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The GiveIndia Bay Area chapter, a group of enthusiastic GiveIndians living in the Bay area of California, have organised an essay writing contest for children. The aim of the contest is
• To open an avenue for our kids to express the values of compassion, empathy, love • To enable our kids to think and express their thoughts on giving and helping • To nurture a ‘Culture of Giving & Helping’
While the contest organisers are in the US, the contest is open to children everywhere, so parents please inspire and encourage your kids to participate.
Winners will be awarded a GIVE card worth a certain dollar amount that they can use to support any children’s charity of their choice on GiveIndia website. There are lots of projects to choose from.
The deadline for entries is October 31,2008. you can send your entries or queries by email to sfbayarea@giveindia.org. When sending entries please be sure to include your child's name, age and grade in school.
And of course watch this blog for a list of winners and their winning essays!
Topics for Group I for ages 6 & 7 (less than 150 words) How do you help your family, friends and others and why do you help? Write about a time when you helped someone and how it made you feel.
Topics for Group II for ages 8, 9 & 10 (less than 300 words) What can kids do to help other kids who are less fortunate? Why do you help others and how does it make you feel?
Topic for Group III for ages 11 & 12 (less than 400 words) Mother Teresa said “We cannot do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” What does this quote mean to you, and what should one’s attitude be in helping?
We've been busy bringing you news and photos from Bihar of late, so we haven't been able to tell you that a couple of weeks ago, seven new NGOs joined the GiveIndia family! Gopi from our Listing Team very happily shared this news with us in a most cheerful email.
From the Northeast state of Tripura down to Tamil Nadu and everywhere in between, GiveIndia gives donors a range of causes and NGOs that they can help with confidence.
Pune based IDEA Foundation's mission is to give every child an education at least till secondary school level.
IImpact' s single minded objective is to educate under-privileged girls from socially & economically disadvantaged sections of society in villages near Gurgaon.
Ashray Akruti empowers hearing impaired & underprivileged children of Andhra Pradesh to use their innate capacities to reach optimum level of independence.
Chennai based Sri Arunodayam's mission is to ensure that no mentally challenged parentless child should be left on the streets uncared and unattended.
Shubham gives people with disabilities in Bihar the opportunity to become self-sufficient & to achieve their goals and play a useful role in the community.
GiveIndia could give you statistics on the Girl Child; we could have written a long post talking about what the loss of these girls means to society. Instead, we suggest you watch this short film by The Girl Effect that says it all.
While the three iGive pages set up by NGOs working for the flood affected have raised Rs2.2lac altogether, pictures from the field show that there is still a great deal of support needed before life returns to normal.
Mr. Chandra Bhushan from the NGO Abhiyan sent in these pictures.
Just a reminder that GiveIndia as a practice does not do any due diligence on iGive projects. The three NGOs raising funds for the Bihar crisis are compliant with Credibility Alliance norms. Donors are advised to take their donation decisions keeping this in mind.
The three iGive pages set up by NGOs working for the flood affected have raised Rs1.7lac altogether. From media reports though, it seems like the people of Bihar will still need a great deal of support before life returns to normal for them.
Anju Sinha of Bihar based NGO GENVP has sent us these pictures of the flood relief camp they are operating.
Just a reminder that GiveIndia as a practice does not do any due diligence on iGive projects. The three NGOs raising funds for the Bihar crisis are compliant with Credibility Alliance norms. Donors are advised to take their donation decisions keeping this in mind.
Recently, our Payroll Giving team had a great launch of the programme at CRISIL, India's leading Ratings, Research, Risk and Policy Advisory company. CRISIL employees, also know as CRISILites responded with great enthusiasm to the idea of donating a small amount from their salary each month.
GiveIndia's head of Payroll Giving Mathan Varkey says that his team would not have had such a great launch were it not for the efforts of Sameer Bhakhri, Josey Joseph, and the CRISILite volunteers, while CRISILite Sameer Bhakhri had these kind words for us: "We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to your team for the excellent support in making this entire initiative a grand success. Your team has displayed tremendous commitment and passion. Till date, 579 CRISILites have signed up for the Payroll Giving programme with a total monthly contribution of Rs.1,23,801.
