Support orphaned children at our Sunshine Homes

Quarterly Report for GlobalGiving

Jan-March 2013

The Genesis

Based on the belief that a loving family and home is the rightful privilege of every child, Udayan Care set up its first Udayan Ghar (Home) in 1996 on the model of LIFE: Living in Family Environment. This model enables erstwhile orphaned and abandoned children in Udayan Ghars to grow in a loving family environment. In these homes, the children are loved and cared for by a group of Mentor Parents-socially committed individuals (volunteers) who groom the children with a team of social workers, and resident care givers.

Since inception Udayan Ghars have nurtured over 290 children with love and protection in 13 Homes across 4 states of India. Presently, there are 192 children across all homes.

Efforts

1.  Capacity Building Workshops

Besides providing quality education to our children in some of the best educational institutions, and individual mentoring at homes, Udayan Care also lays much emphasis on a strong and effective Mental Health Programme for their overall well being. As part of this programme, several capacity building workshops and meetings are held not just for the children but also the entire team of Udayan Ghar care providers.

In this quarter, children came over to Head Office to attend workshops on -

-          Menstruation & related issues was conducted by a practicing gynecologist Dr. Manisha Arora. She talked about reproductive health system, myths and perceptions that prevail in the society regarding menstruation; and also encouraged children to speak up and get their issues sorted in this session.

-          Dealing with Exam Pressure was the demand of the examination season. This workshop was specially organized by Dr. Deepak Gupta, child & adolescent psychiatrist, for children about to appear for their Board classes. The children were asked to focus on their strengths and fight their fears with The Butterfly Therapy.

             For residential care staff across all homes, informative sessions on topics like Reproductive Health and related issues amongst Teenagers and Cervical Cancer were organized under the aegis of Udayan Ghar’s Mental Health Programme.

The mentors and professional staff also came around for workshops on Epilepsy, Building Resiliency among children; Emotional Abuse; Ethics in Research and Orphan Care in China. Two of the social workers attended a three day EMDR Training held at Sir Gangaram Hospital. It is a psychological tool to help the client to release the negative thoughts and images of the past.

1. Major Recreational and Co-curricular Events

• This year, on the 10^th of February, everyone eagerly welcomed the 7^th edition of the adidas Group Udayan Care Annual Sports Day, at The Banyan Tree School, New Delhi, where children from all 13 Ghars celebrated their Right to Play. Gracing the occasion were Mr. Erick Haskell, Managing Director, adidas Group and Mr. Unmukt Chand, the under 19 cricket sports star.

Our young comperes, Karishma and Deepak Udayan held the audience’s attention throughout the day. The event began with a March past represented by each of our 13 Ghars, the Torch Lighting ceremony and the Oath taking led by Mr. Haskell. Our young children also got an opportunity to play a friendly game of cricket against the adidas team with Unmukt by their side.

Thorough planning led to a vast array of games for all children in different age groups. Besides, the familiar ones like the Lemon & Spoon race, Sack race, and the 50mtrs/100 mtrs dash, and 3-legged race. This year the children were pleasantly surprised with the addition of certain innovative ones like the Turtle race, Newspaper game, Hen race, Skipping race and Trisome.  Also keeping in mind the young energetic boy and girls of our Homes, we also held some of the all time favorites like the Relay, 400 mtrs sprint, Hurdle race and our boys’ most favorite the Wheelbarrow race.

Like every year, this year too special games were organized for Udayan Care’s staff, mentors, international volunteers and guest from adidas group. These included 100 mtrs dash (male staff); throw ball (female staff) and 400 mtrs Relay (volunteers and adidas group). 

The event ended with prize distribution, a vote of thanks by UC Mentor and Trustee Ms. Aneesha Wadhwa, and the children proudly singing the Udayan Anthem. Children from all Ghars made it to the victory stand and returned home with haul of adidas bags, bottles and socks as there were 92 prizes to be won!

•  The Art of Living Foundation has been organizing Bal Shivirs at our Udayan  Ghars. This quarter they visited Udayan Ghar, Sant Nagar. The Shivir was very effective and children learnt asanas, breathing techniques and narrating mantra OM, apart from other yoga exercises.

• At Udayan Ghar, Gurgaon, team members from EXL paid a visit to the boys. They assisted children in their Class 10^th and 12^th with their studies; and also organized matches of Football and Cricket with the boys. Later all sat down to snacks of everyone’s choice – wraps and burgers.

• In March, the girls at our latest Udayan Ghar at Sant Nagar, were visited by an enthusiastic, enterprising group of young friends who have come together to form a group – The Eating Outing Group. They visited the girls on 26^th March to celebrate Holi with the children. Together with herbal colors, they spent an evening filled with excitement and fun. They also gifted children bags, pencil boxes and hair clips to the children. They children were treated to special gujias and other snacks.

• The children from Udayan Ghars at Noida, Greater Noida, Mayur Vihar and Sant Nagar on 26^th March in the morning went to an amusement park – World of Wonders in Noida along with their care staff. The children had an exciting, gala time riding on amusement rides and spending leisure time with their friends.

Our Miracle of Hope: Nuruksha

The outcomes of our efforts put into ‘Regenerating the Rhythm of the Disadvantaged’ are innumerable. These are a result of the mentoring at the individual level of the Mentors and care staff at home; the counseling and different therapies brought in use by our professional staff; the successful implementation of the Mental Health Programme; and plenty of donors and well wishers from the community who engage our children in several recreational events and outings. 

One such Miracle of Hope is 10 year old Nuruksha. Over a year’s span, with constant love, concern and support from mentor, caregivers, other girls at this home as well as the tutors, the turnaround in 10 year old Nuruksha is hard to miss.

