with hot idly and vada. The kids were seated in two rows and the breakfast was served. All the kids were fond of the great coconut chutney and the kara chutney (that’s what we say). They didn’t have sambar at all. After the breakfast was over, one of the students cleaned the floor.

The students were made to sit in groups based on their class of study. Each of the UWF member was leading a group. Luckily I got a great group!!! I will tell later about this!

Mathi distributed pencil, sharpener and eraser to each of the group member. Color pencils and drawing chart were distributed to each group. The group was assigned with a topic and was asked to draw their thoughts related to the topic. The topics varied from shapes to natural scenery. The allotted time was around half an hour for drawing and around 20 minutes for coloring.

Finally, when the competition was completed, finalists of each group were selected. Each of the finalists were gifted with a ball point pen. The overall winner was Ajay, a small and thin boy. He was gifted a color pencil set. He was from my group. I got a lucky group!!! J

After the competition was over, Gomathy, Sridhar and I headed towards IGIA, Jakkur with a plan of picking up Karthik at Silkboard. We all boarded the Volvo bus to Hebbal.

The trip would continue…

~AnupKumar K

UDHAYAM Activities - August 22nd Update

In this blog I would like to share my experiences with the kids at Eijpura orphanage. We six members of Udhayam which includes Muthuselvan, Sridhar, Mathi, Karthick, Aarthi and Myself visited AET orphanage, Ejipura on Saturday 22-08-09. As we said in our previous blog, we felt that providing breakfast for the kids would be better. One of our Udhayam members contributed towards the expenses which incurred for the breakfast and fruits. We bought idly for the breakfast and fruits which includes apples and bananas.


We reached the orphanage at 8PM. Luckily we could be on time so that we could provide breakfast for all the kids. It was a holiday for the school going kids. The kids organized themselves for the breakfast. Few kids served water. we members served the kids with idly, sambar and two varieties of chutney. They had their breakfast after thanking the almighty.

Udhayam members serving food to the kids

We also provided them with bananas. It was a great feeling watching the kids having their breakfast. We could feel their happiness.

After having their breakfast two kids named Durga and Manjula cleaned the place by mopping. It is good to see that the kids cultivate the habit of doing the work on their own.


We then planned for some extracurricular activities. The kids were asked to recite poems. Few of them came forward and show casted their talents.



Later we organized drawing completion for them. Sridhar bought charts for the competition. Karthic and Mathi grouped the kids based on their age. There were around four groups. Each member took in charge of one group. Topics were assigned to them and they started the competition.



After the completion of the competition Muthu, Sridhar and Mathi evaluated the results. From each group three winners were selected and the winners were provided apples. The Participants also received the apples at the end. The kids felt very happy which could be seen in their eyes. We left the place with joy.

Winners with their apples. Four groups, with first prize kid in the middle, second prize kid in the left and third prize kid in the right.

And also Udhayam conducted its first weekend meeting on saturday. We discussed about the various activities and aims of Udhayam for its near future. The meeting was very succesful, as various ideas cameforth, and one important suggestion from the meetings was "Udhayam members from Bangalore will travel to Chennai on the month of September to meet the Chennai team, and together we will plan for variuos other activities for Chennai team.

Udhayam Members from left to right: Muthuselvan, Aarthi, Hema, Karthick, Mathi and Sridhar

~Hema

UDHAYAM Activities on 8th August,2009

As a part of our week-end activity, on a fine sunny Saturday morning at 7.15AM, We seven Members of Udhayam which includes Mathi, Shanmugam, Sridhar, Suresh, Hemavathi, Aarthi and Gomathy went to the Ejipura Orphanage. There, few students were ready to go to school. Usually we will provide them with fruits and sweets. But, this time for a change we decided to provide them with Morning breakfast. So, Hema and Aarthi sponsored for Idlis. We bought them 100 IDLIs along with Sambar, Chutney and Idli Podi. There were 27 kids.



(Gomathy serving the kids with Sambar)

Above and Below:Kids waiting for their turn

As soon as I start distributing the Banana Leaf, Hema, Aarthi and Gomathy served them with Idli, Sambar and Chutney. We noticed that none of them start eating until we served all the Kids.

All of a sudden, they started their prayers to thank the Almighty and after that they started eating. I have no words to express the happiness which we felt on seeing their faces which was glowing like an 1000watts bulb. Later Kishore, Sriharsha along with two new members Palanichamy and Janson joined us.

