HOW IAYP CHANGED OUR LIVES

Award participants of Cambridge International School, Phagwara shared their IAYP experience

We the students of Cambridge International School got an opportunity to be the part of the IAYP. According to us, it is not just an award but much more than that, ‘An amazing opportunity to move forward from curious to confident, skilled and thriving and dedicated to the needy.’

It is the inspiration that has motivated us to redirect our lives. Being typical Punjabis we were brought up in easy and totally depended environment. Who had time to help others? But, last summers our life changed.

We visited a place where the laborers reside with their families. They came from far away villages. From the conversation with them we came to know about their pattern of their village life.

We noticed that in their houses they don’t have water taps and electricity which are the basic requirements of life. Their houses are kachcha and very small. They use kerosene lanterns and firewood for preparing food. They work on roads, buildings, houses as laborers. They work for daily wages which is not sufficient for their family. The laborers who are married their only dream was to make their children educated.

We people never realize the sufferings of these workers. These people do not have any choices in their life; they eat what they get and whatever it is in their budget. They have no choices in their life but are happy with it.


IAYP gave us a prospect to turn from normal citizen to a good citizen, so that we could fulfill our duties as a human being and give back to the society to our own heart’s content. So we decided to adopt that slum area.

We often visit them and have stared the project “Each one Teach one” We can’t make them rich but can spend time with them teach them and give them healthy surroundings in order to enable them to secure footing in life. We teach them drawing, coloring and help them learn good things.

Last week we did a play for them to teach them the importance of hygiene. We are planning to teach them dance and music also so that it might help them in their future.

We strongly believe that sense of community and responsibility for other is not just confined to the classroom: indeed it is beyond self, ‘beyond own ethnic groups. We had a glimpse of the REAL world and, are glad that we are in this secure shell of IAYP.

MY AWARD EXPERIENCE - SHUBHANKAR CHAUDHRY

Shubhankar is a third year student of Anthropology at Delhi University. He received his Gold Award at the Gold Award Annual Ceremony in April 2012.  Shubhankar shared his Award experience in conversation with Ankit Durga.

Award Experience
The Award was a great experience as I gained recognition for my skills and other co-curricular activities. It was a great boost to my confidence as it made me try new things. During the Award I got to learn several life skills which helped in developing my personality like time management, team work and problem solving. 

The Favourite Section
My favourite section was the residential project. It was a life changing experience as i lived in a remote village in Himachal, amongst a totally different community and worked for their upliftment. The village was located in the Kangra District and is known by the name of Jhikar. I worked in Jhikkar and several other villages nearby to promote a total sanitation drive, waste disposal systems and development of traditional organic farming techniques. I believe that the educated youth are the vehicles of development for any nation and should work for sustainable development and community upliftment because only a balanced development is true development. 

Life After Gold
The journey after Gold has been great. I am now a part of the alumni and look forward to becoming an Award leader soon and promote the Award. After Gold Award I am open to so many new opportunities like becoming an international youth representative, volunteer with the Award office and help more and more youth to become a part of this great journey. I would highly recommend the Award to every young person as it helps make a positive impact on their community by volunteering.
It helps one in realising their full potential and a very comprehensive development of ones personality.

Wishing you all a very Happy Republic Day 2013

IAYP RESIDENTIAL PROJECT AND ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY FOR GOLD PARTICIPANTS

3rd Spiti Gold Residential Project and Adventurous journey in collaboration with Ecosphere
07 June to 23 June 2013

After two successful Gold Solar Project at Spiti, IAYP India in collaboration with Ecosphere is organising the 3rd Gold Solar Project from 7th June to 23rd June 2013. The project is one of its kind and is exclusively for Gold Award Participants. During this journey the participants will be assisting the local community in construction of a solar bath. The volunteers will participate in the actual construction of the solar bath and the set-up of a solar water geyser (Evacuated Tube Condenser) and will be assisted by a dedicated team of a qualified masons and representatives from Ecosphere. The activity will entail physical work, with a construction period of 7 to 8 days. The trip combines work and pleasure. During this trip participants will also visit some of the highest villages in the world, go on a high-altitude trek, visit some ancient monasteries dating back a 1000 years and take a yak safari and mountain bike. Traditional homestays will further enrich the experience by giving one an authentic understanding of the life and culture in a Spitian home. 

