Eco Club - Our progress so far 02/06/2012
We joined hands with Rotary Midtown Bangalore Charitable trust about 2 years ago, in 2009, to initiate a wide ranging environment awareness and tree plantation program. As part of the program we have held some workshops and also got hands on with planting of trees for their shade, to maintain biological habitats, for purifying our environment and support sustainable development especially in Bangalore. Here we are now sharing with you a presentation - report - on the journey so far and what you can demand from us in the future. Add Comment Inviting you to launch of Lakshya Sasyotsava 02/06/2012
The festivities have finally arrived, earlier we gloated about our upcoming plan to plant 1 lakh trees this year in and around bangalore. Now we are ready for the launch of the event on 5th of June 2011, ie the next Sunday morning at Bangalore University Campus. Inviting you to join us for planting 1000 trees and make a glorious contribution to our environment. The map of the location is linked here. Please intimate us about your registration for the event with a mail to info@kshitifoundation.org  We are very happy to invite you to join us for a thanksgiving evening on 13th May 2011, where we appreciate the good work done by all the people we have been associated with over the last 2 years in planting and taking care of more than 20 thousand trees. The evening is also an opportunity to see and contribute to the future of our environment. Please confirm your participation by sending us a mail to ourecoclub2009@gmail.com with a subject line "Participating in the Thanksgiving evening". The map location is here.  Event Leader : Sneha Support group : Anil, Deepti, Sushma, Kiran, Narasimhamurthy Donni, Anuradha, Anant rao Kavatekar and Sacheth Date : 3rd Jan 2009 Time : 9:30 am to 12:45 pm Venue : BTL School, Near Mysore Mallige park, Banashankari, Bangalore Class : 5 to 9 The event was held at BTL Vidya Vahini after a rigorous school search by Sushma, Deepti, Smita and Kiran. Thanks to each one of you for your efforts and cheers to the commitment of the event to the event schedule. Start My self, met School Head Miss, introduced and explained the detail of the programme which was lined up for them. Class teacher of 6th Std also was available for the meeting. We were also asked to include class 9 students also in the event as they were few in numbers. Team leaders and volunteers met at the class and we had a creation meeting to know the flow of event, the activities and responsibilities. Grouping: 09:50 to 10:15 The event started by a briefing the gathering of children to tell why was we there in separate groups. Class 5 & 6 , Class 7, 8 & 9 Video presentation and explanation: 10:30 to 11:15 Laptops were organized by Sushma and Kiran for the groups. 5th and 6th were taken on by Sushma, Sneha, Anuradha, Anant and Sacheth.
Tasks & Activities : 11:20 to 12:15 Class 5: Crayon and Water painting: Team Lead: Deepti and Anuradha- Organising of the activities being and sharing along with the children. Drawing pictures related to environment on a plain A4 sheet, of their choice and colouring Deepti and Anuradha were very patiently involved with the children. Class 6: Suduko Activity (of Endangered species): Team Lead: Sushma This activity was new one for the class and the children were excited to learn this. Tactfully handled by Sushma Class 7: Cross word (of Environment related): Team Lead: Kiran - supported by NarasimhaMurthy Donni Crosswords were developed by Kiran – Good innovation. Class 8 and 9: Imaginary craft-work Team Lead: Anil and Sneha They were grouped in 4 teams and were given Card board box, card sheets, candles, dry colours, cotton, pins, threads, Husk of Pista and some other objects as well. They had made1) Ice Home, Decorated 2) Container with Separators, 3)The Home , Ground with trees and 4) Wind fan. In all these activities children were found very enthusiastic and learning. They enjoyed the activities. Also the teachers were in full Josh’ helping the children and got involved completely. Display of each Activity output:12:15 to12:30 We put all the colouring, paintings, sudokus, crossword and craft done by children on display for every one to have a look in the nursery. It was real joy to see this display. Sapling distribution: 12:30 to 12:45 Four saplings were given away to each of the 4 class teachers to on behalf their classes to take care of them. Children were really happy to see their teachers receiving them and teachers also were feeling the proud of getting the sapling and took the responsibility of nourishing them. We acknowledged the teachers for their support. Teachers want us to conduct one such event for class 1 to 4. They were all touched by the program and the participation of the children. They all had been part of our team. Teachers in return they thanked us for the event. End: The event ended by acknowledging the entire team of volunteers and support team Lessons Learnt: Laptops to be set-up even before the start of the event which will save time. Displaying the outputs of the activities really mean a lot to children. This must be continued as much as possible. Bringing family members of the group and particularly the event leader means a lot to the family and members, and also it means a lot to the event leader. This also can be continued as practice. Talk of the introduction about Kshiti Foundation must be discussed within the team and a format has to be arrived. We have to build in a structure having adequate content for all the classes right from 1st to 10th. Prepared by, Sneha K School to School 7 : Anatha Shishu Vihara 02/06/2012
