BRINGING CHILDREN TOGETHER

Twenty five students (aged 9 to 12) from Ebenen School of Languages in Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain, and the children from one of Asha-Kiran’s Day Care Centers for Migrant Children in Pune, India, came together for a videoconference on March 27.

Victor Natalías, who works at A-K Spain, went over to the school to tell parents, students and teachers about the projects that Asha-Kiran carries out with disadvantaged children in India.

The children asked each other questions about what their life was like here and there, sang songs, read poems, acted out short plays, danced... a rewarding and exciting experience that all the children and teachers truly enjoyed. It was wonderful to see the children’s faces and their shiny, eager eyes on both sides of the screen.

Both Ebenen’s and Asha-Kiran’s kids ended up with huge smiles on their faces, saying they would like to talk again, share more things and be friends... Two small worlds that met for the first time to find out that they were both the same.

Silvia Benítez Redrejo - Volunteer with Asha-Kiran

MORE THAN MONEY IN THE BANK

“If we want to eliminate poverty, we need to connect all the people to the financial system”, said Modi, Prime Minister of India. His goal, that all families -urban as well as rural- have access to financial services, is being reached quickly. In just a few months, about 103 million savings accounts have been opened within the framework of this initiative.

Economically disadvantaged sectors can now open an account without depositing a single rupee and access services such credit card accounts to apply for loans, insurance and pensions, in addition to performing regular banking operations. The government will deposit funds from cash benefits programs in their accounts, such as student scholarships. As an incentive, those who open an account under this program get free accident and life insurance.

The goal is for citizens to change the habit of keeping their savings ‘under the mattress’ and deposit them in banks instead. Analysts who support the project say that people with limited financial means often rely on loan sharks who often charge up to five times more interest than banks. They also stress that banking will ensure that the money allocated to them by the government doesn’t get ’lost’ on the way. However, critics point out that the previous government launched a similar campaign in 2011, which failed because most people didn’t use the accounts and the banks lost interest.

Many new users don’t know what banks or accounts are for, but the Modi government will ensure that financial education is given and that his program will focus on families, not villages. He adds that every village will have a bank no farther than five miles away, and accounts will be accessed from cell phones. This large-scale initiative may benefit social groups who are severely financially disadvantaged, and whose access to banking is much lower than the world average.

Source: elpais.com

CHILDREN, ART AND ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

The leading regional newspaper ‘Sakal’ launched a drawing competition for all the schools of Pune, but since Narmadabai School could not participate, Asha-Kiran stepped in so that the community children would also be included.

The theme was Clean Pune - Green Pune. A total of 147 girls from 6th, 7th and 8th grade came up with their own ideas on how to portray the theme on paper with the pencils, crayons or water colors that we provided. There will be four prizes which will be given to the winners in an upcoming ceremony.