Having come to Udayan Ghar at Ghaziabad, straight from her family of ten members, she deeply missed her parents and siblings. She was very reserved, self-doubting; and the language barrier only added to the difficulty. Nuruksha, completely unfamiliar with English, regarded herself as being different from the others, leading to her self-imposed isolation.

After a couple of months of home tutoring, mentoring and counseling, Nuruksha was enrolled in English-medium Deep Memorial School. Her mentor ensured that the teachers encourage the child to speak in the class in Hindi so that at least she breaks her inhibitions and overcomes them. Soon, after a month’s time at school, Nuruksha began making friends, developing rapport with teachers and gradually started voicing her concerns not only at home but at school too.  

Now, the child, who detested school a year a year back, now looks forward to attending it every single day; and who feared participation in group activities owing to her low self esteem and language barrier, now participates in almost all extracurricular activities that come her way. In addition, Nuruksha has shown such maturity and responsibility, that her mentor regards as one of the most trust-worthy girls at home, entrusting her with special tasks. But to top all of these accomplishments, Nuruskha’s is now an enthusiastic learner of the English language, and tries to speak, read and understand it with all her might! 

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                      Udayan Ghar-Sunshine Homes for erstwhile orphaned and abondoned children

Appalled by the stark reality of 31 million orphans in India and shocked by the condition of institutions housing them, a few like- minded individuals got together to take serious action. This obsession was the seed which sprouted as Udayan Care, – which was registered in 1994, as a Public Charitable Trust.

Based on the belief that a loving family and home is the rightful privilege of every child, Udayan Care set up its first Udayan Ghar (Home) in 1996 on the model of LIFE: Living in Family Environment. This model enables erstwhile orphaned and abandoned children in Udayan Ghars to grow in a loving family environment. In these homes, the children are loved and cared for by a group of Mentor Parents-socially committed individuals (volunteers) who groom the children with a team of social workers, and resident care givers.

Since inception Udayan Ghars have nurtured over 270 children with love and protection in 12 Homes across 4 states of India. Presently, there are 185 children across all homes.

                                                   Our Success story of last quarter

In one such Udayan Ghar for boys, came a timid 9 year old boy Prakash in 2005. He had come to Delhi with his widowed mother to earn a livelihood. However, after his mothers’ death, the little boy was left at the mercy of his ill-treating tenant.

Despite having faced a series of separations and difficulties at a young age, this boy stands out an exemplar for all those who wish to move forward from their past & carve out their own future by their absolute perseverance & hard work.

With consistent love and support from his mentors and caregivers at this Udayan Ghar, he soon settled in his new safe and comfortable home; learning new concepts every week, at first at home and then quickly adapting to the English medium education at a St. P.B.N. Public School.

The boy has been staying in Udayan Care for over 8 years now. Throughout, the boy has continued to outshine others in academics. Currently in class XII, he is studying Science, and aims at pursuing Mechanical Engineering from Delhi. Though extremely keen on Engineering, the boy has however applied for SCRA i.e. Special Class Railway Apprenticeship. He also views National Defence Academy (NDA) as another option.

Apart from studying, his other interests include playing Volleyball for his school’s team, carom at home and also helping in the kitchen. Also, being a genius at Mathematics, he loves to tutor the younger boys at home, clearing their concepts and queries.

Seeing the boy’s steadfast resolve to excel in his Class XII Boards and later in all the entrance examinations, making it to the best Engineering Institute in Delhi; we at Udayan Care naturally want to provide the best of everything to him and all other children. And we are sure that with little help from us, and a lot of his sheer hard work and determination, they are bound to reach the skies!

Prakash means:" A bright light which illuminates everything around you". It is only support from YOU people which made Prakash shine brighter in life. Thank YOU!

                                           Capacity Buidling Workshops for children

• Besides providing quality education to our children in some of the best educational institutions, Udayan Care also lays much emphasis on a strong and effective Mental Health Programme for their overall well being.
•  The children attended workshops on Gender and Sexuality; Dealing with fears using the Butterfly Pat therapy; safe use of Electricity and Conservation; Career Guidance and Animation. 
• For care providers, primarily workshops on Competency Training & Affect Modulation; Nutrition and Cost-effective cooking; Counseling; and working with defiant children were organized.

                                                Recreation and excursions for children

  Besides ongoing Tennis, Dance and Taekwondo classes, festivals, carnivals and corporate engagement programmes kept the children on their toes. While children celebrated Diwali, the festival of light with crackers and sweets; Christmas brought them plum cakes and presents from the Santa!

To add to this, were certain Corporates like DLF Pramerica, Eli Lily and Co., Baxter, Whirlpool, CSC and Headstrong who organized carnivals, planned outings for children or simply played with the children in the warm winter sun. Mentors and Volunteers also left no stone unturned in making the child’s vacations a memorable time, packed with excursions, picnics and musical and theatre performance. 

                                                  Conclusion for the last quarter

All in all, this quarter was a fun-filled one for children across all Udayan Homes, as they ushered in the New Year with dance parties, celebrations and of course resolutions!

 Since the current situation of orphan and abandoned children in India continues to be bleak, Udayan Care aims to reach out to more children in need of care and protection. With our Vision To Regenerate the Rhythm of Life of the Disadvantaged, Udayan Care seeks to engage socially committed individuals in bringing about a world in which each disadvantaged child enjoys a supportive family environment, opportunities for self-development and higher education, the dignity of self-reliance, and the ability and desire to give back to society.

Please write to us at: fundraising@udayancare.org for feedback about our report and programme.

For more please log on to our website:http://www.udayancare.org/

Please click the link below to read our Annual Report 2011-12:

http://www.udayancare.org/upload/files/udayan%20annual%20report%202011-2012.pdf

Links:

• Official website of Udayan Care