COVID & LOCKDOWN time and its challenges
At the end of March 20, as COVID Cases started to be reported in India, the Indian Government ordered a complete lockdown on movement giving people a 4hrs notice only. For us, this meant that we had to quickly ensure that our children had enough food, medicines and systems in place that would keep them healthy and safe. Luckily we had a stock of grains and other dry rations combined with our own fresh vegetables so that we did not have to buy food from outside for the first two months.
The lockdown also meant that our staff could not come to work and since then we have been managing with very little staff. It has been a challenge to keep all the children engaged and busy. Things run smoothly for a while, the moment a problem arises all our resources are severely stretched. Schools are shut and we do not know when the schools will open or when they open will be it at all be safe to send the children to school.
This time has been particularly difficult for our children/youth with special needs. The lockdown and the fact that all the children are constantly at home has upset their routine and they do not get their usual dose of undivided attention. We have noticed that some psychological problems have started and we need to address them.
Addressing the challenges.
As with the rest of the world, we are also facing an entirely new set of challenges now. There are no immediate solutions in sight but we do the best we can.
The first solution has been to engage children through online learning. We are partnering with Empower (a non-profit organization) and our CSR partner SOMFY, to start online classes. We now have five computers donated by SOMFY and two with the help of the Empower Team.
The children are exhilarated with digital life. Virtual home-schooling is not only opening up new vistas for them, it is also getting them familiar with the technology of computers and their applications in a way that it had never happened before.
Below are some of the stairs they have climbed -
Apart from these, the children are engaged with lots of physical activities like doing grading and growing their own veggies, learning cooking and baking, playing lots of different games and sports, watching interesting movies and discussing them at our movie club.
CSR Collaboration – Achievement
SOMFY foundation continued their support this year by upgrading our solar system so more power can be generated to run the home and other activities, smoothly. After living for more than two decades with frequent and long power cuts and an expensive alternative source for generating electricity, Karm Marg is now equipped with a fully functioning solar energy & hot water system which provides us with uninterrupted power.
NOW
. We don’t face long and frequent power cuts anymore.
. Children can now study during the evening and night time.
. Summers are more tolerable as a stable power source means our cooling machines run without disruption.
. Work hours are efficient and extended
Through the help of the SOMFY foundation, we move in the direction of a cleaner and more sustainable future. Thanks a ton, SOMFY foundation. https://www.facebook.com/somfyindiaofficial
New Project
A long due project to make math and science easier to grasp for our children has now become reality with the help of Avishkaar and funding from EMpower.
EMpower web believes young people are a critical resource for every country. They invest in locally-led organizations to unlock the potential of young people, to change their lives and the world around them.https://www.facebook.com/empowerweb/about/?ref=page_internal
Aavishkaar: Center for Science, Arts and Technology aims to make learning a fun and hands-on experience for all irrespective of their social or economic background. The aim of the program is to shift the focus from teaching to learning.
https://www.facebook.com/AavishkaarPalampur
We are very grateful to Empower and Aavishkaar for supporting the KM children at this time when they need it most.
Reaching Out at COVID time
Many of the KM alumni lost their jobs due to the lockdown. We are in touch with most of them and are trying to find ways to deal with the problem. The young ladies who were living on their own outside had to return to KM as they lost their jobs, they could not afford to pay their rents and had nowhere else to go. We have to be there for them, to listen to their troubles and guide them where ever possible. It has been very challenging both for them and for us as well.
As you will know, due to this pandemic and the resulting lockdown, the daily wage and contractual workers have been hit the hardest. Faridabad where we are located is a hub for migrant construction and brick kilns workers, guards, cleaners and others in low paid jobs. They usually live in makeshift houses on the roadside with children left alone for the whole day. They now find themselves with no food, no savings, no income nor any viable opportunities in the near future. The hunger, uncertainty and insecurities make it very difficult for them.
