Asha-Kiran Foundation

HUNGER

2012-01-18T12:56:00.000-08:00

“The problem of malnutrition is a matter of national shame. Despite impressive growth in our GDP, the level of under-nutrition in the country is unacceptably high”, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while releasing a report on Hunger and Malnutrition (HUNGaMA). With 42 per cent of children malnourished, fast-growing India is far from being in the comfort zone.

The PM said that the government could not rely solely on the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), a programme for early childhood development of kids under the age of six, to address the grim situation. India ranks a dismal 67 as per the latest Global Hunger Index.

Pointing out that India had not succeeded in reducing the levels of malnutrition fast enough, the PM said, “Though the ICDS continues to be our most important tool to fight malnutrition, we can no longer rely solely on it. We need to focus on districts where malnutrition levels are high and where conditions causing malnutrition prevail”. He said policy makers and program implementers need to clearly understand many linkages – between education and health, sanitation and hygiene, drinking water and nutrition – and then shape their responses accordingly.

Source: Pune Mirror

DANCING IN THE NEW YEAR

2012-01-11T12:29:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the New Year, Yashodhara Shelter welcomed several visitors.

From Girona, Spain, came Coral Ríos – director, teacher and dancer at Itzà Dance School, who is also a sponsor of a girl from Yashodhara and a regular contributor to Asha-Kiran’s work in Spain. From Portugal, a week later, came dancer Carolina Fonseca, member of the group of teachers of the project "Dancing Leprechaun" created by Myriam Zsabo (Yumma Mudra).

Given the children’s passion for dance, we organized a few short movement, self-expression and free dance workshops. Both dancers were equally amazed at the creativity, the explosive energy and the ease in bodily expression of Indian children.

Delighted with our Projects, Coral and Carolina left saying a "see you soon". Carolina began a tour through India tour to deepen her knowledge of folk dances, and has the intention of visiting us again to share her art with the children.

We are thankful for such special and ‘danced-to’ encounters.

Eshana - live-in Volunteer at Yashodhara Shelter

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE FEMALE CHILD

2012-01-05T11:28:00.000-08:00

By decree of the United Nations, October 11 of 2012 will be the first International Day of the Female Child.

This achievement has been possible thanks to the support of the Government of Canada, responsible for raising the proposal to the United Nations General Assembly. The initiative has also had the support of the governments of Germany, El Salvador, Guinea Bissau and Pakistan.

The Director of PLAN, the Spanish organization that backed up the creation of this day in the international calendar, has stressed the significance of this achievement: “So far there was no day that focused specifically on the situation of girls, one of the most discriminated social groups and for which there are very few concrete policies. In many countries, girls are marginalized in all facets of their lives, from school to work. In the worst cases they are not even allowed to be born”.

Sixty two million girls do not attend school and about 140 million suffer sexual mutilation, while ten million a year are forced to marry before the age of 12. Moreover, they make up ninety per cent of all minors who work in domestic service; each year, the number of girls trafficked with is ten times higher than during the heyday of slavery.

Who wants to educate or invest in the education of a girl whose only future is, according to her parents, to marry and have children?

An international day is much more than a date in the calendar - it is a window, an open door, a spotlight that focuses, in this case, on the most vulnerable among the vulnerable. If we do not invest directly and specifically in the female child ensuring her access to health, education, protection and allowing her vital and emotional development, we will not meet six of the eight Millennium Development Goals.

In Spain, 6500 people signed the petition for the having an International Day of the Girl Child and 35 leading companies contributed to spread the message of support to girls, as well as to finance education projects for them.

Let us also contribute, from our own individual possibilities, to empower girls (and boys) so they can become the world’s redeeming force.

Sources: Fundación Luis Vives/Ameco Press/El País/epsocial

EXCURSION TO ALIBAG

2011-12-26T00:48:00.000-08:00

On 17 December, the children from Yashodhara went to Alibag, a beach near Mumbai. For some, it was the first time they had seen the ocean. At first we had contemplated going to Matheran, a mountain pass and natural reserve, but the children wanted to go to “samudra” (beach, in Hindi) and spent all day talking about how much they liked to play in the sea. In the end, their wish came true.

They were thrilled to be going and got their clothes ready (in India, people bathe with clothes on) and a towel. During the bus journey, they listened to music, sang songs and attentively watched all the new scenery.

They bathed and played in the water for three hours, until lunchtime. They then had a picnic in a very nice garden near the beach, with hammocks and showers. After lunch, some of them rested in the hammocks. Hansa, Co-founder of Asha-Kiran, accompanied us and enjoyed the excursion as much as the children did.

On the trip back Home, they were all still and quiet, filled with the lingering scent of the sea and its treasures.

Eshana – live-in Volunteer at Yashodhara Shelter

JOY OF GIVING WEEK

2011-12-21T02:23:00.000-08:00

Joy of Giving Week (JGW) is India’s “giving festival”, held every year the week of October 2-8. It is a platform that brings together people from all walks of life and encourages them to celebrate by giving – time, money, skills or love; a concerted effort across NGOs, companies, celebrities, media, schools, colleges and the “public”. Started in 2009, this was the 3rd edition of JGW, which is already by far the largest philanthropic event in India.

JGW is a public festival, much like Diwali, Holi, Christmas, etc. Participation is free, open to all, and you can give anything from a piece of clothing to lacs of rupees, a few hours of your skills to a day or two of your time. Event owners are free to manage their events to achieve their objectives. All of the proceedings from the event go to causes that organizers choose with lots of media support.

Asha-Kiran Shelters Foundation also participated in the ‘Joy of Giving Week’ of 2011. Since we could organize our own events, we created the following two:

- The Power of One
- Recycle for Reuse

These were held across different companies with the aim of creating awareness and raising funds for our Organization.

The Power of One

This was our flagship fundraiser and many found it a unique concept. It may not be possible for many people to donate large amounts or even to sponsor a child, but this modality of donating allows people to contribute with just one rupee a day, or 365 rupees a year, so this One rupee, multiplied by thousands, can make a cause close to their hearts come true. Many people participated as they found the amount affordable and also promised to do it every year.

Recycle for Reuse

Over thirty eight percent of our total waste comes from paper and paperboard, so we thought of bringing back this great tradition of recycling newspapers while raising funds for our Organization and helping the environment. People were asked to donate their old newspaper, which was then sold by weight. Almost everybody who heard about the campaign participated and donated their newspaper.

Both these events were conducted at four different companies in Pune and approximately Rs. 1.48,144 were collected in total. The companies that participated and helped us raise funds were:

- Piaggio Vehicles Pvt. Ltd.
- Nihilent Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
- Cybage

WE THANK all the companies and people who contributed to bring a "ray of hope" to the ones who need it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2011-12-17T10:32:00.000-08:00

This year, we are celebrating Christmas at Yashodhara in the company of new friends. Students of Celia Viñas High School in Almería, Spain, sent our children cards which they themselves had made by hand, with a short text in English. We thank Mª Angeles Arráez, Sponsor of one of our children and co-worker at
Asha-Kiran, for dreaming up and organizing this initiative. Upon reading their cards, the children had a drawing workshop so that their pen pals from Almería would receive a speedy reply.

In December we also celebrated Pravin’s birthday, who, like all of his housemates, enjoyed a table-football game given to him by his Sponsor. The interaction between children and their Sponsors is a source of gratitude, generosity and mutual affection, because the children feel accompanied in their growing process. Not a day goes by without their asking about their Sponsor and expressing their desire to see him or her at Yashodhara.

We heartily thank all of you who, by supporting our Projects, grow together with the children you sponsor.

CAUGHT IN RED TAPE

2011-12-11T07:02:00.000-08:00

Ten-year-old Salina Khatun was denied admission by the neighborhood school as her illiterate parents failed to produce a birth certificate. Her parents work in a brick kiln and, like thousands who are constantly on the move in search of livelihood, paperwork is as distant to them as their rights.

Close to two years since the much feted Right to Education Act came into being, the status of school education continues to be plagued by lack of awareness, assertion and access, especially among the communities which need it the most for the transforming potential it has on poverty and social empowerment.

A public hearing in Kolkata’s Town Hall threw up some answers as to why, despite the greatest constitutional recognition and substantial resources, the status of school education continues to be in a poor state.

The hearing was organized by the National Commission for Protection for Child Rights (NCPCR), on the issue of denial of the right to education. It was supported by a host of organizations, including Action Aid India, who painstakingly collected stories from the field to build a case for a jury to issue directions on making it work.

For millions who live on less than an euro a day, and for a nation where over 40 per cent of the children are malnourished, free education and mid-day-meal provisions are key conditions for school education to work.

Incidentally, the officials from the state education department who were called in for responding to the cases of violations did not deny any of the allegations. This led the NCPCR to suggest a penalty of Rs. 25,000 as a fine for violations to the law. The hearing expanded to a discussion on trafficking and it became apparent that a functional schooling system is the best defense against this practice.

"It seems that the issue is not of resources but that of will", NCPCR Chairperson Shanta Sinha said.

A NEW CELEBRATION

2011-12-07T03:13:00.000-08:00

Sai Baba was an Indian guru, considered a saint by his devotees. It is a well known figure in many parts of the world, but especially in India, where he is widely worshipped. To celebrate his anniversary on December 9, the campus which houses Yashodhara Shelter conducted a program of activities for the approximately 160 children from various NGOs that work with socially disadvantaged children or with mental and physical disabilities.

Everyone took part in activities such as preparing the dance, music and theater festival. There were also games, competitions and magic shows. With or without disabilities, no one was left out. For three days, the campus residents ate breakfast, lunch and dinner together in the Sai Baba temple located on the campus.

Yashodhara children prepared a tribal dance from Assam, in northeast India, called Naga. They tailored the ornaments of their costumes themselves, and prepared a full and energetic choreography. The younger ones performed a religious dance called Namana - a greeting to god Ganesha.

It was an enriching experience for the children. It allowed them to develop their skills and strengthen their self-esteem. The cooperation among the different institutions has strengthened the ties of friendship and fraternity among them since there have been no biases towards any one group nor has anyone underestimated the children’s potential.

LOVE LETTERS

2011-11-27T13:46:00.000-08:00

Yashodhara has started an activity designed especially for the older children: writing to and receiving letters from youngsters who live at a Therapeutic Center located in the province of Girona, Spain. The activity was proposed and will be monitored by Silvia Torralvo, Coordinator of Fundación Lethe, and Eshana Alcover, live-in Volunteer at Yashodhara Shelter in Pune. Fundación Lethe is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of personality disorders and crises in teens, and promoting their inclusion in society and the job market.

Yashodhara children were shown pictures of the teenagers, their town and the Therapeutic Center facilities, and were told about the weekly activities and the work being carried out there. Then they got busy writing their letters, asking about their future pen pals’ tastes, friends, school, and inviting them to come to Pune. The children made an effort to write in English, though in a simple way, as their mother tongue is Marathi.

This initiative is an attempt to bring teens from Lethe Foundation close to other youngsters who perhaps come from homes with family conditions similar to theirs. We hope that they can all share experiences, hopes and dreams, and that this exchange will bring joy to everyone’s life.

UNIVERSAL CHILDREN'S DAY

2011-11-20T13:16:00.000-08:00

Universally, Children’s Day is celebrated on 20th November (November 14th in India). It was instituted with the sole aim of promoting communal exchange and understanding among children, and bringing about beneficiary action to promote the welfare of children all over the globe.

The day is marked with a lot of activities, but the fact remains that only a section of India’s children have the opportunity to celebrate their existence. Schools organize events and activities that students thoroughly enjoy, but there are millions of that are left out on this special day – the downtrodden street and slum children.

Instead of just celebrating the day with pomposity in schools and clubs and hotels, why not also make a difference in the lives of materially underprivileged children? How about taking well-to-do children to homes that shelter street children and have them befriend those kids, play with them and share the items that middle and upper class children take for granted, like clothes, toys, stationery, books, etc.?

Another way of celebrating this day would be to have children organize a party for some socially disadvantaged children with the help of a teacher or parent. In fact, if this were done in every neighborhood, imagine how many smiles there would be across the nation. Moreover, these occasional gestures could result in long term initiatives from adults and even children, since once they have come into close contact with populations so different from what they are accustomed to, an awareness and a new outlook may arise as well as the will to help transform inequality from its roots.

Source: Indian Child

CHILD LABOR DOESN'T WORK

2011-11-12T14:35:00.000-08:00

Inside the Delhi High Court complex children as young as ten or twelve are commonly seen working in tea stalls. This is the very same High Court that passed a landmark judgment over two years ago sanctioning the police to slap a spot fine of Rs.20,000 on anyone found to be employing child labor.

Five years have passed since the Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation Act of 1986 (CLPRA) was amended to include as child labour children working in homes, tea stalls, etc., but little, if anything, has changed for laborers below the age of 14.

For years, the excuse of poverty has been trotted out as a reason why child labour cannot be eliminated in India - even policymakers use this argument. Does poverty justify children being subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse? Does poverty justify children being sold into prostitution? Does poverty justify children being robbed of their childhood?

While poverty is certainly a reason for child labor, it is a fallacious argument that it is the only reason. You do not have to wait to eradicate poverty before eliminating child labor. In India, despite the Right to Education Act coming into force two years ago, millions of children are still engaged in child labor. The paradox of two contradictory laws: one regulating child labor and another mandating children to be in school, speaks volumes of the inability or even the unwillingness of the State to change the status quo.

And what about the great Indian middle class that has contributed to and benefited from the runaway growth story? It knowingly employs children in homes using the same argument of poverty. More than the inadequacy of existing legislation or the moral bankruptcy of policy makers, it is the middle class who sanction and legitimize this modern-day slavery called child labour.

Source: Save the Children

MY CHILDHOOD, MY RIGHT

2011-11-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

In a village in West Bengal, Anita, 15, holds back tears as her father plans to marry her off to her cousin. Anita’s mother shouts, trying to convince the father to change his mind. After a while, the police come and set the father straight.

In a grassy open area, 300 hundred people, mostly men and boys, are closely following this street play, which spreads messages against child marriage and promotes girls education.

Anita joined a theatre group after her parents planned for a marriage, which she refused. “They arranged my marriage with my cousin but never asked my opinion,” she recalled. “I was very upset. Finally I told my mother that I wanted to study.” Being in the theatre group has given Anita the power to voice her opinion.