Event Leader : Kiran Support team : Vinay, Anil, Deepti, Girish, Sushma, Narasimhamurthy Donni, Gayatri (My parents), Anuradha(my mother-in-law), Smt. Bhagirathi Bai (Mother of my mother-in-law, Vijayashree, Raghav Date : 20th Dec 2008 Time : 9:30 am to 12:45pm Venue : Anatha Shishu Vihara, Opp. BMS College, Basavanagudi, Bangalore Class : 1 to 6 This week’s event was really special for a few reasons: The event was held at Anatha Shishu Vihara, an orphanage. It was the chosen place after a lot of search by Smita, Anil, Deepthi for a school which they could not find due to schools being closed for census activity. The children here too had holiday and all were available at the Shishu Vihara. Start Got a go ahead from Mr. Raghavendra, the manager of the place. We had to skip the programs for nursery since they had gone to school. All volunteers met at the entrance, had a creation meeting to know the flow of event, the activities and responsibilities. Introduction and Grouping : 10:40 to 11 :00 The event started by a briefing the gathering of children to tell why was we there. Then the children were made into 3 groups. Jala : Class I & II Bhoomi : Class III & IV Vaayu : Class V & VI Senior Volunteers events: 11:00 to 11:20 We started to set-up the laptops ready to show the video. It was at this time all the elder members of volunteers kept all the engaged all the children by teaching them songs and “vogata”s. Then we started moving the children into separate rooms to start talks & their activities. Tasks & Activities : 11:20 to 12:15 Group Jala:
This was one of the most important part of the event. We put all the colouring, paintings and sudokus done by children on display for every one to have a look in the big dining area. It was nice to see what all children can do. Photos of these will show how it looked. Sapling distribution: 12:30 to 12:45 Three saplings were given away to each of the 3 groups to take of. Children were really happy to receive them. One we had brought for the nursery was handed to the staff of the centre. Mr. Raghavendra told the students to take care of the garden which was about the expand by lot of new plants planned. Special thanks to Girish who had brought chocolates for the children. End: The event ended by acknowledging the entire team of volunteers and support team. Some of the members who had brought some cloths and toys to donate did that. This was the reverse of normal practice since we were at an orphanage. Prepared by, Kiran Donni School to School 6 : Indu Raman School Event 02/06/2012
Event Leader: Sushma Support group: Anil, Smita and Vinay Date: 6<sup>th</sup> Dec 2008 Time: 9.30 am – 11.30 am Target: Children from 1<sup>st</sup> to 7<sup>th</sup> std Strength : 70 As part of our School-to-School Initiative, we conducted the environment awareness program at Indu Raman Primary, Katriguppe, Bangalore. The context was already set when Smita (Thanks to her) had approached the Headmiss of the school and conveyed to her what we do at Kshiti Foundation and the activites we want to organise at their school. Thanks to Anil and Vinay who joined hands with me to carry out the activity well in time. While I was planning for the content of the event, I found a lot of useful and very relevant new material. Some good videos, information oriented games and quiz. The layout of the program was : <ul> <li><span > </span>Introduction to the program.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><span > </span>Playing Environment related Video which gives a picture of environmental degradation we have today which is understandable to kids.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><span > </span>Playing a Song that talks about day to day activities one could do to save Earth.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><span > </span><Activities> (different activities for each section)</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Presentation of a sapling, one per class and asking the students to take care of them.</li> </ul> We divided the children into batches: Batch A : 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> std Activities for which were : Coloring Endangered species Coloring a drawing where plantation is happening. Batch B : 3<sup>rd</sup> and 4<sup>th</sup> std : Activities for which were : Answering the do's and don'ts questions. Playing simple Sudoku recycler. Batch C: 5<sup>th</sup>, 6<sup>th</sup> and 7<sup>th</sup> std : Activities for which were : Quiz asking questions about how should they carry themselves daily to conserve nature. In the end, when we presented the kids with the saplings they were screaming with joy :) Smita also made an appeal for donations. We were told in the beginning by the Headmiss that the children were from lower classes and we could not expect any donation from them. But after the appeal we found Rs. 7 in the donation box. One coin of Rs 5, One of Re.1 and two of 50ps. It was amazing!! And Invaluable!! From the pics, u can see how much fun it was :))) <embed src="https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="288" height="192" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fkshiiti%2Falbumid%2F5277299098154959537%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed> Regards, Sushma School To School 5 : Hoskote Event 02/06/2012
Laksha Sasyotsava 02/06/2012
