EDITORIAL

Table of Contents The AID Delhi Publication Team, in its

continuous endeavor to capture the efforts of
its dedicated volunteers, releases its second
Being Indian …………………3 edition.

By Shivangi Saxena In this edition, Shivangi Saxena, urges us to

earn our status as an Indian before being
Volunteer Speaks…………4
proud of it. Next, Shalini Gupta pens down her
By Shalini Gupta experience of working with the students of
Project Pehal.
Project Updates
Ashmeet Bilkhu, Chetna Arora and Shalini
Pehal …………………………5 Gupta provide us with updates on Pehal,
By Ashmeet Bilkhu, followed by Updates on Meri Udaan by Vipra
Dhawan.
Chetna Arora,
and Shalini Gupta A brief description of the two events –
Children’s Day and Founders Day – that were
Meri Udaan…………………6 jointly celebrated by the volunteers and
By Vipra Dhawan students of Project Pehal appear next.

Children’s/Founders Day..…7 This is followed by updates from our partner

projects – Saksham and Koshish – and updates
By Zulaikha Rahman
on the various fund raising initiatives
Partner Project Updates undertaken by the volunteers of AID Delhi.

Saksham….……………………8 The newsletter has been designed by our

designer, Harsh Kalra.
By Vikramjeet Singh
Together our team hopes that the newsletter
Koshish…………………………8 proves to be an enriching read for one and all.
By Ayush Rastogi

AID Delhi Fund Raising Initiatives…..9 Zulaikha Rahman

Publication Coordinator, AID Delhi
By Ashmeet Biklhu

Sangharsh Seva Nirmaan

 development saddens me. But can the phrase 'feeling
BEING INDIAN sad’ justify my identity as an INDIAN?
The rampant corruption that plagues the nation has
By Shivangi Saxena left me feeling betrayed by my own elected leaders.
But can 'feeling betrayed ' morally make me an
INDIAN?
The second when I opened my tiny eyes into this Malnourishment and lack of basic essentials leaves
world, and cried till I surpassed all decibel levels, I had me hollow.
not only made a successful transition to earth, but But can 'feeling hollow' make any headway to the
also achieved the coveted Indian status. path of improving their living standards and make me
As I grew up I realized that although it was easy to INDIAN?
bag the nationality, the real challenge was to prove
that I am an INDIAN. The answers to the soul
searching questions above
I could read about the are a vehement NO.
kings who ruled and
plundered, the Being an Indian requires
monuments that were much more than that. To
constructed, the highest belong to a nation does
peaks of Himalayas’, the not translate to just
stretch of northern acquiring its citizenship. It
plains, the prime means to contribute to
ministers, the freedom the nation.
struggle, the wars fought, The contribution is
the victorious moments meaningful if it does not
etc. But that knowledge have the financial ideology
did not accentuate the that fills the coffers of the
feeling that I was truly INDIAN. government and Swiss banks. It means to work for
the betterment of the nation in whatever small way
I could go lengths speaking about our vibrant you can. To work for the up-liftment of people who
economy and boisterous trade collaborations. are not blessed with two square meals.
I could boast about the cultural heritage INDIA is
bestowed with, about the secularism and feelings of The jingoistic attitude worn by many is just to
brotherhood which emphasize the Utopian vision. camouflage the guilt which erupts from the fact that
These can prove to be an effective means of utilizing their contribution to the society is abysmal.
paper pulp.

Hollywood feats and our cinematic success are TRULY WANT TO BE AN INDIAN?
enunciated at every award ceremony. EARN YOUR STATUS AS A MEMBER OF
I perform a mini jig every time Sachin Tendulkar
smashes the record and proves his iconic status. THE NATION !
But still, does that make me an INDIAN?