Headed under the campaign slogan ‘My childhood, my right!’, a joint initiative between the District Administration and UNICEF promotes the value of girls with a focus on reducing child marriage. The initiative began in 2009 with the aims of raising awareness about child marriage, strengthening adolescent groups and mobilizing communities through folk media and theatre plays. Starting in 30 selected villages, it has gradually spread to the rest of the district.

Girls’ education and their economic independence are seen as key solutions. “It is useless to talk about prevention of child marriage if the girls have no alternative options for livelihood and will continue to be seen as parents’ liability and burden,” explained a member of the Child Welfare Committee. “Vocational training is offered to adolescents in the district but new challenges emerge when they try to market their products. They need new skills.”

Looking back, Anita’s mother said she and her husband felt they were doing a good thing. “We knew the boy and his family. They are rich, and we are not,” she explained. “We were aware that child marriage is illegal, but that is the practice here. But now we know better. All families should take our example.

Source: childinfo.org

CHILDREN PROMOTING CHANGE

2011-10-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

Summer is at its peak, touching 45 degrees in the afternoons in this part of the world. The fields all along the way are barren and the trees sparse as the sun blazes mercilessly above our heads.

Most villages on the way seem to have gone into a hiding behind mud walls, but Liya seems to have found life even in this scorching afternoon. Everybody is headed to the village primary school. The largest classroom of the village is filled to capacity with children, women and a few elders. Men are crowded outside the door and windows stretching to get a glimpse inside.

Amidst this anticipation and curiosity, young Neeta stands up to address the crowd. As she elaborates the findings of her children’s group on the condition of the school, involvement of the teachers, violence, places which scare her and her friends, most elders look at them patronizingly. However, this is where Neeta surprises them. She looks up at them and asks “what will you do about these problems? How will you help us?”

Silence envelopes the room; for a while no one has answers. And then a few parents wonder aloud what they can do about what is happening in the school. It is then that a young lady finally raises her voice and says “We will have to go to the school and talk to the teachers, and we will have to do this regularly; they should know that society is watching the school.” All this while, Neeta waits patiently for the elders to give their opinions and draw out a common action plan.

Even as the meeting begins to disperse after a couple of hours, a grandmother says that never in her life time has she seen such an event where children have led a meeting like this. The ball has been set rolling. One after the other, children stand up and raise issues of child labour, water, sanitation, environment, nutrition and health and give the elders a chance to voice their own opinions and action plans. The children insist on commitments from village leaders and villagers alike.

By the time the meeting was over at this school, the sun had turned into mellow gold, but the winds of change had started blowing.

Source: Child Rights for Change

A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE

2011-10-17T00:09:00.000-07:00

As an example of another initiative to improve the skills of slum dwellers,
Asha-Kiran has reached an agreement with the Department of Urban Community Development of Pune, by which they provide, free of cost, a tailoring and design course to the women from the Koregaon Park community.

Deepmala, in charge of cleaning our office in Pune, has signed up for the classes. She says:

“Up to now, I have been working as a part-time maid and as a helper in several places. This is good, but learning how to sew and design clothes is better because my chances of getting a good job increase. Also, I like being a seamstress. I could work for a tailor with experience in the business or maybe I could get something started with the other women in the course.”

Classes are from Monday through Friday, last three hours each, and the course is three months long. We wholeheartedly wish success to these women who have the drive to become more autonomous and better providers for their families.

ADULT LITERACY CLASSES

2011-10-12T01:24:00.000-07:00

The traditional definitions of adult education include the ability to read and write, the use of literacy skills in managing one's life, and continuously upgrading skills so as to enter the mainstream of adult development processes. Adult illiterates, being mostly also the very poor, view upgrading skills and income-generating opportunities as immediate needs.

Asha-Kiran has launched adult literacy classes in Birazdar community in order to

• enable adults to become competent in reading and writing letters, words and sentences
• teach them basic arithmetic skills
• show them and expand the possibilities of bettering their lives through education

To date, 17 men and women have signed up for Adult Education Classes. Since all the participants work during the day, we have scheduled the lessons around their work hours. A local Volunteer, a student from the Social Work College, will participate in the Program. We hope that more adults will join this initiative so that its benefits will reach as many people as possible.

THE CITY HALL OF TORREJÓN DE ARDOZ AND THE UNIVERSITY OF SEVILLE BACK YASHODHARA ONCE AGAIN

2011-10-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

For the second year in a row, the City Hall of Torrejón de Ardoz and the University of Seville have chosen Yashodhara as the recipient of their respective awards for international Aid to Development Projects.

The 2011-2012 period is especially important for our Project because we have added a new component to it that will make it possible for us to reach out to more vulnerable families. The aim is to ensure that all children who come to Yashodhara with a need for protection receive the specific attention they require. There are many cases of extremely impoverished mothers who approach our Project to give their children a better quality of life. As Yashodhara has a limited housing capacity, this new element of external support will allow us to work with mothers and their children in their own communities, counselling them and giving them the necessary tools take proper care of their families.

The City of Torrejon de Ardoz has backed Yashodhara with a grant of 5500 Euros, while the University of Seville has awarded us 6000 Euros, doubling the contribution they made last year.

The link between the City Hall and Asha-Kiran will also allow us to support awareness-raising activities done by the Department of Immigration in events such as Children's Day and Youth Week.

Our sincere gratitude to both entities for their ongoing support on our way to achieve a more just world for children.

YOUNG TEACHERS

2011-10-03T13:47:00.001-07:00

Education is a key element for change and ongoing self-improvement. After starting to work in the slums of Pune and assessing the needs of adults and their response, we opted to take adult education to Yashodhara Shelter as well, where the beneficiaries are the caretakers, the cook and the driver.

The way to implement this Program involves

• teaching reading and writing in Marathi, the local language
• teaching basic maths
• adjusting study time to the staff’s work hours
• promoting relaxation in learning so that education may flow unimpeded.

A particularly interesting point is that the teachers are the children of the Shelter who are in higher grades.

Thus, this teaching-learning process is a continuous cycle that enriches all of those involved – on the one hand, the children are nourished by the friendly presence of the adults around them, their care and the food prepared for them. On the other hand, the staff acquire practical and useful skills that will contribute to their self-esteem and autonomy, while the children consolidate their knowledge and have a chance to pay back the attention and affection they get.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF NON-VIOLENCE

2011-10-02T00:35:00.000-07:00

The International Day on Non-violence is celebrated worldwide coinciding with Ghandi’s birthday. But even though many events are organized of this date, we tend to lose sight of the objective throughout the year and violence goes on unabated.

Douglas Roche struck the nail on the head when he noted that “the world is experiencing a fundamental crisis... We are at the point where we are capable of destroying life on earth, while the culture of peace offers the vision of global ethics toward life in full vibrancy”.

Gandhi is admired worldwide for his principles of nonviolent protest to achieve political and social progress, but admiration is not the solution – the application of his ideals is. This work cannot be left to governments or international organizations alone. Peace may be achieved around the negotiating table, but it is sustained around community tables. Peace starts with people – it flows from the hearts of committed women and men. Communities, families, and individuals all have a critical role to play in defeating violence and creating a culture of peace.

Unless every individual takes the message of peace to heart and applies it to himself in his daily activities, violence will continue to destroy our people, and our planet will be in danger. Let us work together to use the great force of non-violence to build peaceful and just societies for ourselves and for our children.

Sources:
http://www.un.org/en/events/nonviolenceday/sgmessages.shtml
http://www.mauritiustoday.com/news/articles/16046/1/The-International-Day-of-Non-violence/Page1.html

WHOLESOME DISCIPLINE

2011-09-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

Asha-Kiran is taking the campaign "Fear-free Learning" to five schools in Pune, together with the Organization for children’s rights A-bhaya Abhiyaan.

A-bhaya Abhiyaan was founded in 2006 to end the widespread practice of disciplining schoolchildren through physical/psychological punishment, and to promote their healthy development within a violence-free society. This organization advocates "positive discipline techniques" that include

- not causing feelings of bitterness, hatred, self-blame or revenge in the child
- allowing him to responsibly choose his behavior once he knows its consequences
- clearly conveying the importance of rules and discipline and then trusting the child's common sense
-motivating the child to find a solution to correct any mistakes
-not accepting inappropriate behavior, but always accepting the child
-emphasizing good communication
-never opting for physical or mental harassment.

The campaign will run for two months during which there will be informative talks, plays, stories, debates and games for the teaching staff.

In the two schools that have already participated in the campaign, the idea of disciplining students without violence has met with varying degrees of resistance. The task of transforming a belief rooted in the local culture will not be easy or brief, but we need to get started if we are to move towards building a society focused on the overall welfare of children.

GANESH CHATURTHI

2011-09-15T00:10:00.000-07:00

India is a country where colorful festivals and celebrations take place throughout the year. Not a single month in the Hindu calendar is devoid of a ‘sacred’ day. One of these celebrations is the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. Ganesh is revered in India as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune, and is invoked when starting any business or journey. It is believed that this god grants his presence to his devotees for the duration of the festival. In the State of Maharashtra, the event is celebrated not only by Hindus but also Muslims, Jains and Christians.

We recently celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi at Yashodhara Shelter – children, teachers, staff and neighbors. The children made an altar with great enthusiasm and a day later, held a welcoming ceremony for Ganesh led by the Shelter’s support class teacher. For five days, every morning and every evening, the children made a pooja (offering) to Ganesh. On the sixth day, the idol was immersed in water, thus completing the celebration.

Each person or group of people celebrates the festival in their own way in accordance with their caste, culture, religious beliefs and traditions. Amid this diversity, the various celebrations unite people by strengthening their ties and relationships, as well as turning life into a joyful carnival. The feelings of unity and brotherhood are intertwined and manifested through a festive and devotional ceremony.

A needed change in CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY LAWS

2011-09-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

The first time Suhasini fainted while she worked in the cotton fields, the farmer shouted at her for slacking. "The smell of pesticide made me feel like vomiting," says the nine-year-old. "First it gave me a bad headache. Then I felt sick and dizzy." The next time Suhasini fainted was more serious. The farmer had to take the delirious girl to the nearest hospital. Later Suhasini discovered he’d docked the cost of her medical treatment from her 15 rupee (22 cents) daily wage.

Suhasini, one of Andhra Pradesh’s 82,000 child labourers, continued to work in the fields from 6am until 6pm, day in day out, while the cotton plants were being sprayed with poisonous pesticide. She fainted several more times before her mother was taken ill with a fatal stomach ailment. When Suhasini had to go to live with her uncle, she stopped working and got the opportunity to attend school instead.

Many child labourers continue to work in the cotton fields. Despite the laws that prohibit children younger than 14 working, India is home to the largest number of the world’s working children, with estimates of around 114 million children employed. More campaigns are needed to pressurise companies into taking responsibility for their operations throughout the supply chain instead of making huge profits from cheap and readily available child labor.

Picture 1: Global Concerns Classroom

Picture 2: Child Rights for Change

Text source: www.actionaid.org.uk

FRESH HUGS

2011-09-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

We had another visitor at Yashodhara Shelter: Fernando Munarriz of San Sebastian, Basque Country. Fernando is the Sponsor of Kishor, a seven year old child. Fernando's sister, Maria Jose, is also the Sponsor of another child at the Shelter. Fernando was making a tour around China and India and made a stop for several days in Pune as he wished to meet Kishor and establish a closer bond with him.

Fernando brought gifts for Kishor and the other children, who received them same way they welcome visitors: with enthusiasm and openness. There was no favouritism; no jealousies arose among the children since they are used to sharing their toys and even clothes with their peers. As Kishor's birthday was near, his Sponsor dove into the adventure of buying clothes at a bazaar in the city of Pune together with Eshana, our co-worker who lives at the Shelter and who knows the children’s sizes and tastes.

As regards Fernando, he got to taste and enjoy the atmosphere his godson is living in, and gave him plenty of affection and hugs. At Yashodhara, receiving and giving are in balance and lead to the wonder of sharing.

COVERING MORE GROUND

2011-08-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

This year, Asha-Kiran is contributing to the formation of self-help groups, and to counseling and training adults of two slum communities in the Koregaon Park and Hadapsar areas.

The training consists in teaching adults how to read and write, and the counseling, in providing them information on professional courses and how to form and manage self-help groups. These initiatives aim to empower the adults of these communities in the financial realm, provide tools for them to deal with emergencies, and learn how to give each other financial support.

To perform this task effectively, our social workers contacted the Department of Urban Community Development of Pune, which develops and gives programs and courses, and awards grants to economically disadvantaged groups. We are pleased to have this organization as a partner for the improvement of the economic and working conditions of our target communities.

A group of 11 people is taking shape in the community of Koregaon Park and two groups of 11 people each in the Hadapsar community. The people in these groups have welcomed the program as they realize it will enable them to be independent in their financial activities and improve their decision-making ability for the sustainable development of their families and communities.

INDIA IS LOSING ITS GIRLS

2011-08-22T03:48:00.000-07:00

The first population census of 2011 shows a total of one million two hundred thousand people in India and also presents a worrying fact: for every one thousand boys under 6, there are only 914 girls.

Families prefer to have sons than daughters, especially among economically disadvantaged groups.

Girls in India are still seen as a burden, ‘a bad investment’, because they have to be taken care of only to ultimately join their husband’s household. Therefore, some mothers practice selective abortions or abandon their daughters after birth. If they are born, girls generally receive less attention and healthcare than boys, have a higher level of malnutrition, and are less likely to get an education. Mortality rates are higher among girls. From a very young age, they perform household chores which may take up to eight hours daily – a time they could spend going to school.

At present, India has one of the largest imbalances between boys and girls worldwide. The lack of females could cause serious problems in Indian society according to the Population Fund of the United Nations, one of them being that a significant proportion of young men would not be able to find a partner, especially among the poor. This, in turn, could lead to an increase in violence and trafficking of girls. On the other hand, young women would be pressured to marry and have children at an early age and, therefore, would often give up their education or jobs.

Empowerment of women and the community, access to education, implementation of rights in all sectors of the population, and a system of community solidarity will be key elements in addressing this problem.

YASHODHARA: A WELCOME VISIT

2011-08-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

Mª Angeles, a friend and Volunteer at Asha-Kiran, came to Pune to meet her sponsored child, Ravi, an 11-year-old boy from Yashodhara Shelter, and share some time and presents with him and the other children. Such meetings are as necessary and enriching for the sponsored child as they are for the Sponsor. Cinta, Asha-Kiran's friend and collaborator, also came to visit.