We would like to put on record the commendable efforts put in by Hussain and Aditi and their support during the entire roll out. Our special gratitude and thanks also to : Meena and her team for Chennai & Bangalore presentations Ganesh and his team for Delhi presentations Shabir for Pune presentations Ramson who very diligently manned the 1 day help desk at CRISIL House
We really appreciate the internal coordination amongst your team members and your promptness in providing us the with the required support for all the activities ranging from poster designing, suggestions for the CRISIL logo, FAQs, training to our volunteers, and sample mails."
The pictures that accompany this post aren't of great resolution/clarity but this was the best they could manage for now. Watch this blog for more updates from Bihar.
Just a reminder that GiveIndia as a practice does not do any due diligence on iGive projects. The three NGOs raising funds for the Bihar crisis are compliant with Credibility Alliance norms. Donors are advised to take their donation decisions keeping this in mind.
Anju Sinha of the NGO Gramin Evam Nagar Vikas Parishad based in Patna, Bihar wrote to us with this update from the frontline of flood relief activity:
"On 18th of August 2008 the Kosi River, commonly known as the sorrow of Bihar, brought a most devastating and furious flood in north eastern part of Bihar after the breach in the embankment on Kosi. Five districts, Suapul, Madhepura, Araria , Saharsa and Purnia are the worst affected however part of Katihar and Kishanganj have also been inundated.
Altogether, more than 4 million people severely got affected and surviving with lots of sufferings of all kinds. The people have lost their houses, clothes, utensils and other basics and forced to live on roads or on severely marooned high lands without food, roof, clothes and drinking water. The livestock and animals have also washed away or drowned in the water current which are actually 'capital' for them. Many medical patients are crying for medicines and treatment but in vain. Old people, children and women are the main victims of this natural calamity as many of them have been lost by their families and living in camps with fear and trauma.
The government relief camps are working with very low supply of food, shelter and medicines, which is unfortunately highly insufficient. The evacuation of marooned people is being conducted with the support fro
m army. Air dropping of food packets is also in place but they are insufficient and hardly reach to people as most of them go in the flood water. The situation is out of control and getting to alarming situation.
GENVP is active in the flood affected districts, having better organizational strength in two districts namely Purnea and Araria. It also set up two relief camps in Purnea and Araria districts. Each camp has two tents: one for males and another for females. Our team started work in these districts from the very first day; mobilizing, collecting and distributing like food, water, cloth, medicine and other things like utensils, bed sheet for them, which is needed in everyday life.
Heath camp will be also organized for the patients, especially for infants and pregnant women. A team of 3- 4 doctors will providing proper treatment and medical facilities to the people in the relief camps.
We heartily appreciate your contribution and solidarity with the suffering millions in the devastating floods that Bihar is experiencing."
In all three NGOs -- GENVP, Abhiyan and CINI are raising funds for the flood affected through iGive pages. The three pages combined have raised more than Rs1.1lac already.
Tarika Vaswani a GiveIndia team member is working with MoneyLIFE magazine on their Beyond Money column.
In this article, Tarika profiles Deepalaya, a NGO that works to educate children from underprivileged homes. Deepalaya is compliant with GiveIndia’s rigorous due diligence and Credibility Alliance’s norms for NGOs.
Way back in 1979, three men, who were office bearers at a Christian church, felt totally isolated from the regulars who came to the church. These men -- Y Chackochan, JP Thomas and TK Mathew - after a lot of discussion and deliberation, decided to set up Deepalaya -- a non-profit organisation based in Delhi.
Five children, two teachers and an investment of Rs17,500 is what it
took for them to set up the organisation, which has now grown into the largest operating NGO in the capital. It now reaches out to over 50,000 children in 76 slums and 90 nearby villages.
What keeps Deepalaya going is stories of girls like Shivani and Indira who are shining examples of how hard work and determination contribute to overcoming the disadvantages of a deprived past. Deepalaya offered these girls the opportunity to do an 18-month course in ancillary nurse midwife (ANM). It helped them secure admission at the SOS Nursing School in Faridabad and also got them a scholarship. After a campus interview, both were selected to work at Arogyadham, a multi-speciality hospital. Indira has already joined the hospital. She is attending classes at the intensive care unit and critical care unit which offer a course in the afternoons and is also doing shift duties through which she earns Rs3,500 a month. Shivani will join Arogyadham after completing her 12th standard exams in October 2008.
