Holi fiesta, Madivala market, 2018!
During school days, for me, Festival was all about delicious food, shopping, holiday, get-together, skip studies, and a fun-filled day. Holi has been the favorite festival from springtime of my life. Bonfire and colors make the festival more special. There were those special costumes and a great joy in getting ready such as oiling hair, spreading moisturizer on the skin and loading water gun for Holi play.
But as we grow, individuals become more conscious, increased responsibilities, busy work days, family and social pressure acts like a virtual barrier and between true colors of Holi and Us. Holi celebration with Madivala market children is like reliving the childhood Holi festival days – this exerts a magnetic force on the individual to celebrate Holi with Madivala market children.
Holi is celebrated at Madivala with utmost joy and enthusiasm every year. One weekend, back-or-forth of Holi festival, is blocked to celebrate Holi with the Madivala children. Volunteer come up with new ideas to make the celebration historic. Fiesta included fun games, titbits, music and Holi play.
Fun activities and games that proved to be the method of learning and caching memory, fun learning.
After physical-cum-brain storming fun activity, everybody was in need of a titbit break. Volunteers and children shared “Chocolates, fruits, love and care” among themselves. Meanwhile, the volunteers spoke to children about the Holi festival and shared their knowledge about the festival and Holi colours. Each one of had our own story, Holika Dahan, Rangowali holi and significance of colours: Red-love, Blue-Krishna’s eyes, Green-new beginning, Yellow-anti septic; all had fun listening and speaking out with one another. The real celebration, drenching and staining one another with colours, followed the Holi interactive session.
Holi celebration is incomplete without the dance and music and in absence of music systems volunteers turned on the music player on cell-phone to build the party mood. To keep the Holi festival fun last longer, Volunteers build the dance floor by performing few well know steps like ” Gangam style step”, “Michel Jackson step”, “bike riding pose”, “Bangalore public bus travel pose etc.
Madivala street bloomed like the rainbow. The celebration was filled with learning, love, laughter, and fun!
Volunteering with CRY for Madivala PAG is blissful and uplifts self-esteem. Best platform to try out skills, in spare time, to make difference in the children’s lives and in the community.
Soumya Patil
CRY, Madiwala PAG
Volunteer’s Diaries- Health Camp
“As the saying ‘Healthy Children, Healthy Nation’ suggests, children’s health is of utmost importance for the development of a nation as a whole.
Most underprivileged children cannot afford the exorbitant fees charged at hospitals and thus, their ailments often go undiagnosed. The Health Camp conducted by CRY provided free diagnosis for all children and emergency medication for common diseases. Many children were also referred to other doctors so that they can get timely treatment for more severe ailments. I personally feel that more such health camps should be conducted to ensure wider outreach.”
-Sayoni, CRY East PAG
The annual Health Camp in PAG areas is one of the oldest and most consistent activities which CRY along with its volunteers organizes every year. In underprivileged communities where reach of medical facilities are not just limited by money but also awareness, these health camps are real game changers.
Over the years the scenario has changed from “pulling children and parents out of their homes for checkups” to “get more volunteers just for crowd control”
“This was the first time I was a part of a health camp. To see the children being able to get treatment that otherwise wasn’t an option, made us feel really happy. The kind of happiness that cannot be bought in any other way.”
-Mohit, Cry East PAG
It has a medical as well as emotional touch to it. For volunteers, it pushed us and made us see the other side of the medical system – the need for medical help and the simultaneous lack of awareness in communities. But our volunteers get more enthusiastic with each approaching challenge.
“It’s been almost a year now since I have been associated with CRY. With a lot of enthusiasm and hopes, I was certain that I wanted to make a difference. In the era of constant globalization and technological advancement, the widening gap between the privileged and the underprivileged is quite alarming and harmful to the health of our community, and I knew that I alone cannot make a difference. But here’s the thing: You just need to start. So, obviously, I didn’t alone alter the planet-no deaths were prevented, or a thousand lives miraculously altered in a span of twenty four hours. But I indeed made a difference. How? By joining hands with CRY.
