My Award Journey

Makesh Srinviasan, Bronze Level participant from Hiranandani Upscale School, Kelambakkam shares his Award Journey experience with us in his words. IAYP has helped me to grow from an ordinary person to someone who is respected, given importance and now seen in the world from a different perspective. The Award Programme brought many things into my schedule that helped me to improve myself in myriad ways. It shaped me not only to take up more responsibilities and challenges but also to handle them and be a citizen that a nation would be proud of. This journal records details of my experience in this course starting from July 2015 until today. As an IAYP participant, responsibilities were assigned to me by the school for the first couple of months. I was part of an adventurous trip to a hill station called Coorg. It was a three day fun-filled trip where adventurous activities were organised like zip lining, trekking, river rafting and swimming in the cold river. My main focus was to learn how to be independent, gain experience and provide valuable support to my companions. To move out of my comfort zone and challenge my own learning, fears and skills was the outcome of this adventure section. Next, in the service section of the Award, during the weekends, my friends and I provided education and basic computer knowledge to kids from the orphanage. We conducted regular and scheduled classes for them. Although during some weekends it wasn't possible for them to attend classes due to transportation trouble, national holidays, floods and rains, nevertheless, we managed to reschedule their classes on the availability of our time periods. Moreover, apart from teaching, I also worked for rescue and relief missions during the floods times in Chennai. Every day was very critical, and I used to spent many hours in preparing food, collecting clothes and gathering necessary items from shops. Eventually, we grew into a big association involving more than 50 members from our society. Together, we were able to help hundreds of poor families and kids. We provided food packages, medicines, water bottles, clothes and other necessary items, to about 1000 people in more than 5 different areas. Besides these, I had also been involved in taking photographs (for which I was given the responsibility) for an event that took place in my community. Compassion, communication and connect with the community were the cherished gifts that I saved from this section of the Award journey. My physical activity involved playing football. Being my favourite sport, I made good progress in it. I practiced regularly for about 2 to 3 hours on the ground and about 1 hour indoors to workout. During exams and flood time I was unable to play regularly. But apart from that, I was a very regular student and had shown progressive improvements in this sport. It is a sport that once broke my nose but still, I love playing football. In skills Section, my interests were mainly focused on playing instruments such as violin and piano, and I chose piano. From July till today, I have been practicing piano lessons regularly and with great interest. Although, due to some reasons my teacher couldn't continue, but I kept on practicing my lessons at home for about an hour or two almost every day. Eventually I found a new teacher but he insisted on starting the lessons from the basics. But even then, I did not feel discouraged. I love piano today as much as I loved it on my first day! Thanks IAYP for making me what I am today!Click here for more pictures

Annual Sports Meet at The Sagar School, Alwar

The Sagar School, Alwar organised a two-day Annual Sports meet from 10th - 11th of October 2015. The meet was inaugurated by Mr. Shiva Keshavan, Asian Cup Gold medalist, five time Olympian and the first Indian representative to compete in Luge at the Winter Olympic Games. Also presiding was Ms Jayshree Balasaria, Principal, The Sagar School, Alwar. All Award participants from the school participated in the event to exhibit their strength in Physical Recreation. The main attraction of the event was the Military band, which exhibited a perfect ceremonial start. 

Besides The Sagar School (Alwar), Suncity World School (Gurgaon), Delhi Public School (Sushant Lok), Bal Bharti Public School (Manesar), Salwan Public School (Gurgaon), Colonel Central Academy School (Gurgaon), Aravali Public School (Ferozpur Jhirka), St. Xavier School (Bhiwadi), St. Anselms School ( Alwar), V. L. Memorial Public School ( Alwar), Alwar Public School ( Alwar) and Sunhill Academy Senior Secondary School (Kishangarh) participated in the Inter School Basketball matches and Triathlon Championship.

In both U-16 Boys and Girls - Basketball matches, St. Anslems from Alwar clinched the Gold while The Sagar School claimed the second position. Bhupendra from St. Anslems was declared as the player of the tournament in the U-16 Boys category while Miji Jung from The Sagar School bagged the player of the tournament title in the U-16 Girls category. In the U-16 Boys, Triathlon Championship, P. Ashutosh from Salwan Public School, Gurgaon bagged the first position while the second and third positions were claimed by Raghav Dhiman and Emmanual D’souza from The Sagar School. In the U -16 Girls category Sia Prathambir and Manya Gupta from Suncity World School, Gurgaon claimed the first and second positions while the third position was claimed by P. Shivani from Salwan Public School.  Click for pictures