The abject poverty that victimizes millions of Indians

and proves to be an obstacle in the path of

Sangharsh Seva Nirmaan

 Language is the basis of all study and,
VOLUNTEER SPEAKS hence, I decided that my effort would
be to make them understand both the
BY SHALINI GUPTA languages, including how to speak and
write them better. This includes
I feel privileged to have had an education that defines correct pronunciation and bringing
who I am and which has given me the confidence to phonetics into play. I have been taking
th th
face the world. I continue to cherish my school days – reading in classes 4 and 5 , where I
ask students to come and read from
a time when learning was fun, when we were
their textbooks. While there are
blissfully unaware of our life’s foundations being laid
always the same enthusiastic
in those moments of gaiety and cheer. To share that
volunteers, it’s the shy ones that need
privilege with those who do not have it, has always
to be pushed. The objective is to make
been a latent (but potent) desire, which came to
reading fun.
fruition when I took a break from my work as a
journalist in December last year. I was scouting for
These few months have been a humbling and learning
organizations in the non-profit sector working
experience for me. By now, I remember the names of
towards child education, when I came across AID
most of the students and also have a bird’s eye view
Delhi and its project ‘Pehal’– that luckily was
of their level of understanding and scope of
operating in my neighborhood itself.
improvement. Most of the students have a desire to
learn and excel. I believe that my, or for that matter
The very first day enthusiastic and exhilarating
anyone else’s constructive intervention in their
children greeted me with “Good afternoon Mam”. It
learning process, would only help them realize what
felt good and at once made me realize that I have a
more they could do with their lives. My effort has
responsibility to shoulder. I was not sure how to start
been to awaken in them a curiosity and the
off with teaching the kids, easy as it seems, so I
confidence to ask questions, because I believe that
observed what the teachers were teaching them,
even the right answer needs a right question.
what the children knew, and how I could be a catalyst
in their learning process. Unlearning what I had
I am reminded of a quote by Anatole France, “The
learnt was the first step to start teaching them. For
whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the
some, I had to literally start with teaching them A, B,
natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of
C, D. In other classes I would focus on asking the
satisfying it afterwards”. We as teachers are here only
students the meanings of words and push them to
to ignite the fire of learning, and hope that the flame
frame sentences in Hindi and translate them into
lives on.
English. One thing that I learnt while teaching these
kids was that it’s not about loading them with
information that they can hardly make sense of, but
instead making learning more interactive and easy for
them. While the teachers are taking care of their
syllabus, I took it onto myself to steer clear of
textbooks and teach them basics that would help lay
a good foundation. I figured out that most of them
had difficulty reading, understanding and writing
English. They were a little better in all the three areas
in Hindi though.

Sangharsh Seva Nirmaan

 PROJECT UPDATES – PEHAL
BY ASHMEET BILKHU, CHETNA ARORA,
AND SHALINI GUPTA
(www.projectpehal.blogspot.com)

The students in Pehal are taking ample interest in studies with the teachers/volunteers
continuously motivating them through personal counseling.
Over the last few months, significant improvements have been noticed in the academic grades,
and levels of comprehension and enthusiasm in the students. There have been weekly and
quarterly assessments to understand and monitor their progress and training programs have
been structured as per their needs.

The month of November kept the students busy as they prepared for their
midterm examinations. During this month, we witnessed a satisfactory
increase in the number of students who attended our program. All
students fared fairly well in their examination.

In December, we conducted an assessment test for the students to evaluate

their progress. Out of the entire lot, while all students brought positive results,
th
the students of 5 standards showed remarkable
improvement in their performance. On the basis of these
test results, we introduced weekly tests to track the
performance of the students. These tests are held every
Friday.

In January, in order to gauge the grip of students in

basics, a surprise test was taken. Roughly 60–70% of the
th th
students from 4 and 5 standard were good. Our
volunteers gave extra attention to the students who
scored least.
Project Pehal completed a year in April and the volunteers are now
awaiting permission from the MCD to renew the contract. In the next
session, we have directed our focus towards the following:
 Improving English, Hindi reading and recitation
 Exposing the students to more skill developing activities to
enable all-round development and making learning "more fun".

Sangharsh Seva Nirmaan

 PROJECT UPDATES – MERI UDAAN
BY VIPRA DHAWAN
(www.projectpehal.blogspot.com)

Meri Udaan comprises of 20 women attending classes regularly. The

girls in the project are more enthusiastic and are learning faster than
the ladies. The women can now write their signatures, read and write
“varnamala” and count till 100. In addition, basic word formation,
with and without “matras” has been taught to them.

The mathematics curriculum includes teaching basic arithmetic

operations. Most of the women can, now, solve addition and subtraction problems.
However, a few still get stuck on carry over questions in subtraction. The quick
learners and regular attendees are learning tables and working on multiplication and
division problems as well.

Regular assessment is being carried out by the

volunteers and written tests (specifically focusing
on spellings and comprehension) are conducted.

Due to the difference in the grasping power of the women, the teacher caters
to them individually by teaching thing relevant to each woman’s ‘level’. It has
been observed that the women also lack opinion on basic things and are not
used to stand for what is right for and beneficial to them.