From all the volunteers roaming around the streets and campaigning about the health camp, to being the perfectionists at the day of the health camp-it was all managed and wonderfully executed in a timely manner.
We all witnessed a plethora of participation from the people across the nearby areas. Considering healthcare to be a basic necessity and of utmost concern, a lot of parents walked in with their kids, in the hope of getting their kids better and healthier from this free health check-up
Needless to say, many doctors actively came to in volunteer to address their problem and worries. True, not all superheroes wear capes, some wear a white coat too
-Gitanshu Malhotra, CRY East PAG
These health camps have turned into a joint learning ground for our volunteers and the communities. Organizational skills, team work, time and human resource management and making the even a success is our learning and our achievement as a volunteer.
“To give away ‘time’ in this fast-paced world is not easy. Even if someone decides to do so, the dispatch of time should be meaningful. I invested my time through CRY to those little beautiful souls. Truly, the opportunity of reaching out to the kids and guiding them to the health camp is a true wealth.”
-Atish, CRY East PAG
And that is why these health camps are one of the PAG’s most major and challenging events and best learning grounds for our volunteers. We wait for it and make it a successful chapter of CRY every year and end of one more chapter of our Volunteer Diaries.
“Though I had attended health camps before, they were all basically as a beneficiary or as an observer. However, in this one, I was in a different role- an organizer. It was indeed a great experience. The camp helped me understand how an event can be organized and about the areas which we can improve on in upcoming programs.”
-Harigovind, CRY East PAG
Volunteer’s Diaries- First Aid Box
The magical pandora box which use to be a fascinating thing atleast for me when I was a kid. Half of the things use to be alien and of course only teacher will open the box when someone gets hurt. Yes you all guessed it right I’m talking about ‘The First Aid Box’. Changing the old school norms, East PAG Volunteers decided not only to teach kids making a First Aid box but also how to use the content and provide basic First Aid. This volunteer’s diary edition is about our volunteers’ experience over this two week session.
“It is a very nice experience watching the kids learning. And with them we too learn. The excitement and curiosity in the kids drives you to participate more and do more for them.”
-Renu, CRY East PAG Volunteer
“It was a learning for the children as well as us. The enthusiasm and interest shown by them made the session worthwhile. We never think about it but there is always a lot of knowledge that even we can share with these young kids.”
-Nischal, CRY East PAG Volunteer
So now our volunteers and kids all of them know the magic portions inside the box and when and how to use them.
DRAMEBAAZ 2018- From the winners
I remember promising to myself last year after Dramebaaz 2017 that come what may I shall not be completely involved in Dramebaaz 2018. Little did I know that promises are utterly meant to be broken and uncannily enough, given the panic, the stress, the uncertainty, Dramebaaz is one event I do not wish to be disassociated from either. The happiness that surges through you when you see your kids up in the stage battling it out, improvising, enacting, acting cannot be captured in words alone. The months of preparing, panicking, giving it all up boils down to the ten minutes on stage. As guardians we always want the best for our kids. Certainly I am no different. I did want our kids to ace. This was the first time the kids would be performing on stage, against so many other schools, in front of so many people and this would boost their confidence. All I wanted was for them to remember it with fondness, remember with pleasure on how confident they were. Winning did not matter and if they did it would be a cherry on the cake!
It was September that we began at the Nellarupuram school with our usual methodology, asking the kids to sing or dance on enact and then make a list of potential kids who would probably perform. And then came the unwelcome bolt from the blue. The HM demanded us of a permission letter from the BEO! Soumya, tanned, tired, troubled, made sure we get the permission letter; and then came the last nail on the coffin, the HM refused us altogether lest their academics be hampered. Uncertain we approached the HM at the HAL school and to our utter surprise she was positively receptive to us conducting Dramebaaz. Then emerged the next predicament, dearth of volunteers to take this forward. The kids, zealous and brimming with excitement, would enquire week after week, when would we start! End of November I posted in all possible social media platforms the need for volunteers to help us out with Dramebaaz. Two came on board and priorities took them away soon after. Christmas and New Year holidays made practice zilch. We had no script, no volunteers, no time and it felt like a lost cause until Soumya intervened making it possible, although apprehensions galore. A script that Saood had penned long back re-emerged, underwent several modifications, changes, shortening! Interns were engaged to help the kids practice on weekdays and all of this was two week before the final competition.
