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News letter for the quarter October to December 2013

You can tell that winter is coming to KM as the children start taking out their warm clothes and blankets, bringing colour, cheer and anticipation for the festivals and good weather with them.

Our young adults too have had reason to celebrate as a number of them have taken new steps to becoming independent. 

Main Highlights 

• Two of our young adults Vikranta and Raj Kumar were selected for a three month residential training course By GMR group on 19.11.2013. We learnt about from a close friend Mr. Rajesh Nath. We are very thankful to GMR and Mr. Nath for opening a great opportunity for our young adults to explore new avenues on the path of self sustainability.

• Three of our youth got jobs after completing their training. Payal, Laxmi now work at a fancy coffee cart, called Jagmag Thela after finishing their training at Shri Aurobindo Ashram, bakery unit. Basant also finished his training from the same institute and got a Job in a restaurant.

• All the children received their identification card called Aadhar which registers them with govt. It has always been a challenge to get any kind of govt. identification for our children as most of them don’t know their date and place of birth, or the origins of their families. Without proper identification they have problems getting admission to schools, opening bank accounts, when they grow up and  it’s time for them to leave KM it becomes very difficult for them to find a job or to rent a house. According to a new govt policy an Adhaar Camp was organised in KM to register all the children and youth. The Adhaar Card officially stamps them as Indian citizens and faciltitates them to avail of their rights.
  
  
• We now intend to open Bank accounts for our young adults who have jobs or are going for training and getting some support from KM

• Our five special youth are growinf more and more self-confident by the day and are doing very well in their training school. Everyone was a witness to their provess at the nature bazar where they set up and manged a traditional and alternative soft drink cart called “Kuch Desi Ho Jaye”. They made and sold the drinks and even took care of the cash. Taking responsibility and ownership for the stall was a source of happiness and excitement for them. Our little experiment was such a success that we are now planning to start a new bakery unit for them soon.

The festivals with their bright and sparkling colours brought cheer and joy with them.

• We celebrated Dussehra on the 13^th October by making a Ravan at KM with the help of Deepak. Everybody was very excited participated with enthusiasm.
  
  
• The Children celebrated Idul Zuha on 16^th October our girls warden and alumni Shabila made sweets for all of them.

• All children filled diyas with wax on the occasion of Diwali, Festival of light on 3rd^th November. The home was beautifully lit up with lights and diyas and a special dinner was made for the children. Students from Vidya Sanskar (a big private school) came to Karm Marg celebrate with us. They also brought crackers and sweets with them. During their night stay, a bonfire was organized, everyone sang, danced and had a great time. The bonding among all the children was excellent.

• The Sikh Festival Guru Nanak Birthday was celebrated on 16^th of November.
  
  
• Our regular guest from Spain, Maggie visited us on the 25^th December. She stayed the night and led the Christmas celebrations with the children. She played with them and distributed fruits and gifts. Santa Claus arrived in the evening with a special home-baked cake for children.

• The New Year brings hope, happiness and a number of new resolutions for everybody and our children were no exception. The children made Gajar halwa (Carrot sweet) along with a special dinner. They lit up a huge bonfire and had a great time singing and dancing late into the night.

From Home

v Total children present at home – 35 (Girls: 18, Boys: 17)

v Youth receiving skill training and higher education – 4

v New Children, short stay – 10

v New children, permanent stay – 02

v Children restored with their families – 03

v Youth got job and Now independent - 4

v Direct Beneficiaries in this quarter –   58

• All the children visited the Nature Bazaar at Kisaan haat on 20^th October. At this  Exhibition of Indian traditional handcrafted and natural product, they explored a variety of handicraft.  They also helped an NGO in packaging natural soap and had a variety of foods at the exhibition.

• On Children’s day 14^th November. All children went for a movie along with three other NGOs:- Jamghat, Miracle, and Hope. No one had been told it, and the surprise made it all the more exciting.  After movie all KM children with the staff went for a picnic at Jamali Kamali. Where we played games and had lunch.

• The children who have shown an interest in art and craft went to  Bookaroo Festival

(a children’s’ book festival) at Indira Gandhi National Art Center on 23^rd and 24^th November. They participated in Story Telling, Science Magic, Craft related activities.

• Everyone had a wonderful time when they went to watch a cultural evening organized on the completion of 25 years of Salam Balak Trust on the 5^th December.

• Tara and Shyra participated in the workshop on prevention and awareness of Child Marriage organised by SOS Greenfield along with Amrendra on 31^st December.

Health

• Our Need for a regular counsellor is increasing day by day as we are getting new children very often. They come for short stays, and have a number of psychological and behavioural problems to deal with.
  Krishna came to Karm marg with several such behavioural and psychological problems and is undergoing treatment at Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS), Shahadra. She has shown remarkable improvement in her behaviour since she started treatment which is still conituing.

• We are planning to do training program on counselling for our staff so they can offer day to day counselling by themselfves.

• A medical camp was organised by B.K. Hospital and Kheri Kalan Hospital at KM in the month of November. Everyone received a thorough check up and we are happy to report that the feedbacks from the doctors were very positive. This is largely down to the healthy and nutritious food at KM.

Sports and fitness

Sports activities such as fitness exercises have become an everyday feature at KM now. In addition to this we have also started football and badminton training.

All the children go to the district stadium for practicing different sports, 15 of them are taking football training twice a week with professional coaches.

Volunteers

• Indu and her friend visited KM on New Year to spend time with the children. They did a story telling workshop with the children which brought thrill and cheer. They also distributed sweets and gave new books to the children.

• On 17^th October UK based couple Brian Philips visited Karm Marg and they donated shoes to the smaller children. The visitors appreciated the upkeep, presentation and manners of the children. Jugaad handicraft, paper unit and screen printing also attracted their attention.

Staff Improvement

Staff meetings have been held regularly in the last quarter. At these meetings we can all present our problems, our diffculties and work together to sort out these differences as well as streamline the activities within the team. Since then the output has shown a marked increase without compromising on the quality of our work.

Jugaad

Being the time of the year when most of the sales take place, Jugaad has seen a buzz of activity this quarter.

There were a number of exhibitions where we participated showcasing all products we have developed over the course of the year. Jugaad is now a well known brand and people wait to buy our new designs which are launched this time of the year.

Unfortunately, inflationhas taken its toll on the market this year, we still managed to do good enough business though its has been less than last year.

Jugaad started its own shop in Delhi. Our aim to is to experiment and sell our products regularly to raise funds and become more self-sustainable.

All the young adults visited our stall to gain exposure, on how to become an entrepreneur. They loved to see different groups working on a small scale and helped wherever possible in production, packing and selling.

The children painted tin boxes, used for small plants at KM as well as at our exhibition stalls. Abdul, Kulsum, Shama who are very good at painting did an excellent job.