Kids singing the prayer song

After having their breakfast, they themselves cleaned the place and formed a Queue in front of the Almighty and started singing the prayer song in both Tamil and English. Finally they concluded their prayers with the National Anthem.

Saluting after the National Anthem

From the song they sung, I noticed that they thanked the Almighty for creating them in this Wonderful World, they were asking to provide them with good shelter, health and food , asking to give them good memory power to study well, confidence to face any problem and they were thanking everyone who were supporting and helping them. I don’t know how many of us were praying daily.

Sridhar interacting with the kids

But these kids are praying daily before they leave their orphanage and before starting to have their food. Then the school going kids left and we started playing with the remaining kids. Our friend, Suresh started teaching them how to write their names in Tamil. At Last we all left the place with a feeling that it would be good if we provide them breakfast as we did today instead of sweets and snacks.

Then Shanmugam, Sridhar, Suresh, Kishore and Sriharsha and I started to Yelahanka School by 10.30AM. Actually we planned to replace the old and damaged sintex water tanks with the new ones. But, after reaching there, we came to know that some other NGOs were committed with that work.

Students having Natural Treatment for Chicken-pox at the Yelahanka School
So, we then visited the bedrooms of both the boys and girls and noted down their requirements. They used Bunker cots which has three racks. The middle racks are not having any support on its side and due to this last week one of the student fell down from the cot in his deep sleep. We immediately enquired for a local carpenter and called him to the school. There are totally 21 cots which have to be provided with side support on both the sides of the middle rack. Based on the requirements the carpenter gave us the estimation amount and it is around Rs.7500. There is no proper Lighting Facility and Fans inside the bed-room.

As already noted there in the previous postings, immediate action should be taken to repair the windows. We called one local person from an Engineering Workshop. He conveyed us that it cost around Rs.900 per window to cover with steel sheet and Rs.1250 per window with fiber material. In total there are around 40 windows to be repaired immediately. This is going to be a challenging task for us.

Damaged Windows which doesnt have frames at all

In the Mean-while 4 new members introduced by Kishore joined us at Yelahanka School. The new members are Sivaraman, Anbarasan, Rajendra Kumar and Karthikeyan.

Here too I noticed many disciplinary and punctuality things among the students. They have formed various committees like House Keeping, Sports, Cooking, Washing etc., every day by 6pm they have to assemble in the class room to give the attendance. They have a separate note for each and every committee. The students have to log their complaints which will be noted by the Correspondent and she will reply for the complaints, the next day. On priority, action will be taken. Every month, the Secretary of the school will have a look on these notebooks and complaints.

We bought some sports items like Volley-ball, foot-ball, basket-ball, Ring-ball, Skipping rope, shuttle bat with corks, cricket bats with balls, and diskers which cost around Rs.2600. They are in need of gas cylinders immediately. So we replaced 4 empty cylinders with the refilled ones which cost Rs.1400.

Playing with the Skipping rope
We have found sponsors for helping the school with infrastructure development. Now we got the hand-written statement for the infrastructure development (like Fans, Tube-Lights, Water Filter, and Windows) from the correspondent of the school. So, with these we can proceed with further activities

I thank everyone supporting Udhayam and special thanks to Hema and Aarthi for their contribution to Ejipura School.

Intouch,
Mathi.

Udhayam Activities - August Update

Hi all, Greetings from Udhayam Welfare Foundation. I'm pretty much happy to inform that our Second release of Udhayam Welfare Foundation's Monthly magazine "Vidiyal" was released today. I take this oppurtunity to thank Mathi and Sridhar for their wonderful job in editing the magazine and releasing it. Also I thank all the contributors for the magazine. I will post a link to the magazine soon.

Meanwhile this month we're planning to carry on the following activities as part of our Udhayam Activities.

1. Registering the Group - Mathi and Sridhar went to the registrar office on last saturday, and it looks like, the memorundum and Rules and Regulations form should all be typed in Kannada, and all the forms to be submitted for registration should be in Kannada. Because of this we're also thinking of registering the group in Tamil Nadu.
2. AET Activities - We've already paid the monthly fees for Manjula and Nandhini, and we're also planning to buy the kids dresses, toys, notebooks, and some food items. From now-onwards, we're planning to buy only healthy foods like dates, fruits etc, instead of sweets.
3. IGIA Activities - We're planning to repair/buy new water tanks to the school, as the old ones were in pretty bad shape. Also we've found sponsors for helping the school with infrastructure development, but we're waiting for the hand-written letter from the school management, with which we can start the activities, with the help of the sponsors. Also we're planning to buy Sweaters, Mats, Pillows, Blankets for the kids, as the climate in Bangalore is getting colder everyday, and the kids were really struggling without these basic amneties.