Award Leader Training (YES) Workshop at Award Training Centre, New Delhi

The National Award Authority organized an Award Leader Training Workshop at the Award Training Centre, New Delhi on December 22-23, 2015. The participants included delegates from Vivek High School, Chandigarh; Saupin's School, Chandigarh; and Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Gwalior. Kapil Bhalla (National Director) started the workshop with an ice-breaking session and then introduced the Award to the participants. Over a span of two days the participants were given in-depth knowledge regarding the four domains of the programme i.e. Skills, Service, Physical Recreation and Adventurous Journey and also the Residential Project for the Gold Award Programme. The participants were also introduced to the technical aspect of the programme, which included Risk Management and Branding. Bivujit Mukhoty (Programme Manager), Priyank Kumar Gupta (Head IT and ORB), Ranjana Rai (Member NTP) and Pallavi Gill (Member NTP) lead the workshop for two days.  The trainers shared their own experience as trainers and Award Leaders and had an engaging discussion with the participants. Click for pictures 

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others" ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Praniti Ganjoo, Gold Award holder from Delhi Public School, Gurgaon is sharing her experience during her Bronze to Gold Award Journey

I became a part of the IAYP programme four years ago, and the Gold Award Ceremony held on the 16th of July took me down memory lane, to the past four years of my journey of getting the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards. I remember the 14 year old girl, who had just entered into high school and was excited about the adventure camps that she would get to be a part of and enrolled for the Award. Little did I know that this would become such an important part of who I am today.

I was in the 9th grade when I received my Bronze Award. I took up dancing as a Physical Recreation, where I learnt dance forms like jazz and freestyle. For the Skills section, I took up baking, another passion of mine. However, undoubtedly, the most interesting and fun sections were the Service and the Adventurous Journey sections. I got involved with Shiksha Kendra, an initiative to teach the underprivileged children of our society subjects like English, maths and the social sciences. For the Adventurous Journey, I went to Mori, Uttarakhand, where I took part in white water river rafting, rappelling, trekking and cliff diving.

Getting the Bronze Award after months of involvement in various activities, the exhilaration, and the ability to learn, filled me with a newfound thirst to learn more and become more, and I knew one thing for sure, there was no going back!

For the Silver and Gold award, I pursued dancing and swimming under Skills and Physical Recreation respectively, with the same vigour and zest and learnt new things under the guidance of my proficient instructors. I also got a tremendous opportunity to work with Teach India -- an initiative by the Times of India and the British Council, which aimed at spreading awareness about the importance of the English language and facilitated its learning for people, in order to improve their quality of life by providing better employment opportunities. I was actively involved with this endeavour by Times of India, and got an award for Excellent Contribution and Best Volunteer.

The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Programme made me recognize the significance of giving back to society. This inspired me to also volunteer for an organisation which dealt with children fighting with cancer and I collected funds at carnivals and also conducted bake sales. Finally, the Residential Project under the Gold Award, gave me an insight into the life of the villagers. I went to the village Ghamroj, near Sohna Road, Gurgaon, Haryana, where we saw factories where bricks were made, went to a cowshed and organic farms and also met the village head, who enlightened us about the improvement of education and sanitation facilities in the village.

The Award gave me an opportunity to engage and acquire a new set of skills. I got the liberty to design my own programme and set my own goals by challenging my boundaries. Thank you IAYP!

Award Leaders training workshop

The NAA organised a two-day Award Leader training workshop at the Award Training Centre, New Delhi, attended by 23 participants from Mussoorie International School, Mussoorie; Manava Bharati Heritage School, Kaimur; Sir Padampat Singhania Education Centre, Kanpur; Indraprastha College for Women, Delhi; Unison World School, Dehra Dun; The Punjab Public School, Nabha; Him Academy Public School, Hamirpur; Ivy World School, Jalandhar; Vidya Sanskar International School, Faridabad and Uttam School for Girls, Ghaziabad. Kapil Bhalla (National Director) inaugurated the workshop with a brief history and introduction to the Award. Bivujit Mukhoty (Programme Manager), Priyank Kumar Gupta (Head IT & ORB) and Ranjana Roy (Member National Training Panel) lead the workshop, which was conducted on 18th and 19th September, 2015. Click here for pictures

The Award helped me realize my self-worth and importance

Trupti Panigrahi, Gold Award Holder from the Open Award Centre shares here life changing experience during her Award Journey.
"Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement." - Golda Meir

Being honoured with the Gold Award by the IAYP (International Award for Young People), worldwide known as the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award, was a dream that came true for me. I started my journey five years ago with the aim of serving society and working towards self-growth. This journey has given me much more than what I could ever imagine. It has instilled in me the thirst to learn more, explore more about life and evolve as a good human being. It has taught me to never give up and never look back.

It was through this journey I realized that in spite of being a small creation of the Almighty, I can bring about a remarkable difference in his world. It has made me realize my self-worth and importance. It has made me understand my responsibilities towards my own self and towards society at large. This Award has given me an opportunity to challenge my own beliefs and come out of my self-created boundaries.

