Poonam

In this issueDeepalaya's Alumni Association | Legal Camp for Women | Magic on Toes| And much more.

Singing with the students!

Cover Story-

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support@deepalaya.org | www.deepalaya.org X V I I I # 3 / A u g - N o v ‘ 1 0 / P R I V AT E C I R C U L AT I O N O N LY From Left:(a) Hip-Hip Hurray!- The students of Deepalaya after their victorious performance on the grounds of Connaught Place during the Youth Festival; (b)The students of the folk dance group of Deepalaya School, Kalkaji Extension performing live during the season of Common-Wealth Games in Delhi

Singing with the Students!

thIt was indeed the moment of the evening on the 5 October, 2010 when the Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms. Sheila Dikshit sung the song Teri Hai Zameen along with the students of the Choral Group of Deepalaya. This was during the Youth Festival held at Central park, Connaught Place which was part of the Common Wealth Games celebrations. After the performance, Ms. Sheila Dikshit commented,” Of course your children had to be here. Such a fantastic program they have put up and you people do an amazing job at Deepalaya. I want to thank you for coming.”Besides the songs, the Rajasthani dance and Vande Matram by the students dressed in a traditional Indian dress had the audience cheering with glee. They were enthralled by the students when they did the somersaults and the various formations. This was organized by the Department of Art, Culture and Languages, Government of Delhi; Delhi Tourism; Coca Cola; Delhi Celebrates; & NDMC. The children were super excited after their performance in front of a large Delhi audience and media who were all praise for the energetic students. “We wish we get an opportunity to be a part of such events in the future too. It was very motivating for us when the audience hooted for us while we were performing,” shared the ecstatic students of Deepalaya.The students were from the four Formal Schools of Deepalaya in Delhi. It was INDEED a proud moment for the entire organization to be part of the biggest sporting extravaganza. At the end of the day it was a thrilling performance!

Alumnus in the Spotlight!“Deepalaya has been nurturing me since the time I joined in LKG and my association c o n t i n u e s e v e n a f t e r completing schooling,” said the eighteen year old Poonam. “I have won many prizes in drawing and painting. That is how I realized that my true calling is in designing. I have currently joined an Advanced Diploma Course in Software Engineering, but ten years down the line, I see myself working as a professional graphic designer. I also want to buy my own house with my salary one day,” shared the optimistic Poonam. She further added that the amount of opportunities that Deepalaya gives to its students is amazing and that the teachers helped her learn well and also develop an overall personality.She was also among the six alumni students to represent Deepalaya as a Dream Runner during a marathon in Delhi

E N A B L I N G S E L F R E L I A N C E

DEEPALAYA NEWSWinter Special Edition

Letter to the Editor!

I feel delighted whenever I get to read the various publications of Deepalaya. I feel that unless NGOs and benevolent-minded organizations help out, there is no way we can care for the underprivileged people in our country. There is a large disparity between the rich and the poor in our country and I am proud to be associated with an organization like Deepalaya that diligently works in order to bring about a change in our society especially in the lives of the children.

Best Wishes,Lola Chatterji, a Committed Donor

Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit singing with the Choral Group of Deepalaya at the Youth Festival organized during the Common Wealth Games.

(a) (b)

The Deepalaya Green Box

: Connecting People Simply going by its tagline- Nokia, connected with Deepalaya during this Diwali season and gave us an opportunity to set up a stall at their premises for 3 days. This in turn helped us in collecting Rs 1,60,202/-through 19 sponsorships along with a sponsorship of 3 children for our Saharanpur School. Nokia will give us a matching grant of another Rs1,60,202/- bringing the total amount up to Rs 3,20,404/- Thank you Nokia!

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The Girl Child Day!

Deepalaya believes that when you educate a GIRL you end up educating the entire FAMILY. In order to mark a prominent role of girls in our society, 24th September 2010 was celebrated as the International Girl Child Day at the four formal Schools of Deepalaya in Delhi.

Deepalaya School Kalkaji Extension saw the involvement of the children and their parents on the day. The School had some skits which portrayed the present status of girls in underprivileged families which definitely made the audience emotional. On the other hand, Deepalaya School Sanjay Colony had a special bulletin and a number of charts decorated all over the school. The teachers discussed the importance of the day with the students. The students from the Gole Kuan branch enacted the role of women in different fields. From Jhansi Ki Rani to Aishwarya Rai, the students didn't leave any field. Adding a cherry on the cake were the mothers who had especially come to motivate their daughters who were performing and to share about their positive association with the organization. The involvement of parents on the day was kept in mind in order to share the importance of having a girl child with them and to try and motivate them to consider both their son and daughter equal.

