Udayan Ghar Programme
Udayan Ghars are based on the belief that a loving family and home is the rightful privilege of every child. This belief took shape in 1996 in the form of L.I.F.E: Living in Family Environment, when the first Udayan Ghar was set up. These homes are located in busy, middle class neighborhoods, so children can re-integrate themselves into society. Our children are receiving quality education in some of the best educational institutions. Since inception Udayan Ghars have nurtured over 431 children with love and protection in 13 Homes across Delhi, NCR, Kurukshetra and Jaipur. Presently, there are 186 children across all homes. Every moment these little kids make us feel like proud parents.
Success Story of this quarter
Ram (Name Changed)
At a tender age of 7 years, Ram was part of a child trafficking racket in Bihar which ultimately got him to the capital city of India, Delhi. But, unlike many others, Ram was lucky; as he managed to escape and was rehabilitated for long term support and well-being at Udayan Care. Today, Ram is a 23 year old, young and confident engineer who is placed with a big Multi National Company in New Delhi itself.
Workshops during this Quarter
This quarter we had conducted workshop with children and caregivers on various subject/ topics such as Personal Hygiene, Child Sexual Abuse, Exam Anxiety, Transfer of a child, Child Protection Policy, Protection of children against sexual offence (POCSO) along with the Life skill workshops.
On the 6th of January 2015, three new trainee care staff from the Sant Nagar, Mayur Vihar and Gurgaon Udayan Ghars attended a compulsory workshop on the Child Protection Policy of Udayan Care. The workshop was held at the Udayan Care Head Office by the Assistant Manager, Udayan Ghar Programme. Another workshop on the POSCO was organized on 6th of January, 2015 was conducted by Mr. Rahul Raja Sharma and Mr. Nikhil Cliford David. This was to sensitize the staff towards the suffering faced by children who are too young to handle their situations.
A workshop about Exam Anxiety was conducted on the 10th of January, 2015 by Ms. Aakanksha Tiwari and Mr. Ramiz Khan Sherwani.The workshop focused on the symptoms of anxiety related to exams and how to tame it. During this session, some of the strategies were recommended to reduce stress. They learned a great deal from the workshop on controlling and facing anxiety; this will allow them to tackle their academic problems and do better than ever before.
On January 19, 2015 Meenakshi the coordinator of Kurukshetra home for girls conducted a workshop at home on the topic Child Sexual Abuse in order to make them able to deal with child abuse issues & its prevention at home. On the 23rd of January 2015, a workshop on the Importance of Personal Hygiene was conducted by Ramiz Khan Sherwani. It was aimed to the group of children from ages 7 to 17.The importance of hygiene was explained both at a macro and micro level, relating to communities, groups and individuals.An important workshop on the Transfer of children and the role of the caregiversduring transfer was conducted by Ms. Ira Tomar, the coordinator of the Ghaziabad home. The workshop took place on the 22nd of January, specifically for the caregivers in the case of transferring a child to another home. The caregiver also decided that they will be more careful and responsible from the next time and will try to handle trivial problems on their own.
On 20th February 2015 Lalit, coordinator of Mayur Vihar Home conducted a workshop with the children on topic of the disease most prevalent these days "SWINE FLU (H1N1) virus". In this workshop it was observed that children knew about the disease however weren't aware about the causes, symptoms, prevention and treatments. On 8th Feb 2015 Volunteers, Enactus Sri Ram College of Commerce conducted a workshop on Health & Hygiene with the children at Mayur Vihar Home under the guidance of the coordinator Mr Lalit. Similarly, Dr Deepak Gupta (child and adolescent psychiatrist) along with the team decided to conduct a workshop on 19th February 2015 on the topic “Listening Skills” with the Caregivers/ Care takers dealing with children at homes. A workshop was conducted on 23rd Feb 2015 in which all the four committees Health, Aftercare, Education, Alumni presented the review of 2014-15 and way forward among all participants.
