Charity Begins at Home

Award participants from Maa Anandmayee Memorial School, Raiwala took part in cleaning drive organised by the school authorities.  Here is a report from the participants.

On 5th Dec, 2015 as soon as we reached the school, we heard some exciting news. It was related to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and we were asked to get engaged and contribute in this very important movement which has been started by our honourable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi.

'Charity begins at home' -- following this very dictum, our Director Arpit Panjwani and our Principal motivated the children with their didactic words to start this very movement from their school.

First of all they told us the importance of cleanliness and they also told us how to clean our house, school and society and public places as part of our regular schedule. They showed us we can clean the places using proper dustbins. Principal Sir explained the importance of cleaning our rooms ourselves, and further put the waste into the dustbin. 

After the discussion we started our cleaning campaign. First of all we cleaned our school ground and also the classes. Afterwards, we went to the classes and told the students about cleanliness and took a promise from the students that they would use dustbins and also keep the school campus clean. They would themselves take care of the school campus and homes, thereby leading to a cleaner society. Click for more pictures

The Award allowed me the opportunities that fueled my passions in life

Canadian Gold Award holder Jessica Silva, one of eight new Emerging Leaders to sit on the International Council (IC) shared her Award Journey at the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Forum 2015 at Toronto

I remember dragging my father into the room as my Bronze ceremony commenced.  He was a bit confused as to why I was so in awe with the young gentleman who sat at our table. Mr. Craig Kielburger, the founder of Free the Children and Me to We, was our guest speaker for our Bronze Award Ceremony and who had the pleasure of sitting at his table? Myself and a few students from my High School. As my father casually made conversation with him, I kept nudging him so as to warn him that he was infringing on the "embarrassing" territory and he needed to simply "stop talking". My father was still confused as to what Mr. Kielburger's role was until he got up to the podium to speak.

Mr. Kielburger began with a story. He shared with us his adventures in Ecuador where he and his team of volunteers were attempting to finish building a school, however they had underestimated timing needed to complete their plans as they were unable to finish building the school in time. Concerned, Mr. Kielburger went to the chief of the village and in an apologetic tone, explained that he and his team were unable to finish the school they were attempting to build for the community. The chief simply explained that there was no need to worry. Mr. Kielburger was confused and thought that the chief had not understood what he was saying. The chief laughed and said he would call for a "minga". Mr. Kielburger left confused, however to his surprise he would learn the meaning of this word "minga" when he woke the next morning.  As villagers from surrounding villages pilled in to help with the school, Craig understood the power of "minga".

Mr. Kielburger explained that there was no direct translation for the work "minga"   however he roughly translated it to mean " the coming together of a community for the greater good". It was at my Bronze Award Ceremony where this very sentiment was engrained in my head. The idea of the power of a community to affect change came to be the very sentiment that fueled my passion and dedication to international development work and advocacy on behalf of the marginalized. Moreover, It was also the thread that held together my personal journey with the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award.

After Mr Kielburger's Speech, my father, an avid traveller, began to ask questions about Free the children's upcoming trip to China during the summer of 2007. About three months later, I was booked on a trip of a lifetime where I began to experience the meaning of community, non formal education, and most of all the importance of taking advantages of opportunities that present themselves when you least expect it.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, was complimentary to those activities that I was so passionate about pursuing like community service with the homeless in Toronto or learning another language like French. However, I always found it challenging to meet the requirements for the adventurous journey as Toronto, which I am sure you have all realized by now, is not the most outdoorsy place. How could a young woman like myself pursue an adventurous journey when I live in an urban setting. Thankfully, the Award allowed for flexibility with the qualifications for an adventurous journey and my trip to China qualified for my Silver adventurous journey.

In keeping up with the momentum, I continued my Gold Award at the age of 17. However, I slowly began to lose not only my motivation for continuing the Award but also the reason for which I was doing the Award. I began to get tied down with school work, other personal aspirations, and most of all my passions lead my to pursue other opportunities that arose at that time. Before I knew it, I had stopped working on my Gold Award at the end of high school.

Throughout the years, I always worked towards saving up for a trip of a lifetime and for me that was during the Summer of 2011. In my second year at university, I was selected to attend as one of 10 students from my university on an international health field placement in Zambia. We lived in a compound outside of Lusaka and were fortunate enough to work alongside locals. My personal project was working with rural female gardeners and creating a social enterprise project to increase their livelihoods and hopefully, create more opportunities for a sustainable income. It was then where I realized my privilege of having experienced the Award programme. I knew that I had put that opportunity on hold for the moment and as life progressed, I forgot about the aspirations of that young girl who met Craig Kielburger. He challenged us to be that change we want to see in the world and the Award challenged me to push myself to my limits. It was not until I was living alongside those who were not as privileged as I, where I realized just how grateful and lucky I was to be afforded the opportunity of choosing to partake in such an Award programme.