Significance of this Tour
The construction of a solar bath is of great significance in this region as great amounts of fuelwood, coal and wood is burnt for heating water which contributes to CO2 and black carbon emissions. The latter having far more damaging affects on the melting of glaciers and snow on a local level. Through the set up of a solar bath which includes both a passive solar structure as well as a solar water heating system, we enable the people to cut down on emissions (especially reducing black carbon) as well as enable them to have better hygiene through regular availability of hot water. Click to download more details 

YES TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR AWARD LEADERS AT ATC, NEW DELHI

18th - 19th January 2013

The First YES Training workshop of 2013, was held at Award Training Centre, New Delhi from 18th to 19th January 2013.  The workshop was attended by Award leaders of Birla High School, Kolkata; JMK International School, Pathankot; DSB International School, Mumbai and Jodhamal Public School, Jammu.  Bivujit Mokhoty and Manu Mehrotra from the National Training Panel facilitated the training to the delegates. 

The ice-breaking session was started by Kapil Bhalla, National Director.  He briefed about the Award Programme and explained the need of YES workshop to the Award Leaders.  During this session the Award Leaders expressed their expectations what they were looking from this workshop and how they will use the same for the developing and expending the award. Most of the Award Leaders came with an aim to get more knowledge about the programme to be used in their respective fields and curriculum.   Award leaders from JMK International School were looking for the opportunities to use this programme in the Sports and developing the skills among the students, while delegate from DSB International School was looking forward to use the Award within the "IB" allowing children to hit certain 'CAS' criteria.  The Award Leaders from Birla High School and Jodhamal Public School had come with aim to get more knowledge about the Award to explore new Challenges that students can face during participation.

Over two days all the four sections of Award - Skill, Service, Physical Recreation, Adventurous Journey, and Residential Projects for Gold participants, were thoroughly covered. There was a session on Visual Identity and on brand pack.  All sections were covered with interactive presentations along with the activities which helped in the understanding of processes and procedures.  

The training sessions were concluded with a presentation from Ankit Durga on the benefits from the Award to Award Participants and the same was highly appreciated by the delegates.  The delegates also benefited with various Award Video's which helped delegates to understand the soul of Award.  This workshop becomes an important platform for Award Leaders to imbibe detailed knowledge of the Award, get their queries answered and interact with the NAA team.  Click to see the photographs of the workshop 

The Bigger Person, The Bigger Picture

Solar Project for Gold Award Participants- Spiti 2012

- Divya Hirawat, Gold Award Participant - 

2012, sometime before I started with my travels: Say hello to the confused couch potato. If pandas were human, they would be me, just that instead of a bamboo diet, there would be more of carbs, MSG, sodium and fatty items involved along with high degree Television-mania.

Do keep this description in mind as I start off. I made various journeys this summer, each so defining that they were like individual chapters of my life. But, for the sake of some conciseness and specificity I will skip the how and why aspects of these travels, and tell you about one such journey only, and in what sense it was so rewarding. So here goes:

I got back from a really fun raft and trek trip on the 8th of June. This day is the 9th of June, and here I am on a bus to a cold-desert-cum-ridiculously-remote-high-alt-mountain-district in Himachal Pradesh that is Spiti. Some gumption I had, as with my practically sub-zero stamina levels and strength of a hamster, I was heading off to construct a solar bath that supplies hot water at a 5000m-altitude monastery, with just a 24-hour break after my previous trip. Survival is the key. Plus I needed to show all these people who thought I would fail miserably, that I could make it back in one piece. So you can clearly see that there’s really not much of an altruistic motive. So far. It was, to put it simply, for to-appear-cool reasons.

But then after I arrived at the Kee monastery, everything began to change. There was so much I learnt while residing there. Coolness quotient: Dwindling. Respect and altruistic intentions: Rapidly rising day by day. There were expected things like learning about a new culture, new language, working hard under the harsh UV-laden rays of the mountain sun, and simple, really basic food and living conditions. And then there were experiences like, learning to make an aloo paratha for 30 people in a monastery kitchen, waking up at 5 in the morning to attend prayers with the monks and then play volleyball with them later in the evening, visiting a local school to interact with smiling, happy, cute little children and besides, be covered from head to toe in eco-friendly wall plaster after an awesome ‘mud fight’, during solar bath work. How do you describe their worth?

You can only reflect on them, marvel at them and most importantly, learn from them. I can go on and on about how I learnt about balancing strength, discipline, simplicity and gentleness from the monks, the qualities of hard work and resolve from the Spitian people and that there was a place of such ethereal beauty and cultural richness right here in my own country. But then when I turn around and look at this experience from the perspective of a volunteer, I feel proud, that my work, my investment of time and sweat after travelling all that distance would be giving some people a warm winter bathing experience in this cold desert. My contribution would be saving so many trees from being turned into firewood and keeping the mountain air pristine and smoke free as it should be, and I was in my own way implementing and encouraging the need for sustainable energy, which you know, could save the world someday!