Similarly on 19th March, 2015 Mr. Rahul Raja Sharma (Asst. Manager) conducted a workshop with the caregivers on the topic Caregiving 2014-15 which was to reflect upon all the workshops conducted during 2014 and way forward. On 27th March, 2015 Dr Deepak Gupta (Child & Adolescents Psychiatrists) took a session with the Mentor Parents and Coordinators on the Mental Health Programme 2014-15 & way forward.
Other Recreational activities were organized in collaboration with Corporates (CSR), who is our direct/ indirect stakeholders Such as our children of the Udayan Care Mehrauli Homes were invited to visit Genpact (MNC) at Gurgaon. This was a part of the company’s CSR responsibilities to the society, and they used the opportunity to interact with children and sensitize the society about children such as those staying in the Udayan Care Ghars.
Sports Day Celebration
During this quarter Children also celebrated Republic Day of India at their respective home hosting the National Flag and performing in cultural. Like every year, on 29th March 2015, 9th Adidas sports day was organized for our little children. This event is organized by Udayan Care in partnership of Adidas group. During this event various sports activity, performances, and innovative races, games are conducted for our children. Mr. Dave Thomas, Managing Director – Adidas, India was invited as the chief guest along with our special Guest of Honor star cricket player Mr. K.L. Rahul. Children and the entire team had great fun and fulfillment throughout the event.
With your constant support these SunShine Homes have nurtured over 406 children with love and protection in 13 Homes across Delhi, NCR, Kurukshetra and Jaipur. Presently, there are 196 children across all homes. Every moment these little kids make us feel like proud parents; sharing with you all one of those proud moments below.
Abha (Name Changed) came to Udayan Care when she was only 9 years. She had been handed over to Udayan Care by Palna (Delhi Council for Child Welfare) by the orders of Child Welfare Committee, Kingsway Camp, Delhi for long-term care, support, rehabilitation and better education. As per the records available with Palna, Neetu was declared an abandoned child.
Being a child with Low I.Q. level, she wasn’t stretched much towards academics rather facilitated to learn stitching and tailoring. She also showed interest in managing house independently. Keeping her this interest in mind, we provided her an opportunity in Kids Kingdom play school to learn skills and to earn money.
Just like any other girl she too desired to get settled through marriage, fortunately we found a nice match for her and got happily married on 3rd November 2014. The ceremony took place in the home at Greater Noida, where she grew up.
Presently, she has adjusted well in her new family life, performing her roles very well. She is also participating in taking care of the family business and facilitating the business in her leisure time.
Parul (Name changed) was born in Kolkata. After losing her father at a very young age, Pinky’s mother struggled to take care of her and her sister. Her mother worked in an export warehouse where she barely made enough to support herself. Pinky arrived at Udayan Care, Mehrauli Ghar, through child welfare committee. For three years, she lived together in the Mehrauli home with about a dozen other girls. With active and caring mentor parents, Pinky remembers feeling truly cared for, for the first time.
Udayan Care developed a tie up with a very prestigious private school in Greater NOIDA she was then offered a freeship to attend Delhi Public School School in Greater NOIDA and thus had to move to the Greater Noida home.
Parul has been living independently, since, supporting herself with a good job as a Booking Relations and Senior Executive in a building company. She has become a successful, independent, and driven young woman. Her early childhood years, however, were neither easy nor pleasant. She believes that although she has made decisions that she has had to learn hard lessons from, Udayan Care has been a massive opportunity for her, crediting it with where she is today. By the help and support of her Mentor Parents, Supervisors, Care Givers, Social Workers, and other Udayan Care employees, she feels as though she was given a second chance at life, and is currently making the most of it.
She got married recently to Sumit (Name Changed), on 7th December, 2014, at Bulandshahar, a small town in Uttar Pradesh, about 100 kms away from Greater NOIDA, a place which is ancestral home to her husband’s family.
