Support a home for disadvantaged children in India

*(name changed to protect the identity)

Neeta came to Karm Marg along with her elder sister in 2006. She was about 8 years old. She belonged to a poor Muslim family. Her mother was the sole breadwinner. Living in an area which was unsafe for children to be on their own while she was at work, she had brought them to us so that they could be safe, get a good education and have a brighter future than what she could ever provide. 

Neeta's sister was older and was very interested in academics. Neeta was bright too but with a mind of her own. Starting school from the nursery, she was always more interested in creative things. Dance, theatre and craft, was what really made her happy.

After middle school she decided to give up formal education in favour of vocational training. She is currently appearing for the 10^th grade exams through the National Open School, NIOS. She is under vocational training at our income generation unit, Jugaad with our organisation's founder Veena and other trainers. Along with designing she is also being given training in production, stock keeping, quality control, marketing and sales.

Immensely creative, she has taken full advantage of the various creative workshop we organise from time to time. An excellent dancer/choreographer and actor, she is a gifted designer. Working on a basket weaving workshop by INTACH with a weed called 'Jalkumbhi', she thought out of the box and designed a beautiful pair of earrings which were then put into production and now is one of our best selling designs. She took on the rakhi designing project under the guidance of her mentors and came up with beautiful designs well liked by our customers. She also took on overseeing the production as part of the training. She is almost done with the in house training and as she turns 18 we are looking for avenues for further training for her.

She is interested in working in the community and training other girls and women in designing and creating such products. We are pretty sure, with her enthusiasm, dedication and flair for design she will soon be very successful in starting up her own entrepreneurial venture.

Main Highlights this Quarter

This quarter we helped the government agencies restore 16 children to their homes. We provided 22 youngsters skill training. Out of these, 3 full time and 14 part time in house at Jugaad and 5 externally, through our network of friends. Including the kids placed with us for short term care, this quarter, we were full up to our capacity with 60 children staying, studying and training with us. 

In November, we organized a 3 day Life Skill Training workshop for 10^th grade students of the local senior secondary school along with our partner organisation Modicare. Some themes that were taken up were: growing up, responsible sexual behaviour, HIV/AIDS child sexual abuse , POCSO act, internet use and misuse, peer pressure/ bullying, drug /substance abuse, gender sensitisation and a special session on good touch, bad touch. Most of these issues are key issues faced by and affecting these children on a daily basis. 

The workshop was very well received. The children were very happy as they found a safe platform to ask questions and clear doubts that they couldn't ask anywhere else. We plan on continuing this project for other grades and other schools in the area.

Our library project brought books and associated storytelling and art activities to 150 children around our rural area. 

Festivals and Celebration

This quarter brings many occasions to celebrate. Staring with festivals like Dushehra, Diwali, Eid and Christmas. Being a multicultural organisations, we make sure each festival is celebrated with as much gusto and the children learn about various cultures, religious practices along with their historical and mythological significance. 

On 26^th November, some of our older kids along with staff attended the Unlearning Unconference at Prakriti school, Noida .There was exposure to so many activities like dance therapy, community filmmaking, storytelling, film screening, meditation etc. There were stalls set up also to explore alternate ideas like organic farming, pottery, healing, e-waste products etc. Jugaad also put up stall there to showcase its products. It was an eye opener in terms of many areas which they hadn't had any exposure to. They gained insight and ideas that they would like to implement in their everyday life and as a community.

December brought in great excitement as we geared up towards a creative performance on the 31st of December at Kisan Haat. A few local residents organise a big mela/fair with performances, games and food stalls, gifts, music etc for children from a few NGOs. It's a day full of fun which the kids look forward to all year.

Our children performed four dance pieces under Himani Sharma who runs a dance and Yoga studio in Faridabad. She volunteered to train our children and get them ready for our 20th year celebration in February. This was a curtain raiser. Our kids got an applause that lasted a few minutes as their skill and grace were way beyond their years. The younger kids also performed a very adorable dance number which enthralled the audience with its cuteness.

Along with the dances, our children performed a play on the theme of the environment pollution which was extremely well received for not only it's story and acting, but also for the amazing props which the children made themselves.

Our alumni Deepak, who has now graduated from the Modinagar College of Art came back to conduct various workshops with our kids They made some beautiful murals using traditional technique of using cow dung too along with other painted work on the external walls.

Inspection was carried out in December by the government official Ms. Anul Jain from the Haryana Govt, Chairman Mr H.S. Malik  and Ms. Geeta Singh from Child Welfare Committee, Ms. Garima (DCPO) and the Red Cross Society Secretary, Faridabad. Along with inspection, an initial assessment for our application for help with solar lighting was also conducted by them. We hope in the coming year, if we manage to raise funds, we can switch to solar power for at least our lighting needs.  

We look forward to the next quarter as we celebrate our 20th year in February in a big way with most of our alumni, supporters and friends planning to visit us from around the country and the world.