And about our regular visit to the school, last sunday, Mathi, Sri, Gomathy, Karthi, Shanmugam, and new members Kishore and SriHarsha visited AET orphanage. There they distributed the dates (sponsored by Supriya) to the kids. Apart from the dates they also distributed Mangoes, and Oranges to the kids. And the monthly school fee of Rs.540 for Manjula and Nandhini was also paid. Here are some of the snaps we took on last week's visit.

From Left to Right: Front Row: Sathish ; Arnold ; Hemanth ; Gurukiran
Second Row: Sankar ; Gunasekar ; Abhishek ; Vijay
Third Row: Ajay ; Vijay ; Abhi

Fourth Row: Naveen ; H.Harish ; Praveen ; Harishkumar S

From Left to Right: Front Row: Durga ; Ramya ; Geetha ; Jancy

Second Row: Manjula ; Supriya ; Navya ; Akila

Kids enjoying the dates sponsored by Supriya


Mathi distributing mangoes to the kids

Karthik helping the kids with peeling the Oranges

I'm really happy to announce that from mid of july, around 6 new members joined our group. Also we're getting good support from lot of people. But the sad part is there is not enough volunteers to carry forward the weekend activities.

I would be happy to hear from volunteers who can help us in weekend activities. Also I'm eagerly waiting for the comments from all of the members.

I once again thank you all for your wonderful support.

~Muthu Selvan.S

Udhayam Activity at IGIA,Jakkur on 18th July,2009

On a fine cloudy morning, we 5 Udhayam Members, me, Sridhar, Hemavathi, Aarthy and Sindhu went to the Ejipura Orphange at around 11am.As it was drizzling in most of the places in Bangalore, we could not start earlier and fortunately as we started late, this time we met all the children in the Orphanage. As it was one stretch to the school where they were studying, everyone came back to the orphanage by 12 noon. We distributed the sweets, biscuits and bananas which we bought for them.Hema and Aarthy bought some earrings to the girl kids in the orphanage. There were no words to explain their smile and happiness which we saw on their faces after wearing the earrings. Then we played with them for a while and after that we (Me and Sridhar) started to IGIA, Yelahanka.

As already noted on June 20th activity, this time we planned to fulfill their need for drying the clothes. We bought G.I Wires for about 350 meters, 40 poles (சௌக்கு மரம்) and about 42 dozens of cloth clips. As directed by the warden Kokila, we selected the places separately for both the boys and girls. With the help of the students over there we erected the poles and connected them with the G.I wires.

Now we have provided the alternate way to wet their clothes instead of using the terrace and parapet wall. (Photos will be updated next week as we didn’t have Camera mobile last week).

Intouch,
Mathi.

UWF Activity at IGIA, Jakkur - Jun 20th 2009

As part of our weekend activity, six UWF members (Sridhar, Muthuselvan, Mathiniraiselvan, Balamurugan, Shanmugapriyan and Karthick Ganesan) visited IGIA Jakkur on June 20th, 2009. It was also the day, Udhayam Welfare Foundation successfully stepping into its second month of activities and the birthday of one of our Udhayam member Karthick Ganesan. In this post, Karthick and Mathi were sharing their experiences at IGIA Jakkur.

(From left to right: Karthick, Bala, Muthu, IGIA Computer Teacher Dharman, Mathi and Sridhar)

It was a fine tuned experience for me(Karthick Ganesan) at IGIA, Yelahanka. I have never seen such a large group of needy children. I feel very proud to be a part of Udayam Welfare Foundation. I spoke to a large number of children there, especially with the Srilankan tamil children. We had deep heart conversation. Just see the conversation between Suraj and myself below:

Me: Suraj, Where do you like to live? In India or in SriLanka?
Suraj: (Before me ending), SriLanka.
Me: SriLanka is a violent place, LTTE occupied place (because Suraj stayed in Trincomalee (திருகோணமலை)). Do u like a terrorist group called LTTE?
Suraj: (In a polite way) I like LTTE, they fight for us (SriLankan Tamils)

I had no words to say hearing his reply!!!

(Clothes of all the students are piled up. The girl's were selecting their uniform for the current year, which may be used by some other student last year)

Like this, we spent time with most of the children. Non-Vegetarian food had become a very rare dish for them in the near past. So we decided to contribute a Non-Vegetarian dinner. We immediately went and bought around 55 Kgs of chicken which cost around Rs.5775 and vegetables worth Rs.550.