Like every quarter, this quarter also we conducted several workshops with children, caretakers, coordinators, mentor mothers. These workshops were conducted on various topics as per the need.
“Oral hygiene” – Taking into consideration the dental reports of the children at homes it was decided to conduct a workshop with the caregivers in order to enhance their awareness towards Oral Hygiene. As a result on October 29, 2014 a workshop was conducted on “Oral hygiene”by Dr Shalini (Name Changed) who is a dentist by profession and runs her dental clinic in Gurgaon.
“Child Sexual Abuse” -Child Sexual Abuse is the most heinous of all sexual crimes that can be perpetrated against children. Most of them suffer silently and often bear the mental and emotional scars the entire life therefore on October 31, 2014 by the mental health consultant of Udayan Care Dr Dillip (Name Changed) on the topic “Child Sexual Abuse”with the Mentors and the Coordinators taking care of the children at home. Dr. Dillip (Name Changed) at Head Office conducted a workshop with the caregivers on November 28, 2014 on the topic “Child Sexual Abuse”. The purpose of this workshop was to enhance the awareness of the caregivers about “child sexual abuse at foster care”.
“Poetry & Creative Writing” - On November 6, 2014 Prof. Arunima (Name Changed) conducted a workshop with a brief introduction about the workshop upon “Poetry & Creative Writing” with the children. She started on a light note and described the usage of bilingual language in social media these days and its relevance in present scenario, which is highly influential in their verbal and written communication. Dr. Dillip (Name Changed) at Head Office conducted a workshop with the children on December 13, 2014 on the topic “Child Sexual Abuse”. The purpose of this workshop was to aware children about the good touch and bad touch and how strangers can handle them and what they have to do to avoid such happenings.
Mental Health and Interventions for Better Care and Management of Institutionalized Children and Young Adults - On December 19th and 20th training was also organized by Udayan Care in support with UNICEF which was Workshops onMental Health and Interventions for Better Care and Management of Institutionalized Children and Young Adults at India International Centre, New Delhi. The key objective of this workshop was to train and build capacity in therapeutic techniques of NGOs staff, volunteers and professionals in addressing mental health issues, related to attachment, loss, grief and trauma, faced by institutionalised children.
“Communication Skill, Self, Team building and Crisis Management” - A workshop with caregivers was also conduct on December 24, 2014 working upon their “Communication Skill, Self, Team building and Crisis Management”.
Recreational activities were organized in collaboration with Corporates (CSR), who is our direct/ indirect stakeholders Such as home visit by ASOS to couple of our children’ home. Children of Udayan Care are given all possible exposure to fly high & touch the sky. As a result a small group of 12 – 13 children having interest in creative writing, reading and eager to know more about editing and publishing were taken for a visit to Dorling Kindersley, one of the international publishing company specializing in the creation of high-quality, illustrated books and online resources.On October 8th, 2014 the children visited Dorling Kindersley’s of at NOIDA where in they were welcomed by the team there. Children were served refreshments and were introduced to the team of DK representing various departments. Children were made to go through an exhaustive power point presentation to explain them the concepts of writing and most importantly the various dimensions of the planning, making, different styling, designing & publishing.
On November 14, 2014 children of the home located at Sant Nagar celebrated children’s day along with the team of Make My Trip Pvt. Ltd. Children danced on Bollywood Songs with the MMT Staff, Played Musical Chair, Snacks were served to the children and care staff, ripped Cake, Gifts were distributed (bags, bottles, tiffin box etc.). The children had great time and enjoyed a lot. They were really excited after receiving gifts. The children interacted with the MMT staff and promised to visit our home.
Standard chartered visited Gurgaon home on November 13, 2014 to celebrate children’s day Ms. Garima, the coordinator and their team was very happy to be with the kids. They expressed that it was an amazing experience and we were touched to see the spirit of Mr & Mrs Ghosh along with the coordinator Ravi Francis. She said that it is a place where I would like to come again to contribute not only in monitory terms but also for the development of the children! Thanks for making it a memorable experience.