It is a small thing to offer in exchange of all those learnings and experiences, but it does bring immense happiness to the ‘citizen’, in me; that in some microscopically small but manifested way, I did help shape a part of my country. Ah yes, the citizen’s perspective. You can literally see that amazing sight of nascent progress right in front of you in those raw mountain roads, children in the remotest villages going to school, shops selling Nutella and slow, but existent internet and cable connections. It brings such an optimism about the future. Besides, it also really encouraged me to hope to be a part of organizations like Ecosphere that promote growth, sustainably in such growing, remote areas. The crux of the matter is, that it’s necessary to step out of your cocoon.

Volunteering helped awaken and define so many aspects of my character, and gave clarity to my vague aspiration of ‘helping living things’, someday, for example it helped me realize that I had great skills working with children and even animals! So it’s definitely something I will build upon, and I’m starting out by helping with some local organizations in my city. Essentially, volunteering awakens the bigger person, a person you might have never known, within you, who sees things from a larger, broad-minded outlook. If not for someone else, as a youth it’s important do it at least do it for your own growth, which if you see makes it a win-win situation for you and the cause you’re volunteering for. So why not give it a try? Hence, the next time a platform provides you with, or brings opportunities to your notice, do go ahead and like it or dislike it. But definitely consider it, because indifference would be a crime. It doesn’t help anyone. Not even you. 

2nd Gold Solar Project 2012

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The Award Weekly - 02 January 2013

Vol V, Issue 1                                The Award Weekly                                    02 January 2013

