2013 - 14WHAT’S INSIDE(Click on the following to read more)VOTE FOR CHILD RIGHTS CAMPAIGNVOLUNTEERING CONSULTATIONFLASH MOBCLICK RIGHTSWORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOURWINGS OF DESIREENROLMENT IN SCHOOLSIIT-KGP’s I HAVE A DREAMCHOTU CAMPAIGNSTUDY REPORTSBACHPAN KE RANG3 YEARS OF RTE POSTERMEYEBELABRAINSTORMERINTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAYCAPACITY BUILDING OF VOLUNTEERSPANEL DISCUSSIONIN ASSOCIATION WITH IIM-CANNUAL VOLUNTEER MEETCRY INTERNSCONTACT USCRY- Child Rights and You Volunteers are individuals from all walks of life uniting together for the cause of CHILDRIGHTS and striving towards ensuring that every child in India gets equal rights and opportunities. They compriseof professionals, media persons, lawyers, journalists, students, academicians, teachers, homemakers and any other cit-izen who feel responsible to act for this cause. If you care enough about the status of the underprivileged children inIndia, enough to want to make a difference, to do something, YOU CAN!

You can amplify the voices of the unheard and make a huge difference.

Volunteers in Action, IndiaRegion: East | Annual Issue: 2013-14

Contact Us: vol.kol@crymail.org | Home Page

WE DID IT !Total Number of Volunteers : 538Total Number of PAGS : 14Number of ICDs Observed : 9Number of Children Reached : 1200Facebook Volunteer Page : 1750 Blog Visitors : 21000 +Number of Interns : 32Public Reach Out : 22000 +Number of Schools Observed : 35Number of Studies Done : 13Number of Media Coverage : 15 +

The Vote for Child Rights Campaign by CRY createdan opportunity to use our ‘Vote’ as a weapon for the

full realization of Child Rights in India. In view of the LokSabha Elections 2014, CRY tried to put the best interest ofthe child at the forefront of all policies, legislation andpractice.

In Kolkata, many associations, collaborations and over 30reach out initiatives, ranging from acoustics, flash mobs,campaign corners, signature drives etc., were done as apart of the campaign. Volunteers by themselves, gatheredover 11,000 signatures and had an online reach of 43000.Over 25 volunteers were active contributors of the cam-paign. The volunteer team consisted of college studentsto young professionals. An audio/visual called “This timefor our children” was also made to promote the idea.

This National Campaign ran across India from Novemberto March and the East region garnered over 2, 80,000 on-ground pledges. In the east, many political representa-tives and eminent public personalities like Dr. AmartyaSen, Sourav Ganguly, Goutam Ghose and many more ex-tended support and showed solidarity.

Click on the below link to watch the video:

This Time for Our Children

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“CRY allows us volunteers to go beyond the borders of volunteering. It makes you a part and parcel of the whole. We believe thatwhat we do, is as much ours, as much personal - as it is for the children we are trying to touch and the society we are trying toaffect. And thus the challenge becomes an inspiration, a motivation, and that is what drives us towards the change we want tomake”

- Aesha Das, CRY Volunteer

VOTE FOR CHILD RIGHTS CAMPAIGN

Photo Credit: IIT Kharagpur CRY Chapter

VOLUNTEERING CONSULTATION

AConsultation on Volunteering on Child Rights was organ-ised by CRY on May 15 at the Conference Hall of Academy

of Fine Arts. The audience comprised of different academicians,activists, corporates, NGOs, journalists and bureaucrats in a sin-gle common platform where they got the chance to interact mu-tually and enrich themselves from each other’s experience.

This three-hour deliberation brought a slice of citizen’s action onchild rights within and beyond CRY by inviting a few speakerswho shared their work and experiences, followed by the viewsand feedbacks of eminent role holders. The purpose of this pro-gramme was to gain insights on Child Rights Volunteering inKolkata.

Indrani Sinha from Sanlaap, Nilanjana Gupta of JU Community Radio and Swati Bhattacharya of the ABP Group, Di-pankar Sinha eminent Political Scientist were some of the speakers.