Truth be told I felt as though I was aboard a sinking ship only kept buoyant by the enthusiasm of the kids and the support Soumya extended. Until one week before the competition we were modifying the script, sitting under the Banyan tree at school debating, correcting, translating. Terrified, unsure, we reached school the last day before we were to be up on the stage and it dawned upon us that the stage set-up was never explained, the scenes had never been enacted with props, the alignment with music that Shravani painfully prepared was never done. It was an absolute hullaballoo at the school that day. Our saving grace was that the kids did memorize the dialogues and their excitement knew no bounds, and so many volunteers, old and new turned up! I do not think so we practiced at a stretch even once! I was petrified and the kids came up to me and told me not to be scared for they would be amazing on stage.
Was I optimistic? I knew not. Was I terrified? I shall ask others to answer that for me! Were we ready? I rather not answer that.
And came the final day! I could barely sleep that night and waking up at 3 am I kept staring at nothingness, waiting, pondering, calling the rest of the troupe. The kids, excitement would be an understatement! There was no hint of fear in them while I was visibly shaking. I wanted them to have the time of their lives, be appreciated for what they were about to present in front of a large gathering and above all cherish this for a long time to come. The microphones were not placed as we had imaged them to be, tables were less than what we assumed would be there and the performances before our kids sure made me nervous but putting all of that aside, as much as I could, we asked the kids to have the time of their lives on the stage. And what the universe has conspired blew us all away. They put up an amazing show, they missed nothing, delivered with finesse and had the entire auditorium applauding thunderously. Later in the evening we got to know we had won the 3rd prize! Panicking, jumping, I called up everyone I could possibly think of! Our kids had won but more than that they had a gala time. I have seen the video of their performance umpteen times and every time I see it I smile to myself, and am amazed at the potential that these kids possess and that having fun and loving what you do is the sole mantra!
Volunteer’s Diaries- Republic day
EAST PAG volunteer’s diary for the weekend of January 27th was special for many reasons. Just a day before the weekend we all gathered to celebrate countries 69th Republic Day and also our win at Dramebaz 2018. To or happiness we also added new pages to the diary by welcoming Harigovind into east PAG.
So here we have 69th Republic day celebration in words of of our new and old Volunteers.
“My First Volunteer activity with the CRY
My first activity with the CRY East PAG was a memorable one on a very special day- The country’s 69th Republic Day. The volunteers assembled at Government Kannada School, Jeevan Bima Nagar on January 26 morning. After the School’s Republic Day programme- which includes drills and inaugural address by the local corporator who unfurled the flag, we gave the students the national flags, and given away medals and certificates to the participants of the drama competition. Later we also conducted a jigsaw puzzle activity using Indian map by dividing the students in to various groups. We also celebrated the birthdays of students and volunteers which fall on January after the group activity. Altogether it was a good experience and I must admit I never took part in a Republic Day function before with such enthusiasm.
Tail-ender: On a lighter note, I also realized why teachers are short-tempered. Managing kids need lot of patience and I think I need to cultivate that habit of patience and perseverance. I could see Shravani almost turn into a Gabbar Singh at times when the noise in the classroom tend to go beyond the 20kHz frequency-the maximum, normal human beings can respond to!”
-Harigovind
“As I entered the school on the Republic Day I could see the excitement and joy on the children’s face. Firstly, the children who bagged 3rd prize in Dramebaaz were honored. It was very nice to see the other kids cheer for their friends. Secondly, a jigsaw puzzle event was conducted. What truly amazed me was how all the kids indulged themselves in the activity and were enjoying It. Each kid from every single team put in their full effort in solving the puzzle. Last but not the least there was a surprise waiting for the kids, BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!!! The kids whose birthday was and is going to be in the month of January were called forward to cut the cake. The smile and the happiness on their faces was something that made everyone’s day who put in an effort in making it successful.”