COMMUNITY SERVICE BY GOLD AND SILVER AWARD PARTICIPANTS A report from Mrs. OMP Singh, Award Leader, Jain International Residential School, Bangalore We at Jain International Residential School believe very strongly in the community service. The Gold and Silver Award Participants take up a variety of activities as a part of the Service Section of the Award. Lunch Time at the Trimurti School for the Blind Our Award Participants visit the school for the blind every week, once a day, after classes. They help the cafeteria staff to serve children food at lunchtime. It gives our students great pleasure to interact with the students of the Trimurti School and with time many of them have formed a strong bond of friendship. Skill Building at the Trimurti School for the speech impaired and the differently abled Our Award Participants who have an interest in art help children learn painting and assist in other art and craft activities. Award Participants who are qualified in music help students learn to play various musical instruments. This interaction has not only honed the skills of the students at the Trimurti School but also of the Award Participants. The Award Participants have come up with an innovative idea of putting these paintings and other selected art works for sale in our school’s annual exhibition. This will help generate awareness as well as money for the Trimurti School. Old Age Home Our Award Participants help the senior citizens at the old age home in the village nearby. They visit them once a week and both the students and their elderly friends look forward to their weekly meeting. The students spend time assisting the old age home residents in their routine chores and also take them to the hospital for health check ups.   Click for the more pictures THE INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AT G D GOENKA WORLD SCHOOL, SOHNA A note from Mrs. Neeta Bali, Principal, G D Goenka World School, Gurgaon At G D Goenka World School, we introduced the Award about two years ago, hoping to engage our students in meaningful activities which would help them channelize their energies in a creative manner and there has been no looking back, with more and more students jumping on to the bandwagon. Students' creative potential actualized in multiple ways. With the silver participants bringing out CASMAX --e-magazine showcasing CAS and IYAP activities and "Gworld. Me"-- a forum for IGCSE and IB students with over 200 registered users including teachers where a free sharing of ideas and information happens and not to miss the juicy gossip that keep everyone logged in . Cooking and gardening too, found a place with boys donning the aprons, when they wouldn't touch a culinary tool at home. Dance, Drama, Music -- these three creative pursuits resulted in three school Bands with very enthusiastic performers trying to outperform each other. In the area of Physical Recreation -- Swimming, Soccer, Squash, cricket, Basketball, Volleyball, Lawn Tennis, Table Tennis saw energetic participation. A majority of the kids have become fit by taking up Gym as their physical recreation for a minimum period of 3 months. The Service segment saw the School 4 School programme (teaching the underprivileged children) with three Community schools in the neighborhood, Clean up the world campaigns, Blood Donation Camps and volunteering with various NGO's. In these two years 64 students have completed the Bronze and Silver Awards and a big group of over a hundred students are working towards the different levels. The Award coordinator in school has also motivated the school life guard to register for the Gold level and to further strengthen the ties with the community, the school is supporting 35 students from the community school to work their way through the Award. The Award philosophy has helped the students develop new skills and cultivate a new mindset. The leisure time of students has been used and their energy has been channelized constructively, giving our students a sense of worthiness and raising their self esteem. We at Goenka have also introduced the position of an IAYP Secretary in the school core student council. ALUMNI DATABASE OF THE INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, INDIATo provide the various opportunities for Award Units, YES Centers and Award Holders, the NAA is working towards building an Alumni database. This will help us get in touch with potential candidates for international events and reach out to young people regarding the volunteering and internship opportunities available at the NAA from time to time. A Gold Award Completion Form has been developed that needs be filled in by Award participants before submitting their Diaries and Record Books to their Award Leaders. A copy of the form is available online. All Award Units and Leaders are encouraged to make Gold Award participants fill the form so as to become a part of the database and avail various opportunities. Please get in touch with the National Team for more details. Click here to download the form IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION- AWARD LEADERS & AWARD PARTICIPANTS This is to inform all Award Participants who have completed their Award level requirements before 31st December 2010 (and have not submitted their Award Record Books) to submit their Record Books and Diaries to the National Award Authority before 31st December 2012 so the records can be considered and awarded where applicable. Please note that any Award Diary/ Record Book with entries before 31st December 2010 would be considered only after a fresh registration and fee if submitted after 31st December 2012. Schools are advised to clear any backlogs of pending Award applications. NATIONAL AWARD OFFICE NEWS  The National  Award Office at Shahpur Jat now boasts of a fully equipped Training Centre and an equipped facility for staff members, interns and volunteers. Friends and alumni of the Award are welcome to drop by to know more or get involved. Updated phone numbers National Award Authority Office in Delhi Phone : +91 11 4108 7062 and Telefax : +91 11 26497164. Programme Manager - Bivujit Mukhoty Mob: +91 9310133900, email: programme@dofe.in Communications Manager- Ankit Durga Mob: +91 9899293617, email: ankitd@dofe.in  OPPORTUNITIES FOR GOLD AWARD HOLDERS AND PARTICIPANTS  The National Award Authority is keen to involve Gold Award Holders and Participants in reaching out to schools and institutions across the country. Award alumni all over the world are involved in strategic planning and development of the Award in their own communities. Important events like the International Gold Event take place once every three years to bring international alumni together and share best practices. The next IGE is in South Korea in 2014. Additionally, all participants and Award Holders should approach the NAA for Volunteering and Internship opportunities. Schools may send across articles and writeups by their students for publishing in The Award Weekly and Award India magazine. For more details please get in touch with Ankit Durga at ankitd@dofe.in. INVITATION TO PARTICIPANTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FORUM 2013 AND MANCHESTER UNITED’S PLAYER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME- TRAVEL TO LEARN The LONDON INTERNATIONAL YOUTH SCIENCE FORUM-2013, is a two week residential forum held at IMPERIAL COLLEGE-LONDON that attracts over 350 of the world’s leading young scientists, aged 16-21 years, from more than 60 participating countries, including the top prize winners from the European union contest for young scientists 2012. For registrations please mail enquiry@traveltolearn.in or visit  www.traveltolearn.in. Travel to learn is also pleased to offer a specially designed ‘PLAYER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM’ organised by the MANCHESTER UNITED SOCCER SCHOOL. The programme offers 5 days of Technical & Tactical Training Comprising of Skills Challenges + Class Room Sessions + Individual Player Evaluation all of which will enable you to play the United way. Players Registrations are invited for Programs in the following Age Groups: 9 to 12 years & 12 to 16 years. For Registrations mail enquiry@traveltolearn.in or visit  www.traveltolearn.in. Click for more information  YOUTH ENGAGING SOCIETY (YES) Welcoming new institutions to the Youth Engaging Society (YES) Family We welcome Vikash Bharati School, Gorakhpur as new YES Centre, and wish them every success. Our YES Centres in India are strategic allies in promoting the all-inclusive growth of The Award. Click for updated list YES FAQ Q. Are regular school hours counted for participation? A. No, regular school timetable work does not count for Award participation. What matters is work and contribution outside the curriculum. EVENTS IN FOCUS- Contact the Comms Team for details  18th - 19th January 2013 : YES Training Workshop 1 at Award Training Centre, NAA Office, New Delhi 25th - 28th January 2013 : APF and ASOP Project Adventure Camp for 2nd Batch at Tickling Rocksport camp site. Contact Bivujit Mukhoty, Programme Manager, IAYP  IAYP INDIA @ SOCIAL NETWORKS - NEW LINKS Check the new links to the Social Networks for latest updates at Award.   Home | About The Award | Award in India |  Award Philosophy

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For more information visit www.iayp.in Contact the Communications Team with updates, photos, feedback and more.

Happy New Year

IAYP India wishes all our Leaders, volunteers, supporters, participants and friends a wonderful and prosperous new year filled with happiness, health and lots of fun.

May this new year bring peace and joy in your life and take you towards excellence.