With our 24 years’ experience in child care and protection, we know children run away from homes or go astray when they are hungry or feel unsafe. Sometimes even parents abandon them out of extreme poverty. With this in mind, in the last week of March, we started reaching out to nearby construction sites to fulfill a basic responsibility towards our community.
For the last three months we have been distributing dry ration packets including a onetime balanced meal, and cloth masks We also gave away cash where it was really needed. As we were working with the police to identify clusters of people needing help, we developed a harmonious relationship with the local police through sharing tea and biscuits with them. Food for the stray animal also distributed for two months.
We are proud of our team at KM who were ready at all times to reach out to these people and help them get through these difficult times.
Spent on
One time balanced meal – Daliya / Khichdi alternate day
Money spent approx. Rs. 50,000/-.
Total meal served - 6000 meals
Dry ration packets( Atta 10kg, Rice 10kg, Daal 4kg, Oil 2ltr, Masala, Haldi, Salt, Sugar 2kg, Tea 500gm, Soap bar – bath 1pc / washing 1pc
Money spent Rs 2, 33,734/-
400 families (approx. 2000 adult & children)
Cash support – Rs 15000/-
Total Spent – Rs 2, 98, 734/-
We would not be able to do this without the support of our dear and loving friends who always stood with us and helped us, With their helped we generate – Rs 2, 60,818/-
Mask distribution – 450 masks (By Jugaad Team)
Money spent - Rs. 5400
Jugaad News
Jugaad has also been hit hard by the lockdown, our income generation and skill training program Jugaad had to be totally stopped as there are no sales and no further orders. The women who are part of our income generation are now left with no earnings, we are facing a big problem to pay our team members' salaries. We are trying hard to generate some funds to sustain Jugaad for at least another six months.
Our women groups started making cloth face masks to generate some income through this.
Needs
In these uncertain times, the only certainty is uncertainty. As with the rest of the world, we at KM are facing difficult times at least in the short term. With Jugaad closed down our ability to generate money has come to a standstill. With businesses collapsing all over the world, donor spending is also expected to go down. We are forced to rethink the very basics of our operational model and look for new ways to survive. Be it learning new skills that will bring an income or reaching out to new donors, developing new fundraising platforms, or new fundraising strategies.
More than ever your help and support are vital to our survival and we look forward to new ideas as well as opportunities to raise funds.
We at KM wish you all good health and spirits in these difficult times.
Newsletter Oct-Dec 2019
Achievement - Solar-powered campus
After living for more than two decades with frequent and long power cuts and an expensive alternative source for generating electricity, Karm Marg now has a fully functioning solar system for powering our campus and heating water in the winters with the help of Somfy foundation. (France/India)
Some of the problems addressed by having installed a solar energy system on our campus are
The installation and setup of the solar energy system has been done by partnering with Somfy foundation and we thank them for helping Karm Marg take a leap towards adopting renewable energy.
Success Story – Smiles
It’s very strenuous for the staff of Karm Marg to deal with children who come from extremely traumatic backgrounds. We not only have to provide them with a safe and secure home-like environment but also have to work really hard on their mental and physical health. It requires a lot of patience and tolerance to monitor them and keep updated about their physical and emotional well-being and to make sure they are responding to our treatments.
In the month of October four siblings, two brothers and two sisters, who had been verbally and physically abused by their parents arrived at arm Marg. We were really shocked to discover their condition and the history of abuse they had endured.
The oldest girl of the family had been abused routinely by her father, who also threatened to kill all of her siblings if she reported the abuse she was suffering to anyone. Their stepmother would also treat them very badly and was complicit in the abuse the kids had to suffer. Due to excess torture and the beating they were exposed to, all of them suffered varying degrees of mental and physical illnesses. All the siblings have been diagnosed with acute depression and suffer from panic attacks. Vishal, 12-year-old (name changed) is suffering from severe Arthritis which has left him unable to even walk properly. Another boy, Rajneesh (name changed) is suffering from Bilateral acute retinal necrosis, which has left both his pupils to not function properly and therefore has very poor eyesight.