-Pooja
With these endless smiles and those cut outs from the puzzles from different states of India, we volunteers also come together at CRY and add few colorful pages to lives of those kids and to ours. 🙂
Volunteer Diaries- Dramebaaz
That one quality that immediately pops into our imaginative minds when we say ‘Kids’ is ‘Lot of Drama’. Be it drama with parents or with teachers or with people around.
The tinny Dramebaazs never fail to shine in their impeccably performed funny little and endearing acts which we adults cannot stop laughing at. When CRY decided to join hand’s with Dramebaaz last year it was just one team and a small event. Nevertheless it ushered the start of a great journey which in just one year manifolded to not just the quantity but quality of performances.
We are making headlines with our big win this Dramebaaz event and with note this Volunteer’s Diaries segment is about the volunteer’s experience at Dramebaaz.
“This was my first event as a member of CRY; I was excited as well as nervous at the same time. Working with other members and having fun with students was a memorable experience. We didn’t expect that the children will perform this good. To be frank we were quite intimidated by other schools on the day of the event towards the beginning. When I went to the school on the previous day I was sure that our kids will definitely forget their lines on stage as it was their first time. But during the play they blew our minds. We all were so happy to see them perform so well. Winning the prize was like a cherry on the top of a cake. I never realised that my first event to be this great. All credit goes to those great children and the team members of CRY who worked very hard to make all of this possible” – Kanika, Volunteer, EAST PAG. Bangalore
“It is indeed true that actions speak louder than words. Every day, in some form or the other, we all come across a lot of dark and disturbing stuff that we see around us, child abuse for one. It’s in times like these that CRY comes to the rescue in association with Dramebaaz to make this world a better place for our children through the medium of theatre. A lot of hard work and dedication went in to prepare our tiny superheroes for the final event! And of course, these superheroes, like always, embraced this challenge with open arms and made the final event a great success! ” – Gitanshu Malhotra, Volunteer, EAST PAG. Bangalore
“I saw them Fall, I saw them try, I saw them laugh and I saw them grow..
All I could have done was to hold their hands and walk them through..
And I did that too..” With these lines one more chapter of Volunteer’s Diaries ends.
ARTSPARKS
That art can be so much more than a happy relief in a rigid academic session is truly exemplified by ArtSparks. Having been associated with ArtSparks at CRY for two years now I have learnt more than I have contributed as a volunteer; and the learning extends not to the nuances and the skills associated with art alone, but the life skill sessions, learning about the way children work, seeing them cooperate, collaborate and conjure creativity that will leave anybody spellbound. Thus armed with the intent of imparting and honing life skills in the children we began the ten session ArtSparks at HAL Government School (Kannada Medium), also our first activity therein.
It was not in any way difficult to build a rapport with the children; the children were extremely receptive, collaborating with us and each other and the ideas and skills they demonstrated in the sessions did pleasantly surprise us, undoing the prejudices and notions we have of a Government school. The theme of ArtSparks this year was change-maker puppets wherein the children would have to identify a change they desire to bring about in their immediate surrounding or society at large and implement it in the form of a puppet. Beginning with portraits, self-portraits, identification of a change and then sketching their change-makers to finally implementing the change-maker puppet, enthusiasm and zeal knew no bounds throughout the sessions.
Introducing shapes and venturing into detailing in the portrait sessions, the change and change-maker identification took a political but amusing turn. While some children suggested air pollution, water pollution, deforestation as the changes that need be addressed one child suggesting sharing of Cauvery river water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as an issue. It certainly left us wondering at their knowledge and awareness. It would be wrong on my part to project few ideas better than the rest for every idea and change-maker was unique but the change-makers addressing hazards of chemical fertilizers, rigorous actions to reduce smoking in public, specially designed wheel-chair must be mentioned. When the coloured papers emerged there was a visible enthrallment in the faces of the children; without much ado they began working meticulously.