FLASH MOB

June 21, a day that was being feverishly awaited by over 100 participants,proved to be a stupendous one as CRY volunteers organized CRY’s first

flash mob in the city in two prominent shopping-malls of Kolkata– ManiSquare Mall and South City Mall to spread awareness on Right to Education.

The presentations included beat-boxing, break dancing, b-buoying followedby the dance that saw participation of over 80 dancers. Altogether CRYreached out to more than two thousand people. The spirits went sky high aseveryone cheered the little children, the dancers and somewhere this publicreach out event did strike a chord in the hearts of the onlookers.

Click on the below link to watch the video:

Flash Mob at South City Mall

Flash Mob at Mani Square Mall

CLICK RIGHTS 2013 - 14

Child Education and RTE was the collective theme of Click Rights 13-14. CRY’s photography event went on for 40days and promoted the idea, ‘Focus on a Child.’

The online campaign, that saw contributions made by well-knownphotographers and photography clubs, encouraged people to click pic-tures of schools in their neighborhood. On-ground CRY promotionalcorners were also put up in different parts of the city that aimed at pro-moting greater participation of public while water tattoos were usedto spread awareness.

A three-day culmination event saw a photography exhibition at ManiSquare. The exhibition saw government functionaries, well known per-sonalities from the fields of film, media, theatre, music. Around 2000signatures were collected on-ground with 300 photos from the East.

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Photo Credit: CRY

Photo Credit: Somejyoti Mukherjee

“Volunteering with CRY has been the most enriching experience of my life. Dealing with issues from the grass root level is whatI've learnt the most. It gave me an opportunity to interact with people who share the same passion. Once a CRY volunteer, trustme you'll always be one!”

- Meena Uppaluri, CRY Volunteer

Photo Credit: Soudip Dutta

CHOTU CAMPAIGN BY IITKGP VOLUNTEERS

An in-campus awarenesscampaign, was conducted

by the CRY volunteers of thecampus, to promote the dignityand identity of children work-ing in canteens. Because everychild has an identity which ismuch more than an umbrellaname “Chotu”, the volunteers promoted the idea of theuse of identity cards for all the children who work in thecanteens of the campus. The larger vision of the volun-teers was to bring children back to school.

The volunteers of the four Geo PAGs of Kolkata didtheir own bit and came up with their own ingenious

ways to commemorate and celebrate World Day AgainstChild Labour.

The activities ranged from movie screening in Dhakuriato a community walk and interface with child labour inRajabazar. The children in Howrah performed a danceand a nukkad natak. The students were given sticky notesto write their ambition on them and the notes were putup on a beautiful ‘wish board.’

CWF volunteers con-ducted an intensivepilot study on ChildLabour in MaddoxSquare area over afew days, interactedwith 34 child labour-ers and worked fur-ther on enrolment ofmany children toschool.

ENROLMENT IN SCHOOLS

With a total of 27 volunteers, the CWF started an En-rolment Drive from July 10, 2013. Prior to the

drive, an extensive survey work and campaign regardingschool infrastructure and mid-day meal schemes underthe Right to EducationAct were conducted. Stu-dents who are irregularto school as well asdropouts within the Pe-yarabagan slum areawere surveyed. A total of22 children were broughtback to school.

After 3-4 months of constant motivation, the Dhakuriavolunteers could send Pulak- a dropout in Dhakuria’sWard 92 area of Kolkata, back to school. He has willinglyenrolled himself in and has been suc-cessfully attending school since January2014.

WINGS OF DESIRE

The second edition of Ichhedana, was organized by theCivilian Welfare Foundation and supported by CRY-

Child Rights and You.

More than two hundred chil-dren from the Peyarabaganslum gathered atChakraberiya High Schoolon December 21 for a day-long celebration. The chil-dren took part in ‘sit anddraw’, dance and recitationcompetitions. A movie called

“Gattu” was also screened for the children. Some prizeswere given out in the end, to mark a note of appreciation.

The event’s focus was not to develop a competitive spiritamong the children but to bring the best of their abilities.The Councillor of the area also shared words of encourage-ment for the children and also appreciated the volunteerinitiative.