But somehow the oldest sister showed a lot of courage and decided to raise her voice against her father and called the police on her parents with the help of local women and registered a complaint against her father and mother. The father has consequently been sent to jail and since then all the kids have been sent to Karm Marg.
These kids have gone through an extremely tough period in their lives but all of them are now receiving medical treatment and counseling to aid their mental health. We still have a long way to go but we can see the smiles and confidence return to their faces and also rejoice in the fact they are slowly starting to enjoy their lives. Hopefully, in April all of them will start going to school.
Sharing Happiness
ALBATROS from Denmark celebrated Christmas with us through gifting a new Television set for the children and sponsoring a two-day outing for all our staff. This is a part of Albatros company’s staff ‘giving program’ in which every staff member of their company donates an amount towards a cause at Christmas time.
In 23 years of Karm Marg journey, Staff got this opportunity first time to go for the outing. Its totally different experience and they had so much fun and bonding with each other. A total of 13 staff went for the outing and 4 staff stayed at the campus to look after the children and they got the surprised gift.
Deborah from SCOMI foundation visited KM and spent time with children and staff for more than 10days to understand what challenges the organization faces and how SCOMI can support and full fill the gap. SCOMI is supporting from the Beginning of Karm Marg for last 24 years, they are more than a family to us then only a Donor.
New Project Partnership
Hanish and Angy, who started CoderShunya, an initiative to empower children from destitute backgrounds by means of technology, approached us to a partnership with Karm Marg to give access to children in young age to technology will greatly make the difference in the livelihood of these children, giving them a platform to develop the open-source project while also addressing the social cause. They introduce in teaching through long-distance training via Skype / Google hang out or such other apps.
A total of eight children (two boys and Six girls) are enrolled in this project to attend the class twice a month.
Volunteer program
Shaurya a 10th class student studying in China came to Karm Marg along with his father Shambhu Nath under the school volunteering program. He along with our seven children made a short movie on Karm Marg day to day life and he taught the children how to use mobile cameras and edit movies using different apps. Children are not allowed to keep mobile phones personally due to safety reasons, so they are so excited to explore with mobile phones and learn new skills.
Main Activity of the quarter
The Art room project through Art-Reach India continues going on with our five girls, in this quarter these girls got the chance to learn from Chandan Gomes, who is an acclaimed photographer and won many awards. He conducted the session on photography at Qutub Minar and it was a great opportunity for the kids to interact with him and learn more about photography.
The annual children's winter carnival took place on 22nd December at Kisan bhawan, Faridabad. This time we managed to reach out to approximately 300 kids from different NGO and from low-income backgrounds. We are very thankful to Tanushree who organizes this every year to bring a lot of joy and excitement in the lives of many children.
On the month of October, our theater group performed at Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts in ITIHAAS festival. The topic of the performance was about the current scenario of today’s reality where no one raises a voice against animal cruelty, corruption Etc. The spectators really liked the concept and appreciated the kid’s performance.
Our younger children are also very fond of dance so keeping that in mind we sent them to participate in Dhinak Dhin Dhaa - 4, the festival of dance workshop which was organized by Creativity adda
After Babli now Teena got the chance to become a yoga instructor with the help of Shivananda yoga institute, they are given the scholarship to learn and become a Yoga teacher.
Now both Babli and Teena committed to giving one year of their service to Shivanad ashram, their lodging and boarding will be taken care of by the ashram.
Festive Season:
Every year KM’s alumnus comes together to celebrating major festivals with the children, which sprout very fond moments for us and leaves us feeling very proud.
This quarter we celebrated Dussehra, Diwali, Christmas and the arrival of the New Year together with much fun, laughter and happiness. Together we cooked delicious and verity of cousins to celebrate the festival. It show the strong boundation between children and KM and above all lots of happiness and smiles on every face.
Government Visits
Govt Child welfare Committee, Child helpline and other child safety-related departments visited Karm Marg to check if the organization following all the rule regulation properly and children are safe.