Before being admitted in the Shelter, Yashodhara children used to live in conditions of extreme vulnerability. They came from homes where they may have suffered physical or sexual abuse or may have been forced to work. All this seems very far away when one sees their joy, vitality and their ever-present smiles, but there have been times when their hearts have also had folds of sadness and discouragement.

With a visit from Volunteers and Sponsors, the veils of these folds seem to fall off. A visit is a gift that goes beyond mere human contact. The way that children receive love from visitors, so unexpectedly, opens the door to other ways of experiencing the world. The children seem to be healed by people who come to Yashodhara and have an influence in their many desires and activities. Any gesture, however small it may seem, encompasses many dimensions.

THANKS to Maria Angeles, Cinta, and to all those who share their hearts with children.

Eshana Alcover – live-in Volunteer at Yashodhara Shelter

SNAKES and CHILDREN

2011-08-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

The geographical location of the campus where Yashodhara Shelter is located is an ideal habitat for snakes. Having seen snakes around the Shelter on several occasions in recent months, we decided to inform about them to the nearly two hundred children who live on the campus.

Our Project Coordinator, Aniruddha, and our Social Worker, Deepti, organized the briefing jointly with Mr. Aniruddha Joshi, who is associated with the Information Center and Security Network Department of Pune University.

We made the children aware of the danger posed by snakes through audiovisual support and a detailed explanation of the types of snakes and their characteristics, bites, how to tell by the bite if the snake is poisonous or harmless, and precautions to take to prevent snakes from nesting around the buildings on campus. They were also told about the time limit for treatment and that the campus hospital is well equipped to deal with snake bites.

PRAGATI and PALLAVI

2011-07-24T23:31:00.000-07:00

In the past two months, the Yashodhara family has grown visibly larger. The last two newcomers are Pragati and Pallavi, 12 and 10 respectively. Two days after their arrival, they were already attending the local school.

Pragati and Pallavi used to live with their mother, blind in one eye, who worked in a telephone shop that was shut down by the police. Widowed since the girls were very young, her income suddenly stopped and the possibility of providing for her family was drastically reduced due to her impairment. The family lived on their neighbors’ charity, but the mother did not want her daughters to stop going to school. She contacted Asha-Kiran through an acquaintance; our social workers quickly came to visit them and started the necessary admission procedures.

Both mother and daughters are very grateful for the opportunity given to them. We will make our best effort to exceed their expectations.

NEW SPANISH VOLUNTEERS IN PUNE

2011-07-21T05:20:00.000-07:00

Six Spanish Volunteers came to Pune at the beginning of July wishing to share their creative activities with 'our' children. The workshops are being carried out in all of our Projects: Yashodhara Shelter, Day Care Centers and the Primary Schools that Asha-Kiran works with.

Ana, Elena, Montse, Álvaro and Ane (accompanied by her son and daughter) have brought with them interesting and different ideas such as handicraft making, painting, juggling and puppet making, body language, etc. One of the Volunteers, Maddi, is making videos and a photographic record of the workshops. The activities selected were chosen from nearly a hundred Volunteers who finally made up a group eager to experience, learn and share their knowledge and solidarity with the children.

When the workshops began at Yashodhara, there was an explosion of creativity on both sides. The children had been waiting for the Volunteers, since they knew that people from Spain would come and bring 'a special extra' to their daily activities. The Volunteers, on the other hand, were expectant of how they would be greeted and the impact that their proposals would have, but as usual, the children opened their arms and welcomed them with big smiles and full involvement.

They found work in the Day Care Centers shocking because of the living conditions in the slums where the Centers are located. Feelings of solidarity were aroused and they shed a tear here and there, but the workshops went on amidst joy and enthusiasm.

In the schools, the Volunteers found children who were quite shy and withdrawn at first, but, seeing that they could express themselves naturally, gave free rein to their spontaneity.

Life in India contrasts dramatically with life in Spain ... it invites one to let go and relax again and again. Hence, the Volunteers have also had to make significant adjustments in things like being flexible in view of constant plan changes, simplifying their activities, adapting to the food and non-stop rain, learning to listen to local people in order to get the real gist of what is said, and so on.

Therefore, enrichment and development is not individual or unidirectional, but is born out of a balanced and caring symbiosis between adults, children, activities and environment, which benefits everyone.

BONDED CHILD LABOR IN INDIA

2011-07-16T05:14:00.000-07:00

One of the most inhuman and onerous forms of child exploitation is the age-old practice of bonded labor in India. In it, a child’s labor is treated like security or collateral for cunning rich men who procure small sums to his family at exorbitant interest rates.

Children who are sold as bonded labor only get a handful of coarse grain to keep them alive in return for their labor. Sometimes their period of thrall extends for a lifetime, and they simply have to toil hard and depend on the mercy of their ‘owners’ without any hope of release or redemption. The parent of the bonded child is usually an impoverished, uneducated landless laborer, and the mortgagee is traditionally some big landlord, money lender or business man who thrives on the child’s vulnerability to such exploitation.

The practice of bonded child labor is prevalent in many parts of rural India, but is very conspicuous in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. Here, the bonded child is allowed to reside with his parents if he comes to work at 8 a.m. every day. The practice of child bonded labor persists like a scourge to humanity in spite of many laws against it. Although stringent, these laws are literally non- functional in terms of implementation.

The government did take few directions on the right track initially, but most of their efforts came to naught with time. Moreover, the government’s efforts did not reach high profile industries like cigarette making and carpet weaving. According to Cousen Neff - an official of the Human Rights Watch – “Instead of living up to its promises, the Indian government is starting to backtrack, claiming the problem is being solved. Our research shows that it is not”.

Neff also identified a major link between caste and bondage in Indian society. In many cases, dalit (untouchable) families function as bonded labor due to caste-based discrimination and violence, not only due to poverty. The caste system in India is one of the main foundations on which the edifice of bonded labor rests. Dalits are denied access to land in India, forced to work in inhuman conditions, and expected to perform labor for free. This is due to the so-called upper castes boycotting them socially and subjecting them to economic exploitation. This attitude of society keeps poor families bonded in a scourge of perpetual poverty. It is now very important for all International donors to put pressure on the Indian government to enforce bonded labor and child labor laws in the country.

Source: www.childlabor.in

PARSHURAM AND PREM

2011-07-07T23:01:00.001-07:00

Two more little ones join the Yashodhara family - Parshuram and Prem, 7 and 4.

Young Prem can’t keep still and has captured our attention and affection. Prem means love and all of us are in fact in love with him at Yashodhara. Parshuram is very loving and happy. He’s quite an acrobat, doing cartwheels and various pirouettes all day. His dream is to become a pilot. Like all older siblings, he looks after his younger brother with absolute devotion.

During childhood, children get loving care without asking for it, and since it is as necessary as light and air, it is seen as a normal element in the growing process. But any child who is deprived of it at a given time, is certainly impoverished – this is why no child at the Shelter goes without the affection and care of the professionals who are working for their development.

Prem and Parshuram used to live with their grandmother and father. Their mother left without a trace. Their father, an alcoholic, is often missing for several days at a time and doesn’t work. Their grandmother works in the big market buying and then reselling goods in the street, so she leaves home at 4 am and comes back at 2 pm in order to earn about one euro a day. The children were not attending school and were left alone in their shack in deplorable conditions.

As our family grows, so does the joy of sharing, living together and give continuity to our work. We have yet many dreams to make come true.

ONE OX FOR THIRTY CHILDREN

2011-07-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

The data were collected by AsiaNews.it agency: a good ox in India could be worth as much as 30 children. Yes, children are sold in India.

The world celebrates the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire as a result of the activism of Christian parliamentarian William Wilberforce and other committed people exactly 200 years ago. However, today trafficking continues. In India, 40 or 50% of victims are children, according to Indian NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Children Movement).

"A buffalo can cost Rs 15,000, while the price of a child goes from 500 to 2,000 rupees (10 to 40 Euros)," said Bhuvan Ribhu, who belongs to this organization. Activists denounce widespread police corruption in various parts of India and know cases of children rescued from brothels and forced labor that are recaptured and sold with the connivance of the police. It is commonly admitted that India is the country with most child workers.

Although India is experiencing economic growth and begins to have a middle class, there are still impoverished masses. A construction worker in Bangalore can earn about 30-40 rupees a day (about one euro). The local press has published stories of poor families who sell their second or third child. Poverty, police corruption and lack of education allow networks that traffic with children to have easy access to them.

Source: ForumLibertas.com

REFLECTIONS AND NOTES

2011-06-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

It's been six months since I came to Yashodhara and the experience is always renewed. Only when you consider that something is unusual does the mind leave its stingy side. Perhaps what led me to come here was the hunger of seeing clearly.

Among other tasks, you could say I've become a guardian or caretaker of the children, which to me is an occasional pleasure and to them may be sometimes a nuisance. Perhaps the lack of understanding of their language or the world of children is a constant challenge to consciousness. But I see clearly that the mistake is to judge kids with the scale of adults, forgetting that a child is fast and mobile as a stream and any impurities need not cause great alarm, because the speed of current is in itself the best corrective action. Therefore, it is the caregiver or guardian who must avoid behaving incorrectly.

So stay I tuned to listen, sewing pockets, since a child has yet to be born who is so poor that there is nothing to fill his pockets with. Watching the streams of their likes, dislikes and desires. Becoming aware of how I am receiving a sensory education without fully understanding each step. He who dwells on the surface does not always know what happens in the recesses of consciousness.

Gratefully,

Eshana Alcover – live-in Volunteer at Yashodhara Shelter

CHILD WORKERS IN PUNE

2011-06-28T00:40:00.000-07:00

A task force involving members of various NGOs, the Education Department, the Department of Women and Child Welfare, the Health Department, the Labor Department and the police conduct quarterly raids, each of which rescues around four to five children usually in the age group of 10 to 18. A total of 18 children in the 10 to 15 age group employed in hotels, garages, bakeries and bars were rescued in 58 raids conducted between January 2010 and April 2011 in the city, said additional labour commissioner T.G. Cholke.

According to Manish Shroff, Director of Asha-Kiran Shelters Foundation, State convenor for the Campaign against Child Labour (CACL) and also a member of the task force, the number of children rescued through raids has been decreasing in the last few years. "In 2008, we rescued over 45 children. It was around 40 in 2009. In 2010, we were able to rescue only 25 children. The number has dropped primarily due to the provision in the Child Labour (Prevention and Regulation) Act (CLPRA), 1986, included by the State government in 2009. The Act states that no children below the age of 14 can be employed in hazardous industries. Until then, we had been able to rescue kids up to 18", said Shroff.

"However, effective follow-up post-rehabilitation is missing", Shroff added. "There is no procedure currently that can help us keep track of rescued and rehabilitated children. Therefore, there are high chances of a rescued child going back to work."

With lacunae in the CLPRA, the only way to counter child labor is to focus on the newly-passed Right to Education Act, says Ingrid Mendonca, founder-member of Action for Rights of the Child (ARC). The umbrella organization, comprising 30 NGOs that work for child rights, has started a drive since May-end to get as many children as possible, especially belonging to the migrant community, admitted into municipal schools.

Even though awareness about child labour has increased in society, a proper child care plan that could facilitate effective rehabilitation of rescued child laborers is missing. "In 2009, we wrote to the State Department and the Child Rights Commission about the need to issue to I-cards to members of NGOs involved in rescuing children. This can help members take prompt action by calling the police to the spot the moment we see child laborers employed anywhere in the city. This will cut down the unnecessary time involved in following the current protocol. However, we haven't yet received a favorable response in this regard."

Source: The Times of India

CHILD SLAVERY IN INDIA

2011-06-25T00:24:00.000-07:00

The silk industry is historically one of the largest in India. Most of the silk is used domestically, but exports are growing rapidly. Between 1980 and today, the World Bank has lent approximately $ 800 million to support the silk industry in several areas of India.

By promoting sericulture, the World Bank intends to create jobs, lessen poverty and help disadvantaged groups. But by failing to control or restrict the use of child labor, the overall effect is promoting an industry that relies on child slavery in all steps of the production processes. In the State of Karnataka alone, there are some 100,000 child slaves.

Marukh and Ahad are ten years old and have worked in the silk industry since they were five. Being silk winders, they have to put their hands in boiling water and feel the silk cocoons to see if the fine silk threads are soft enough to be winded. They cannot use forks instead of their fingers due to the theory that only by touching it, can they tell if the thread is ready. The palms of their hands and fingers are full of wounds, burns and blisters.

Moreover, many silk weavers are crammed into dark, wet and airless rooms. These conditions favor the spread of diseases among child workers. In a 1985 study, the Gandhian Institute of Varanasi identified tuberculosis as "the occupational disease of the weaver community." Employers do not provide medical care or first aid to workers who have an accident, and whoever cannot work one day does not get paid.

Human Rights Watch has asked the World Bank to stop lending money to the silk industry until the Indian government enforces the Abolition of Child Slavery Act child and starts a process to identify, release and rehabilitate child slaves. They have also asked the government to urgently implement programs that ensure that children go to school, since this is the only way to break the cycle of child slavery. On the other hand, a spokeswoman for the World Bank states that "The issue of child labor is complex, since in some areas, child labor is essential for the survival of families”.

Source: ebm

WORKSHOP ON SCHOOL ABSENTEEISM

2011-06-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

Since we started working, dropping out of school has been a major problem in our communities. Many children have left school or are about to do so. For this reason, we organized a session for children who are likely to leave school, and their parents.

The workshop focused on the right to education and how children should partake of this right. The whole program was based on the idea of enrolling the children in school and in preventing the increase in the dropout rate. Also, the presence of the parents made it easier for the children to understand the importance of completing their schooling.

The speakers, Renuka Gaikwad and Kavita Bhalerao, belong to the Red Cross in India. Thanks to their many resources, the workshop was participatory and fun.

The speakers spoke to the children about how to improve their communication skills, and the importance of communication and of setting goals. They did this through a talk and a video. To make the workshop participatory as well, they conducted several games involving personality development.

They also gave the children self-assessment questionnaires. After the workshop, they distributed brochures and information for the children to read and reflect on. As a result, both children and parents were well informed. The half-day workshop took place at both Day Care Centers. Twenty seven children participated in total, who were given an opportunity to move towards a better life.