AID Delhi plans to extend its program by doing the following:

 We plan to start a new batch for women who live at a different location in
the same locality.
 A few girls have been identified who are good in studies. We have asked the
teacher to mentor them so that they could sit for the tenth standard CBSE
open school examinations.
 We plan to conduct special sessions on:
o Hygiene
o Family Planning
o Development of logical thinking that can assist in making decisions
o How to fill in forms such as ration card/voters card requisition
forms for opening savings account etc.
 We will procure a copy of study materials for adult literacy classes from
Jamia Milia Islamia University which will help make the classes more
meaningful and fun for the women.

Sangharsh Seva Nirmaan

 CHILDREN’S/FOUNDERS’ DAY
BY ZULAIKHA RAHMAN

Pehal celebrated Children's day along with Founder's day on 14th November, 2010. As the day
began, Sahipur School was filled with colors, cartoons, music and silent murmurs of excited
children who waited for the event to unroll. The children brought their parents along and
enthusiastically waited for them to applaud when they gave their dazzling performances.

The event started with a prayer where the volunteers and the children sang the song 'Itni shakti
hamein de na daata' backed by music played from a harmonium (played by Anandita Yadav).
This was followed by extravagant performances by our little children and volunteers. Dances,
songs and poems echoed in the venue. The children recited poems such as:

'Chacha Nehru ache the

Hum sab unke bacche the
karte the wo humse pyaar
ab to jeena hua dushwaar
14 november ka din hai aaya
Chacha ko sab ke saath paya
Hum sab bacche lagate hai awaaz
Chacha Nehru Zindabad!!'

The performances by the children concluded with a huge round of applause across the hall. Our volunteers then
conducted a play which reiterated the importance of education in a child's life. The volunteers wonderfully
displayed the future of an educated and an uneducated child. The stark contrast between the two were taken as
an example and later explained to the parents. We appealed to them to make a commitment towards educating
their children and ensure their bright future.

Our kids were now ready for some games! We organized a game in which we put up cartoon pictures of Popeye,
Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Schinchan on each wall. The children were asked to dance till the music played
and run to their favorite cartoon character as soon as it stopped. One of the cartoon characters was randomly
chosen and the children standing near that cartoon character were considered to be out. The entire venue filled
with cheerful voices and excited screams as children danced to music and ran.

The game was followed by a session of continuous dancing, where all the children and volunteers tapped their foot
to popular Bollywood numbers. In the end, we distributed prizes to the winners of the game, the top performing
students, and the students who were regular in their attendance.

The tired children then sat down to have snacks which included samosas, chips and sweets. The day ended with
fun, frolic, and loads of laughter. As the children and their parents walked back home with a smile, we were
convinced that our team effort was a success!

Sangharsh Seva Nirmaan

 PARTNER PROJECTS – SAKSHAM
BY VIKRAMJEET SINGH

Project Saksham is running at a faster pace than was expected. At this pace, money collection
from the rickshaw owners will finish much before the stipulated time of 7 months. The dream
of the rickshaw pullers, supported by Saksham, to own a rickshaw and be able to save Rs.30–
40 a day is finally near realization. From the Rs. 21000 that we invested in three rickshaws, the
following is the pending amount:

Rickshaw 1 - Rs. 2,450

Rickshaw 2 - Rs. 1,700
Rickshaw 3 - Rs. 450

We at Saksham are glad to be able to turn this initiative into a success and bring happiness into the lives of
rickshaw pullers and their families.

PARTNER PROJECTS – KOSHISH

BY AYUSH RASTOGI
Koshish is an AID Delhi partner which provides primary education to children (in the age
group 3-14 years) belonging to a squatter’s slum. Koshish aims to help the children secure
admission into government schools for their secondary education. In addition, they also
provide coaching to school going children so they fare well in their school performance and,
hence, prevent dropouts. The children who qualify secondary school are put through a 6
month computer training program which helps them get jobs as data entry operators/
computer games facilitators. The children who finish Class IX are put through a 3 month
course in repairing cell phones. In addition, the mothers of disadvantaged children are
provided with a tailoring course. Regular health and nutrition camps are arranged for the
children and various extracurricular activities like music, dance, painting, theatre, yoga and meditation are also
held.

AID Delhi partnered with Koshish in December 2010. In this partnership program the volunteers of AID Delhi teach
Mathematics to the students of class 6th - 12th. The classes are held every Saturday for 2-3 hours. Most of the
children studying at Koshish belong to government schools and are always eager to learn, however, they lag
behind due to lack of proper teaching. The foundation of every state is the education of its youth. While we are
teaching mathematics (and a little bit of other subjects) to the children, there is a dire need to teach them core
subjects like science. Koshish calls for more volunteers who are interested in teaching these subjects to the
children.