It was indeed a proud moment for Deepalaya when sis of the Alumni children came forward to represent Deepalaya in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon which was held on 21st Nov`2010. And it was not a mere representation the 6 chose to be Dream Makers pledging to raise a minimum of ` 1 Lakh each to further plough back into the organization and reach out “its quality services to many more like us”.

The super sixers II (the first are currently studying in the US) faces the Delhi crowd and media confidently as they ran, carrying the Deepalaya banner high (see picture). Not only did they fulfill their commitment of raising the money (supported by all in the organization) but they were also awarded the Karmveer Chakra by iCONGO.

'It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness' and have walked that extra mile to “Be the change they want to see in this world”

Smart(er) Class!

Getting Education is the fundamental Right of every child! But nothing happens without hard work and we have been striving towards quality education for the underprivileged for more than three decades. “It is indeed a dream come true for the underprivileged children to get access to such technology which is only possible for their privileged peers. Education is a fundamental right for the children and this technology is a cherry on the cake. It signifies that we are indeed growing in quality. This School is now fifteen years old and one can see the confidence and spark in each student of this School,” commented Rtn T.K. Mathew, Chief Executive and Secretary during the inauguration of the Smart Class

thProgramme at Ramditi JRN Deepalaya School on the 4 of November, 2010. The Chief Guest for the day was Mr. Jyoti Sagar, Advocate and Solicitor and Ms. Asha Narang, the owner of the Ramditti Jiwanda Ram Narang Trust.

After witnessing the demonstration of the Smart Class, Mr.Jyoti Sagar shared, “ I am proud to be associated with an organization that creates a quest for learning and sustains it.”This is Deeplaya's yet another flagship program which aims at transforming the lives of the underprivileged and giving them equal opportunities like their privileged peers. It aims revolutionizing the way teacher teaches in the classroom, making the learning process both cognitive and constructive.

Health is indeed Wealth!The Stri Shakti Suvidha Kendra of Deepalaya has been extensively organizing health camps for the women. On 21st October, 2010, a camp for the awareness on Cervical Cancer was organized in the Tilak Vihar area which had a group of 2 doctors and a nurse from Guru Tej Bahadur Hospital who had come to detect cases of cervical cancer in women. Besides them, there was a general physician, a pediatrician and a gynecologist who screened and detected general illnesses in women. The doctors were surrounded by around 250 patients and had come for both the awareness and medication of the various diseases. There was also a team from MCD to make aware the people on dengue and malaria. Overall, the camp turned out to be a fruitful affair for the underprivileged women.

A patient with the gynecologist during the health camp organized by Stri Shakti Suvidha Kendra

A teacher teaching the students through the Smart Class Programme at Ramditi JRN Deepalaya School

Art of Living!

Someone rightly said that, “Calm the winds of your thoughts, and there will be no waves on the ocean of your mind.” With this thought in mind the Coordinators of Deepalaya Extended Education Program (DEEP) organized an Art of Living Camp for the children at the East Delhi project locations. The 3 day camp was jam-packed with 300 enthusiastic children and the trainers used different techniques to bring out the creativity among the children. The workshop designed by the Art of Living Foundation was particularly targeted towards children (8-14 years) to teach them to counter negative tendencies and introduce balancing effects on children. The activities included physical and breathing exercises to help children improve their memory and the quality of attention in order to lead them towards a healthy way of living. Children were taught the importance of human values such as cooperation, friendliness, desire to help and deference

through games and fun filled activities.

Similar session was held at the Institutional Care program, located at village Gusbethi, Haryana. The sessions were especially designed to help the children coming from the deprived and vulnerable background to think about themselves and their future in an optimistic way. They were taught to give their 100% in whatever they do in life. They were taught different yoga asanas like Bhastrika, Surya Namaskar and honey meditation. Besides this, the children were also taught an effective technique of reducing fear by a breathing exercise. This was especially for the ones who had stage phobia.

Team Deepalaya feels fortunate to be associated with the Art of Living foundation, and the fact that they have come forward to help the underprivileged children in motivating them towards the positive aspect of life. (see picture above-b and c)

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From left- (a) ; (b) and (c) Students from the East Delhi Project and Institutional Care Unit during the Art of Living sessions.

(a) (b) (c)