LITTLE VISHAL

2011-06-17T00:34:00.000-07:00

Just a few days away from starting school again, we welcome the new school year and Vishal, a 9-year-old who has recently joined
Asha-Kiran’s family.

Vishal has blended in easily and has been well received by the children, who always welcome new family members with consideration and care. He spends the day singing and playing. He says he is very happy to be here and to have so many new friends. He loves his room and is excited about all the features of the Shelter: the bikes, the library and the study room, a big open space to play in...

Contrasting dramatically with his joy is his ‘life story'. His father, an alcoholic with a long criminal record and currently in jail, tried to burn Vishal’s mother alive. She suffers from mental disorders, attempted suicide twice, and her whereabouts are now unknown. It is Vishal’s grandmother who has taken care of him so far, but their financial difficulties are great and food is often in short supply at home.

Hope has been renewed for Vishal, and we, at Asha-Kiran, have a new chance to grow with him and the other children, always so innocent and vulnerable to external circumstances.

IPEC: world day against child labor

2011-06-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

The International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) was created on June 12, 1992, with the overall goal of progressively eliminating child labor by strengthening the capacity of countries to deal with the problem and by promoting a worldwide movement to combat child labor. IPEC currently has operations in 88 countries and it is the largest program of its kind globally.

The number and range of IPEC’s partners have expanded over the years and now include employers’ and workers’ organizations, other international and government agencies, private businesses, community-based organizations, NGOs, the media, parliamentarians, the judiciary, universities, religious groups and, of course, children and their families.

There is, however, a great deal of work ahead…
Some children, both boys and girls, who live in a slum in the Indian locality of Shivpurva, collect scrap from a large garbage bin. It is a common scene in the entire city of Varanasi. When asked, one of them quickly replies that they are doing what they can to support their families. They know nothing about their rights. Like them, there are scores of young rag-pickers who spend the whole day on the roads.

Child labor not only prevents children from acquiring the skills and education they need to have a better future, it also perpetuates poverty and affects national economies through losses in competitiveness, productivity and potential income. Withdrawing children from the clutches of child labor, providing them with education and assisting their families with training and employment opportunities contribute directly to creating decent job opportunities for adults.

Sources: International Labour Organization/BNET

SLIP BETWEEN LIP AND CUP... unkept promises.

2011-06-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

In India, the Right to Education Act (RTE) that promises a right to free and compulsory education to every child between 6-14 years has just completed its first year. But, unfortunately, a number of children in this age group are still out of school in Uttar Pradesh, though basic education authorities claim no child is left out of school.

"We identified 1,257 such children during the last survey conducted in July-August 2010 and all of them were admitted to different schools”, said Triloki Sharma of the Basic Education Department when contacted. "Presently there is no child in the 6-14-year age group out of school”, he claimed, and added the next survey would be conducted in the coming months of July-August.

It may sound very pleasant, but reality is something else. One can easily see children engaged in roadside dhabas, tea stalls, rag-picking and other 'unhealthy' jobs. They do not go to school for one reason or another. "The claim of officials itself contradicts the fact that the school drop-out rate in Uttar Pradesh is about 25-30%," said Rajni Kant, state convener of Campaign against Child Labour (CACL). "To date, the maximum number of child labourers (about one million), are in Uttar Pradesh" he said and added that given this situation, how could anyone claim that all children were brought under the umbrella of the RTE Act?

THIRD CHILDREN'S CONSULTATION, Mumbai, June 1-3, 2011

2011-06-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

On June 1, coinciding with International Children’s Day, the third edition of the Children's Consultation was held in Mumbai - an event involving more than 80 children from States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. More than ten NGOs participated in this conference, Asha-Kiran Shelters Foundation among them.

The main characters were the children, and it was they who set the direction and spirit of the meeting, accompanied by adults, of course. Each group presented the situation and problems of children in their region, enthusiastically explaining to the rest how they would solve them and how outraged they felt about child exploitation.

The children talked about the importance of education and of being heard. It was very moving to see their vitality and how aware they were of the responsibility they had to keep working and fighting for their country’s children. Some were too young to realize the scope of their actions, but older children were worth watching and listening to - a lesson for adults, educators and companions, whose task was to act as a bridge between the different languages spoken there - Hindi, English, Kannada and Marathi - and to support, listen and respect the children.

On the last day, groups were formed to decide where the next edition and its contents would be. The children representing Asha-Kiran proposed Pune as the venue for next year, saying that despite the work and responsibility this would entail, they could not remain silent given the number of children living on the streets.

During the three day event, participation was strong and the organizers took care of all the details to make the children and their companions feel welcome. The organizers planned a short trip so that those coming from outside Mumbai could get to know the city. Inside the bus, singing songs in all languages, they traveled through the center of town, which they loved. At the end of the event, the children were very grateful to have shared their experiences and made many new friends. Of course they want to do it again!

Eshana – Live-in Volunteer at Yashodhara Shelter Home

EXCURSION TO BHAJA CAVES

2011-05-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

In the villages close to Yashodhara, there are very picturesque and beautiful places. Since we now have free time, we organized a trip to Bhaja Caves. They are ancient Buddhist caves located in Malavli - temples carved into the depths of the mountain. They are astoundingly beautiful, open to the sky, inviting one to be silent.

We climbed the stairs that were built to reach them, and the way up was very pleasant in spite of the heat. You could see the entire valley, houses, agricultural fields, vegetation and birds in flight.

Once in the caves, an intimate encounter between the children and the space took place while they ran around and discovered all the nooks and crannies. They would cling to the stones and a magical space for exploration emerged. Some felt the need to find a resting place; others a place where their curiosity would take the lead and let them merge with the dark labyrinths of empty rooms.

They were totally charmed by the place, happy at the freedom it offered to them; and as always, enjoying and appreciating what we share.

Eshana - Live-in Volunteer at Yashodhara Shelter Home.

PUNE STREET CHILDREN GET A 'SHOT' AT HEALTH

2011-05-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

Pune: on the city streets, 35,000 little ones grapple with big problems every day - from basic survival to illness and physical abuse. Paediatricians who are members of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP), Pune, are keen to change this. They have started out by monitoring the health of the children as part of the Child Abuse, Neglect and Child Labour (CANCL) plan adopted at IAP's national meet in Bangalore in January.

A team identifies the children, who are then given an identity card which can be used for free medical treatment and vaccination. Dr. Vasant Dhamal, IAP President Pune, says "The aim of the drive is to reach out to neglected, deprived, and abused children for their comprehensive needs including health care, education, rehabilitation and protection”. Currently, the doctors are concentrating on increasing the immunisation tally. "The children are administered a single dose of a single vaccine to cover several ailments like DPT (diphtheria, pertusis, tetanus), MMT (measles, mumps, rubella) Hepatitis B and polio. All doses are being supplied free of cost by Serum India”, explains Dilip Sarda, IAP Secretary.

A survey of street children in the city is also being simultaneously carried out. Dr. Sarda says the children are mostly part of a floating population. Since most of them are mostly runaways, they live on sidewalks, railway platforms, under flyovers; others live in shanty colonies with their families. A majority of them suffer from diseases like scabies, diarrhoea and malnutrition. "Begging and rag-picking are two occupations they take up to survive, but sometimes they pick up bad habits like Gutka (chewing tobacco) and even using narcotics", Sarda says. Serious illnesses like Hepatitis b, Leptospirosis and even HIV are not uncommon.

CANCL plans to send a batch of 50 children to Jana Seva, a city-based NGO for rehabilitation and vocational training, besides opening piggy bank accounts for those children who earn some income.

PIAGGIO and CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

2011-05-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

We have received books for our library from the Company Piaggio Automobiles, Pune. They donated approximately 480 books - some old, some new - in three languages: English, Hindi and Marathi.

A relationship with the Company has been established. They are keen to work with NGOs, especially those involved in child education. Although the Vice-president of the Company seemed very interested, he explained that they need time to develop a plan as they are trying to work with another 8-10 NGOs. This has been their first stint in Corporate Social Responsibility.

With this liaison, we enter the realm of corporate ventures and will try to keep on establishing other similar links for cooperation, not only in kind but also in funds and sponsorship.

A NEW BEGINNING

2011-05-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

While doing a general screening of the children from our Projects during our Immunization Program for 2010-11, we came to know the case of Sam Watson, a two year old child with severe heart disease residing in the Koregaon Park community.

The child was referred to a nearby hospital, where all the required tests were conducted. The doctors involved decided to perform an operation on the child, but the surgery was postponed until Sam’s weight increased, he overcame his continuous mild fever, and his blood volume reached the required level.

We immediately started supplementary nutrition for Sam for almost two and half months. Our Social Worker and Teacher counseled the family on how to care for the child and reported on his health status until Sam was in good enough physical condition. In the meantime, we tried to find sponsors or other resources for the operation. Our search led us to another hospital, which readily agreed to conduct the surgery and forwarded the request for the Chief Minister’s Fund. Finally, everything worked out and the decision to carry out operation was finalized.

Sam was admitted in the hospital two weeks before surgery. He successfully underwent heart surgery on 19th April and was released some time later. He is now doing well, notwithstanding his overall weak condition. His parents are taking good post-surgery care of him and our Social Worker is counseling his family regarding his care and regular follow-up treatment.

We wish success to him on his fresh beginning.

With warm regards,

Pradip Balsaraf
Project Co-ordinator
Asha-Kiran Shelters Foundation

LEARNING TO WEAVE

2011-05-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

Now that school is out, Yashodhara children are attending a handicrafts workshop every morning at a Center located in the same NGO Campus that our Shelter Home is in. At this Center, visually impaired women are taught to weave so they can have a trade. The women, who learn to make bags, baskets, and various items made from plastic fiber, have designed workshops for the children who live at Yashodhara.

The first thing that children are learning to weave, are small rugs to sit on. To make them, the children use pieces of brightly colored cloth retrieved from tailor shops, and they are very creative in combining the colors. The next step for them will be to work with plastic fiber. As this material is not as flexible as cloth, children will have to put more effort into their creations, which will be bags for them to put their school lunch in.

It's amazing to see the enthusiasm with which children welcome any activity that is presented to them, and how they dive into learning without any hesitation. An attitude like this, open and inquisitive, coupled with the skills they are acquiring, are and will certainly be invaluable as life skills.

Let’s continue walking hand in hand with them.

Eshana - Live-in Volunteer at Yashodhara Shelter Home.

LOUDER TOGETHER

2011-05-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

The International Day for Street Children: Louder Together was launched on 12th April 2011 - a new campaign to give a louder voice to the millions of street children all around the world so their rights cannot be ignored. Governments need to listen and we want to help make this happen.

All countries have signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (except the USA and Somalia) and have a legal obligation to work towards ensuring that all children's rights are integrated into national law. It is universally recognised that all children should have these rights realised. However, many government policies and practices still do not include street children.

The International Day is supported by Aviva, the world's sixth largest insurance group, as part of their global Street to School programme which aims to help 500,000 street children get back into education or training over the next five years.

Statements of support

Filming Slumdog Millionaire opened my eyes to the horrendous conditions that street children in India are forced to endure on a day to day basis - an unimaginable mix of poverty, hardship, cruelty and abuse. That's why I'm supporting the International Day for Street Children and the Louder Together campaign. These children need a voice and need to be heard by the international community I urge everyone to go online and pledge their support at www.streetchildren.org.uk. - Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire director.

In my capacity as UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, I am honored to lend my voice of support to the International Day for Street Children. I particularly support this campaign's focus on child participation. Children - particularly street children - are not merely victims, but are subjects of rights. They have the right to be heard, and are vectors of proposals on how to improve the situation of children around the world. - Najat Maalla M'Jid, UN Special Rapporteur on Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

All children have the right to grow up healthy, happy and safe; to enjoy education, and develop to their full potential; to be respected in dignity and worth; to feel supported in addressing the unknown, and nurtured in a strong sense of belonging.
These are universal values all nations have committed to respect but they tend to fade away when the situation of children living or working in the street is at stake. Then, stigma, indifference, invisibility and fear, routinely prevail.
This International Day is an extraordinary opportunity to reverse this pattern, and to launch an era where the fulfilment of the rights of street children, and their effective protection from violence, can define their universe. Being louder together, we will make it happen! - Marta Santos Pais, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children.

AN AFTERNOON AT THE MOVIES

2011-05-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

During the month of May, children are on vacation in Pune. There is no school until June, so we have a little over a month to have fun and play. Besides, May is the hottest month of the year, so we have the fans going all day. The weather is perfect to go to the movie theater and enjoy a good movie and the air conditioning.

Today we went to the 3 pm showing. It was the hottest time of day and there was a regional film in Marathi. The film was called Bal Gandharva (Singer of the heavens), the name of a famous old classic theater actor who was born in Pune. It was a biographical picture and not too Bollywood-like. The session was very entertaining and also educational as far as traditions and history go.

The Bollywood film industry is usually fantastic and unrealistic, but this movie generated debate and questions in the children. The unusual part was that it was subtitled in English, quite an surprise for a rather provincial movie. The session was divided into two parts and we had drinks and snacks during intermission. Nice! So here we are ... enjoying the holidays and good movies.

Eshana - Live-in Volunteer at Yashodhara Shelter Home.

INTERVIEW TO UTTAM MÓDENES

2011-05-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

"India has much to offer to the world"

Uttam Módenes, born in the Basque Country, Spain, traveled to India for the first time at age 19 and fell in love with it. He discovered mystic India, "full of smiles, colors and aromas", but also the "abject poverty, disregard, resignation and indignity" which a large part of its population lives in. He is the president of Fundación Asha-Kiran (Ray of Hope, in Hindi), which supports vulnerable children. This NGO organized a photo exhibition inRenteria, Basque Country, in March.

You claim that it is hard to know India and not question the values that drive us here in the West.

Yes, India is always surprising and its visitors can never remain indifferent to it. It is the country where more mystics, enlightened beings and teachers of the sacred have been born. Its history is one full of meditation and inner search. But perhaps it is precisely that which has created a great imbalance on the material level. There are currently millions of people who endure serious lacks of the most basic resources. India has much to offer the world. It is perhaps the only country in the world with a word, "Leela", that regards life a cosmic game, and even nowadays this view permeates the daily lives of people.

Asha-Kiran has launched the Yashodhara Shelter, two Day Care Centers and various initiatives such as the dental health program. They aim to create a ‘home’, to make it possible for children to enjoy the right to be children, to play, to be valued, to learn, to develop vitality and the ability to be happy. Is your work achieving the desired results?

