SANKALP-IN AID OF DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLE CHILDREN

Dear Kind Hearts

Greetings from SANKALP team

Academic activities and therapy sessions continues at Sankalp during the Second quarter of the session 2017-18 and so does other activities and festival celebrations.   

Teacher’s day was celebrated by children on 5^th of September which is the birthday of India’s former President Dr. S Radhakrishnan. On this occasion, all the teachers and therapists of Sankalp were honored by the children by presenting them flower bouquets. They participated in the inter-school sports event organized by the state government on 15^th & 16^th September.

This year during “Navratri” festival the local area member of Vadodara Municipal Corporation organized a special “GARBA” program as a “Public Awareness Event” on 27^th September about the activities of Sankalp. Many well-known local personalities graced the event. They all spoke about good work being done by Sankalp. Evening was very much enjoyed by children as well as the public.

Birthday of the father of nation Mahatma Gandhi along with birthday of all October Born children and staff was celebrated on 2^nd October. Children saw a short film on Mahatma Gandhi & learnt lessons of Truth & Non-violence. Children also performed on a skit of Gandhiji’s 3Monkeys.

At Sankalp we’re always conscious about the important social issues that are contextual and require active intervention from the citizens of every country. Protection of our Environment is one such very important issue that needs urgent intervention to save our planet from catastrophe. Diwali is a festival of lights and crackers besides making colorful Rangoli, having sweets and wearing new cloths in India. It is followed by the Gujarati New Year and lots of crackers are burst during Diwali and Gujarati New Year causing immense pollution and damage to the environment. In order to develop concern amongst children, they were first explained the importance of environment protection and the harm that fire crackers cause to our environment and then they were motivated to celebrate an “ECO FRIENDLY GREEN DIPAWALI”. Therefore, instead of bursting crackers this year at Sankalp the festival was celebrated by planting trees on the road divider in front of Sankalp. These plants shall be regularly watered and maintained by the children of Sankalp.  Besides plantation children made Rangoli with colour & flower. Children were also treated with special meals and sweets on the occasion.

After celebrating the Diwali festival Sankalp was closed for 3 week vacation and it reopened on 6^th November.

Our website is under renovation with a complete new look and features. Photographs of various activities are available on our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/SankalpVadodara and shall also be updated at the website www.mpctrust.org as soon as it is ready.

Until the next report a big THANK YOU for your support to our project. We take it as our duty that YOU are kept updated on what impact YOUR donation has made & what accomplishments we have achieved from time to time.

Links:

• Video about Sankalp

Dear Kind Hearts

Greetings from SANKALP team

First quarter of the session 2017-18 which started on 8^th June is nearing completion. During the period we completed the psychological assessment of the children to record the disability level of each child. Their IEPs (individual education plans) were prepare accordingly and their regular education and training as per the IEP was initiated. The APPs through which they are being given E-Education have also been customized for each child’s current needs and their E-Education on tabs has started. Before customizing the APPs, each child was assessed for retention of last year’s lessons and accordingly their E-Education curriculum was selected. The progress is being recorded on the servers of our partners and the first quarterly report shall be received from them in the beginning of September.

New children who joined from this session have also been given two sets of school uniforms and the order has been placed for older children. Their pediatric check-up has also been done and children have started getting the vitamin supplements as per the advice of doctor. ENT, Dental & Ophthalmic checkups are also expected to be completed soon.

The first parent guidance session of this session was organized on 2^nd of July. All the parents were counseled to take an active part in the development of their child without which it would not be possible to achieve the desired progress of their child. They were given a list of instructions to be followed by them at home. They will now be called after the end of quarter and shall be checked for the extent of compliance which will be an important factor considered in the annual report while measuring the progress achieved by each child.  

At Sankalp we always like to work on children through motivational techniques. In this direction we have taken two new initiatives. First is to select one child as the “Star of the Month”. Each child is observed and monitored closely and the one who shows best results in the selection criteria during the month is nominated as the “Star of the Month”. The selection criterion consists of child’s behavior with other children/teachers/staff, his academic performance, attendance, wearing uniform, maintaining discipline and hygiene. We hope this will motivate children as well as their parents to do their best. Another initiative is celebrating the birthdays of all the children & staff. Every month on any one day common birthday of all the children and staff members born in the month is celebrated by cutting the cake and celebrating with singing & dancing.

In addition to the normal academic the other activities during the quarter were - participation in sports & dance besides celebrating festivals. Nine children took part in the sports meet organized by the youth wing of MS University Vadodara’s students “Prerna” on 6^th of August. Festival of Rakhi and Lord Krishna’s Birthday, Janmashtami were celebrated by the children on 4^th and 16^th August respectively. On both the occasion all the children were treated with special meals and sweets. Field trip planned during July had to be cancelled due to continuous heavy rains.

Like last two years, this year also one of our major philanthropic partners ONGC invited Sankalp’s children to give their performance on the Independence Day function at their office on 15^th August. The dance performance given by the children was very much appreciated by all present and ONGC management announced a prize of Rs. 10,000/- for the school. All the children who participated in the function were also given a packet of sweets, chocolates and a water bottle.

A workshop for parents was conducted at Sankalp on 20^th August for preparing ecofriendly Ganesh idols for the ensuing Ganapati festival starting from 25^th August. Soil mixed with fruits & vegetable seeds were used to make Ganesh idol.  After completion of the festival, instead of immersing the idol in a pond, it shall be buried in garden or in a pot and watered regularly so that the seeds mixed in the soil will grow into plants. Children and parents enjoyed the workshop. Thanks to Mrs. Manju Kaushal for giving a beautiful idea and training the volunteers who came to Sankalp for the workshop. Such types of activities help to improve the creativity of children.

Until the next report a big THANK YOU for your support to our project. We assure you that YOU will be updated on what impact YOUR donation has made & what accomplishments we have achieved from time to time.

Photographs of various activities are being updated at our website www.mpctrust.org you can also follow us at Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/SankalpVadodara