Support orphaned children at our Sunshine Homes

“Support Orphaned Children at our Sunshine Homes”-   AN INITIATIVE OF UDAYAN CARE (SUPPORTED BY GLOBAL GIVING)

DETAILS OF CHILDREN

No. of Beneficiaries as on30th June’12 : 183

New Children: 3. 1 girl, Jyoti at Greater Noida Home; 2 boys, Surender & Jeevan at Gurgaon Home

Children Exiting: 1 girl, Shivani Sharma from Kurukshetra Home wasrestored to her grandparents.

Aftercare:  11 (3 at Mayur Vihar, 8 at Greater Noida).

Alumni/ Independent livingafter completion of 18 years:  24 (5-Sant Nagar, 3-Mayur Vihar, 4-Mehrauli, 10-Greater Noida and 2 – Gurgaon)

Care staff:  27 across all Homes(19 caregivers; 1 part time caregiver; 3 supervisors; 3part-time supervisors and 1 coordinator).

Mentor parents:   28 mentor parents across all homes

SUCCESS STORY OF THE QUARTER:

Bunty Udayan, 20 years, Gurgaon HomeAfter his mother expired in 2003, Bunty’s neighbors approached an organization, Sadhu Sunder SinghWelfare Society, to take care of him and his younger sister. After staying there for couple of years, the children were eventually handed over to Udayan Carein 2005 for their long term care & rehabilitation. (The sister stays at Udayan Ghar for Girls at Mehrauli).Bunty or Tarsem Singh was barely 14 years when he came to Udayan Ghar for boys at Gurgaon. Soon after his joining, he started enjoying the love & care provided by his mentor mothers, care staff &friends. Bunty has been a sociable person, very affectionate and participates in co-curricular activities with enthusiasm.However, off late in Class XI, he became the center of our concern. Bunty’s interest in studies &related academic performance started dropping drastically. He started missing his school often. At home, in order to avoid any discussion with his mentors or care staff, he would remain in his longer, sleep till late & when the coast would be clear, he ended up spending his time on the internet.His mentor, Ms. Arti Kapur, Dr. Kiran Modi, supervisor Mr. Ranjan Ghosh and Ms. Neetu Tyagi(the then Asst. Manager, Ghar Programme), all had individual sessions with Bunty. After every counseling session he would improve and try to behave logically, but he would slide back.Eventually, Bunty was referred to Dr. Deepak Gupta who took a few sessions with him and certain positive changes were seen. Bunty was also referred to Dr. Geetika Goel, a psychologist, who practices in the Satkrishna Charitable Hospital. (The Hospital is in the same compound as this Udayan Care Home.) Bunty responded well to Dr. Geetika’s sessions, and many positive changes were noticeable in him.He has also been attending workshops at head office, participating in Corporate Mentoring programmes and other events which are all doing him good. Tremendous positive changes are visible in Bunty. He now plans to complete his schooling. Presently, Bunty is studying Commerce in Class XII in Rabindranath World School and would like to undergo a vocational training course after XII.

ACADEMIC PROGRESS & ACHIEVEMENTS

• All children who appeared for their final school examinations for the academic session 2011-12, cleared them and are promoted to new classes.

• The following children have got exceptional results –

Abhishek Udayan from Gurgaon Home passed UKG with 100% in all subjects. Promila, Ishika and Mathura from Noida Girrls Home have scored 95%, 92 %, 88 % in their class IV, II and II respectively. Meera, Alisha, Ruchika from Jaipur Home have scored 99.50%, 97.50% and 97.50%  in their class I, and KGs respectively.

• The girls in our Aftercare section at Greater Noida Home have also done quite well in their respective courses –-

Manpreet (Nancy) Udayan has scored 80% marks in her 1st year exams of Bachelors of Art in Fashion Technology, Rita Udayan has scored 79% marks in her 1st year exams of Bachelors of Science in Hospitality Management, Arti Udayan has scored 77% marks in her 1st year exams of Bachelors of Science in Media & Communication.

The Board Results of Class X & XII came out. All Udayan children who had appeared for these exams fared well.

