Special Projects Dinner, November 14, 2017

Monalisa Paul represented India in the Special Projects Dinner - an annual event, organised by Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation at London. Monalisa is sharing her experience here.

Every year the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation organizes a special dinner with the trustees and special project members. The members from all over the world come to attend this event to share their work experience regarding the Special Project with the Award family and trustees.

This year I was selected to share my views on the special project which we are doing on "Women Empowerment" in rural villages. For me, this was a great opportunity to represent my country and my own organization, Sri Sarada Math, Rasik Bhita.

My journey started on November 9, 2017 from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. This was my first ever flight in my life, and that too to travel overseas alone, so I was a bit nervous as well. My flight was at 08:55 in the morning. I reached Dubai International Airport at 12:50 in the afternoon. From Dubai, I reached Heathrow airport at 18:20 in the evening. A member was there at the airport to escort me to the hotel. At 20.30 in the evening, I reached Huttson Hotel. I checked in and settled down.

On the next morning, 10th November, I woke up early in the morning and had my breakfast. In the hotel lobby, I came to meet with three other speakers who came to attend the dinner program like me. There we met with Lizzie Elliot, an Award member. She took us to the Award office house. 

At the office we met with other Award members - Lucy, Emma, Liz and all. We discussed one by one our speeches with Emma Fisher, a Communications Manager and did all necessary amendments. After the lunch break, we rehearsed our speeches. At the end of the day we came back to the hotel. At night we, the speakers - Radu from Romania, Emmanuella from Ghana, Morema from Lesotho and me, Monalisa from India went together for our dinner.

Next two days - 11th and 12th Nov - were holidays. We spent some of our free time to explore the town. We visited some important places in London such as the Parliament House, Big Ben, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, and the Tower Bridge. And we also spent time to practice our speeches.

On 13th Nov we went to the office at 10 am in the morning. That day we met with John, the head of the Award house and one of the trustees as well. They listened to all our stories of our special projects. They were really pleased and moved with the work we do. At the end of the day, we came back to the hotel again.

On the very next day, the special day 14th Nov, we prepared our final speeches at Award house and came back to the hotel early as we had to get ready for dinner. I wore my national dress for this dinner event. We four speakers along with two members of the Award organization, Liz and Lizzie left the hotel at 05:00 in the evening towards the venue at Bagshot Park. We reached the venue within one and half hour. This is the royal castle of the Earl of Wessex and Countess of Wessex who is in charge of the Award program now. We visited the rooms there, full of fine wooden work done by Indian artists. Within an hour guests came with their families.They were very eager to meet with us, to listen to our stories. We were introduced to the trustee members and guests as well. After the welcome session, we moved to the dining table for the main program. Our host was HRM, Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward. The night began with the speech of the first speaker Radu from Romania, then the speaker from Ghana. After the main course the third speaker from Lesotho, then my turn came, the last speaker of that evening. In front of the HRM, the Prince, Princess and 51 other guests I shared my views regarding the Award, our work for special projects, the improvements we achieved, the future plan we are about to do, everything. I was able to make all the guests aware of the work we do, and the benefits we get from the Award.

After dinner, the guests came in front of us to give us best wishes for our works. They all were very happy with the work we do and were able to make lump sum amount of donations for the special projects. We had some photo session with Earl of Wessex and Countess of Wessex. At the end of the programme, we came back to the hotel with a great experience.

The next morning I checked out from the hotel. It was time to come back to my country, to my home. From Heathrow, I took my flight at 13:40 in the afternoon and arrived at Kolkata airport on 15th Nov at 07:40 in the morning.

It was a great time away from home, from my own country to a new country, new town, new people, new culture. I learnt many things from there. It was really an achievement for me. These memories I am going to cherish throughout of my life. Thanks to Award, my mentors and above all, thanks to Sri Sarada Math for believing in me, and for giving me the chance to prove myself. Click here for more pictures

Story of Papiya Koley

“Slow, persistent and silent work does everything.” Swami Vivekananda

Papiya Koley is a living example of these words. Her father is a van puller by profession. Needless to say, it is an arduous task for him to procure sustenance for a family of six. But they have seen better days ever since Papiya was brought by her elder sister Ashalata Koley to Rasik Bhita to get involved with the Award Programme.