Jugaad
As the peak session started we went busy this quarter at Jugaad. Preparation of all the upcoming exhibition and festive session order was in full swing.
We started selling our homegrown organic vegetables at the local market and getting a good response.
Intern in Jugaad
Three Interns from IICD (Indian Institute of Craft & Design) Jaipur came to Jugaad under a one-month Internship program. They learned and explored various skills in Jugaad and also designed a few new products and explored social media to promote these products.
This is an ongoing process where every year few students apply for an Internship program to learn and explore on ground to understand how craft people work and design as well do the marketing.
Beneficiaries of the quarter
Under permanent care – 46 children
Under short stay – 16 children
Short stay children rehabilitee with family – 8 children
Youth start living independently - 2 youth
Library: 60 children (7 & 8th class student of local govt secondary school)
Two girls enrolled full-time training under the stitching unit of Jugaad.
Three youth enrolled in Bakery learning.
Fifteen women are working on a daily basis under Jugaad income generation program.
Twenty new women are started taking part-time training through Jugaad.
Quarterly report - July to September 2019
Winner of Annual Spirit of Humanity Award
September presented a ‘hurrah’ moment for all the children, team member, trustees, founder and everyone who are associated with Karm Marg for receiving National award for excellence in childcare from Spirit of Humanity by Americares India, which seeks to honour the best Ngo’s in the country and the people behind them. Our success was a culmination of a lot of hard work over the years and the cooperation offered to us through our partners; the patience and understanding shown towards us and the love you’ve had for us for so long. The award is very valuable for us as it provides us with a lot of credibility which will enable us to acquire more funds and support in the future and also attract potential donors and partners.
Expanding the knowledge of children through the mediums of art
Five of Karm Marg’s young adults were selected for a one-year intense workshop to understand art deeply, practice it and choose it as a profession in the future if interested. This opportunity was provided to us by Art reach India after doing a workshop over the period of one year with the children and young adults of karm Marg and showcased their work in a well-known art museum, Kiran nadir museum on June 19. As part of this initiative, karm Marg’s children participated in the following.
2. Collage and Composition with artist Tehmeena Firdos.
2. Visual Narratives with S. Anand from Navayana Publishing.
3. Introduction to Theater with Maya Rao.
4. Visit Pra-Kashi at National Museum.
5. Shadow Puppetry with Anurupa Roy.
Engaging volunteers through technology
From the first day of Karm Marg’s beginning, our remote location has provided us with numerous benefits but also many shortcomings. The distance of commute from the city has proven to be a major roadblock and has hampered many programs, initiatives and collaborations in the past. The rise of technology has now helped us bridge that gap with mentorship programs that take place through video calls or mail exchanges
Indu Harikumar, a close friend & mentor of young girls of KM, started taking English classes with four girls via skype’s video calling. It is amazing to see how technology has helped reduce the distance between our volunteers and children.
In future will planning that children will receive educational classes from volunteers or teachers, counseling and participate in mentorship programs online via apps like Google duo, facetime, etc which saves everyone a lot of time, money and energy and it helps the kids in enhancing their skills by learning from qualified teachers or people who have great experience in a particular field.
Beneficiary of the quarter: With all your support and help,this quarter we have managed to reach out to 152 beneficiaries.
Children living in a home - 55
Children only getting educational help - 05
Skill training full time: 04
Skill training part time: 08
Under Library project: 80
One step toward saving environment – As the monsoons approached we had conducted a series of workshops and plantation work.
The kids of Karm Marg participated in a tree planting and clean drive initiative on two different occasions. At a forest homestay in Tirthan valley, Himachal Pradesh and at Neighbourhood woof, an animal shelter and birth control clinic for dogs which is in north Delhi. Both the places are run by long-time supporters of Karm Marg. As part of the exercise in Himachal, the kids got to stay at the homestay in a forest and went on a tree-planting drive conducted by one of the local residents of the area. He educated our kids about the importance of local flora and fauna and how they need to be preserved. The kids also went for a clean drive to nearby tourist spots and collected lots of waste and reusable materials that had been thrown away and converted them into recycled products. The following was written by Tanushree, who runs the homestay in Himachal, about the experience.