I am extremely thankful to the Award India for providing such a platform where young people get engaged in developmental work. This not only benefits them but also the people surrounding them and creates a brand value for their respective countries.

I am sure I will see more and more people joining this endeavour and having such amazing experiences.

Personality Development through Social Service

Sanganabasava International Residential School and Kavalagi village Panchayat have decided to collaborate for the overall development of the village by initiating a number of focused projects. The programme was formally inaugurated on 23rd November 2014 at the Kavalagi school grounds, in the presence of all the Award participants and mentors. The school has planned to build two blocks of 40 toilets (20 for Kavalagi and 20 for Honnutagi) each at two locations of the village as part of the Swachh Bharat Programme.

The ethical values that the school has nurtured in students was motivated by the "Clean India Programme" initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Award participants in groups of four took an oath on 25th Sept 2014 to undertake the programme.

The development programme is planned to be comprehensive. It includes a basic literacy programme, a health development programmme and maintaining a plastic-free zone in Honnutagi & Kavalagi. The people from the panchayat attended the inauguration. A powerful video programme was arranged to educate the people about the perils of alcoholism and smoking. Thanking the school authorities and students for the development initiative, the principal in her concluding message said, "A happy, prosperous and peaceful life for every Indian is a dream that we should cherish and realize".

Besides this effort, a literacy campaign was also promoted in these two villages. Each participant adopted 10 people to be taught. This ongoing programme will contribute to the growth of the country and the development of the nation's citizens. Click for picture

IAYP Activities report from Saffron City School, Distt. Fatehgarh Sahib

Social service and skill based activities facilitate in the development of various domains of mind and personality such as intellectual, social, moral and aesthetic development. These activities are the components of non-academic curriculum that help to develop various facets of the personality. For all round development, there is a need of emotional, physical, spiritual and moral development that is complemented & supplemented by social science and skill based activities. So being a part of IAYP we have done lot of activities under Service & Skill that help young people unlock their potential and build a brighter future. Here comes the list of activities:-

Service:-Leprosy centre: Award participants took the initiative to visit a leprosy centre in Sirhind as a part of their social responsibilities. Students went around the centre and met all the patients. They interacted with the leprosy patients, listened to their grievances and shared their pain. The students made an effort to make them smile and forget that they had been ostracized. They distributed food items and clothes to the patients and discovered feelings of compassion in themselves.

Visit to a slum area: The participants visited slum areas a number of times. They went around the whole area and took the initiative to start 'Safai Abhyan' by cleaning roads and streets and motivated people all around to keep their area clean and green. They also visited the slum school and distributed stationary items and books to the children. They taught them the values of good hygiene and good practices such as keeping their habitat clean and green. They planted saplings there and taught students that it is through our own actions that we make these saplings grow: taking care of them would make them healthy, while neglecting them would stunt their growth, just like a small child.

Learning Skills: Participants took part in various group activities. One of the activities was learning pottery. The students made pots of different shapes and decorated and painted them. Another activity was learning the art of making envelopes of different shapes and decorating them. They shared various ideas among themselves. In another activity they learnt how to wrap gifts and make them look attractive. The items made by the students were displayed at the school exhibition, and the money collected was used for charity. Click here for pictures

The Award made me a better person

Yuvraj Geet Singh Chopra, Gold Award holder from Delhi Public School, Gurgaon received his Gold Award on 16th July 2015 at the Annual Gold Award Presentation Ceremony.  Yuvraj shares his experience during the Award Journey.
The Gold Award ceremony organized by IAYP, India was held on 16th July 2015 and I was one of the Gold Award recipients.  The entire journey for the completion of the Award was an amazing experience for me. I learnt a lot from it and hope to incorporate the values learnt from it in daily life as well.
There were five parts to the Award, each of which was to be performed and recorded in order to achieve the Award. Those categories included Skill, Physical Recreation, Adventure, Community Service and a Residential Project.
My Skill was vocal music. I practiced every day, performed in a lot of events and competitions for my school and otherwise, and my vocal skill has developed a lot since Day 1. I am now a very good singer and will be pursuing music after school as a hobby too. Under Recreation, I used to go to the gym periodically, due to which I have become a healthier and fitter person. My 'Adventure' included taking a wonderful trip to some islands, where I practiced Para-Sailing, Snorkelling, and other activities. The sheer thought of doing the rides was exhilarating! I also taught the students of the DPS Shiksha Kendra as part of Community Service and I cannot describe how happy I felt teaching the challenged young minds of our society. In fact, I liked it so much that even after the completion of the Award, I still continue to teach at the Shiksha Kendra.
I, along with my friends also visited a village called Ghamroj in Sohna as part of the Residential Project. We visited the homes and farms of the villagers living there, analyzed the current facilities of the village and then had a conversation with the village Sarpanch regarding improving the facilities of the village so that the people could achieve better lives and livelihood.
In conclusion, I have had a wonderful experience and I will cherish the moments I had throughout my life.