Introduction about Udayan Care
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.
Udayan Care’s initiatives are focused towards regenerating the rhythm of life of the disadvantaged. Through the power of mentorship, we nurture children who are orphaned and abandoned in the warmth of a family at Udayan Ghars, our long-term foster homes; ensure young girls higher education through our education fellowships; enable underserved youth and adults to improve their employability skills in our IT & vocational training centers; and enable children affected by HIV to live with hope, through our Outreach programme.
About Sunshine Homes
Based on the belief that a loving home and family is the right of every child, Udayan Ghars, long term residential homes, nurture children, who are orphaned or abandoned in a simulated family environment through a strategy called L.I.F.E – Living In Family Environment. There are single and multi unit Udayan Ghars, wherein 12 children (6-18 years), constitute a unit to give individual attention to each child. This ‘Group Foster Care’ model ensures children love and care by a group of Mentor Parents – socially committed individuals (volunteers), who groom these children with a team of social workers, care givers and supervisors. Udayan Ghars are located in middle class neighborhoods to help children reintegrate with mainstream society. Children receive quality education in some of the best schools. Once they reach the age of 18 years, they move into our Aftercare facilities and continue higher education or vocational training.
Presently, 198 children and young adults live at our 13 Sunshine Homes across Delhi & NCR, Kurukshetra and Jaipur. With a vision to reach out to more children, more homes are in the offing.
Following are the activity happened in the Sunshine Homes during the reporting period of time:
1. Workshops:
A session was held with Mr. Anant Asthana, lawyer (child rights activist), on POCSO Act to get a clarity on the various rules/clauses of the act and the responsibility of various stakeholders involved with the children. Mentors, coordinators were a part of the discussion and had non-ending queries to which Mr. Asthana readily responded. The session ended with the members more informed and responsible while working towards the child rights.
Sister Black and Elder Black from India New Delhi Mission conducted a workshop on family strengthening with mentors and coordinators of the sunshine home. They stressed on the importance of having a family night once in a week in which children and mentors/social workers could have a time off from their busy and demanding schedules and could have some light moments with each other. They also told that the discussion must have an agenda which could be imparting moral values or various life skills.
A workshop held at one of our Sunshine Homes for Girls in Gaziabad district Uttar Pradesh was held on Life Skills for adolescents. The workshop was aimed at making the girls comfortable about the changes that they might be feeling. The workshop touched upon the adolescent issues. During the workshop the girls informed and discussed about the changes they have seen few years within themselves, be it emotionally, psychologically or physically
2. Consultation:
On 17th September 2014, a Multi-stakeholder Consultation on After Care in India was conducted by Udayan Care in India International Center. The consultation aimed at brainstorming on the importance of After Care services in India and also taking the voices of adults and other Ngo’s to the government. Representatives from various non-governmental organizations and members of government authorities participated in the event
3. Success Story:
Today, Rupali(Name Changed) is in class 6 and is studying in one of the best schools of Kurushetra. She has won several medals in various competitions and has transformed into an out-spoken girl who aspires to be an engineer. In her new loving and caring family environment, Rupali has started to spread her wings ready to take their flight.
We are so grateful to Alexis, Programme Manager, Global Giving for taking out time to visiting our Udayan Ghar Children on 26-06-2014. It was a wonderful experience for our little girls where they enjoyed a big laugh, a dance and a lunch with her. Our kids were so excited and happy on meeting Alexis. Besides our children, she was very delighted and touched after meeting the children.
It was a wonderful experience for me to visit your organization and such an inspiration to meet all your fellows. I think the Mentor Mothers are doing a great job in caring those children”.