The remote village of Heradaha could not provide her opportunities for higher education, yet Papiya was not defeated. The orthodox villagers could not accept the progressive outlook of the two sisters and began to cast aspersions on them. But people who script success stories are seldom held back by such constraints. Battling against numerous odds, Papiya managed to put up a praiseworthy academic performance. By dint of sheer hard work and dedication, the sisters have achieved an notable feat.

Ashalata Koley is a Silver Awardee who works for Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. India, and Papiya is now a student of Sanskrit Honours in Srerampore Girls’ College and her results have been consistently good. She has scored 60% marks in Compulsory English. She is a proud winner of the IAYP Gold Award this year.

Adventurous Journey for Specially-Abled Participants

The National Award Authority organised an Adventurous Journey camp for differently-abled participants of Raphael Ryder Cheshire, Dehradun from 2nd to 5th March 2016, under Special Projects. The group comprised 25 differently-abled participants (21 boys and 4 girls); among them were 4 Gold, 4 Silver, and 17 Bronze participants. The group was escorted by two Award Leaders: Madhu Rawat and Kishan Rana who work as Special Educators; five volunteers: Ambika Thapliyal, Ameeta Upreti, Purnima Singh, Vasundhara, Shilpi and two members from support staff. Four specially trained instructors of the Institute of Climbers and Nature Lovers (ICNL) Kolkata led them on their Adventurous Journey. The camp was supervised by Bivujit Mukhoty, Programme Manager, IAYP. Priyank Kumar Gupta (Head IT) also represented the NAA for this adventurous journey during the course.

The first day started with a briefing session about the journey. The instructors explained the importance of safety and helped the participants understand the different equipment. They taught them how to pack their backpacks and other equipment while on their Adventurous Journey. Next, the instructors explained the process for pitching tents and helped the participants perform this activity. The students enjoyed the learning activity. The Instructors demonstrated rappelling and other activities and showed the use of different types of rope knots used during the Adventurous Journey. Participants also performed the single rope bridge. The participants enjoyed their evening full of dance and music.

The next morning, the group started their journey to Inside Passage Camp Site, Maldevta Village, Dehradun by bus. Amit Minocha welcomed the group and arranged the stay for the participants. In the pre-lunch session,the participants performed on the Commando Net; in the post-lunch session the instructors organised adventurous activities like Burma Bridge.The evening was spent playing different games and sports as per their ability.

On the third day, the participants went for Tyrolean Traverse on the river Song. The second half of the day was for a track where they visited a natural cave and explored calcite and stalactite depositions. These participants enjoyed the campfire at night. 

The last day of the camp started with different physical exercises and team building games. After the physical fitness training and a late breakfast the group departed for Raphael Ryder Cheshire, Dehradun.

This Adventurous Journey was full of fun for these participants, helping build their confidence and exposing them to a different environment. The NAA expresses thanks to Inside Passage and ICNL team for providing support and organising this camp. click for pictures

My first 'Trek' of life with IAYP

The National Award Authority organised an Adventurous Journey camp for the Bronze and Silver Level under Gender Diversity & Empowerment Project at Bisindha, West Bengal from 6th - 10 January 2016, with the support of experienced instructors from Institute of Climbers and Nature Lovers, Kolkata. Nidhi Raj Chatterjee, Bronze awardee -- one of the sixty-four participants -- describes her first ever exposure to adventure.

My name is Nidhi Raj Chatterjee and I'm a Bronze awardee of International Award for Young People. I recently had my first experience of Trekking with the skilled instructors. I'd like to share my experience and everything that this trek has taught me.

First, I would like to start with the foremost important thing about a trek, which is 'Adjustment'. Adjustment with the people around me, and adjustment with the environment around me. We lived with Nature, by Nature and on Nature. We had to adjust with small space to live and rest in, without any comfort. This way it helped us to identify our ability to adjust with the present circumstances.

Second, it helped us a lot to learn how to 'Socialize' with people. There were 64 of us, who came for this journey to experience adventure and learn survival on Hills and Mountains. When I started for the trek, I knew only three other participants who were my friends, but when I returned I had an endless list of friends on my card. Initially I was worried about what people around me would be like, but as soon as I reached and 'socialized', all my fears disappeared. It was because we all lived in the same environment, wore the same type of clothes, ate the same food, and shared the same shelters. We woke up together, ate together, learned together and enjoyed together. This trip has helped me enlarge my circle of friends and enhanced my ability to be friends with people irrespective of age and origins.