From there, I decided that I would return to Canada and complete my Gold Award as an independent participant. Fortunately enough, my backpacking exploratory journey that I conducted after my health field placement qualified for my adventurous journey. I worked as quickly as I could and dedicated my time to completing my Award. I was so proud to have achieved my Gold. However, when I attended my Gold Award ceremony, I remember being a little taken aback at just how much judgment and lack of collaboration there was at the Award ceremony. As I am a friendly person, I tried to build relationships with those around me, however they were in no way, interested. Moreover, they shared with me stories that alluded to their privilege. I thought back to those whom I had worked with in Zambia and realized that from that point on, I wanted to provide the opportunity of the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award to those who were less privileged in Canada. This was my plan then and is still my plan as I stand here today. 

Personally, I would like to thank the Award for allowing me the opportunity to not only gain useful life skills but to also pursue those opportunities that fueled my passions in life. The Award programme's flexibility allowed for me to take a break and pick right back up from where I started. I feel that without that, I may not have completed my Gold Award.

For the Award's future, it is my hope to see the Award flourish amongst the marginalized, of course giving careful definition to whom we define as marginalized. Personally, I think there is the opportunity to establish many partnerships with universities, community colleges, youth programs and even youth clubs where we can present the opportunity to create collaborative models to delivering the Award and more importantly creating a "minga" where youth feel supported throughout their Award experiences. If I may dream so big, I would also love to see more collaboration between countries to creating support for Award participants and Award holders in accomplishing their personal goals outside of the Award. I feel that through networking and creating partnerships, we can all do our part to ensuring the growth and longevity of the Award programme.

From Toronto to Accra - John May, Secretary General

In Toronto, I likened our development as an Award family to making coffee. I spoke of the need to use percolators as well as cafetières -- to allow ideas room for discussion and consideration as well as driving down hard on the plunger of change. I believe that Forum 2015 gave us the opportunity to percolate a set of ideas and to begin to reach a common vision of our future.

Over the coming months we will be following up on this work: sharing with you further results from the discussions that were facilitated by Group Partners, and suggesting how those discussions might continue and transfer into action. We have further work to do on developing the memorandum of understanding and we look forward to working with members of the International Council on this task in the first instance. And we hope that, in planning for regional conferences and other meetings over the coming three years, we can capitalise on the amazing spirit of co-operation and collaboration that we created in the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

None of this could have happened without the hard work of everyone: our amazing Canadian hosts, Foundation staff, volunteer facilitators, members of review groups, delegates and guests. Thank you for making Forum 2015 the success that it undoubtedly was.

Before Forum 2015 I wrote to you about the 'road to Toronto'. We have now begun our adventurous journey along the 'road to Accra'. It'll be quite a journey and I have no doubt there will be twists, turns and the occasional exploration in what turns out to be the wrong direction. As Robin Sieger said in his speech, "let's concentrate on the 'where' and not worry too much about the 'how.'" If the Award really is the wonderful thing that so many of us believe it to be, then it is nothing short of our duty to bring it within the reach of as many young people as we possibly can; and to do that with rigour, with skill and with urgency.

My IAYP Experience

Surya Govindaswaami, Silver Award participant from Hiranandani Upscale School, Chennai shares his Award experience with us.
Now most people writing this article would start out with something like "the IAYP has been a revolutionizing experience that changed my life". But I'm going to be honest. As a teenager, the IAYP is not something that is going to change your life or shed new light for you. But what it will do is provide you with the motivation and incentive to divulge in new experiences. The saying goes that "experience is the best teacher", and I don't deny that for a second. The various experiences I have been exposed to due to the IAYP have allowed me to mature as a person, become more disciplined in nature, and understand the complexity and intricacy of the world around me. Before IAYP began, I was almost never involved in community and did very little community service, if any. This is expected, as most adolescents are not going to be thrilled to get out into the world and do some real work.

But that changed after I began the IAYP programme; I started becoming more involved in the community and participated in service related activities such as tree-planting, beach cleanups, and teaching under-privileged and orphaned children. These experiences did actually have a huge impact on me, as I began to realize "our world" is a shell, and we are a small dot or point in an otherwise huge painting. In conclusion, the International Award for Young People had a resounding effect on me, and I owe a big thanks to the founders for giving me this opportunity to become more involved in the community and discover reality via a variety of immense first-hand experiences. Click for more pictures