IIT KGP’s I HAVE A DREAM

The CRY Volunteer Chapter at IIT Kharagpur had or-ganized a “Paint your Dream” drawing competition in-

Balarampur High school and Amlatoria Primary school,Kharagpur where children were asked to paint theirdreams & aspirations.

Their dreams and aspirationswere heartening and inspir-ing - a few wanted to becomea pilot, one a fireman,teacher, lawyer, painter,sailor, nature lover, nurseand many more.

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WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR

“I saw kids who are willing to go to school but couldn't fulfill their dreams. A sense of responsibility enveloped me when I heldtheir hands and accompanied them to school. With new school kits and high goals. They are ready for their bright future.”

- Prateek Singh, CWF - CRY Volunteer

Photo Credit: CWF

Photo Credit: Soudip Dutta

Photo Credit: Vishal Tiwari

Photo Credit: IIT KGP Volunteers

BACHPAN KE RANG

The Rajabazar volunteers organised a two-day summercamp called ‘Bachpan Ke Rang’ on May 22 and 23 for the

children of Rajabazar. The two days saw participation of over100 children. Students from over 6 schools participated andthe volunteers conducted several sessions and events for allof them.

The sole objective of this camp was to make the childrenlaugh, enjoy and celebrate their childhood that is oblivious toour love. The event was enriching for the children as well asthe volunteers

Click on the below link to watch the video:

Bachpan Ke Rang

STUDY REPORTS

Assessment of ICDS Centres

The Rajabazar Volunteers undertook an assessment of 9 ICDS centres in thearea in the summer of 2013. The objective of the study was to understand thestatus of services in these centres and the community’s perception on it. Ongetting permission from concerned authorities a team of volunteers and in-terns surveyed the centres and also had community interactions. The findingsrevealed the not so good condition of most of the centres in terms of main-taining due child records, poor infrastructure, lack of quality food, unaware-ness in the community ets. Findings were shared with the authorities forredressal.

Mid Day Meal StudyFive volunteer groups took up a study to assess the Mid Day Meal schemein schools in 2013. Around 25 schools in their respective field areas werepicked for the same. The volunteers underwent capacity building on it andusing varied tools like interviews, FGDs and questionnaires that gatheredlot of data. The report was made in April 2013. Issues on regularity andquality of food came up as major challenges and also revealed that thoughit had huge potential of bringing and keeping children in school, but dueto several gaps in implementation, result is most of the time unsatisfactory.This study was widely referred to by media. Volunteers kept following upon the findings to address the gaps.

An informative poster capturing Right to Edu-cation Act’s three year journey, made by

Media Advocacy volunteers.

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Click on the below link for more details:

3 Years of RTE

“Service to the cause of children has gifted me with more happiness and satisfaction than any other venture of life. Our investmentin children today shall flourish in a secured future tomorrow"

- Debotosh Chatterjee, CRY Volunteer

Photo Credit: Simon Jouhet

Photo Credit: Parichiti

MEYEBELA - A FUN FAIR FOR GIRLS

As the country geared up to celebrate the National Girl Child Day onJanuary 24, Parichiti, an organisation working on the rights of

women and girls, and CRY joined hands to usher in the spirit of celebra-tion through a two day long fun-fair for girls.

The energy-packed bonanza entitled MEYEBELA: Ekti Ananda Mela, atManovikas Kendra, Kolkata, on January 17and 18 addressed the issues ofthe girl child. Girls in the age group of 12 – 18 years from underprivilegedcommunities narrated their stories of trials and triumphs through creativeactivities. Over 200 girls from both city and special schools participatedin the two-day gala.

Apart from workshops on craft, painting etc., a panel discussion entitled ‘Meyeder Atmoprokasher Sujoger Adhikaar’ washeld where four adolescent girls, including girls with disabilities shared their stories. Girls from Notun Dal also per-formed a beautiful dance.

On April 1, 2013 volunteers from CRY went for an ex-posure visit to one of DS-West Bengal’s partner or-

ganizations- Diksha. The visit was planned to get adetailed insight into the various kinds of children’s ses-sions that can be undertaken and in getting an idea of theskills for the same.