The children always maintained a discipline in the classroom, never jostling for the coloured materials, exchanging amongst themselves if they wished to change the colour, sharing glue. Snip, cut, stick and the various shapes emerged! Many a times some of the children were not very confident about cutting out a particular shape, and in such cases we ensured we do not do the work for them as much as we wish for the best out of them. We demonstrated individually and asked them to work with us simultaneously them making them self-dependent and confident. Some children would want to urgently finish their work; with these children we nudged and pushed them for more, further detailing. They would be miffed but upon seeing the end result they emerged happier.
Towards the last sessions children who had finished their work would walk the extra mile and help out other children so much so that they would not mind getting delayed for their breaks. I was astounded by their dedication and willingness to finish and share. Camaraderie prevailed in all the sessions. We had once announced to reuse scrap material wherever possible and we had never had to repeat ourselves. The story board session was another flurry of activity. While some children were zealous to show us their stories, some remained shy but soon gave in and explained to us what they had sketched.
Throughout the sessions we did see a consistent improvement, be it thinking, perseverance, amazing solutions and collaboration. There were some hiccoughs of a couple of children missing school and thus lagging behind, some volunteers found language a barrier but the happiness and excitement with which the children greeted us each weekend, working diligently nullified every hurdle.
– Parikhit Dutta, Volunteer, EAST PAG. Bangalore
CRY’s Medical Camp at Madiwala
The importance of quantitative and qualitative availability of primary health care can not be overemphasized for a developing country like India. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) published in medical journal The Lancet, India ranks 154 among 195 countries on the healthcare index. Though, India’s healthcare access and quality has increased by 14.1, up from 30.7 in 1990 to 44.8 in 2015, there is still a lot of scope for improvement.
As a small step towards this initiative, CRY Bangalore organized a health camp on 17th of September, 2017 at Madiwala, Bangalore. The idea for the event came up during one of CRY’s PAG meet-ups. Since most of the PAG volunteers were newcomers, they were initially a little apprehensive about conducting a medical camp since it was a huge responsibility. Nevertheless, they accepted the challenge and started charting out the tasks and making arrangements.
From the get-go, the event was entirely driven by CRY volunteers Bangalore. They divided themselves into teams and took up tasks like pre-awareness drive at the slums, selection of the venue and arranging the medical staff.
After days of meticulous planning, the D-Day arrived. Bangalore has a way of surprising us when it comes to the weather, and the day of the medical camp was no different. As the morning progressed, it started raining heavily. Though the volunteers were available on-site, the doctors were delayed. To make sure that the rain didn’t play spoilt-sport and to keep the enthusiasm going, the volunteers started the awareness drive again. They rallied within the premises with slogans such as, “Health is wealth, please come to free medical camp for kids” to keep people engaged. Once the doctors arrived, children started pouring in with their parents for the check-up. More than 100 kids participated in a span of 6 hours. The volunteers were applauded by the parents and the doctors alike for proactively taking up this initiative.
Here is what few of our volunteers had to say about their experience –
“The medical camp was a great success! Over a 100 children visited the camp. All the volunteers believed in the cause, worked really hard and were extremely motivated. The real success of the camp will be if the three children who were diagnosed with an illness that day get the medical assistance that they require. I, myself felt glad that the event turned out well.”
– Tarang, CRY Volunteer Bangalore, Madiwala PAG
“This was my first medical camp. On the weekend prior to the medical camp, we had gone to each house in the community and had informed them personally about the health camp and the free check up. Few kids had accompanied us on this drive. On the day of the camp, once it started raining, we decided to hold a rally to draw people’s attention. Kids from all age groups participated. Few new borns also visited the camp!”
– Sonali, CRY Volunteer Bangalore, Madiwala PAG
“The camp started at 9:30 am and went on till 3:30 pm. Children were earnest and seemed eager to take part in the check-up. I am glad to have been a part of this event. It ended on a happy note, with both kids and parents being content.”
– Deepika, CRY Volunteer Bangalore, Madiwala PAG
“I personally feel awareness for hygiene and population control is required and should be given utmost importance. Parents who attended the camp had 3-4 kids on an average. This drive made me realize that there is still a lot to be done in the field of hygiene, personal care etc at the ground level.”