(Assembling of the boys in the evening)

We also came to know that the School Management is not able to provide basic amenities like proper drinking water, toilet facilities etc. As the underground Sewage tank was not cleaned properly, the waste got stagnated inside the toilet itself and the children were not able to use most of the toilets. Immediately, we called up the near-by sewage tank cleaner and cleaned the same. Now, they can use the toilet whenever they wish.

Also, the SINTEX tank in which they store water is in a pathetic condition without a lid and a tap. Water couldn’t be stored in the tank for more than two hours as it gets leaked. We need to pay attention to provide clean drinking water.

(The water storage which students use for taking bath and washing clothes)

We went to the terrace of the building. We saw the children using the floor and the parapet wall to dry their clothes. Because of this, most of their clothes were dirty and torn. We need to pay attention on this too.

(This is how the students dry their washed clothes)

Meeting a large number of needy children , I myself had many unanswerable questions. I have to thank God that I am in a position to serve such children. I would like to continue this service in my future days. I thank Udhayam for serving as a channel to fulfill my desire. Keep up your good work, Udhayam.

Action Item for UWF:

1. Provide clean drinking water
2. Provide alternate means for drying clothes

~ Mathiniraiselvan & Karthick Ganesan

A Day Out to IGIA, Jakkur, Yelehanka

It is my privilege to share my experience that I had on visiting the “Indira Gandhi International Academy” in Jakkur (Yelahanka) along with the Udhayam members MuthuSelvan, Sridhar, Murugan, Shanmugapriyan and Sivaraj.

We started our journey with open mind but on visiting, our minds were filled with undiminished thoughts.

We met the school warden Kokila and we came to know that there were 40 students who are in need of our service at present. She provided us with their requirements that have to be addressed immediately. Sridhar, Shanmugam and myself along with James, a student from the school went to the near-by market to purchase the grocery items. We purchased Rice (75kgs), Dal (10Kgs), Aata (20Kgs), Turmeric Powder (1/2 Kg), Chilli Powder (2Kgs), cumin (2Kgs), Fennel (1Kg), Mustard (1Kg), Powdered Salt (50kgs) and Stone Salt (50Kgs) which costs around Rs.4870. We traveled a little more distance and purchased vegetables, which included Carrot (5Kgs), Potato (10Kgs), Cabbage (10Kgs), Beet-Root (7Kgs), Onion (10Kgs), Tomato (20Kgs), Chilly, Ginger and Curry leaves costing around Rs.700. As it was a rainy day we could not buy more vegetables. Then we proceeded further to buy Buckets, Mugs and Mop sticks which cost Rs.920. At this instance we thank the almighty for giving us a wonderful opportunity to serve the needy.

Boys Hostel Room

School's Mess

In the meantime, remaining Udhayam members MuthuSelvan, Murugan and Sivaraj had an interactive session with the students. The students are sleeping in bunkers, with no/very minimal pillows and blankets. There are not much of buckets/mugs to the children. As all the students are from the Refugee camps in Tamil Nadu and they are used to have hot conditions, they are facing acclimation problems in Bangalore and they require immediate medical attention. We NEED to extend our service in this regard. Any pointers on this are welcome!

Apart from this it was hard to hear that they hardly have clothes. There is no proper facility to even dry their clothes. They use the parapet wall to dry their clothes where there are lots of chances to lose their clothes. Attention has to be paid in this regard too.

Believe it or not, the boy in the green/red T-Shirt, Surendar, studying 8th standard, was the incharge for hostel's mess. He knows how much of rice, dal, etc were spent on a particular day, and I was amazed on seeing how talented these kids were.


They don’t have adequate recreational facilities. It will be good if we further extend our helping hand by contributing few gaming equipments like Swing, See-Saw, Merry-go-around etc.

The location in and around the school is uneven which leads to water clogging during rainy days. This serves as a best place for the mosquitoes to breed. This leads to an unhygienic environment for the students. Hence the terrain has to be leveled.

They are planning to cultivate vegetables like brinjal, tomato and chilli which can reduce their grocery bill. We can contribute by helping them in preparing a good field for their cultivation. This can be taken immediately.





We finally ended the day by playing cricket with the young innocent minds.

Truly speaking, this day would be an unforgettable day that haunted our minds with unforgettable memories.
At this instance, I would like to extend my heartful thanks to all the members who are giving constant support to Udhayam.

~Mathiniraiselvan.K