"Experience is the teacher of all things.' -- Julius Caesar

Poorva Gupta, Gold Award holder, Delhi Public School, Gurgaon shares her experience about the Award journey.

The journey of IAYP to the Gold Award has indeed been an unforgettable experience.  I started my Award journey when I was in Grade 9, and today when I have entered college, I am a Gold Award holder. My involvement in the Award was a matter of mere chance - thanks to my Award Leader, Darshna ma'am who took the initiative to make us aware about the entire programme. There was so much I was doing and I wanted a platform where I could make use of it. The Duke of Edinburgh Award provided me with the same. Through the entire program I not only came to discover myself, but also made a bunch of great friends.

The Bronze Award journey began with an exciting and adventurous river rafting trip that provided a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the refreshing rapids of River Ganga in Rishikesh. The 50 km journey by bus with other Gold and Silver participants was filled with excitement and the anticipation of savouring nature's rich bounty. For my Service section, I taught at Shiksha Kendra, an initiative in our school to teach the underprivileged children. During that time, I had just picked up a new activity, dancing, which became my daily Physical Recreation. I adore art, and therefore took the opportunity to master painting, develop my Skill and gain confidence. From April to October, I gradually improved in all fields. And it was at the end of October that I received my Bronze Award. 

For the Silver and Gold Award, I continued with the same amount of vigour and enthusiasm. For the Service section I had the opportunity to be a part of Teach India - an initiative by the Times of India and the British Council. Under this, I taught the support staff of our school by staying back for two hours after school. The experience was enriching, one of the best I've ever had. I remember going back to my class after some work, and one of the members of the support staff greeted me with a 'Good Morning!'. Then and there I knew that my purpose at Teach India was fulfilled. I thought the Residential Project would be a tough and laborious task; however, it was absolutely thrilling and an eye-opener for me. We went to Ghamroj Village situated in Sohna Road, Gurgaon. Talking to the villagers we were made aware of the universal needs of food, shelter, clothing, being accepted by our near and dear ones and improvement of standards of living. We realized that all, whether rich or poor, have similar dreams and most of us would go all out to fulfill them. The Award gave me an opportunity to engage and acquire new skills first hand through participation in the four sections. I got the liberty to design my own programme and to set my own goals by challenging my boundaries. Thanks a bunch IAYP!

My Teach India Journey

Teach-India, an initiative of The Times Group aims at improving English spoken skills of the underprivileged to improve their employability.  Shreya Manoj Naik, Delhi Public School, Gurgaon sharing his experience on this fruitful journey. 

My Teach India experience as a part of my Award Journey has been one that was deeply fulfilling and highly satisfying. I have always been confident about my command over spoken English, but I never realized how hard it would be to teach the language! It started off with a 6 day training workshop where I got to interact with other participating students.  Together, we learnt how to teach English to someone who was not familiar with the language. Once school commenced, we started with teaching English to the support staff of our school. Initially, it was hard to relate and teach them as they were elder to us, but slowly they started to open up, and soon they became motherly figures who would look after us and at the same time learn from us! It gave me immense satisfaction to hear them speak English.  Gradually, they were able to speak short sentences.  They even tried their hand at learning computers and were able to use paint and MS Word. 

It has been an amazing experience for me and at the end of this fruitful journey I could see them yearning for more knowledge.

I wholeheartedly appreciate this initiative by The Times Group and would like to thank my school and the Award Programme for providing me with the opportunity to be a part of this noble cause! Click for few more pics 

My IAYP Experience

Sarthak Mehta, Bronze Award Holder from DLF Public School, Sahibabad is sharing his Award experience. 

It was just another day in my school when I heard about the 'International Award for Young People' from my health education teacher. IAYP came as an opportunity for me to excel in co-curricular fields besides academics. I gladly accepted the  challenge! I realize now that it helped me discover the latent talents that I had. I have always been a good student, rigorous studies excite me. But after participating in IAYP, not only was I studying, I was playing lawn tennis, I was helping in organizing our school library, exploring Robotics and going on adventures! I was almost a different person, exploring a number of different activities and enjoying them too! My teachers supported me fully and the result was that I completed all my tasks on time. The impacts of IAYP are many and varied in my life. First, I realized that life is multi faceted, so all  its aspects have to be experienced to be a well rounded person. Second, I regained my fitness and stamina that I had lost somewhere in the array of books. I especially felt overwhelmed when our school librarian thanked us for the help we offered to her throughout the school year. I also pursued Robotics which I believe will always be my interest and passion. I would like to recommend IAYP to each and every child because while doing all of this for fun we also get to interact with different people and earn an award for the same! It has been a fun filled journey with IAYP and it will help me with my journey forward in life too! I must say I enjoyed myself tremendously while on my Award journey!