Sangharsh Seva Nirmaan

 AID DELHI FUND RAISING INITIATIVES
BY ASHMEET BILKHU
DIWALI STALLS
 This October, AID Delhi clubbed the celebrations of Diwali with its fund raising initiative.
Diwali stalls were set up at various corporate houses that include STM, Evalueserve, and
Pitney Bowes. The stalls consisted of products made by our volunteers such as diyas,
candles, chocolates, greeting cards, envelopes etc.

CHRISTMAS STALLS
 AID Delhi set up Christmas stalls in December that consisted of various products such as
handicraft items, calendars, and t-shirts. The stalls were set up in corporate houses such
as Deloitte and Pitney Bowes.

HOLI STALLS
 AID Delhi set up Holi stalls in March that consisted of various products such as Holi colours, pots, key chains,
calendars, books and t-shirts. The stalls were set up in corporate houses such as Deloitte and Pitney Bowes.

REDEFINE YOUR CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

(CSR)
Understand the evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility in India and incorporate CSR as an
integral part of business strategy

 Develop a community engagement strategy.

 Bring together NGOs working in diverse fields like education, health, environment with
corporate/funding agencies to tie up partnerships through discussions.
 Develop environmentally and socially responsible products and services.
 Engage your employees in giving back to the society through AID’s Corporate Volunteers
Program.
 Provide cost effective solutions to the problems of underprivileged communities.
 Encourage your employees to participate in environment related initiatives.

JOIN US
Love to teach children? Love to write, report and design? Care about the environment? Want
to strengthen Rights? Worried about new policies?
Simple steps by which YOU can make a difference:
Visit http://delhi.aidindia.org  Register yourself as a volunteer  On receiving a welcome
note  Subscribe yourself to the volunteer e-group  One of our volunteer coordinators
will contact you within a week.

Sangharsh Seva Nirmaan

 DONATE
All donations to AID Delhi are directed towards education, health & nutrition, skill building, campaigns and other
activities. You can donate to AID and its activities in the following manner:

 Meal a Month: An initiative to donate an amount equivalent to one meal of yours to build future India. Even a
single penny counts! Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 500...Whatever a meal costs you, we would like to share your
platter.
 Donate Books: Donate academic books of your children after they have completed studying from them.
 Pledge support for formal education of a child/children.

These contributions are entitled to a 50% tax exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act.

How to donate in India

ELECTRONIC TRANSFERS: Internet banking users can make electronic transfers to AID-India's ICICI Bank Account.
CHEQUES: Cheques can be drawn in favor of AID-India's ICICI Bank Account and can be either mailed to or
deposited at any ICICI bank branch
CASH: Cash may be deposited at any ICICI bank branch quoting "AID-India" on the deposit slip.

AID-India - ICICI Bank Details

Branch: Royapettah High Road (RHR)
Location: Chennai
MICR code: 600229007
Account No.: 602201200299 (Savings)
Beneficiary address: 7/4 Besant Road, Royapettah, Chennai.
Phone: +91-44-42106493, 28350403

To receive a receipt for your donation, please send the following details to aid.delhi@gmail.com:
1. Your name and permanent address
2. Date, amount and mode (i.e., e-transfer, cheque, cash) of donation
3. Bank details together with the Cheque/Receipt number or E-transaction ID

If you are outside India and want to contribute to AID India’s Delhi chapter, then mail us your cheque (in any
currency), drawn in favor of "AID-India", along with a cover letter stating the purpose of donation.
AID INDIA- Bank Details for International Transfers
Punjab National Bank – 0306010100082696
PNB Extension Counter, D A V School (under Anna Salai Branch) 383, Avvai Shanmugam Salai, Gopalapuram,
Chennai 600 086, Tamilnadu, India
IFSC (NEFT/ RTGS) code - PUNB0030600
ABA or SWIFT routing number of PNB India -00046612 in the name of PNB FEO Chennai.
CODE - PUNB IN BB MF

CONTACT US
 Reach us at: www.aiddelhi.org  AID Delhi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/aiddelhi
 AID Delhi on Facebook: www.facebook.com/delhi.aidindia  AID Delhi on Wikipedia:
10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AID_Delhi

Sangharsh Seva Nirmaan