• On the basis of these results, the children are aiming at the best of colleges/ universities and their courses of interest.- Raja has applied for Economic (Honours) and other related courses in colleges of University of Delhi.- Manoj is interested in pursuing an Engineering degree in Information Technology.Though he is majorly keen on joining Amity University, he is also weighing other options. Deepak has cleared his entrance test for Law in IP University. He is now waiting for counselling.Gurmeet after completion of her Class XII, interned at CNN-IBN. She is keen on entering IP University to pursue Mass Media & Mass Communication. She has also interested in Journalism from IP College, University of Delhi. Shalu is planning to join BSc Pharma, either in Delhi University or in Sharda University in Greater NOIDA.Majority of the girls who cleared Class X – Pooja, Karishma, Shuchita, Arti (III), and Poonam have opted for Humanities stream in their Class XI. Only Komal shall be studying Commerce at her +2 level.

CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOPS

Two workshops were held in the month of May with children on the 24th at our Head Office. One session was taken by Mr. Rohit Rajpoot. The second session was held on the same day by Dr. Deepak Gupta along with Ms. Tripti Choudhary. They conducted a workshop on Anger Management, Mr. Rohit Rajpoot, a trainer, engaged the children in a very interesting conversation. The main aim was to get to know the children. For this purpose he talked about several things, asking about their interests, suggesting career options & linkages, giving them activities to do to make them understand differences between response & reaction. He also answered the group’s questions as to how to make one happy.

Dr. Gupta along with Ms. Tripti talked about Anger Management Techniques. They asked the children to fill in a questionnaire with self-introspective questions like how do you know when you are angry;where in your body do you feel anger – physical signs of being angry etc.

Dr. Gupta gave many fresh perspectives to the children.He said that anger is not always a negative feeling. It is at times positive as it motivates us to do something.Also in most cases, anger doesn’t last for more than 20 seconds. It is up to us as to how do we channelize it or control it after 20 seconds. He told the children that we all are mother of our own actions. Dr. Gupta also spoke about stories that we make to present our lives to others. He shared that our life story can either be positive or negative and depending in this it could make us happy or sad. Thus in short, we are responsible for our overall mood & life – if we present it well, we too shall feel happy about being ourselves.

On the 7th of June, Rahul & Nidhi,social workers, along with Dr. Deepak Gupta conducted workshops on Sexuality for children in the age groups of 11-15 years and 16 years &above. These sessions were conducted in separate batches for girls & boys to make them feel comfortable during these sessions &ask questions without much hesitation. Thus on the whole four sessions were conducted on this day. The modules used were Tarshi’s Blue & Red Books. The Ghar Team at Head office coordinated for these Workshops.The sessions on Sexuality for girls mainly covered the importance of learning about Sexuality from the right source; human body & changes that occur as a result of hormonal changes; process of menstruation in girls; maintaining menstrual & genital hygiene; and sexual abuse. Also, an activity was conducted for all the four groups, which aimed at Body Mapping.The girls/ boys drew a female/ male body on a big chart and then drew & named the private body parts. It helped them learn the correct names of their genitals & other private areas.T

he sessions on Sexuality for younger boys mainly covered the importance of learning about it from the right source; Body Mapping exercise; and Child abuse. Dr. Gupta helped cleared their illusion that sexual abuse only/mostly occurs with girls. He made them understand that most young people who have been abused have been abused by someone they know, how to save themselves or how to report to others & whom.

The session for elder boys also covered issues relating to Masturbation, Nocturnal emission/Wet dreams/Night fall, and Pornography. The youngsters were told about how the porn industry functions & how girls, women and children are trafficked into the trade. So by watching we are promoting it. Dr. Gupta also explained it to the children that the explicit material which is shown in the porn movies is unrealistic & doesn’t happen in reality. The boys were told about the new The Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Bill, 2011.On the whole these workshops were a hit amongst the children as they got the correct information about something which they have a right to know. Also many myths of both boys & girls were cleared; and many more questions answered.

Mentors: The Mentors came together on the 3rd April to continue their discussion on the Issues that need Policy decision. They discussed important issues like leaves of the caregivers, admission of children of care givers at the time of their employment, medical policy for caregivers and volunteers at Home. It is essentially important to discuss these issues as they will be incorporated in the Policies of Udayan Care in the best interest of children & Homes.The Mentors came together at Udayan Care’s Head Office on 10th May for a workshop with Dr.Gupta on Mental Health Issues. Dr. Gupta mainly talked about Types of Disorders &Interventions. He began with a brainstorming session asking all the members to share as to what is the most noticeable thing that brings a child to their attention in terms of his behavior or actions. In other words, what are the issues that that make them alert & look for help for the child.