“Today is an emotional day on many levels. We had been planning to do a "clean and green drive" since a long time. But strangely we could not get the right kind of saplings. We kept trying mostly because last year a big junk of the forest was lost to fire during summers. It was heartbreaking.
Finally after trying for a long time we gave up and decided to limit ourselves to a clean drive. Now for that too we needed volunteers! We have been associated with Karm Marg for a long time. I have seen most of these children in the pictures grow from tiny unsure babies to confident young adults who care about the environment and hug with all their hearts. It was a dream to get them to see our dream. As luck would have it, they volunteered!
And the day they came, we managed to get 250 saplings for the forest out of the blue! So today this wonderful bunch of kids along with a solo traveling volunteer, planted sapling in terrains that were not easy to get to.
Tomorrow more trees will be planted and riverside will be cleaned. See? The world is in safe hands. And these pairs do not know when to stop. We all will be okay .We just need more to join in.
PS. That is very sound advice right there by Mr Dabey Ram -"We are alive because of these trees. If they weren't here, you’re being here and our lives would be useless. Each one of us needs to plant at least 10 trees every year."
Sowing and planting of vegetables – During monsoons, some of the kids were introduced to organic farming as a new skill set that they can learn and practice. This included preparing the field, fertilizing, sowing winter crops and vegetables, tending to the crops and harvesting. We also collected seeds for summer crops which will be planted next year. Organic farming and permaculture are big trends in India nowadays and have huge potential. Training our kids in this field of work not only teaches them how to grow their food sustainably and organically but also empowers them to find work and earn a living through the same.
We also conducted our first workshop around organic farming and permaculture with the College student of a local government college. It was a two-day workshop with 150 students from Kheri Gujran College, Faridabad.
Changing lifestyle - At Karm Marg we teach the kids to respect the natural environment and live in accordance with nature. This helps them to learn and practice alternative ways of living their lives and minimize their impact on the planet. Part of this exercise has seen us develop and manufacture a lot of in house everyday products like floor cleaners, dishwasher detergent, toilet cleaner liquids that are made using fruit waste, peels and seeds.
Festive season – With the celebrations for Raksha Bandhan taking place the festive season for this year has commenced. The kids celebrated Raksha Bandhan in a unique way by making their own Rakhis, which they made by recycling waste and old materials and tied the rakhi to there love ones friends pet and tree.
Library Project - Our on-going library Project is going well. In the month of September, we managed to do 6 library classes for the children. Besides storytelling we are also engaging children in Games, learning sign language and awareness program etc. But above all, our children show an enthusiasm to learn sign language .
The 6-month Computer course, which was organized by the Haryana State child Protection society Govt. of Haryana for the CCI’s (Child care institution) started in the month of April 2019. During this period children were taught MS-office, Excel and Web designing. This Course ended in the month of August and all the CCI’s were invited to Panchkula to receive the Certificate. On 28th August children went to Panchkula (Haryana) where Smt. Kavita Jain (State Minister of Department of Women and child development) distributed certificates amongst the children.
Jugaad
The impending arrival of Diwali, the festival of lights, has spurred us all into action as it is arguably the biggest annual festival in India. We have fast-tracked a lot of work and new design ideas for bags, stationery and accessories keep popping up and work is taking place at full speed now.
We showcased Jugaad products at weekly markets, Sunder Nursery, Delhi, this market is known for only promoting organic and handmade products.
Faridabad, our home town which is situated close to Delhi, is not too aware of organic and handmade products and even fewer shops addressing this demand. Some vendors have come together who grow organic vegetable and have started putting stalls at Common Park every Sunday so people get the opportunity to buy organic vegetables and at the same time become aware about this kind of produce. We have also started selling our Plants and organic vegetables in Faridabad, at Kisan Bhawan. We are very happy to receive positive responses from the people who shop there and hopefully we will continue moving forward with this venture.