The amount of social work that India needs is huge. There is an immense lack of education, and this lack is the root of many barriers to development and the balance of millions of people living in vulnerable situations, especially women and children. Asha-Kiran aims to contribute in offering opportunities for the future through projects that implement education programs, holistic health and training. It is wonderful to watch the transformation that takes place in children who benefit from this type of projects. In fact, the only thing that vulnerable people need is the chance to conduct their own development. This is what we wish to go on doing, and it is an honor for Asha-Kiran that all these children will allow us to do so.

Another opportunity that you offer to these kids are the creative workshops. Of what value are they to their lives?

Creativity is the essence of human beings and of nature as a whole. Through creativity, we make beauty evident and tune into what we are and into our source of life. There is nothing more healing, more balanced, than to channel this creative cascade that beats within each of us. And with India’s ‘lower class’ children, it is a pleasure to promote creative workshops because since they’re very young they are connected with music, dance and manual labor. They accept what is proposed to them and go to it, forgetting for a time the drama that many of them live.

What sort of welcome have the activities organized in Errenteria had?

Since we started the delegation of Asha-Kiran in the Basque Country, Errenteria was the first town where we started organizing awareness- and fundraising events. The two dinners we had at Batzoki restaurant and the photo exhibition in Xenpelar have shown the solidarity and generosity of the people here. People who have approached us encourage us to keep working and are very interested in supporting us. Errenteria was the best gateway to the Basque Country, and I am thankful for this.

You are a yoga and dance therapy teacher, and lead seminars and retreats for personal development. Do you think that Western society needs to explore new ways of being?

It is becoming increasingly obvious that there is a need for transformation in the way human beings live, far from his own nature. Mechanized life has made us forget that we belong to nature; forget what our essence is and the natural feelings that we are born with. Words like compassion, generosity, love, solidarity, friendship, have become ‘good-willed’ activities, almost suspicious and belonging to a distant utopia. An unstoppable “spiritualizing action” Is already taking place, and it will result in the checking of attitudes and the emergence of a new moral consciousness. I'm sure of it. The next adventure will be to consciousness.

SOLIDARITY PLAY IN RIBAFORADA, NAVARRA

2011-05-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

The Valle del Ebro High School, in a joint initiative with the Department of Culture of the City of Ribaforada (Navarra), presented the play “Four Hearts with Brakes and Reverse Gear” on 17 April.

The 492 Euro collection was donated to Asha-Kiran in its entirety to support the Foundation’s social work with vulnerable children in India.

We are thankful for the work of our co-worker in Ribaforada, and the solicitous participation of both entities to present this play, which has brought together enjoyment, art and caring hearts.

ASHA-KIRAN IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY

2011-04-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

PHOTO EXHIBITION "INDIA, EYES TO SEE WITH" IN RENTERIA AND SOLIDARITY DINNER IN RESTAURANT BATZOKI

From 22 March to 5 April, the Delegation of Asha-Kiran in the Basque Country, together with the Department of Culture of the City of Errenteria Town Hall, organized the photo exhibition INDIA, EYES TO SEE WITH in Xenpelar Etxea Exhibition Hall, which showed pictures of children taken by Uttam in India during his travels.

The pictures reflect a desire to reflect the vitality of vulnerable children in India who, despite the difficulties they face every day in their young lives, show trust in having a brighter future; none of them have doubts as to what they "would like to be when they grow up”.

"India, Eyes to See with" is an invitation to see and perceive their eyes and what they express and, at the same time, to open our eyes and acknowledge the vulnerability that millions of children live in; children whose basic rights are violated and who are denied true possibilities of living with dignity.

The exhibition was opened by showing the video "Painting Yashodhara" to the twenty or so people who attended the get-together, and which captures moments in the lives of the children who live at Yashodhara Shelter.

Approximately 300 people came to the photographic exhibition during the two weeks it remained open. According to Junkal, in charge of Xenpelar Plastic Arts Workshop, it was "a big success, taking into account that it was an activity organized by an NGO”.

As a crowning touch, Batzoki Restaurant in Errenteria organized a Solidarity Dinner on March 31; a meal with a caring purpose which almost 60 people enjoyed. The restaurant donated the full collection from the dinner - 1870 Euros - to Asha-Kiran.

We wish to thank all the people who have worked so that these activities could take place, and the people from Errenteria for their generous welcome and participation. Errenteria has been the gateway in the Basque Country to our new Delegation there.

We would like to name them all but there are too many...

An affectionate hug and our thanks to all.

ART-RESPECT

2011-04-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

Last March at Yashodhara Shelter, art director Julián Hernández led a workshop in Art and Respect. This way, Asha-Kiran collaborated with artist Jose Maria Moraza, founder of Fundación Respeto, in the work that his Foundation calls "Love for the Universe" and which has been unfolding since 1997.

All the children from the Shelter expressed their idea of love and respect through a Sign-Gesture that they painted on wood without using a pre-imposed pattern – a painted gesture that they acknowledged as their own. When the signs were finished, they were hung up on a wall so that the children can see themselves reflected in their works and come to value their abilities.

We thank Fundación Respeto and Julián Hernández for their energy and dedication, and our children for their enthusiasm and joy, which motivate us to continue working with Love and Respect.

ASHA-KIRAN AT YOUTH WEEK IN TORREJON

2011-04-12T02:16:00.000-07:00

Youth Week, organized by the local government of Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid) with the collaboration of different youth groups, provides to young and old alike the opportunity to experience some memorable experiences during seven consecutive days. Many and varied leisure and cultural activities, workshops, sports, concerts, exhibitions, competitions, scavenger hunts, etc., make up the program of this event, which is already a benchmark both locally and regionally.

On Sunday April 10, Fundación Asha-Kiran participated at this Solidarity Arena within the framework of Youth Week. A young crowd gathered at the amusement park to enjoy a music and dance Festival where they also had the chance to find out about the social work done by several NGOs through the information booths located in the Solidarity Arena.

Asha-Kiran’s stand organized a Workshop on Education for Aid to Development as well as several activities to raise awareness about the plight of vulnerable children in India. Many young people participated, wishing to become acquainted with Asha-Kiran’s work and contribute, in one way or another, through Volunteering activities.

Our THANKS to the City of Torrejón for providing this public space for participation; our thanks to Andrea and Bruno, who joined us this afternoon, for their dedication and support to Asha-Kiran’s endeavour of building a suitable world for children.

HOLI MADRID

2011-03-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

The first Holi Festival in Madrid was held on Saturday March 26, at the Plaza de Felipe II.

Holi, or Festival of Colors, is one of the most important festivals in the Hindu calendar, celebrated every year by millions of people in India. Children and adults take to the streets and town squares and throw colored powder to each other and everyone they run into to express their joy at the arrival of spring. Asha-Kiran, together with Bollywood Dance School Club Masala, organized this event, to which came people of all ages, young people of Indian origin, residents of Salamanca district and other parts of the city, people from other cities in Spain, etc. Besides the music and the Bollywood show, the traditional Colored Powder Rain, rooted in ancient Indian tradition, proved a success due to the enthusiastic participation of the majority of the public present.

The main objective for holding this festival was to spread the Indian culture and to promote multiculturalism, coinciding with the celebration of the International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples Struggling against Racism and Racial Discrimination. The children were prominent participants and, besides having fun in the Powder Rain, they participated in the activities Asha-Kiran organized especially for them on Education for Development and which dealt with non-discrimination and universal values and rights of children.

The information booth helped disseminate the work of Fundación Asha-Kiran by informing the public about its Social Projects for children. Funds were raised at the handicraft bazaar, which will be wholly destined to our beneficiaries in India.

Club Masala, headed by Salome, was in charge of directing the lively shows and Bollywood dance workshops for the audience, and organizing the Colored Powder Rain. From here, we wish to thank Club Masala wholeheartedly for their generous disposition and support to

Asha-Kiran’s work, as much in Spain as in India, as well as the rest of Volunteers who contributed with their presence at the information stand and the workshops. It is only thanks to them that this Spring Festival has come true.

NAMASTE.

WALKING WITH YASHODHARA

2011-03-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, I joined Yashodhara Shelter Home as a Volunteer in the Project. I was already familiar with the Project and most of the children, but even so, the task to be undertaken was unknown to me, since I had moved within different parameters in my everyday life.

I set aside the first few days to observe everything and enjoy my being there; I could not do anything else before the wonderful vitality that permeates the house. From early morning until the sun sets, there is endless activity – study, games, great food...

The daily contact with the children gave me the confidence and the tools to work with them to support their development and vital process, bringing in a degree of attention to certain issues to ensure that they feel cared for in their daily life.

In the first weeks after my arrival, four new children joined our Home. Surprisingly, they immediately ran around happily and were easily accepted by all their housemates. For the new children, everything is about learning, and their new friends guide and support them with school work, personal hygiene and everyday matters.

I also perform management and support procedures in Yashodhara, bringing in my previous experience from Spain, and attend meetings with the team that works for the Foundation, integrating and sharing ideas to improve the functioning of the Home, a partnership which is always welcome by the team. I feel very supported and accompanied at all times, both by members of Asha-Kiran in India and in Spain.

So these months are being very enriching at all levels: there is time to reflect, time to play, time to learn, time to share...

Eshana Alcover

HOLI MADRID. Asha-Kiran holds the Spring Celebration.

2011-03-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

On 26th March, Madrid will wear brightly colored clothes and will dance Bollywood style to welcome spring and celebrate the Holi festival at Plaza de Felipe II.

In this event, open to everyone and hosted by Fundación Asha-Kiran and Club Masala School, we will see the traditional Colored Rain as it is done in India each year. Special colored powder bags will be distributed among the public, which they will throw to each other. For this reason it is advisable to wear clothing that you don’t mind soiling, preferably white or light colors to make the powder colors stand out more. There will also be several shows and Bollywood dance workshops performed and directed by Club Masala, the first Dance School in Spain dedicated to promoting the Indian culture through Bollywood dances.

Fundación Asha-Kiran, dedicated to Cooperation Projects for vulnerable children in India, will hold entertaining, child-oriented educational workshops on cooperation to development during this celebration. In addition, at Asha-Kiran’s information stand, the public will be able to see the work that the Foundation carries out in India and will be made more aware of the plight of vulnerable children
.
The aim of this event is to spread the culture of India and to promote interculturalism in a festive and integrating atmosphere, coinciding with the celebration of the International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples Struggling against Racism and Racial Discrimination, proclaimed by the International Assembly of the United Nations, from March 21 to 27.

Holi is the Spring Festival held every year by millions of people in India to welcome spring. Children and adults go out in the streets and city squares and throw colored powder to each other, to express joy for the arrival of spring. It is one of the most important festivals in the Hindu calendar, during which all business establishments are closed. It is celebrated with great enthusiasm and people wear white clothes so that colors from the powders will be brighter.

This is the first time that this festival is held in Madrid, but there are already several cities in different countries around the world that join this traditional Indian Spring Festival each year. Melbourne, London and Singapore are some of the cities that hold this lively festival with the aim of spreading the Indian culture and promoting integration between cultures.

Event Information:
Name. HOLI MADRID 2011. Hindu Spring festival.
Date and Time: March 26, 16h - 20h.
Place: Plaza de Felipe II, Madrid.
Website: http://www.holimadrid.blogspot.com/

WATER WORLD DAY at the DAY CARE CENTERS

2011-03-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

To introduce the children of the Day Care Centers to "World Water Day", held on March 22, we briefly explained its historical background, telling them the causes of water scarcity in different places in India and its communities. This way they understood that they are responsible for their environment. The children discussed ways to save water and reduce the environmental imbalance that causes reduction in rainfall and unseasonal rain.

After this chat, we urged them to make a poster on ways to save water and make trees grow. Later, a march was organized in each community to make parents and relatives aware of the problem. We instilled in the children the responsibility of caring for the environment and using water wisely. They planted a tree in a pot to help it grow, as it is theirs and it is a practical way to help save water and the environment.

In total, 33 children from Hadapsar participated in this initiative and 22 from Koregaon Park.

HOLI WITH THE WARMTH OF HOME

2011-03-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

The night before the Holi Festival (the celebration of spring and color), the children from Yashodhara held, together with other organizations, a ceremony called Holika. The ceremony symbolizes the victory of light over darkness and the victory of a true devotee. They made a big pile of wood and when dusk came, they set it on fire. The children began to run around it, screaming and howling, following the tradition. It was a beautiful night with a full moon and the festival had just begun. Then they headed home to have a delicious special dinner and go to sleep.

The next morning they woke up very early and eagerly looked for the adults in the house, who had left barrels of water and prepared many envelopes with colored powder the night before. The envelopes were handed out and ... off they went! All through the morning the children threw buckets of colored water, dust and even water mixed with mud to each other. They ran, planned ambushes, went to look for their friends at other buildings ... anyone who came near them was showered with color and joy. They wondered whether Holi was celebrated in Spain also, since they wanted to share it with the people who care for them.

In Girona, Spain, on the same day and for the fourth year in a row, there was a Body Techniques Workshop and Dances to raise funds for Asha-Kiran’s Projects. And this year, they also celebrated Holi there to welcome the spring and its radiant colors.

INDIA INCREASES LEGAL PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN

2011-03-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

There has been a significant increase in cases of sexual offences against children in India; from 2265 in 2001 to 5749 in 2008. The new Bill passed by the Parliament on 2nd March, 2011, provides for a jail term up to 10 year or even life imprisonment for child sex abusers. The Bill also legalizes consensual sex with a person aged between 16-18 years.

The new law will cover all new aspects of sexual offences against children not covered elsewhere. The proposed legislation aims at protecting children against offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography, and provide for establishment of special courts for trials of such offences.

The bill provides for treating sexual assault as "aggravated offence" when it is committed by a person in position of trust or authority over a child, including a member of the security forces, police officer, public servant, management or staff of a children's home, hospital or educational institution. As per the draft bill, aggravated penetrative sexual assault against a child victim may lead to rigorous imprisonment for not less than 10 years.

The bill has the provision to extend the penalty to imprisonment for life, including a fine. It will be treated as an aggravated offence when the child victim is below 12 or has mental or physical disabilities, or the sexual offence causes grievous hurt or injury to the child with long-term adverse effects on the child's mind and body.