We are energised and ready to launch a new programme called Laksha Sasyotsava, meaning a celebration of one lakh saplings. The intention is to plant one hundred thousand saplings across bangalore this year starting from June 5th. <a href="http://localhost/kshitifoundation/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/ownatree-small1.gif"><img title="IOwnATree" src="http://kshitifoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/ownatree-small1.gif" alt="" /></a> <blockquote>Laksha Sasyotsava - a celebration of human harmony with our environment.</blockquote> More details about the programme follow, <strong>Aim of the Programme</strong> <ol> <li>To plant one lakh saplings on the World Environmental day, 5th June, every year.</li> <li>Provide an opportunity to bring people together and close to the environment for a noble cause every year.</li> <li>Further lead to structured and hands-on environmental education and recreational activities.</li> </ol> <strong>Where is the Plantation?</strong> <ul> <li>Bangalore University Campus, Mysore Road</li> <li>Ramakrishna Mission, Shivanahalli, 11kms from Bannerghatta</li> <li>Schools and Temples across Bangalore</li> </ul> <strong>What is the date of the plantation?</strong> 5th June 2011 : World Environmental Day <strong>What types of plants will be planted?</strong> Our tree experts will select trees for each location based on various factors <strong>Who and How the Finance is managed?</strong> <ul> <li>‘Rotary Bangalore Midtown Charitable Trust’ will manage funds</li> <li>Kshiti Foundation Trust will do project execution</li> <li>Various vendors we have shortlisted for different tasks</li> <li>All financial transactions are open for sponsor’s verification</li> </ul> We had plans to visit some village close by to do a survey, identify the needs of the villagers, and see if we are capable of providing electricity and its consequent modern amenities. Prasad said that he would talk to Dr.Sudarshan and request for his help. Prasad and myself then met Dr. Sudarshan in this regard, without any hesitation he agreed and asked us to come and visit him at Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra [V.G.K.K] located at B.R Hills. We had only 3 attendees, as others excused themselves due to personal commitments. So it was decided that three of us would go and visit the place, Shrivatsa, Sushma and myself[Anil] were the one’s who were visiting. We decided to board a KSRTC Bus from the satellite town bus depot, Mysore road, at 6:30. The enthusiastic journey began by 6:30, the team had some new experiences traveling in a government bus and there were quite a few stops. When the bus stopped at Kollegala, we saw something strange where a person boarded the bus and along with a sheep, then while getting down the bus driver and the ticket issuer thought we were here on some research and they wanted us to carry out some research about this particular sheep that was with us in the bus, with a smile on our face we got off the bus. We got down at the gate of V.G.K.K., the structure was quite imposing for a remote locality, much beyond our expectations. Immediately we went to meet Dr.Sudarshan, but he was in a meeting, so we were asked to rest for a while. We came out of the office and as I was very hungry asked if we could have breakfast by the time he finishes with the meeting. We checked around to know if we there were any hotels close by, one of the employees there said that there is a hotel at a circle nearby. Within no time we reached the place but unfortunately there was nothing to eat as it was neither breakfast time nor lunch time. So we had 2 bananas each, luckily while at the bus stop I had purchased bread and jam so that we would not have to starve in case we don’t get anything there. After we finished our so called breakfast, we went to Sudarshan Sir’s office and met him. He was quite pleased to see us and immediately summoned one of the members, a school staff, Mr Arun, who teaches at the school within the premises. He was to walk us around the campus and take us to the villages for the survey. Mr Arun said we would visit the village post lunch. As we were half stomach we agreed to have lunch. We were taken to the dining hall and we sat there hungrily, awaiting few more guests to accompany us. While we were waiting, Sushma took a snap of the plate in which the food was to be served. After some time we were served hot and delicious food, for vatsa and Sushma it was a new experience eating ragi mudde. After lunch we again went around the campus as the vehicle was still not ready. I should say I had not seen anything this green before, and in between dense green they had their campus neatly planned. The campus was very well planned; “help them to help themselves” was very much the basis for each of the finer details of the setup. There was a honey purification section, weaving machines, jute mat making machines, leaf bowls and plates making machine, turmeric and some other powder making machines, with every department housed in its own structure. The campus included some organic and medical plants; it had school, nursing training institute, ITI training institute, and many more. All of these catered to the local tribal population, providing them skills and resources which would help them to take care of their own lives. The campus is currently run by funds both from external sources and income generated by locals from the amenities in place here. The main intensions behind this campus were to make optimum use of the forest resources to support and brighten lives of the local tribal folk, and also to teach different skill sets whilst also providing formal education, so that they start earning immediately rather wasting time on the same after completing formal education. The place now has an aim to be self sufficient by marketing products collected and manufactured by the locals. The success story being scripted here has also forced the government machinery to take note and support their ways of working. They have been successful in persuading the authorities to customize courses to better suit local tastes and needs. There are now proposals for them to offer health services to lots of other areas; this is something in the works. The reverence with which the organization is vividly visible from sighting the many children who have been placed in their care by the locals, and the youth who come here from villages