Story of the quarter
A new child with special need arrived at Karm Marg for a short stay, we found him on the street alone, no one knows from where he came or who left him. He has one big lump on his head which required immediate medical attention. From the day one Vijay, our special need young boy start taking care of him and given him a name Pinda.
Pinda stayed with us for three months and all these months He was taken care of by Vijay. Its show how they understand each other feeling and need and share so much love and care for each other.
We shifted Pinda to another home as he required specific medical care which we are not capable of doing.
Highlight of the Quarter
Hamaari Chaap! An art exhibition Organised by Artreach India in association with Kiran Nadar Museum as a culmination of their yearlong project with 20 child artists from Karm Marg!
A teaching fellowship program for the year 2018-19 to teach and give exposure to various forms of art so these artists can see art as a profession and can choose to study art. At the end of the program, they put up an art exhibition to showcase the art and painting done by these artists. This show was highly appreciated by the visitors. Our children were also given a chance to interact with the visitors and show them they're paintings.
After visiting the exhibition, one of our dearest and big supporter Preeti Agarwal Mehta express her feeling on FaceBook
When I saw the paintings and the kids yesterday, what struck me the most was the effect of their proximity to nature, the excitement of learning something new and the innate need to express their emotions. I could barely contain my tears at how all these things came together for the outside world to get a glimpse of yesterday. Emotions ran high...the excitement, the pride, the sense of accomplishment and the sheer joy of years of passion and hard work presented in this beautiful way. The kids confidently explain to the visitors about their work and the ecstasy of having their work being appreciated and even bought by viewers.
Thanks a lot, Artreach India and Megna Madan for all the effort and hard work you put it in the children.
This journey will also be showcased on the Al Jazeera TV channel. Children were so happy to see themselves on the big screen.
To watch full program pls click on the link below
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/india-art-exhibition-showcase-painting-vulnerable-children-190620130707773.html
Thanks a lot for all your help and Support
And we are doing our work because of you all who have been backing us. To continue it and to change many more innocent lives, we need your support. Every little bit counts and we are banking on your support.
Success full project
Anyone who visits Karm Marg will never forget our very special and very spoilt children (now adult) Raju and Mahua. They are the first ones who welcome each and every visitor with their big smile and warm hugs. Four of our community members including Raju and Mahua communicate only through hand gestures. So it was decided that everyone in our community would learn communication skill to be able to 'converse' with them, including of course Raju and Mahua.
Last Year in June, We initiated weekly communications training workshops to help facilitate this process with the help of Ms. Oshin Dhawan, a Specialist Communication Trainer. It has been a wonderful experience to see how all the children, youth and staff of Karm Marg are now learning and expressing their feeling using sign language. It has helped open up communication channels not only with our special needs youth but also between us too. It has made us realize how not being able to speak a language doesn’t have to be a barrier in communication and has also made us realize that the onus to make communication equally available to everyone lies with the majority. That they/we have to learn new skills to communicate so that everyone understands each other.
Oshin_dhawan we all love you and going to miss you a lot.
New Start-Up
We felt the need to start a bakery unit under our skill training and income generation program for young adults. Our children and young adults have expressed a keen interest in picking up these skills also due to the new possibilities and opportunities that have come up in our area.
We have seen the increased demand for good quality bakery and confectionery items, as our village and its surrounding areas are getting rapidly urbanized. More and more city people are migrating to this area. There is huge potential for consumption and marketing of quality bakery products. It will be a good source of income for the youth and help them attain self-sufficiency. We also want to engage our differently-abled youth in this unit so they will also be partially self-sufficient
Our Friend Jiten Suchede, Founder of Jugmug Thela helped us to start this project by helping us on planning, logistics and budgeting part as well organized two-month training for our young adult in June. He voluntarily spares his one of the staff Payal who also alumni of Karm Marg now working in Jugmug bakery unit, given two-month training to our young adult who was interested in this field.