Activists speak

Though the bill has been welcomed by most activists across India, they only hope that it doesn’t become another material in black and white and remains only in books. More pressure has to be given to implementing it effectively, and no ways should be found for loopholes from the Act.

Activist 1: "The bill provides for a maximum punishment of ten years in case of penetrative sex - the gravest offence of all. But in order to send across a strong message, especially in case of aggravated forms of crime, such as gang-rapes, the punishment ought to have been stepped up to life-imprisonment. Also, while the bill recommends counseling for the victims and families, it ought to have been made mandatory,"

Activist 2: “The punishments were carefully calibrated, in keeping with each of the three categories of sexual offences - penetrative, non-penetrative and non-contact (cases pertaining to exhibitionism and exposure of the child to pornography) and therefore, satisfactory.”

Activist 3: “Even as the bill dealt with the "tricky" issue of exposing children to pornography, it did not stress the issue of internet-based pornography enough, which is increasingly becoming a matter of grave concern.”

Activist 4: “The shame culture that exists in India on every sexual issue has led to an ethos where everything is fine as long as we don’t talk about it. This shame turns into guilt, plaguing family members, community and ultimately the child.”

WELCOME, ARJUN AND KARAN

2011-03-05T07:34:00.000-08:00

In 2009, these brothers and their mother moved from Mumbai to Pune in search of a better life. Life, however, has not been easier for them since. Their mother works gathering and selling scrap metal and earns around €1 a day. In order to earn a living, she leaves their shack early in the morning and comes back late at night, so the children have had to rely on their neighbours to get some food. Before joining Yashodhara, neither of them was enrolled in school.

Arjun and Karan arrived in Yashodhara while the other children were in school, a bit shy and unsure. But when they went through the house and saw their new beds and lockers, the expression on their faces began to change. Then their housemates came home and they all started talking and playing straight away. Meeting their new friends was a joyful explosion.

Young Karan is charming and uninhibited. He has a curious nature and has started school and support classes with keen interest. Arjun gets along with everyone and has adapted to Yashodhara as if he had been there a long time already.

For them, their new home is a chance to grow and develop; for us, their presence is a new gift to be treated with care and respect.

SECOND SOLIDARITY DINNER IN MADRID

2011-03-03T07:19:00.000-08:00

On Monday 28 February, we had a solidarity dinner at Vergel Vegetarian Restaurant, which 57 people attended. They, with their generous participation, provide the energy that Asha-Kiran needs to pursue its social work towards a suitable world for children.

This new dinner was organized to meet the many people who were unable to come to the January Solidarity Dinner for lack of room. We are delighted to feel the warmth and closeness of so many people who do not hesitate to participate in the gatherings we organize; this is the energy that we carry over to our Projects in India.

Each of these events not only serves as a way of raising the necessary funding to move forward with our Projects, but as a way to remember and pay homage to the vulnerable children who Asha-Kiran works for.

The documentary video "Painting Yashodhara" was viewed during the meal. The video was recorded by Volunteers who took part in last summer’s creative workshops with children from Yashodhara, the Day Care Centers and Pune Schools, and portrays the vitality we wish to share.

Once again, Club Masala, headed by Salomé, selflessly shared Bollywood dances that allowed us to "taste" India for a while and filled the dining hall with color and brightness.

Thanks and a hug to each and everyone for participating and making us feel your closeness. We look forward to meeting you in upcoming get-togethers.

CARING AND LEARNING

2011-02-20T02:05:00.000-08:00

Yashodhara has begun a new activity for its children: Sundays will be a time for recreation and learning by spending two hours in the morning shaping and caring for a garden and a vegetable patch.

The children were delighted when they heard about the new activity. Previously, they used to clean around the house every Sunday, but now they can participate in the creation and care of their Home. They like plants, especially fruit trees. There are some mango trees around the house and the children look forward to their blooming in order to have mangoes to eat.

Asha-Kiran integrates environmental education in the children’s overall education to awaken in them a deep respect and love for their environment that will motivate them to care for it and share it with others.

SOLIDARITY DINNER IN MADRID - SHARING FEELINGS

2011-02-01T00:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Monday January 31, Asha-Kiran held a Solidarity dinner for 66 guests at Ecocentro Restaurant, which very generously donated the totality of the funds raised to the social work that A-K does in India.

Asha-Kiran views awareness-raising as an important task. Sharing feelings and creating the atmosphere for this to happen is for us a unique form of raising awareness. The use of different forms of Art seeks the awakening of an awareness that naturally chooses values that make us more understanding and sympathetic to our own attitudes and those of others.

Thus, Basque poet Juan Luis Deza from Vitoria-Gasteiz joined us generously on this solidarity evening by unfolding poems that flourished in the audience in the form of love, unity and silence – an invitation to "put on" these feelings forever.

We wish to give our thanks Ecocentro Restaurant for giving us the chance to share these moments and for nourishing us with care; to the public that contributed with the human warmth needed; to Juan Luis Leza for making himself available; to the Volunteers who prepared the get-together so lovingly and carefully; to the dozens of people who could not attend due to lack of space or time; and to those girls and boys who are always Asha-Kiran’s driving force and who allow us to journey through generosity and passion.

We hope to continue having your support and... feelings.
Thank you.

WORLD PEACE AND NON VIOLENCE DAY

2011-01-30T14:40:00.001-08:00

Nobody is less able to aid his fellow beings than he who commits acts of violence, since the scope of our actions is potentially devastating for developing generations and, therefore, for future ones.

From remote ages, violence has been employed as payment for offenses and to impose points of view and desires. Moreover, it has been used to fight itself – this way, the imagined solution has turned the path to the much desired Peace into an endless one.

The seeds of life without violence are to be sown in children at every moment, through our daily actions. However, for the seeds to develop their potential, it is essential that parents and educators be the living example of a culture of peace. It is not enough to talk about it – it is vital to back up words with countless experiences of harmony, understanding and kindness. The redemption of the human species lies in adults who, awakening their spiritual intelligence, go deeper – not only in relation to a sense of transcendence, but also in regard to important traits such as gratitude, non-violence, humility and compassion. This is the best legacy we can bestow upon the children we love.

Let us discover the innate spiritual intelligence within each of us. Human fulfillment necessarily involves being accessible to others through sensitivity and justice.

Let us make our wells deeper. Let us bestow upon ourselves and our children a life full of joy, vitality and dignity. Let us get down to work…

RAJU AND MAHESH

2011-01-28T12:34:00.000-08:00

Two brothers aged 10 and 6, Raju and Mahesh, have joined Yashodhara. We have welcomed them with open arms.

The story of their short life, like that of the rest of the children in our family, is full of struggles. Their family is in a very precarious financial situation. Every day, their mother looks for work at construction sites but does not always find it, and when she can work she earns about €2 a day.

When work was available, there was nobody to take care of the boys or make them go to school. The lack of a responsible adult was also evident in a poor diet and the constant fights Raju and Mahesh had with other kids of their slum.

At Yashodhara, Raju takes care of Mahesh. They are always together when they eat, go to sleep and when they get ready for school. Raju gets along well with the rest of the group and serves their peers at mealtimes as a sign of gratitude. He has blended in effortlessly and pays attention during academic support classes at Home. Mahesh is very energetic; he’s always looking for ways to play, but does not miss a beat in support classes either. He is cared for by the other children because he looks somewhat frail.

We are pleased that after two weeks in Yashodhara and already in school, both of them appear happy and self-assured thanks to the attention of our staff and the warm welcome from the other children.

They undoubtedly have a way to tread, but the moments that make up their path will support their development and health in every way. We are deeply thankful for the opportunity to walk beside them.

CYCLING FREE

2011-01-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, January 9th, ten bicycles donated by a Sponsor and contributor of Asha-Kiran arrived at Yashodhara. The children were waiting for their ‘present’ impatiently without knowing what it was ... some said they would like it to be bikes. Their wait dragged on since the bikes came four hours later than expected.

All the children jumped for joy when they saw what it was. As there were 10 bikes and 23 children, they sometimes shared one bike among three or went on short individual rides and then let someone else have a go. Some children learned to ride with help from a friend, while the younger ones were happy to ride in the back. One boy refused to ride but was happy to chase after the rest...

During the week, the children's schedule is tight, so bike-riding is reserved for weekends. There are bound to be some arguments about whose turn it is, some tears after a fall, and some bumps here and there, but come Saturday, everyone goes out to ride around the spacious grounds where Yashodhara is located, discovering unexplored areas and skills.

THANKS to our dear friend and Sponsor for giving joy and providing new experiences to our children.

EDUCATING FOR DEVELOPMENT

2011-01-05T11:56:00.000-08:00

What if the fairytales’ fairy lost her magic wand? ...thus began the activity carried out by Asha-Kiran on December 30 at the City of Dreams in Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid. This activity had the aim of educating children in a fun and participative way on the importance of respecting their fundamental rights without distinction of race, gender or background.

Stories, magic and puppets were the main tools that Ana and Jaime used while personifying the Fairy and Panchocolate and with which they invited, engaged and educated the children in an enjoyable manner suited to their age.

Here are some pictures… by the expression on the children’s faces it seems they all enjoyed the show!

EYE CARE

2010-12-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

This year, Asha-Kiran launched its Eye Care Program in collaboration with HV Desai Hospital, which will provide its services to our beneficiaries at no cost. The vision screening campaigns, which will lead to specific treatments for every case and need, are being carried out at all of our Projects: Nikam and Khese Schools, the Day Care Centers and Yashodhara.

The screening began in late November and will continue once a week until late December. Approximately 300 children are screened at a time. To date, we have found three cases of severe visual impairment in one school which have already been referred to our partner hospital. The parents of the children expressed their appreciation for the detection of vision handicaps in their children.

We believe it is important for children to have good eyesight for learning, for being self-sufficient and for them to enjoy everyday life.

Through this new initiative, we are covering one more area in the comprehensive care of our beneficiaries.

KHEL - KHEL, A SPORTS MEET

2010-12-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

This was the second year that Concern India Foundation organized the Khel Khel Main Athletic Competition for children. The event, which lasted all day, was held on 27 November and it included about 50 NGOs and more than 1,500 children. On this occasion, Asha-Kiran participated with a team of 20 children from its Projects – 8 from Yashodhara and 6 from each of the Day Care Centers. To prepare for the event, all the children rehearsed almost 2 weeks for the parade and anthem of the opening ceremony. The sports section of the competition included a relay race and races of different distances. The games section included not only children but also coordinators and volunteers.

Gold, silver and bronze trophies were awarded to the winners, and all competitors received a participation certificate.

Asha-Kiran’s children won 6 gold, silver and bronze awards and Krishna, a boy from Yashodhara, also won a trophy to the best athlete, since he got three different medals.

At the end of the day, the children were as exhausted as they had previously been eager to participate. They had loads of fun and look forward to participating again next year.

SOLIDARITY CONCERT

2010-11-24T12:29:00.000-08:00

Alain Pizazz and Alejandro Urilá, the Kontrarium band, offered a charity concert in Malaga featuring creative music with guest artists Azael Ferrer in the multimedia show, Roberto Herruzo at the crystal goblets, Angel Martin with eastern percussion and flute, Rafael García in charge of the lighting and Jorge Vera in charge of sound.

Primitive tools such as the Australian Digeridoo, the Indian mouth harp, the Archidona zumba, Eastern percussion, in addition to Mongolian chants, the harmonium, the chicotén of Castile, the acoustic guitar... all accompanied by the images show, sounded loud and clear so that Yashodhara children may tune to another reality, that of a childhood in which their rights and needs are respected.

Thank you for offering and sharing your talents.
Photo by Juan Ortiz

POOJA AND KISHOR

2010-11-15T12:23:00.000-08:00

We have two new family members, sister and brother.

Pooja and Kishor, 8 and 7 years old, were previously living with their grandmother and their HIV+ mother in a Pune slum. They started attending school this past year, but as it was a long walk away from home and mom could not always bring them or pick them up due to her illness, their attendance was very irregular.

The family finances were not good, either. Grandma is the only source of income because mom cannot work. After interviewing the family, it didn’t take long for us to welcome the children in.

Thankful that son and daughter are looked after, cared for and schooled by Asha-Kiran, mom can now rest and get treatment at the local hospital without worrying about them, and grandma will not have such a heavy burden on her.

This is a new beginning for a pair of siblings who will soon find out that their family is much bigger than just four people.

EYE CARE

2010-11-10T11:10:00.000-08:00

This year, Asha-Kiran launched its Eye Care Program in collaboration with HV Desai Hospital, which will provide its services to our beneficiaries at no cost. The vision screening campaigns, which will lead to specific treatments for every case and need, are being carried out at all of our Projects: Nikam and Khese Schools, the Day Care Centers and Yashodhara.

The screening began in late November and will continue once a week until late December. Approximately 300 children are screened at a time. To date, we have found three cases of severe visual impairment in one school which have already been referred to our partner hospital. The parents of the children expressed their appreciation for the detection of vision handicaps in their children.

We believe it is important for children to have good eyesight for learning, for being self-sufficient and for them to enjoy everyday life.

Through this new initiative, we are covering one more area in the comprehensive care of our beneficiaries.

artsolidari

2010-11-09T12:12:00.000-08:00

Twenty renowned artists from Girona, Catalonia, donated some of their works of art for an exhibition in support of Yashodhara Shelter Home. We thank Asha-Kiran Volunteers and Fundación Valvi for organizing and launching this event.

The artists and representatives of Fundación Asha-Kiran were present at its inauguration, which took place on November 6th.

One of the rooms of the gallery houses the artists’ works, and the other presents a wide view of India through the photographs of Uttam Módenes.

This activity promotes collaboration among artists, volunteers and the general public with the aim of bridging communication gaps and fostering links that will contribute to the sustainability and development of our Projects with vulnerable children.

Our thanks to the Artists, Organizers and Public for their solidarity.

NEW ART WORKSHOPS IN PUNE

2010-09-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

Summer news: the Arts and Crafts Workshops carried out in August in Pune were a complete success!

The idea: to express, to create and to have fun.
The participants: the children from our two Day Care Centers, Yashodhara Home, and the two public schools in Pune – Khese and Nikam – with which Asha-Kiran works in its new ‘Improvement of Primary Education Project’.
The organizers: four artists and a photographer, all Spanish Volunteers.