nearby on a regular basis to discover ever new skills that would help make a life financially worthwhile too. One of the takeaways from this experience has been the need to get a holistic understanding of the local necessities and involve them to get wholehearted support for implementing the intended tasks. A suggestion made by Dr. Sudarshan in this regard about the greater exigency of home lighting, as compared to streets still lurks. The Kendra is a valuable treasure of advice for us about implementing our projects in the area and in other such places in general. I suggest we utilize this knowledge to the maximum. A commitment to provide electricity to these deprived areas does not need to end with only this single imperative, we can and should endeavor to inculcate the locals with more information and skills for needs of our times, while also preserving and enriching the best of their existing customs and practices. Bringing our thoughts back to the happenings of the day, after lunch came the most annoying part of the day, the transportation had still not been arranged for, the vehicle that we were planning to use had been taken out and because of some additional work the driver informed he would not come back until evening. Now we had made plans for just a day, and the entire day was ruined because we did not have our own transportation planned. Then after lot of phone calls and talks we decided to return home, we waited in the bus stop to come back to Bangalore. After about an hour’s wait we heard from a localite that due to some religious program the buses would be full and they would not stop. We were in a dilemma weather to stay there or to come back, and then at 5:00 in the evening we called and informed our parents that we would stay there due to prevailing circumstances. After deciding this we went to buy required things like tooth brush and paste, and while we were coming back from the stores we saw a bus coming our way and immediately we boarded that and to our misfortune the bus was going only till the next village. But we were guided well by a person, Mr. Madavan, who was residing in V.G.K.K for some research purpose, He also joined us till the next village and we got down there and took a bus to Mysore, now by the time the bus started it was 6:10 in the evening we reached Mysore at 9:00 where we had dinner and got onto a bus that would get us back home. After a tiring journey we reached satellite town bus stop, safely at midnight. Then as we came to the end of our journey we had another problem of getting back to our houses, as Shrivatsa was not aware of the route to go back, Sushma and myself guided him, I dropped Sushma home and then went to mine. We messaged each other about reaching home safely, and then we bid good night to each other and awaited a new day. Well in the entire day we had seen the serene beauty of the B.R. Hills and also the traffic of the Bangalore city, I wish to change the city to something better. Cheers, Anil Event Leader: Sanjeev Support group: Anuradha, Basavaraj, Girish, Mangala, Sanjeev, Sushma, Vijay Date: January 10, 2009 Time: 9:30am to 12 pm Venue: Government Higher Primary School, Ashok Nagar This school-to-school was most remarkable in terms of how well prepared we should be when things go wrong. I was supposed to lead the event and things didn’t go well from morning. For starters I was delayed because of parental obligations and just when one would think the ordeal had come to an end I discovered I forgot the material I was supposed to distribute among the children. In the meantime, while I was still on my way fighting the Bangalore traffic, Sushma had started talking to the children and Girish, after knowing that I did not have the material, acted immediately and got the material from other sources. I must say that Sushma and Girish deserve the credit for saving the day. By the time I reached the school Sushma was half way through the presentation and Girish had got the material and also the saplings to distribute among the children. Communicating with the children was extremely difficult and I could see that our group’s patience was wearing thin. We went through the normal procedure of telling the children about environmental conservation and they were listening with some attention during the presentation, looking at the colourful pictures and listening to the educational cartoon session. Apart from that they were quite unruly to the group and hardly paid attention to what we were saying. Sushma did a stupendous job in handling the children. Girish was not new to the school as he had spoken to the children before and had gained some recognition there. I should also add that Anuradha madam and Mangala madam helped us in every possible way, especially in controlling the children. Sushma’s colleague Vijay chipped in as an enthusiastic volunteer and Basavaraj too did his bit. After the presentation we broke them up in to smaller groups and gave them material to draw/work with; this went almost as planned. On a positive note, things moved on, whether the event leader could deliver or not. And I am glad that we did what we had to do. Even if one child in that school understood what we were trying to teach it is our gain. I cannot thank everyone enough for their constant support in an event that went awry from the first minute. <strong>Observations:</strong> <ol> <li>The material that we provided did not really work with the children of this school.</li> <li>We were not amused that none of the teachers tried to handle the children and we had to monitor them all by ourselves.</li> <li>Our team worked well under crisis.</li> <li>Would definitely want to see more volunteers participate.</li> </ol> Here are some photos from the event, Regards, Sanjeev |
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