Monday 17 August 2015

Building a path towards girl child education

 "The future must not belong to those who bully women. It must be shaped by girls who go to school and those who stand for a world where our daughters can live their dreams just like our sons."
                  -  Barrack Obama

Reality:

In India, there are still many regions where it is still believed that a girl child is nothing but a burden to the family, 'paraaya dhan', who doesn't have the right to education but to 'cook' and serve her family and some day her husband! 

Helping Hands begs to differ. 

Altering reality:


26th July'15 will be a day remembered by all the young kids of Voice Sanjivani.

Voice Sanjivani- founded by Mr.Victor Bansiwar in Virar east is a home dedicated to rehabilitate and educate the underprivileged girls. There are 34 girls in the age group 8 to 16 years. Helping Hands headed over to spread some joy, happiness and contribute to the education of the girls.


The day started with Chinmay Joshi making a surprise entry and entertaining the kids with a comic performance in a joker costume which the kids thoroughly enjoyed. The kids sang a welcome prayer for the Helping Hands team. The team introduced themselves and the kids too were asked to give cross introductions and kids also sang & danced to the tunes of "India waale".

Hemant Dhane, a freelance artist, showcased his skills by painting a beautiful picture of a rural area. Mr.Vijay Dashpute, President of Chemist Parivar NEWS Virar gave an informative lecture and demo for all on Life Saving and First Aid.

The day gradually progressed into masti time with One Minute Games like Folding Newspaper origami, Blow the Balloons, Stick Bindis, Straight line straw connecting, Pinning hair clips etc.

Dr. Hemat Joshi, M.D in Pediatrics, gave them inspiring pep talk on how to stay fit and the importance of education in life.

Everybody later had a sumptuous meal - Biryani, raita & laddoos.

Various members of the team gave lectures on different vocational courses as follows:-



Lecture/Course                                        Starting from      Enrolled girls

Purpose of doing courses - Vinay Vare                      -                         - 
Painting - Hemant Dhane                             - 13th August                14
Origami  & Chocolate Bouquet - Foram Shah 16th August                  5                            Tailoring - Padma Gopalkrishnan Iyer              - Soon
MS-CIT - Sanil Churi (Informative lecture as older kids already go for it!)  -                         Beautician - Hiteshvi Desai                              - Soon

The purpose of this was to encourage and enroll the girls in the courses of their interest and of course sponsor them for the same! This is like sowing seeds the fruit of which will be reaped by the kids themselves in the near future. 


Our in house musicians Jugal Sawdekar & Neeraj Raviya played some bollywood hits like Aashayein, Roobaro, Illahi, Teri Galliyan, Tare Zameen Par, Give me some shine etc. Who wouldn't enjoy this?!

The children were then distributed stationery items like pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, crayons, water paint, notebooks, pouches and indoor games. Basic daily kitchen items were also provided to the Home.

A general knowledge quiz was conducted and the winners were gifted with token gifts. Victor Sir and his staff were felicitated with gifts for their efforts to set up such an organization. The kids sang a beautiful heart touching song as a vote of thanks to Helping Hands and presented a cake they had baked on their own.

A few generous people have pledged to sponsor the graduation of four girls and employ two others! Majithia Masala will be providing their products for free to Voice Sanjivani for life!

On 7th August a free Medical Check was organized by Helping Hands with the help of Dr.Vandita Kallianpur & Dr. Yashodhar Mahimkar. Prescribed medicines were Donated by Bhagwan Kondlekar (Durga Medical) & Amol Kondlekar - Sainath medical.

Helping Hands has a lot in store for the girls' home. We will be holding an exhibition for the handicraft items prepared by the girls in Kandivali soon. 

This was never a one-day project but a an ongoing project!

Inference: 

Unlike spending a day with the kids, spreading happiness and then getting back to our lives feeling good about ourselves, Helping Hands took a step ahead by conducting courses, enrolling the kids for it, being in touch with them to ensure the well being of each and every child as time passes! 

It is you who make such a project possible! We thank you for your time, money, words of encouragement, kind etc. It is YOU who makes this possible!

About Helping Hands: It was started in the year 2012 by 4 School Friends and now more than 50 hands have joined together in an effort to make a difference in the society! For the past couple of years it was all about providing educational needs but this time we stood for education itself! Helping Hands is not an NGO or a private organisation, just a bunch of beings extending their helping hand!

So why can't You and I? Let's lend a helping hand. Leave a message here or on their wall!

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All photographs have been published with consent of the respective photographers.