After a brief one hour orientation by Ms. Paramita Baner-jee, founding member of Diksha, volunteers visited Dik-sha’s Kalighat field site. A simple session called ‘AnkarMadhyome Moner Bhabh Prokash’ followed where all thechildren were asked to draw an event from their lifewhich has made them feel very good.

Some interesting andchallenging life experi-ences were shared withthe volunteers. Further,volunteers were givenpointers that could helpin easier facilitation ofchildren’s sessions.

Later in the year, a Capacity Building on strategies onenrolment and retention of students in school was donefor volunteers. Resource persons like Kumar Rana andPrabir Basu enriched the discussion with their experiencesand suggestions.

CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY

Like earlier years,I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Volunteer Day wascelebrated on De-cember 15, 2013.Many volunteersparticipated in thisspecial day wherethey were formallyacknowledged andappreciated for the value they add to CRY’s work and inthe process inspire many others to join in and do their bitfor child rights. CRY appreciation tokens were handed outto all the volunteers in presence of the CRY team.

BRAINSTORMER

CRY was the social initiative partner of Kolkata’s verypopular- Brainstormer Annual Quiz organized by

Phoenix- the tech club of Netaji Subhash Engineering Col-lege.

A CRY desk was set up which was manned by CRY vol-unteers and an audio visual “Our Place in the sun too”was screened. The event had a reach out of over 200 youngpeople.

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CAPACITY BUILDING OF VOLUNTEERS

Photo Credit: Aesha Das

Being an intern and then joining CRY, Kolkata as a volunteer was a life-changing decision. It reflected positively on my personalityand my outlook towards life and I realized that there are so many children living peacefully despite being less privileged than me.Also the will to make a "CHANGE" inspires me to stand up for their rights. I hope that this desire stays alive in me.

- Sunayana Agarwal, CRY Intern

Photo Credit: CRY

Photo Credit: Parichiti

Photo Credit: CRY

CRY INTERNS

Every year, a few students are selected for the summer and winter internships at CRY who contribute visibly to thecause. They take back useful learning and often become our ongoing volunteers thereafter.

This year 32 interns from diverse fields revived CRY’s programmes in the East through their perseverance, innovativeideas and enthusiasm. The work ranged from preparing strategy documents, public campaigns, field level surveys,making audio visuals to advocacy work in volunteer intervention areas to piloting new ideas and models on theground.

PANEL DISCUSSION

Girls and their Right to Mobility was deliberated in apanel discussion organized by Parichiti and CRY-

Child Rights and You at Oxford Bookstore on May 31. Thepanelists included architect Partha Das, Kaveri Dutt- Prin-cipal of Modern High School for Girls, activist Shreya IlaAnasuya and student Keya Dutta with moderator waspsychiatrist Aniruddha Deb.

The discussion began on the premise that many girls dropout of school after primary education as their parents arenot ready to let them travel long distances alone.The discussion was wrapped up by enumerating the roleof educationists and how schools must try to empowerstudents.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH IIM-C

Students from IIM-Calcutta along with the volunteersand CRY partner organization, the Calcutta Samari-

tans, had a winter celebration with children as part of theirIntaglio Social Day event and covered three pockets ofKolkata- Howrah, Rajabazar and Park Circus. The IIM-Cstudents along with the regular CRY volunteers undertookinteresting activities like planting trees, movie screening,drawing and graffiti. It reached out to over 200 children.

If we all do something, then together there is no problem that we cannot solve.” - Rippan Kapur, Founder - CRY

CRY – Child Rights And You Follow Us On:152, Kalikapur, Gitanjali Park, New No. 8, 2nd Street, Kolkata - 700 099 Official Volunteer Blog: cryeastvols.wordpress.com/Tel: +91 (033) 2416-0007/ 8057/ 8069 Official Volunteer FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/crykolvols

ANNUAL VOLUNTEER MEET

CRY’s Annual Volunteer Meet was held on March 23. The purposewas to share work that was done by respective volunteer groups

in 2013-2014, cross learn in the process and plan the coming year 2014-2015. Over 12 volunteer groups were present. Each group was proudto present their respective work in presence of many CRY representa-tives and an enriching discussion followed.

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Photo Credit: Parichiti

Photo Credit: Shreya Sarkar

Photo Credit: CRY