At the end of July, with great enthusiasm and a lot of material, María Soutullo, María Balibrea, Esther Esquinas and Tess Quintana, left for Pune to begin the workshops that they had so conscientiously prepared. David Gomez Rollán photographically documented the development of the workshops.

Among the activities carried out were the painting of murals and the making of puppets and big-headed beings, various ornaments and figures, origami, collages, toys, board games, carvings and necklaces – all of them from various materials and recycled items.

There were significant differences in the participation of children from Asha-Kiran’s Projects and that of children from the schools – the former plunged into the activities with great ease and joy, while the latter were rather timid at the beginning and had more difficulty learning to handle the different materials. This could be due to the fact that the children from the Day Care Centers and Yashodhara were already familiar with basic techniques such as cutting, pasting, painting and others that require some manual dexterity, while in the public schools of Pune, the students do not often have the opportunity to develop manual skills or participate actively in class.

Gradually, however, the children from Khese and Nikam Schools gained confidence and 'got down to work' while the Volunteers encouraged them, no matter what their final 'creations' looked like. The last day of activities, there was a party at the participating schools with piñatas and great cheer.

At the DCC’s and Yashodhara, in addition to the children's individual handiwork, the walls were covered with colorful paintings for the delight of visitors and the children themselves – undoubtedly a highly rewarding experience for both Volunteers and Beneficiaries.

A NEW MEMBER OF THE YASHODHARA FAMILY

2010-08-30T00:31:00.000-07:00

Once we finished moving Yashodhara to Kamshet and our 20 children got accustomed to their new surroundings, the next step was to open the Shelter’s doors to more girls and boys, as our new facilities will be able to house 26 more children. Of all the applications we received, only a few were chosen for closer examination. Among them, Ravi Jadhav’s (now 9 years old) stood out. Both of Ravi’s parents had died in his hometown a few years back, and his maternal aunt had taken him to her humble home in Pune. However, Ravi's tribulations did not end with the death of his parents, for living with her aunt’s sons, around ten years older than him, proved to be a very trying experience.

Due to the continuous beatings from his cousins, Ravi’s aunt reported her own sons to the local police, who shrugged the matter off. Powerless to stop the abuse, and desperate to get his nephew out of this situation, the aunt came to Asha-Kiran hoping to find a way out for Ravi.

In a situation where immediate action was of the essence, Ravi was admitted in the Shelter almost immediately, where the children gave him a warm welcome. Not only did Ravi physically blend into the Home very fast, but emotionally as well. After one month in Yashodhara, he is attending the local school. Besides having joined a home where he is emotionally cuddled by peers and caregivers, the psychologists who work with the children in Yashodhara will also work with Ravi so that he may gradually assimilate new patterns of coexistence. Psychological counseling will also be offered to his family, since aiding to achieve family balance and offering new avenues of communication between children and their guardians or relatives, is an important part of Asha-Kiran’s work, aside from being a significant element in the healthy development of children.

Pleased to have Ravi among us, we continue evaluating applications of children who will bring new shades of color to Yashodhara Shelter.

PROJECT NEWS IN SUMMER

2010-08-23T23:55:00.000-07:00

Wishing to keep you up to date about what is happening in our Projects in Pune, we bring to you a short summary of our activity in recent months.

The Hadapsar DCC had water blockage problems which were solved by the complete renovation of the Center, now a semi-permanent structure.
Twenty four children from this DCC have enrolled in school, while all of the Koregaon Park Center children go to school. In addition, nine children have enrolled in an ‘English Medium School’, where all classes are in English.
The vaccination program was postponed until August because the Hospital that works with Asha-Kiran was not able to carry it out on the dates scheduled for July. The hospital has agreed to continue immunizing not only children but also women, including breastfeeding mothers.
Four women in the Koregaon Park slum have agreed to undergo sterilization under the Family Planning Program.

We found that two children in Hadapsar and three in Koregaon Park were undernourished. We will plan a diet for them to be followed at the DCC’s and at home. While discussing this issue, we saw the possibility of starting a Teenage Health Group which would include all young people in the communities, who would be responsible for monitoring the health of community residents. More discussions and planning are needed before we can put this idea into practice.

After moving Yashodhara to Kamshet in June, we have been working on the remaining touch-ups that were pending in the Home; to date, only the solar water heating system needs to be installed.

Together with you, we keep on moving forward.

YASHODHARA IN KAMSHET

2010-07-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

The move has been made. After two years of getting settled into a new life at the Shelter in Dhanorie, having made friends at school and with grades on the rise, relaxing on the comforting predictability of the day’s schedule and personal interaction patterns well on the way of settling into routines, everything gets turned around and inside out.

Not only is the children’s Kamshet home bigger, and in completely different surroundings, but some of the familiar faces of the old house and all the faces at school are now different. And not everything is running smoothly – there is adapting to do.

With a lifetime of adapting behind their backs, Yashodhara children are quite adept at it. No unnecessary fuss, just the minimum to feel listened to and cared for in the midst of changing circumstances. But here lies the all-important difference: that there is indeed someone there to listen and to care.

Yes, schooling is necessary, and so is getting medicines and a eating healthy and staying clean… but that extra bit – the being cared for and listened to bit – is Yashodhara’s children’s edge. This is what will round off their upbringing by enhancing their chances of being emotionally intelligent in their present and future relationships.

We, founders, volunteers, staff and sponsors, are instrumental in the children’s blossoming, and bear witness to it with great pleasure. We can only work in the hopes that the Yashodhara children’s circle will keep on growing and that more and more flowers will sprout from it.

ASHA-KIRAN TRAVELS TO CEUTA

2010-07-13T23:31:00.000-07:00

On the occasion of the commemoration of the over 100 years that the Indian community has existed in Ceuta, Asha-Kiran presented here the social work that it carries out in the city of Pune with vulnerable children.

The celebration spanned three days, July 8, 9 and 10, with Indian cuisine, lectures, discussion forums, a sari fashion show, talks about Hinduism, and Bollywood music and dances.

We thank the Indian community of Ceuta, especially Sony and Prakash, and Coexistence Prize Foundation for their hospitality and generosity.

See you soon.

WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOR

2010-06-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

OUT

GIRL MOTHERS

2010-06-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

Asha-Kiran is participating in the exhibition Andalucía Solidaria at the Teatro Cómico in Córdoba, with the photographic theme taken by Uttam Módenes entitled “GIRL MOTHERS”. The exhibition will last until June 18.

The display consists of 59 photographs submitted to the 1st Andalusian Solidarity Photograph Competition, organized by FAMSI, together with ART/PNUD and the Cooperation Consortium Association.

This exhibition offers the chance to see the not-for-profit works in a setting that allows the public to value their quality, the sensitivity of its characters, and the energy with which people communicate their desire for a promising, encouraging and more just collective reality.

Its objectives are the following:

• Disseminate pictures that portray the living circumstances of northern and southern countries while respecting the principles set forth in the ethics code of aid-to-development NGO’s.
• Raise public awareness by showing pictures that show the efforts made towards human development and the betterment of the life conditions of disfavored populations.
• Give visibility to the creative work of photographers, volunteers and associations involved in development and/or aid-to-development work through initiatives that promote sustainable local human development.
• Generate an awareness of collective participation in the pursuit of the Millennium Development Objectives, in any spaces and geographical locations where the pictures are displayed.

BOLLYMADRID 2010

2010-06-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

For the third consecutive year, we were part of the Bollymadrid Indian culture festival with an information stand and the A-K store. The setting was the Lavapiés borough, and the festival went on for three intense days. There was a great flow of visitors, except at the hottest times of day.

Many volunteers, who made this gathering possible with their vitality and with the wide array of activities they carried out for both children and adults, came to our yearly meeting from different spots of Spain.

Children, our driving force, had fun at the face-painting, story-telling and dance workshops.

The adults we wish to reach and to whom we would like to convey our excitement with our new Projects, participated in a TRUE-FALSE informative game, were informed of all that has been going on at Asha-Kiran lately, and came close to Indian culture through all the handicrafts at the A-K store and the Bollywood dances performed on our behalf by Chand Taari Group.

We had a new campaign this year with the motto: "IT’S A LIE – streets are not the best learning ground".

We seek sponsors; people like you, who are willing to back our Projects and the children in Pune who long for a worthy life, a better life.

We gave something valuable of ourselves this weekend – our time, our vitality, our hope.

We give our thanks to each one of you from the heart.

YASHODHARA HOME: A NEW STAGE

2010-06-03T00:39:00.000-07:00

Since March of 2008, Asha-Kiran has been implementing the Yashodhara Shelter Home Project with dedication, love and commitment. In the last two years, we have taken in 21 children (13 girls and 8 boys) whom we see "bloom" every day as young people with rights and dignity, and who are part of our aspiration as a driving force.

Each of them has a personal story laden with intensity and hard times, but their life at Yashodhara is acting as a balm for them, and their future is filling up with opportunities and dreams thanks to the people who trust our work and support us.
A new stage in the development of Home will begin on June 15th.

Asha-Kiran has rented a new building located in a natural setting, with capacity for 45 children. For us at Asha-Kiran, it is a source of immense satisfaction to feel that our daily efforts bear fruit in the children that they target, and we GROW WITH THEM through our devoted work and dedication.

The new building is part of the NGO Sevadham Campus Trust, where other NGOs with varied social projects also carry out their work. Thus, we will be part of a family of NGOs, each working in different realms.

This location is in the municipality of Kamshet, between Pune and Mumbai, and will allow the children of the Home to have large areas for play and recreation among trees, in safe surroundings. The campus also has its own hospital, and is within walking distance of the village where the children will attend school.

In the last few weeks, the building has been refurbished, and we are carefully screening new applications of children in need of foster care. We have set ourselves the goal of admitting 10 new children this year. These new admissions will constitute renewed impulse for the work of Asha-Kiran.

Thank you for supporting this dream come true.

IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION

2010-06-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

"Cultivating the future"

At Asha-Kiran, we believe that education is paramount in the task of preventing or reducing social exclusion. At the same time, the field of education is one of the basic social spaces that better connects people, families and communities.

June is a month of new steps for A-K. We are launching a new Project that will unfold in several stages and which aims to improve the quality of primary education of two schools in the city of Pune (Maharashtra), through our interaction with children, teachers and parents, working jointly to foster their participation in the primary education process, and supporting a positive atmosphere that is conducive to learning.

To this end, Asha-Kiran is starting a series of initiatives to provide the resources that the 800 students who attend these two schools need to have quality education, and that the latter always guarantees gender equality.

Asha-Kiran complements this educational Project with health programs that include dental health and vision care (preventive and curative), and the promotion of sports activities. These initiatives also intend to raise students’ and parents’ awareness of the importance of ongoing school attendance.

The Project implies the following:

• Fostering the interest and participation of teachers and parents in educational processes
• Improving teaching
• Providing educational tools and material
• Improving school facilities
• Improving the students’ health
• Carrying out creative and arts workshops

ARTS EDUCATION: A HIDDEN TREASURE

2010-05-27T00:47:00.000-07:00

In order to highlight the important role of arts education within and outside schools, leading experts from around the world are exchanging (25 to 28 May) their views on the subject of arts and education, thus promoting the importance of arts education in the international community. This is the second global meeting after the one held in 2006 in Lisbon.

The aim is to establish a field of common understanding on the important role that arts education plays within the international community, and facilitate the exchange of ideas, knowledge and good practices.

Much remains to be done in the field of art education at all levels, whether it be raising awareness about its introduction and implementation in various educational and social contexts, or linking up different actors and communities in order to lay the foundations for international cooperation.

The Education: a hidden treasure report places emphasis on the urgent need to reform and strengthen school systems in developing countries, especially primary education, and stresses the importance of education through art and creativity.

It cannot be denied that education is the instrument that best opens the doors to development. However, considering the global challenges we face and the diversity of opinions, cultures and situations that we must accept in contemporary society, the effectiveness of an education rooted in traditional objectives, such as the mere transmission knowledge, is questionable. From this perspective, UNESCO acknowledges the importance of creativity and the arts, and learning from them, as crucial elements for the coming together and the ongoing development of societies and individuals.

To anticipate changing needs, giving a special place to the teaching of artistic values and subjects in order to foster and encourage creativity, which is a distinctive attribute of the human species – therein lies our hope.

Photographs: Creative Workshops at the Day Care Centers, Pune.
Fundación Asha-Kiran

ASHA-KIRAN in BOLLYMADRID 2010

2010-05-25T01:18:00.000-07:00

The third Bollywood and Indian culture festival will take place in Madrid on June 4th, 5th and 6th.

Organizer: Madrid Central District City Hall and Lavapiés Neighbors Association

• Multidisciplinary and integration Indian culture week in the Lavapiés borough.

• It will take place throughout Lavapiés, with a wide array of cultural and visual features.

• The cultural agenda will be distributed in themes among the following town squares:

- Food at Lavapiés Square
- Bollywood films at Agustín Lara Square
- Handicrafts and design at Corrala Square

At Corrala Square there will also be separate spaces for several NGOs that work in India and wish to make their work known to the public, enlist new sponsors or simply carry out activities in relation to the themes in question.

Just as last year, FUNDACIÓN ASHA-KIRAN will have a mini-office and a handicrafts stand at Corrala Square, and will also organize various activities and children’s workshops.

COME SEE US AND FIND OUT ABOUT OUR SOCIAL ENDEAVORS

Place: Corrala Square, Lavapiés Borough (Madrid). Metro Lavapiés.
Schedule: from 10 am to 8 pm

For further information, please contact us at:
(+34) 913 920 688 (+34) 913 920 688

fundacion@asha-kiran.org.es

http://www.bollymadrid.com/

DISCOVER A NEW WAY TO SPEND YOUR TIME

2010-05-24T00:47:00.000-07:00

The Seventh Week for Participation and Volunteering has unfolded under this theme, on May 21, 22 and 23 in Málaga.
This activity was organized by the City Hall through the Citizen Participation, Immigration and Aid-to-development Department. Over 100 organizations, including Asha-Kiran, had the chance to show the visitors our work and offer them several activities, children’s workshops and shows, like the Bollywood Dance performance given by the Chand Taari Group on behalf of Asha-Kiran.

The mayor of Málaga greets all the participants on inauguration day.

Bollywood dances - Naadeva

Bollywood dances - Auxi Durán

Bollywood dances - Chand Taari Group

LIFE ON THE FRINGE

2010-04-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

Slum: a settlement of shacks made up of tin or plastic and bamboo, about 10 square meters big, where a family of 8 or more members lives.

