Quest for Quality Education at VIDYA

VIDYA MUMBAI BEYOND SCHOOL PROGRAMS REPORT

Statistics:

Month                              No. of beneficiaries

December                         1405

January                             1396

Events and happenings:

On 23^rd December, students from the Colaba, Worli, Byculla, NMJ and Banganga centres attended the annual Christmas party at The Cricket Club of India hosted by Rotary Club of Bombay. Students were welcomed with a hat, a whistle and a Santa Claus mask. This set the mood for Christmas! The children sat in mini trains, airplanes and played games to their heart’s content. They visited stalls like "Glitter tattoo”, "hair braiding" etc set up for them within the premises of the Club. Zorbing, sitting inside a huge ball and bungee jumping were the main attractions for the students. It was a totally new experience as most of them were doing these activities for the first time! All this got them hungry and they relished on candyfloss and popcorn. Delicious snack boxes were distributed to each one of them as well. After eating, they all went back to play on the rides. While leaving the students were given a school bag each, filled with stationery items as a return gift to end the day on a joyous note.

On 27^th December, students from the Colaba, Worli, Byculla, NMJ, G K Marg, Ghatla, Vile Parle and Banganga centres participated in the Spelling Bee Competition. 4 students from each centre, selected after rigorous preliminary rounds made it to the finals conducted at the Ghatla centre. The students surprised one and all by not only spelling the words thrown at them accurately, but also explained the meaning of the words and made sentences using the same. It was difficult to believe that they were doing this for the first time. Every student present in the room was confident, eager to learn and well prepared for the competition. It was indeed a proud moment for the entire VIDYA Team.

On 10^th January, students from the Colaba, Byculla and NMJ centres visited the Cricket Club of India to watch a live CCL match. They were thrilled to watch the opening ceremony, especially actor Varun Dhavan’s performance. There were many celebrities like Ritesh Deshmukh, Ashish Choudhary, Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor etc present at the stadium and the children were very excited to see their favourite stars in person. The students saw the Mumbai Heroes v/s Veer Marathi match. All the kids were enthusiastically cheering for the players. Every 4 and 6 was cheered at!! In the end Mumbai Heroes won the match. The children were overwhelmed after seeing the match and the celebrities as they were experiencing this for the first time. It was a very memorable day for them!!

To celebrate our 66^th Republic Day, VIDYA Mumbai had organised a ‘Bharat Darshan’ across all centres in Powai. Each centre had selected two to three states and the students from the centre represented those states. We witnessed the culture, customs, religions, languages, dances and food of different states. The children also made bookmarks and thank you cards for all those who visited the centre. The children shared information and also did roles plays. It was a splendid event and was great exposure for the students as they became aware of the customs, traditions and the way of life of people across India.

As is the convention at VIDYA Mumbai, this year also witnessed extensive planning and active participation for the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2015. It was a culmination of enthusiasm, excitement, hard work, dedication and passion. Everyone involved was enthusiastic and ecstatic about it! The theme for the Mumbai Marathon endorsed by VIDYA this year was ‘Run to Read’. Students and staff had prepared a big book of a poem written by Jayshree Murali titled ‘Lets Run to Read’. Placards portraying thoughts on ‘reading’ depicted through Warli (courtesy – our overseas volunteer Maria) and quotes by VIDYA stakeholders on the impact of VIDYA were prepared. The children after clicking beautiful pictures marched towards the entry point shouting slogans of ‘V for VIDYA’ and ‘Let’s Run to read’. They proudly carried the placards and puppets made by them. The children were excited to see the colourful and energetic atmosphere. They were happy about running with other children as well. Chanting the slogans and proudly holding the placards the VIDYA contingent displayed exuberance all through the walk. They were especially inspired by the senior citizens and the differently able. The children cheered runners of the full and half marathon who passed by them. The youth were particularly inspired by the runners – quite a few said that they would like to run the half marathon next year!

Lit Fest was celebrated at VIDYA Mumbai with enthusiasm, zeal and fervour. The youth and children form National Association for the Blind were the Guest of Honour for the inauguration of the program. The students across centres let their creative energies flow as they read their favourite stories, interpreted the characters in their own way, picked up their most liked and disliked characters, changed the ending of the stories and did role plays to express the stories in their own unique way. Artwork filled every nook and corner of the rooms as the children drew and painted their favourite stories and characters. They made beautiful cover pages and illustrations of books that they had read and also wrote credits for the same!!! From Akbar Birbal to Cindrella and from Chacha Chaudhury to Sinbad the Sailor, every story had a different flavour and was presented in such a delightful way that it pleased one and all!! A Powada (Marathi folk song) was also prepared by the children. Guest speakers from all walks of life came and shared their experiences with the students. The students once again showed that given the right opportunity, adequate guidance and a conducive environment, they can soar to great heights and touch the stars!!!

147 students from the 9^th Std along with 27 staff members went on a picnic to the Smart Eco Park at Panvel. The park is spread across 20 acres and aims to explain how one can stay in harmony with nature. There are many educational centres such as information centre, education centre, discovery centre and activity centre in the park. The students were guided through the park and shown experiments on water processes like filtration, purification and contamination. They were informed about rain water harvesting and its benefits. They were taken to the butterfly garden and shown different types of butterflies, flowers, fruits and vegetables. They were then taken to a cow shed and were given information about different types of cows, both Indian and imported. They were then told about natural manures and fertilizers. At the activity centre the children were given waste materials and were asked to create something from it. Our students made a model of Mumbai city and impressed everyone! Lastly, a rain dance was organised for our students which they enjoyed immensely!!!

Success stories:

8th Std students Nisha and Ashwini from the Vile Parle centre won the inter school hand writing competition and both of them were awarded with gold medals. They thanked VIDYA for inculcating the discipline and importance of writing neatly in them.

Babu joined VIDYA in class 5. He got 72.20% in class 10. He is the second person in his family to pass class 10. His mother has been a constant source of encouragement. His mother is very jovial to talk to and she strongly believes that education is the only way to get out of the poverty cycle and this is what she wants for Babu. His family is extremely proud of his achievement. His favourite cricketer is Suresh Raina and he hopes to acquire Raina's flamboyance someday!