Story of our Golden Girl
Mamta was a 9 year old abandoned child when she came to us in the year 2006. She has very traumatic past life where in her biological parents separated, father remarried as a result she came in the custody of her father and stepmother. Her stepmother ill-treated Mamta, made her do all household chores and did not allow her to go to school. Mamta was abandoned by her father at the Railway Station. She was rescued by the Railway Police and sent to children’s home at Nirmal Chhaya. Keeping in view the best interest of the child; Mamta was transferred by the Child Welfare Committee to us on 27.07.2006.
Later Mamta was diagnosed as a child with special needs with IQ of 50-60 & is therefore been provided all the mental health facilities by the organization such as rigorous medical supervision & medication by Dr. Deepak Gupta (Mental Health Expert) for aggression/hyperactive behaviour and bed wetting.
But despite of all the above hurdles Mamta did not stop, she never looked back, she kept her spirit on with whatever she had and tarnished her skills very well with the resources been provided to her just like any other child living with her by Udayan Care. Once started she never looked back. Here are those stars shining on her shoulder.
Presently Mamta is studying in Balvantray Mehta School participated in Special Olympics , Bharat ( National Championship for Athletics) held at J L N Stadium from 12th Mar'14 to 15th Mar'15 has won first position ( Gold Medal) in Shot Put 3 kg Div.; second position ( Silver Medal) in 4X100 M Relay and 100 M Run.
Whenever opportunity knocked her door she has never missed it!!! She has always made us proud and we are really blessed to have a child like Mamta.
Worskhops and Trainings:
During this Quarter children were also exposed to various workshops to enhance their skills. In order to develop a sense of citizenship a workshop on “Rights & Responsibility being a citizen of India” was organized for them with the help of “We the people”, “Child Sexual Abuse” conducted by the home coordinators across all homes. On Jan 4, 2014Udayan Ghar Programme (team) celebrated Winter Carnival at Gurgaon along with the entire team and children and had great fun. To keep the kids physically fit On Feb 9, 2014Udayan Ghar Programme (team) celebrated 8th Sports Day sponsored by Adidas group at Banyan Tree School. And to keep the children well prepared about the world outside On Feb 22, 2014a consultation was organized at Udayan Care head office with theyoung adults coming fromdifferent Child Care Institutions such as: Minda Bal Gram, Prayas, Salam Balak Trust, Sai Kripa to discuss upon “How Mental health Interventions & its standards can be improved & enhanced”
Similarly various conduct with the direct stakeholders of this programme who are dealing with the children on a day to day basis & nurturing them. These workshops focused on the Mental Health Intervention, Financial Overview, Monitoring and Evaluation to facilitate the smooth running of the children homes, planning to establish a Skill development centre for Children with special needs.
Recreational Activities
Other Recreational activities were organized in collaboration with Corporates (CSR), who is our direct/ indirect stakeholders. Such as home visit by ASOS to couple of our children’ home.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2014, the volunteers staying in Greater Noida girl’s home organized a small workshop for the girls staying at home that day. The designated target was to collect answers to the question “Why am I proud to be a girl/ woman?” and hereby to reinforce their self-awareness of being a girl.
Everyone could share their ideas and write them on the prepared chart papers. The girls who are not yet able to write tried to express their feelings on this subject by drawing pictures. At the end of the workshop we fixed the presentation on the board in front of the kitchen to remind all of us of the meaning of this special day. Furthermore the children expressed that this day makes all of us to be proud of being girls and women and to regard our gender as a great individual benefit.Even though the girls needed some time to come up with their ideas, the workshop was a good opportunity to awake every girl’s pride of their gender and all its positive affects especially because for many girls being a girl in India is challenging sometimes.
Need you Help to plan activities for Summer Camp for our children at Sunshine Homes
Coming May-2014 , we are planning to hold a Summer Camp for our children from our Sunshine homes like every year. We would like to hear from you some suggestion and ideas about what all activities we can plan during the 4 day camp. It would be nice to know your feedback where you could be indirectly become a part of our planning team for Summer Camp.
You can write us at : fundraising@udayancare.org
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