This New Year, we have resolved to help undeserved children by tying up with an NGO - Pankhudi Foundation (www.facebook.com/pankhudi.foundation). We will donate 5 times the number of likes and 10 times the number of comments (in rupees) on this post to Pankhudi. Help us in this cause by liking, commenting and sharing this with as many friends as you can. Come ahead, leave a lovely wish below which can help in our efforts to support the children of our country. This goes on till 10th Jan '11.
Received an email from Pankhudi about Goonj.
Goonj, an Indian NGO, aims to make creative use of all household wastes (specially old clothes) as resources.
Re-producing the email I received. See if you want to help and/or pass on the word.
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Dear Friends,
It’s been 11 years of GOONJ.. an exciting journey indeed. People are talking about clothing as a subject. Larger society is becoming more conscious of clothing need in winters, sanitary napkin-one of the most taboo subjects and a neglected need of countless women is fast becoming an issue now.
This mail is not to tell you about the impact of GOONJ’ work or how people and organizations have started replicating the work or how it’s being termed as one of largest civic participation movement given the number of volunteers joining in from across the globe.. do refer www.goonj.info to know more about GOONJ..
This mail is about the challenges hampering our work & potential. In the last 11 years our mails & appeals revolved around material only. We don’t remember writing to people about money or organizing any fund raising event! Things have still been working well. People have supported the work and have made sure that nothing for whatever reasons, stops at GOONJ..
Today we are growing and reaching new places but what makes us unhappy is that often instead of using our full potential we get into some mundane jobs. Sometimes things like space or vehicle become big bottlenecks. For the last couple of years we have gone crazy looking for space in Mumbai. Right now we operate from Dharavi. During rains our team spends most time taking out rain-water from the store, with buckets in hand. In Bangalore we are operating from a makeshift place about 40 km outside the city and the team is forced to spend more time in travel than work. In many cities local transport guys take us for ransom as we lack a basic vehicle..
It is hurting now.. the GOONJ team is quite used to of working day and night.. We don’t mind throwing rainwater from the store but at what cost? We do feel bad when we find that due to all these issues we often are forced to under utilize our capacities & potential…
Here are four major points. Do read, revert, act…
A- TEAM 2000- It’s about bringing together a strong team of 2000 people who commit a sum of Rs. 10,000/- (about $ 250) per annum i.e just about Rs. 800/- a month to GOONJ. Feel free to commit less or more…although we need 2000 people to commit atleast Rs. 10,000/- per annum. This will take care of our regular expenses and any extra funds generated will be used for growth, expansion and wider replication.
Given a vast base of friends and well wishers, we are confident that this is achievable, and we do hope that like all other initiatives TEAM 2000 will also be largely driven by the volunteers.. We certainly want people to sign up as also talk to their friends, relatives and colleagues to join the team..
1- cheque/draft in the name of GOONJ with your full name, address, Pan no., email ID & Tel. No. can be sent to GOONJ, J-93, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi-110076 . (A simple form is given at the end of this mail- All the financial contributions in India are tax exempted u/s 80G of IT act)
2- Space - One of the biggest bottlenecks in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. We are looking for 2000 to 5000 Sq. ft. for a processing center, basically a shed with basic facilities of water and electricity, accessible to trucks and not far away from the cities since a large number of people and organizations visit our centers on a daily basis.
3- 25 good computers/laptops - in proper working condition. For the last many years we have somehow been managing with the discarded lot of corporates, which is now becoming a big problem for us. Given the multi city operations and our fast spreading work, we are focusing on MIS, trying to use technology to the maximum for which we need high end, good working systems with genuine software. Laptops are preferred as all our team members spend a lot of time in the field.
4- Vehicle- For 7 cities - Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Jalandhar, Pune. (ranges between 2.5 to 4.00 lakh rupees). Right now local transportation is a major expense and also a lot of time goes into dealing with the local transporters for pick ups etc..