We had started with bread and biscuits and slowly will increase our variety as per the demand and promotion.
We will need to build a production area and hire an instructor to start this project. StepStone from UK, agreed to give us the funds to build the room and to pay the trainer/instructor for six to eight months.
Performing art and Yoga teaching
Our children’s theatre and dance groups perform and participate in various platforms on sensitive topics. They performed at the “This is me” event organized by ‘The Angel Network’ at DLF Saket mall to celebrate uniqueness as well as oneness and to honor our diversity and freedom to choose. Dance shows at various places like the cultural event at central park Connaught Place organized by the Delhi Govt and yoga on yoga day at Indian Army camp in Jalandhar.
Somfy Foundation invited our young yoga trainer to take a one-day yoga class for all their staff under their CSR project.
Other updates
Yearly Staff and Board meeting held in this quarter to review the last finical year budget and current year budget, planning for the next year, staff salary increment, future planning and fundraising policy.
Update from Jugaad
Shabila our Stitching unit in-charge taken initiative to find out the new cluster and start giving training to new women group under our Jugaad project, stitching unit. Through this, we want to engage more women and make them empowers and economically more independent and strong.
Time of the year, when we don’t have many orders to produce, We engage our team to develop new design and do the production for stocking some well selling item before we get busy and festive time arrived which is the best time for us to sell our product.
We started with the Rakhi new design development for the Rakhi festival and start doing the production. Promotion through social media to reach the right client is also major work we involved in this quarter to sell our product.
Links:
Karm Marg Quarterly Newsletter – Jan to March 2019S
Story of the quarter
It is always a big challenge for us when our young adults come of age to introduce them to the idea of leaving Karm Marg and starting anew. It is quite hard for us to help them realize the notion of living independently and stepping up to take responsibility for their own livelihood.
Three years back we faced a similar problem when four of our boys named Vipin, Jitender, Iqbal and Basant all 18+ of age, were not interested in participating our in house skill training programs and already established income generating programs under Jugaad, They were confused, lazy and hesitant about taking responsibility for their own future. We had offered them a number of opportunities and career counseling sessions but it didn’t seem to help them. At the time one of Karm Marg’s old friends Ayesha who runs an animal care shelter named Neighbourhood Woof who run ABC (Animal Birth Control) & ARV (Anti Rabies Vaccine) program for stray dogs in Delhi, came forward to help us. She took them under her wing and gave all four the option to come and help her at the shelter. She started giving them the necessary training as well as guiding and counseling them about living independently and earning to sustain their own livelihood. We soon noticed that they were all keen about working in animal care and are now full-time workers at her shelter in New Delhi and their transition to living independently has now gone smoothly.
It happened due to Ayesha’s help and also because of the bonding that the children of Karm Marg have with animals. At Karm Marg’s home, we have 10-12 dogs at a given time and a number of other animals that were either rescued from somewhere or were in urgent need of medical help. Living in close proximity with the animals teaches the kids to respect nature and to live with them in harmony, Having animals at our home also helps the children, some of whom suffer from depression or acute behavioral problems, find love and trust.
Volunteer Pablo
Jan 19th was the end of Pablo’s volunteer program at our home. He joined us in the month of October under a three-month residential volunteer program to teach English to all our kids and some of the staff. At the end of his stay, many children had improved their knowledge of the English language which had been enhanced by his teaching. He was one of the most beloved volunteers to have come to Karm Marg and had stolen every child’s heart. He was very dedicated to his task and ready to help where ever needed.
The final result for School examinations
March is the month for school examinations for our Children and we’re always nervous with anticipation. The results were out at the end of the month except for 10th and 12th standards. Some kids scored high marks in their classes which are as follows.
Devraj scored 3rd and was promoted to 2nd standard
Khushi scored 1st, Neha 2nd and Simran 3rd and were all promoted to 3rd standard
Nargish scored 1st and was promoted to 5th standard
We also celebrated the festival of Holi in the month of March with our alumni, friends and supporters of Karm Marg. As is the case with every Holi at Karm Marg this one was no different, which is to mean it was full of high energy, fun and filled with joy.