Now I would like to share the most remarkable part of this entire journey, 'The Lifetime Experiences' and 'Learnings'. We were introduced to the 'life saving equipments' of trekking and mountain/hills climbing. We were taught how to use those equipments to survive on the hills. We were introduced to the different kind of 'knots' that are used for various purposes. We experienced great adventures like crossing on and from 'Travellion Traverse', 'Joomering', 'Single Rope Bridge' and 'Burma Bridge'. And then we experienced a trek of around 16-17 kilometers in a day.

This entire camp has brought many changes in all of us. From waking up before sunrise and then going for workouts in the morning, then having meals on time and with discipline, socializing with people, living without any electronic gadget, and staying enthusiastic whole day. From this Adventurous Journey we have learned so many things which otherwise would not have been possible.

We are all extremely and whole heartedly thankful to our instructors for drawing out the best in us and making us aware of our hidden strength. Click for pictures...

Challenge India -- International Special Project

Empowering Young People through sports and Experiential Learning using the Award Programme

Challenge India, The International Special Project kick-started during May 2014 by the Audacious Dreams Foundation, a YES Centre led by Dinesh Gajendran (Gold Award holder, Member-National Training Panel and former Asia Pacific Regional intern). Challenge India programme aims to "Empower Young People with Sports and Experiential Learning" using the Aaward Programme with support and mentorship from the National Award Authority, IAYP India and The International Award Association. The International special project was a remarkable success and there was great response from the young people towards the programme from the rural community.

The programme began with Empowering Young Leaders Potential - 2014 through which 20 volunteers were trained about the structure the philosophy of the Award. The team then visited several parts of the district, met a number of institutions, stake holders and brought extensive reach via personal visits to colleges, schools, and NGOs, with invites to eligible candidates for orientation and follow up calls to potential candidates.

The programme team used various promotional strategies including meeting sports clubs, youth organizations like Rotaract and NSS, and established a good communication with our existing networks. Organising workshops using different mediums set up the way towards expansion and reach. The programme team conducted many outreach events including The Princess Summit, partnered with Life Style International Seminar.

Social media again played a vital role in promoting the programme. The volunteers engaged with several pages and groups and posted about the Award and the response we received through social media was impressive: the team received 60 inquiries about the Award and 35 people registered thanks to extensive follow up by our team.

The interesting fact about Challenge India is that 70% of registrations are girl participants which means girls are getting empowered a way better.

The Challenge India project is also coming across several interesting stories as the participants are driving themselves and working with real inspiration to become better citizens of tomorrow.
One interesting Award story from the project was from Samson Prabhu, an engineering graduate who became a DJ. This Bronze  Award participant took music as his skill. Having starterd learning electronic music production he started producing his own mixtracks and podcasts. He has now established his own home studio for music production named Aspires Brotherhood.

The inspiring efforts from Business Students of Auxilium college, Vellore was remarkable as they joined as volunteers with the Challenge India Programme and spent their valuable time to spread their skills through the Service section of the Award Programme. Every weekend they spend time to organise Life Skills classes using sports and experiential learning methodology.

Bronze Award participants named Surender and Kannan from Jamal Mohammed College, Trichy participated in Indian Student Parliament, Pune and showed their efforts with the learning of Civic Citizenship.

The team Challenge India has travelled across 45 different venues, rural based institutions and conducted 60 Award Orientation programmes and an Award Leader workshop, while registering 300 young people with the Programme by December 2014.

The people are receptive and there was a positive response as the Gold Award holders Dinesh Gajendran and Priyason Pauldurai shared their Award experience and described how the Award changed their lives. Deveen Baskar, an engineering student working as intern with Challenge India office spending time with the participants to explain about the Award programme and maintaining the database. We believe the Challenge India, International Special project creates the next generation of leaders who take the Award flag high with glowing colours.

On the whole, Challenge India, The International Special Project which was new in Tamilnadu is now being seen and celebrated as a premier youth development programme in the districts of Vellore & Trichy. Looking forward to see more successful stories in 2015.