Feel free to write back with your queries, suggestions and comments. Do send out this message to as many people as you can.
Looking forward…
With best
anshu
Anshu Gupta (Ashoka Fellow)
Founder Director
GOONJ..
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Diwali Dhamaka at Anmol should be a well known event by now.
Last year was my first experience with these girls. Needless to say, it was an amazing one.
Today Anmol 2009 is underway... in fact it must have begun at 8.30 AM already and as usual, I am running late.
The theme for this year's fest is Education.
With the Right To Education bill being passed, and the ever increasing school dropouts, there couldn't have been a better theme to drive home this year.
Farida Lambay, who is a Vice Principal at Nirmala Niketan along with being the Founder Trustee of Pratham, has been invited as the Guest Speaker this year... while Dia Mirza and Genelia D'Souza shall be adding up to the glamour quotient at the event.
Apart from gyaan and some delicious bhojan, Anmol puts up stalls selling its wares, conducts fun games and competitions and rounds off the celebrations with an hour long Dance Dhamaka.
It's always a challenge to manage the 1000 strong crowd and serve food to them. But as always seen, noble thoughts end up attracting large hearted hearted volunteers and donors.
One also gets to meet other small and big NGOs involved in myriad initiatives in and around Mumbai.
To experience this fest and have a first hand dekho at what Anmol does, you can drop in today, at any time between 8.30 AM to 5 PM at the Auxilium School, Wadala.
Sunday Friends is an organization that I volunteer for.
They teach slum kids of Sion-Koliwada and also have food distribution drives.
However, they are the best known NGO in Mumbai for their Blood & Skin Donation camps.
Having won several awards from the Mayor and many other accolades, their blood donation camps are something to look out for.
Kisi Kumbh ke mele jitni rush hoti hai :)
They are now organising their 28th Blood Donation Camp on Sunday, 7th June 2009 at Ram Wadi, Matunga Market, Mumbai.
So, if you are keen on doing some bit for Society... please do go ahead and join this drive.
You can learn more about other initiatives of SF here.
Livemint has covered Pankhudi's Bangalore chapter here.
I am glad to be associated with Pankhudi's Mumbai Chapter.
It's an amazing experience to teach slum kids. Their energy, enthusiasm and interest levels are infectious !
At the Mumbai Centre weekend classes are held and about 40 kids are taught English and Maths (these kids belong to Hindi & Marathi medium schools).
Apart from Padhai-likhai, we also hold picnics, creative arts, Science Camps and other such sessions for the Kids.
Most Volunteers are working professionals who devote weekends for the betterment of the Bachha Party.
For more info on Pankhudi please go here
If anyone would like to be a part of Pankhudi Family please let me know OR register online and we shall get back to you.
You could also help by holding Music, Creative Arts, Games and other such sessions.
This is what we do...
The Drawing Contest...
Volunteers at the Anmol Stall...
Mehendi and artwork stalls at the Mela...
Sea Of Faces at Anmol -
Girlies with Siddharth "Bhaiya"
Lost babes asking for Direction...
Excitement on being "Clicked" !
Taare Zameen Par :)
The Dancing Dolls
Priya Dutt & Eknath Gaikwad
Listening To Priya Dutt's Bhashan
A Big Thanks to Vinod, Pari, DS, Abhishek, Yuvraj, Vikas, Namrata, Anshu & her friends, Prabhdeep, Amol, Siddharth AND Pramod for making this a memorable day !!
Thanks To Savia for introducing me to Anmol !
I have been working with an NGO called Anmol.
It's a project for girls at risk - basically all street girls, runaways, orphans, etc.
Anmol has an in-house residential facility for girls aged 5-18. These are sent to local schools and taught various vocational skills that shall fetch them income after they decide to move on.
Apart from this they also conduct street classes at Wadala & CST and provide in house counseling for emotional development of girls.
Anmol organises Diwali Fest every year.
This year the event is slated for Saturday, October 25.