Slums have no facilities such as electricity, running water, sewers, waste disposal or paved streets.

More than half of the urban population in India struggles to survive in a slum.

There are no educational or health facilities, no security, no social protection, and no opportunities for employment.

Skin, digestive and respiratory disorders are very common, especially among children.

SPRING IS HERE

2010-03-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

It is here after a long and intense winter – with all the strength of rebirth, with brighter colors, like the colors that welcome the spring in India during the Holi festival.

Blue, red, yellow, green, purple… India joyfully celebrates the arrival of spring – its peoples and streets covered by water and dyes. Millions of Indians go out in the streets with water guns, buckets, and, above all, with powders dyed in all possible colors.

It is one of the most important festivities in the Indian calendar; it is lived with enthusiasm in all the cities of the country in the midst of a festive atmosphere that makes all differences in castes and religion vanish.

People wake up to the sound of drums that call to dance all who dare come out of their houses and participate in a fun war of colors.

It is the festival of fun, romance and fraternity – Holi celebrates the triumph of good over evil. With the appearance of the full moon in March, the ceremonies start on the day before Holi with a group prayer during which every family throws a stalk in the fire as an offering to the gods that protect the fields’ first fruits.

The eldest man in the family starts the celebration by throwing some colored water on his relatives, which makes the younger ones to follow suit – a ceremony that symbolizes the exchange of affection and blessings.

On Holi’s eve, on many streets, men dressed up as gods light big bonfires, and the neighbors come out to see the women sing and dance around the fire.

There is no doubt that spring is tantamount to life, play, coming together, rebirth, light and color. We find ourselves at the perfect moment to renew ourselves, and this is what Asha-Kiran does before new challenges that take shape in new Projects for children, and which we face with renewed energy, with vitality, with passion.

We will keep you up to date.

VULNERABLE CHILDREN

2010-03-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

Street children are those who spend their lives on the streets, carrying out all their daily activities and earning a livelihood from working on the streets. Sometimes, family members arrive in the city together; others, children leave their families behind and try to start a new life by themselves; yet others, they have been abandoned or are orphans.

Having no access to personal hygiene, nutrition and health facilities, they are vulnerable to malnutrition, hunger and dreadful diseases that are aggravated by their precarious living circumstances.

Most of the children living on the streets are physically and emotionally worn down by the need to support themselves at such a young age. They lack a secure environment, a place they can call their own, where basic facilities are provided along with the presence of caring and protective adults, all of which would help children develop and gain the self-confidence to be a part of mainstream society as wholly integrated individuals.

Homeless street children share the common condition of being “out of place”, not only in street environments, but also in surroundings typically considered appropriate for children, such as home, school, and recreational settings. This “out-of-place” condition also tends to place these children outside the sphere of the rules and regulations set up by society to protect them.

Street children have, as compared with the rest of children, less chances than most other children of getting formal schooling, be it on account of their mobility, lack of birth certificates or of a permanent address, or lack of adults to enroll them in school.

Street-living children are exposed to certain health risks, as they have greater difficulty accessing health services than most poor urban children. It can be seen that street children have a higher risk of suffering malnutrition or psychological illnesses, chronic skin infections, sexually-transmitted diseases or AIDS, having accidents in the streets, enduring high levels of contamination, abusive sexual relationships and the risk of unwanted pregnancies.

A more global term which is becoming more common among organizations and entities, and which encompasses street children is ‘Vulnerable Children’. Without guidance and protection, these children run the risk of being victims of violence, exploitation, child trafficking, discrimination and other forms of abuse.

Following are some examples of vulnerable children:

- Street children.
- Children of construction workers who move from one construction site to another and build settlements at each new place.
- Children who work or beg in order to support themselves and their families.
- Children who are trafficked with and who sometimes remain in slavery or semi-slavery conditions.
- Children with serious or hereditary illnesses, or caused by their precarious living conditions.
- Children who are at odds with the law.

After all, streets are the main, almost the only, stage where children’s' social interactions take place, whether they are positive or negative. The fact that they live there does not mean that they are people without rights. In other words, we must understand and describe their issues from the children's viewpoint; from their own world vision, not just from ours.

This will be the best way for our description to coincide with the children's particular course of development, the specific cultural and social features of their lives and their personal background. In order to achieve this, we must listen to their voices – the voices of street children.

We will then be able to go from using an empty and anonymous term, to speaking about concrete facts concerning the people who, in spite being children, live on the streets. In this manner, we will also be able to understand the term 'street children' and the nature of its semantic field, varied and changeable in meaning, just like the children themselves.

WOMEN'S DAY. STREET GIRLS.

2010-03-08T03:39:00.000-08:00

Within the group of vulnerable children that our Projects are destined to, we pay special attention to street girls, who, just as boys do, lack education and healthcare, and endure abject poverty, mistreatment and marginalization. Aside from all of this, they also endure discrimination for the fact of not having been born males, and their situation is markedly unfavorable.

In Indian society, where castes and dowries are so important, where the image and value of women is always subject to that of males, it is girls, and especially those lacking in means, who are the most vulnerable because they suffer the consequences of these beliefs from birth, and are subjected to begging, exploitation and the rest of problems associated with living and working in the streets.

The Indian government is beginning to become aware of the danger that the exceedingly vulnerable conditions of women in Indian society imply.

INTERNATIONAL YEAR FOR THE RAPROCHEMENT OF CULTURES

2010-02-22T03:07:00.000-08:00

The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2010 International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures and designated UNESCO to play a leading role in the celebration of the Year, capitalizing on the Organization’s invaluable experience of over 60 years to advance “the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples”.

In line with UNESCO’s mandate, this International Year is both the culmination of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010) and the starting point of a new strategy. In a shifting international context, UNESCO gives increased importance to this theme which is at the forefront of the objectives of its Medium-Term Strategy for 2008-2013.

The main goal of the Year will be to demonstrate the benefits of cultural diversity by acknowledging the importance of the constant transfers and exchanges between cultures and the ties forged between them since the dawn of humanity. As cultures encompass not only the arts and humanities, but also lifestyles, different ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs, the protection and promotion of their rich diversity invites us to rise to new challenges at the local, national, regional and international levels. This will involve integrating the principles of dialogue and mutual knowledge in all policies, particularly education, science, culture and communication policies, in the hope of correcting flawed cultural representations, values and stereotypes.

The success of the Year depends to a great extent on accepting the cardinal principle of the equal dignity of cultures, mutual respect and the strengthening of cooperation for lasting peace.

The types of activities scheduled that we highlight are the following:

- greater opportunities for research, meetings and public debates and broadening of the spaces for intercultural mediation in the form of exhibitions illustrating exchanges and transfers between cultures, as well as fairs and festivals;

- promotion of the role of creativity, which is a fundamental attribute of innovation, by stressing both individual features and similarities of societies;

- improvement of access to formal and non-formal education, with emphasis on quality education for all, education on human rights, cultural diversity, gender and the integration of marginalized groups.

Fundación Asha-Kiran joins this initiative with the commitment of carrying out activities that may support and strengthen UNESCO’s strategy.

PEACE DAY AT SCHOOLS

2010-01-30T11:19:00.000-08:00

On January 30^th, children join the celebration of Peace and Non-violence through educational activities in the schools that commemorate the day when Mahatma Gandhi was murdered.

Gandhi was one of the 19^th century men who gave shape to the 20^th century. Vigorously non-violent himself, Gandhi personified one of the main catalysts of Indian Independence.

Asha-Kiran joins the remembrance of this day by citing his words:

“All quarrels arise from wanting to force others to adopt one’s point of view. I profoundly believe that nothing lasting can be built from violence. As long as man doesn’t place himself, of his own free will, in the last rank among his human brethren, he will not be saved.”

SOWING SEEDS OF SOLIDARITY II

2010-01-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

Thankful for the response of the students from Huelin High School in Malaga, we wish to share with you some of the thoughts and feelings that the activity carried out by Asha-Kiran brought forth in them.

Gemma Martín González – 11th grade

I liked the lecture because it was an eye opener – you see how children in other countries haven’t been as lucky as yourself, they haven’t been able to go to school, they have no toys, they haven’t enjoyed their childhood. Then you realize how this type of organizations, no matter how small they are, do all they can, and even though they know they won’t be able to change the world, the children’s smiles, no matter how few they are, are enough to justify all their efforts.

Patricia Aragó Mateos – 11th grade

When I saw the children in the video, at school and smiling, it caught my attention because they were happy to be going to school, which is something unusual in our society.

Mª Dolores Ciudad – 11th grade

As Uttam, the President of the Foundation would say: “It isn’t charity, it’s justice. We have absolutely everything, but they don’t have either the opportunities or the means for living in decent conditions. We must fix that – it’s up to us”.

Yevpenij Pancyrev – 12th grade

We can’t live like we live now, having everything while other people in poor countries don’t have basic things or food. It’s horrible. We have to change, but this change is difficult for our countries because we don’t want to give away our goods, our money…

Pablo Jesús Lozano Carmona – 12th grade
It was really shocking because you know that poverty exists in the world, but if someone who has lived through it tells you about his experience, it makes you think more. We saw pictures of poor children in India, and some of them were hard to see. All this makes you feel like a privileged person who doesn’t take advantage of all he has.

Cristina Artero Abalos – 12th grade

The talk helped me to become more aware of the problems that other countries have, and how much they need the help that we can give them, even if it’s not much. All together we can do a lot and pitch in to improve their quality of life.

Aurora Caracuel Barrientos – 12th grade

Since the day of the talk, I appreciate even more all the things I have at home even though I often don’t like them. However, now I think about those children and I’m very grateful for my lifestyle.

Sara Martín Alonso – 12th grade

I like the point of view that the Foundation has – not to make people dependant on them, but give them an alternative way, just expand their possibilities and not force them to think like us. I think people should be more interested in ‘being’ and not so obsessed with ‘having’. People often forget what life means and they just let it go on.

SOWING SEEDS OF SOLIDARITY

2010-01-20T01:28:00.000-08:00

Solidarity Day with Fundación Asha-Kiran and Uttam’s meeting with the students from IES HUELIN High School in Malaga.

Huelin High School in Malaga started its Solidarity Program together with Fundación Asha-Kiran. The objective of this program is to make students acquainted with the work of several NGOs as shown by their founders and volunteers.

Fundación Asha-Kiran was chosen to inaugurate and launch this program. Our objective was to have students, teachers, parents and non-teaching staff take part in the activity, and to disseminate the social work of Asha-Kiran.

For three days, all the students from grades 7th through 12th saw the Photography Exhibit of children in India and visited Asha-Kiran’s Solidarity Bazaar. Likewise, the board of directors, teachers and other staff came to buy items from the bazaar and see the photographs. Some students donated toys, puzzles and coloring pencils. The 8th grade students were the ones in charge of making Asha-Kiran signs and notice boards placed at the entrance; the 9th grade students drew a carpet and several OM’s to greet Uttam on January 15th.

Some students from the 11th grade made a welcome sign, others made drawings which they later gave to Uttam, and the rest wrote messages to the children from Yashodhara Shelter Home and the Day Care Centers. The messages will be sent to India so that the children can read them.

The activities reached their climax on January 15, when Uttam met the students from 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades, as well as the teachers. During four hours, he spoke about the Foundation and children in India, and answered many questions from all who came to the auditorium at different times to listen and to see the pictures and a brief show about INDIA and ASHA-KIRAN. During recess, chai tea and pappadums were served to Uttam and the teaching staff.

More than 300 hundred students came to the auditorium during that time. After meeting Uttam and hearing him speak about the work of the Foundation, none of us remained indifferent. We were filled with India; our hearts beat closer to this country, its culture and, above all, its children.

It was a festive and moving day, and an opportunity for reflection. In short, a wonderful and unforgettable day because of what the students received: the possibility of getting to know the way other people live.

We urge teachers to join this initiative in their schools. Children and youngsters are able, like no one else, to begin vibrating in tune with solidarity and to begin working together with a Foundation that devotes its work to children.

Children living on ‘this side’ of the world who lend their support to children living on ‘the other side’, so that they may also have similar opportunities in life.

Bright-eyed children in India who, in spite of having limited means, teach western children the great message of living with acceptance and hope and of wishing to grow against all odds.

Children interacting with one another to share and to enrich each other.

THANK YOU UTTAM, THANK YOU ASHA-KIRAN.

Remedios Montoro and Mª Ángeles Arráez (Malaga)

ASHA-KIRAN'S NEWSLETTER

2010-01-17T03:54:00.000-08:00

We have started a quarterly newsletter with the aim of improving our communication with our partners, sponsors, donors, and all who are interested in the social work of
Asha-Kiran. This way, we wish you to be part of the steps that ‘our’ children take towards a present and a future with better possibilities, and of the social initiatives we launch in order to make their journey easier.

Every three months, we will tell you about Asha-Kiran’s actions, projects, plans and objectives, and, of course, about the activities and progress of the children our work is destined to, and whose lives you contribute to enrich. We hope it will please you to keep up to date with all that happens to them, and with what we strive to continue attaining together.

ART AND SELF-EXPRESSION

2010-01-16T14:15:00.000-08:00

Looking for ways in which our children’s creative and artistic spark may materialize in shapes and movement, two Volunteers travelled from Spain to Pune on Christmas vacation to give dance and art workshops to the young beneficiaries of our Projects.

Ester Rodríguez’ workshop (oriental dance teacher) took place at Yashodhara Shelter Home and consisted of

-holistic exercises with movement, music, situations, images, emotions, communication and creativity;

- the search for the children’s own body identity and their own way of dancing;

- various interpretation and communication games;

learning choreographies from their own country, and rehearsing, in small groups, other dance routines thought up by the children themselves.

Layla D’Angelo, an artist who enjoys sharing art with children, offered the children from Yashodhara and the Day Care Centers arts and crafts as tools to generate self-confidence and to develop inventiveness, spontaneity and an intimate language with colors and shapes. She also combined the exploration of manual arts with the teaching of the English language, the knowledge of which widens the possibilities of India’s disadvantaged children.

Through drawing, painting, clay-modeling and mobile-making, Layla let the children search, in a natural way, for individuality and that which is special in them, leaving personal judgments aside.

Both workshops were a great success among girls and boys, who had lots of fun with these ways of self-expression. We thank our Volunteers for their dedicated participation.