-Alok, CRY Volunteer Bangalore, Madiwala PAG
CRY – An experience of a lifetime
“It’s only when you take a step back, ponder over life and get your thoughts together, do you realize that you are truly blessed with a wonderful life. You realize that you’ve been given everything you could wish for and even though it may not always seem a lot but it’ll always be enough to get you through.
Working at CRY has been an eye opening experience for me. It has made me realize that there are so many children in our country who deserve a better standard of living, who deserve the opportunity to live a better life. And yet, despite their circumstances, however dismal they may seem, these children are better equipped than most of us to find happiness in the little things that life has to offer.
CRY has enabled many such children to be better individuals, to be more capable of grabbing life by the horns. With their enrollment drives, and campaigns, CRY has worked tirelessly for the upliftment of such children. It has always maintained that education is the key change-maker and they’ve used this philosophy to motivate children to work towards their dreams. They’ve always showed me and a lot of other volunteers, the power of unity and how a big change starts with the smallest of efforts.
My experience with CRY, spanning over a month, has been an enlightening journey. A journey where I not only received endless love and support from the staff and fellow volunteers, but also got to hear their stories. These valuable inputs helped me understand the plight of these children, and made me more adept at handling my assigned tasks.
CRY is like an extended family to me. I would definitely want to volunteer with CRY again, not only because they are fighting for a just cause but also because they are a group of amazing people who have the dedication, sincerity, vision and passion to see it through.”
This experience is shared by our beloved intern, Doreen. She is a second year student of B.Com LL.B(H) at Amity University.
In the pictures below, she’s seen having a few light-hearted moments with her fellow interns and volunteers. There’s never a dull moment at CRY 🙂
CRYDramebaaz Season 2
We wait for a year for a new season of our favorite shows, even if its just for a few episodes. We all end up biting our nails, counting the days. We all have experienced the thrill and excitement of those epic countdowns, not to mention the heart stopping leaks of Game of Thrones episodes. With the same exuberance and zeal, we launched the second season of CRYDramebaaz, this Saturday.
Dramebaaz is a change machine thought up by Prasanth Nori and Soumya Kavi, who use dramatics to give as many children as possible a platform to express themselves constructively, channelize their talent and creativity. The medium of theatre is used as a means to inculcate essential life skills, thus empowering students to become more confident in being the agents of change.
We are proud to announce the second year of our partnership with Dramebaaz. This event has been one of the most popular amongst children and volunteers have had as much fun organizing it as the children have had performing it.
It seems like yesterday, when we wrote about our last experience filled with fun, fear and at last victory. Here is what our volunteers in #EASTPAG have to say about their first day of this wonderful journey –
‘After months of running in circles about beginning the sessions for Dramebaaz, a platform that brings children onto the centre stage literally, the first session began with quite a bang on the 23rd of September. Intending it to be an icebreaker session with an underlying motive of gauging the levels of confidence and ability to communicate in the kids, the kids were asked to do anything they would like, be it a random dance, a song, may be enacting a line or two from their favorite movie.’
– Parikhit, CRY Volunteer, Jeevan Bhima Nagar PAG, also an engineer at Honeywell
‘At last the day had come for the journey of #CRYDRAMEBAZSEASON2 to begin. It started with a bang full of creativity, enthusiasm & frolic. Children were excited to hear from us about CRYDramebaaz activities and plan for the upcoming sessions. On the onset, the children were divided into groups of 3. Each team performed enthusiastically whether it was an act from their favorite movie, a dance performance or a singing extravaganza. A student at the school, Sri Hari, in particular, encouraged others to perform while he stood with confidence and delivered dialogues from his favorite movie. We are extremely excited and energized for the sessions to come!’
-Anisha, CRY Volunteer, Jeevan Bhima Nagar PAG, also an engineering student
With those wonderful words from Parikhit and Anisha, we invite you all to be a part of this year’s season.
Before we go, we’d like to leave you with a few glimpses of the first episode. Stay tuned to this blog for further updates!
In case you were still wondering, you won’t be finding any leaks here 😉
CRY Volunteers Bangalore 