This shall be a full day event with various games, activity and food stalls being put up by Girls of Anmol. There shall be free lunch and evening snacks for the crowd.
Magician's Shows and various Dance performances have also been arranged for entertainment value for little girls and all guests.
Various NGOs that work with girls shall be present with their volunteers and wards in full throng.
We are expecting a crowd of 1800 for the Diwali Celebrations.
This year, the guest list includes Priya Dutt, Eknath Gaikwad, Renuka Chowdhary & Teesta Setalvad. We have also had Boman Irani, Raageshwari, Perizaad Zorabian and M.N. Singh adorn the event in the past.
What's special about Diwali Dhamaka 2008?
Anmol has chosen to expose the girls to a whole range of career options that they might not have heard of. Some might have aspired to achieve but had no direction.
Some of the careers that Anmol will focus on are Teaching, Nursing, Call Center Executives, Tailoring and Fashion Designing, Computers, Clerical work, data entry operators, cooking and bakery.
The aim is not to just pass them information. But to help with the goal setting. So any interested girl can be helped to evaluate what she needs to do to achieve her dream. In the process, Anmol will offer all the adequate support that she might require.
We have contacted a few PR agencies and have been assured of regional media coverage for pre and post event activities.
Please help spread word about this noble activity and help make this Diwali a true Fest of Lights !
Cheers !
Last weekend saw some fruitful activity by this lazy bone.
My company had its India Wide Volunteering Day on Saturday – April 26.
I had been looking forward to this day since the activities involved were pretty interesting. Painting with Akanksha Kids, Gardening and Planting Saplings, building houses at Karjat, Health & Hygiene seminars by Pratham…myriad activities..loads of excitement.
A few friends and I registered for painting and gardening activity at Anand Niketan (Mahalaxmi). The premise houses various NGOs, Cancer Aid Society, Institution for the mentally challenged, etc.
My friend Mahalakshmy and I vouched for gardening whereas Prabhdeep and Sonal opted for painting with kids.
Pheww…What a day and what fun!!
We were segregated into small groups and were asked to plant saplings and level barren gardens. It was sweltering hot and the job required physical strength too.
However, the whole activity saw vigorous participation. Animated conversations took place. New friendships were forged. It was nice to see people from various backgrounds come together…spend a weekend toiling away in the heat.
While, Mahalakshmy and I sweated it out, Sonal and Prabhdeep had huge fun painting walls for Akanksha’s center. The center was adorned by various colorful images – Mickey Mouse, Dolphins, Little girls with Pony Tails, etc. Some people took on the look of Picasso and worked as if a masterpiece was coming into shape while a few others chatted along and had a jolly good time painting lovely flowers.
We were assisted by kids from Akanksha. A very sweet batch! Most of these belonged to lower income groups. However, they were tutored by Aakanksha and some had gone on to become Arts and Maths teachers at Akanksha.
This brings me to an important observation – difference between government managed orphanages and NGOs.
Most of my trips to government managed orphanages have made me feel sad and helpless. Most kids lose their innocence when they start “understanding” the enormity of their situation. Being abandoned is bad enough – living off on donations and pity is worse!
These kids are treated as burden and often hold grudges against everyone in general. Moreover, they are hardly equipped with skills which would enable them to lead respectful lives and be economically independent.
On the other hand, organizations like Pratham and Akanksha help in “mentoring” kids. Most kids we interacted with were confident individuals, shy yet assertive. They were fluent in English and were proud of the fact that they were self sufficient.
Children from marginalized backgrounds do NOT need pity but need to be nurtured. They do not require donations rather opportunities. They have as much right to self respect as any of us.
Organisations like Pratham and Akanksha are doing a wonderful job in Child Literacy and education.
Their’s is a tedious and thankless job. However, their “Baby Steps” shall go a long way in helping “Youngistaan” grow into a confident nation.
Let us all extend our support to such organizations for helping the “Marginalised” India to Shine.