Dr. Gupta told that if a symptom persists and leads to dysfunction, it needs to be brought into notice of a mental health professional. Also, he spoke in length on types of disorders –emotional, behavioral, developmental, habit. Moving on to Types of interventions, Dr. Gupta talked about Supportive work, individual therapy, group work/therapy, parent management training, holistic therapy, nutritional inputs, other paramedical therapies and software training for those with learning disabilities.

Mentors also came to the Head Office on the 8th of June to discuss the Formation of Committees for looking into the matters of Alumni support, higher education & health. This session was facilitated by Dr. Kiran Modi. Ms. Reena Tete also talked about standardization of salaries of care staff.

Mentors, Caregivers & Social Workers:During the Summer Camp, on 2nd of June, Ms. Reena Tete conducted an activity on Team Building with all the Mentors, Social Workers & Care staff. The participants were divided into 3groups on 3 islands with limited capabilities like one groups’ feet were tied & the like. They were asked to save others when fire broke out, using various props given out to them. Later,the nuances of Team spirit were discussed.

Ghar Personnel:Ms. Priyanka Jain and Ms. Kanikashree Bhalla attended a 3-day Workshop on Working with Traumatized Children/ Adolescents and their families from 14-16th May 2012. This workshop was a collaborative effort of Dr. Deepak Gupta and Dr. Monisha Akhtar, and was held at Sir Gangaram Hospital.Dr. Monisha Akhtar, the resource person, covered the topics of

• Trauma - its meaning, sources, symptoms, signs

• Developmental framework in trauma, adolescent issues

• Grief

• Impact on families

• When to seek help, Treatment & Techniques.

This workshop was an enriching one for the two Ghar personnel.

Ms. Sumedha Upadhyay, a law student, who interned at Udayan Care, studied the Portrayal of children in Media with respect to laws & other legal bodies in India. We needed to understand as to how we can project our children from Udayan Ghars in media in the permissible limits of law. Though this presentation was to be made with Dr. Deepak Gupta’s presence, but since he wasn’t available in Delhi on that day, we would be discussing this paper with him & social workers in one of the Tuesday meetings to follow.

Social workers: Every Tuesday all the social workers from different homes, the Research & Document Officer,the Assistant Manager, Director- Programmes and Dr. Kiran Modi meet Dr. Deepak Gupta to discuss the mental health progress of the children. The social workers use this platform to share their concerns about children who are facing some difficulties be it in behavior, studies or relationships. Dr. Gupta and also other team members share their opinion & together an action plan is formulated for each of these children. In subsequent meetings, the child’s mental health progress is reviewed & these action plans are updated accordingly.

April 2012 - Preeti Singh and Vandana Lakra, who had attended at training programme at NIPCCD, presented on “Trauma, Managing Difficult Behavior and Alternative Playing Techniques for Counseling” in the month of April 2012. They tried to bring out the essence of their training into this PPT. The group got a fair idea as to how to manage difficult behavior seen amongst Udayan children, which arise out of their traumatic past. Also, the presenters talked about the various play-way techniques & Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) that can be used by the social workers with the kids like Thoughts stopping, thoughts distraction, positive self talk, Teddy Bear method, Animal game, group ball game and other group & individual activities. These techniques will help equip our social workers & the team to work with children in a more interesting manner and enter their world more easily.

May 2012 - Rahul Raja Sharma and Nidhi Singhal, presented on the topic ‘Emergencies at Udayan Ghars’. Recently, it was felt that the Ghar team needs to be prepared for various kinds of emergencies that could occur at any point in Udayan Homes without any prior warning. To keep ourselves aware of the various emergencies & how to identify if something in the offing,we decided to have two of our social workers present on this topic.They talked about various emergency situations that could arise in our Homes & how to deal with them promptly & efficiently. They could cover only two of the major ones – run away and self harm in this meeting, as a detailed discussion ensued after each of the presentation.

GENERAL ACTIVITIES ACROSS UDAYAN GHARS:

 On the 8th of April, a team from Mary Kay, a cosmetics company, visited Greater Noida Home.They divided the children into groups and encouraged the girls to give presentations. They also spent leisure time with the children, playing games & doing painting. Mary Kay team also spoke about their brand & the work they do. Lastly, to the delight of the young girls, they gave them tips