The jumpstart to their lives through the job becomes evident when you consider their background. Shivani’s father is an auto-rickshaw driver and her mother a homemaker while Indira’s father is a peon and her mother a domestic help. Shivani is grateful to Deepalaya for giving her a break and the opportunity to escape the poverty trap. She wishes more girls from her community are able to step into a meaningful career like hers. Indira believes that Deepalaya helped her build self-confidence and enabled her to place emphasis on positive discrimination for the girl child; these have changed her life for the better. She has picked up medical and clinical skills and is happy at being able to interact with so many people everyday.
Essentially, Deepalaya works to promote quality education at affordable cost for children from socially and economically deprived communities. It also has an institutional care programme called Deepalaya Gram -- a hostel or home to over 80 children from families with difficult circumstances. These are street children, run-away children, victims of child abuse, children of lifetime convicts or HIV/AIDS patients, sex workers and other vulnerable categories. With over 100,000 children living on the streets of Delhi in need of care, shelter and a dignified life, Deepalaya would like to reach out to many more.
Though the media has dropped the Bihar story in favor of India's nucleur deal, the crisis in Bihar is far from over. As waters slowly recede, people are left looking at the remains of their homes and farms.
A big thanks to Vidya Pradhan of the Water No Ice blog for letting her readers know about these iGive pages. You'll also find them mentioned on the Smart Money page of the Sunday Times of India dated today, September 7, 2008.
GiveIndia's Bihar based NGOs have joined in the relief efforts. Click here to visit their iGive pages where you can make a secure online donation to help purchase food and water that is desperately lacking along with tarpaulin, matches, cooking fuel and clothes for newborn babies.
This moving story makes us appreciate the plight of the flood affected:
Mangat Ram’s family fled their village near Birhol in Darbhanga district. As the water began to rise, Mangat Ram was quick to realize that he needed to save his grain. The family waded through waist-deep water and made several trips to the road. Now, as the rain and sun batter them, the grain lies protected under a plastic sheet, but the family only has one umbrella for its own shelter. Mangat Ram explains: “We work very hard for these few sacks of grain. We can not let it get destroyed.”
There are many others around him who are making their best efforts to save a handful of grain, even if it is rotting. They put out their grain to dry the moment there is sunshine, and stack it in plastic bags the moment it rains. They have done this several times a day, and will keep doing it till the sun sets. “This is what we must do, no matter what the results are,” says a woman gathering her grain hurriedly as sudden rainfall descends.
Teacher's Day is around the corner and Shashi Tharoor's column in this Sunday's Times of India talked about the state of teaching and education in India today. He said that "in India, teachers are too often underpaid, under-appreciated and therefore under-motivated."
He went on to say:
"Teachers are, or should be, the biggest influence on their impressionable charges, at least after the parents. Their impact on young lives is profound and long lasting. They shape the character, curiosity level and intellectual potential of their students. In other words, they help shape our society.
Of all the many paradoxes with which our country abounds, the saddest must be that we are a country where nearly half the population is illiterate but which has produced the world's second largest pool of trained scientists and engineers. A country which invents more sophisticated software for US computer manufacturers than any other country in the world, and yet, in which there are at least 35 million children who have not seen the inside of a school.
On a typical day, roughly 290 million students are attending classes somewhere in our country. And yet, India has made only uneven progress in educating its population. Our national literacy level officially stands at 66%. But one must be wary of these official figures. UNESCO defines an illiterate person as one who cannot, with understanding, both read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life. By that definition, i fear that fewer than half our population would really qualify as literate. And while Kerala has a literacy rate of nearly 100%, Bihar is only at 44% (and has a female literacy rate of only 29%). No wonder, we are ranked 147th out of 177 countries measured for literacy by UNESCO."
To make a difference, sponsor the salary of a teacher for one month for Rs1000 (appx US$23) through the NGO Development Research & Action Group (DRAG).
