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.
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.