Thanks, Note
It was an overwhelming and indescribable experience for us when Ms. Gitte Gilstrup and her husband from Albatross travel – A Denmark based Travel Company, visited Karm Marg to meet our children and donated clothes and shoes to all the kids in the loving memory of their only child who had sadly passed away. It was a sad yet very moving moment for everyone present. Thanks, Ms. Gitte for choosing to share those moments with us and spending the time with the kids who were very touched with what you did to honor your daughter.
Albatross Travel Company had also generously donated personal gifts for each staff member and children on Christmas day and a music system for Karm Marg.
Trustee of Our long term supporters and funders SCOMI (Step Children of Mother India) – Netherlands, Alfonsus Theodorus and Lambert visited Karm Marg, their aim was to visit our home and spend some time with the children and staff members directly and interact with the management to understand how we spent the last funding and how it benefited the children. They also engaged in a dialogue for our future needs and how we can work together on it.
In this way, we engage with our donors directly and help them witness the relationship between a donor and the NGO. We are thankful to SCOMI for partnering with us and becoming a part of the Karm Marg family
Thanks a lot also to Ms. Shagun Arora from Arora foundation and Akshay Mohan Sethi for your funds and contribution for the betterment of the children.
Hotel Taj Vivanta, Faridabad, organized lunch on 1st Jan on the occasion of New Year under their CSR project. Prepared and served by their HR team. The food was delicious and the menu comprised of many dishes which the kids were happy to enjoy.
Our dear friend and supporter Preeti Aggarwal Mehta celebrated her birthday by throwing a picnic for our kids at the famous Lodhi Gardens in Delhi with delicious food items and lots of dance and music.
Thanks to everyone else who helped us through donating in cash or kind. Every amount makes a big difference to cater to the needs of every kid and helps make their lives better.
Upcoming project
Baking skill unit - Our goal is to start a bakery unit under our skill training program Jugaad for young adults to give them more options to explore and improve their skills as well as baking becoming an alternative career option for them should they choose to.
We have observed for some time now that the young adults we have, mainly boys, are not interested in stitching and paper bag making anymore which is a major skill training program under our training unit Jugaad. Our young adults have also expressed a keen interest in picking up skills that enable them to run their own shops and have seen the food business especially baking thrive which appeals to them greatly.
We have seen an increased demand for good quality bakery and confectionery items as our village and its surrounding areas are getting rapidly urbanized. More and more city people are migrating to this area. There is a huge potential for consumption and marketing of quality bakery products. It will be a good source of income for the youth and helps them attain self-sufficiency. We also want to engage our differently abled youth in this unit so they will also be partially self-sufficient
We will start with bread and biscuits and slowly increase our variety as per the demand and promotion. For this, we will need to build a production area and infrastructure for the unit and hire an instructor to start this project.
Salary Increment – Starting off the new financial year from April onwards we need to increase the salary of our staff for which we need to generate funds. This year we have to increase the salary by 20% as last year we were unable to provide any increment due to a shortage of funds.
Jugaad – a skill training unit income generation program
This quarter was packed with exhibitions and completing orders for our clients. The yearly exhibition of Kala Ghoda held in Mumbai is a major outing for us in terms of sales and visibility and a place where we get to showcase our products. It went quite well this year. Through it we generate quite a good amount and it helps us with meeting and making contact with potential buyers. We were also able to obtain more orders which made our women workers very happy as it generates more income for them.
Shabila our stitching unit trainer and product development in charge have started a new program to work with women who have migrated from other states and live in nearby slums and villages in order to expand our stitching unit workforce and generate income for these marginalized women.
As the number of women working with us has increased, we need to find more orders for them accordingly to be able to generate their income regularly. It is proving to be quite a task as securing regular work in today’s economy is a tough thing to achieve.
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