Forum 2015 - Asia Pacific Regional Board Meeting

Orientations and Workshops - A report on Programme Manager's visit

Bivujit Mukhoty (Programme Manager) visited the schools of Karnataka between 16th and 18th November 2015. Bivujit organised a one-day workshop for Award Leaders of Green Valley National School and P U College, Shiroor, which was attended by 11 participants. The workshop detailed the Award Philosophy and Framework, the four sections and residential projects. Mr. John Mathew (Principal) and Mrs. Whilhelmina Anna Swyney Mathew (Chief coordinator) also attended the workshop. This was followed the next day by an Award orientation session for the students of Green Valley National School and P U College. Over 110 students attended the orientation session, after which 86 participants enrolled in different levels of the Award.On 24th Bivujit Mukhoty delivered an Orientation session to the Award participants of Samsara World School, Greater Noida, where over 60 Award participants were present. The session was aimed at briefing the students on the sections of the Award and resolving the different queries of participants related to their Award Journey.Programme Manager also visited Punjab schools on 26th and 27th November 2015. On the 26th there was an Orientation session at Saupin's School, Chandigarh for 160 students. On the 27th there was an orientation session at Yadavindra Public School, Mohali with the Award Leaders and Principal and discussion of the progress of the Award Programme. This was followed by a meeting at The Millennium School, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Punjab with the Principal and staff about the opportunities to start the Programme at the school.Mr. Mukhoty also met Ms. Snehlata, Dy Director Primary Education and Coordinator Award Programme, Govt. of Punjab and discussed the progress of the Award programme in the Government Schools of Bhatinda and Muktsar District. The meeting concluded with an agreement to extend the Programme to other Govt. schools in the near future.

Forum 2015 - Inaugural Session at Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame

The Indian Delegation led by Himmat Kalsia (Chairman), included Dr Sanat Kaul (Managing Trustee) and Kapil Bhalla (National Director)

Award Leaders training workshop at The Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai

The NAA organised a two-day Award Leader training workshop at The Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai on 20th & 21st August 2015.  The workshop was attended by 15 participants from Lady Khatun Marium School, Panvel; P G Garodia School, Mumbai; Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai; B K Birla Centre for Education School, Pune; Symbiosis International School, Pune; Rustomjee Cambridge International School, Mumbai; The Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai and Jamnabai Narsee School, Mumbai. The training was led by Kapil Bhalla (National Director), Bivujit Mukhoty (Programme Manager) and Pratibha Kumari Singh (Member National Training Panel). Click for pictures

The story of an extraordinary volunteer

Babar Ali lives in Murshidabad, West Bengal. He attends the Raj Govinda School, a 10km auto-rickshaw ride away.  He is the first person in his family to go to school.  He is 16 years old and he is a model student. But it’s not what he does at school that is so extraordinary.   It’s the volunteering he does when he has left the classroom.

When he gets home at 4 o’clock each day, Babar Ali rings a bell.  At first they came in a trickle, but now 800 children from poor families line up in the yard behind his house, for lessons from Babar Ali and 10 friends from his school.  After singing the National Anthem, the students settle down to their studies.  There is no charge and no trouble.

Babar Ali is called the youngest headteacher in the world.  He knows that without an education these children stand little chance.   He is an extraordinary volunteer.

Making learning fun

Community service has been an integral part of the various activities done at Uttam School for Girls, Ghaziabad. Serving the community also has a positive effect on the personal development of the students. It provides opportunities for students to become active & positive contributors to society. 

Under the “International Award for Young People” programme the students were actively involved in community service during summer vacations during which they taught English, communication skills, computer skills and basic etiquettes to the children from Sewa Samarpan.

The students of the school have displayed exemplary leadership qualities by planning, organising and executing all the programmes effectively. Their sincerity and dedication to provide knowledge to the children has been commendable. They used visual aids like videos and books to give grammar knowledge & help the children in spoken English. There were a number of counselling and interaction sessions that made the children comfortable and that facilitated them to speak confidently.  

Learning was also made an enjoyable experience for the children by showing movies and biopics giving self motivating messages. They were also involved in learning music and dance. Children enjoyed the sports activities like relay race, athletics and other ball games. There was a quiz session on social issues and the children also spoke about the importance of educating girls. Assessments were designed to evaluate and adopt other strategies that could make the programme more effective for the next lot of IAYP participants.

The helpers from Uttam School for Girls also had an active participation in the programme. They diligently took part in all the activities and put in efforts to improve their own communication skills. Overall a friendly and open atmosphere was created for the children that made learning a memorable experience for them.

Meet & Greet with the queen of the hills of Uttarakhand

Landour, a small cantonment town contiguous with Mussoorie, is about 35 km (22 mi) from the city of Dehradun in the northern state of Uttarakhand in India. The twin towns of Mussoorie and Landour, together, are a well-known British Raj-era hill station in northern India. Mussoorie-Landour was widely known as the "Queen of the Hills". It is where a group of forty IAYP Silver level participants from Purukul Youth Development Society, Dehradun along with five escorts went for their Adventurous Journey and for them it was an experience they will never forget. 

Their journey included a 16 km trekking from Rajpur to Landour, where they set up their base camp. This was was followed by a 12 km trekking to Khattapani and Ladur the next day and that is where they cooked lunch on fire. After returning back to Landour, next night they organized a cultural evening along with local children from an orphanage nearby. The final day involved a trek back to their home city of Purkal via Jhadipani and Rajpur.   

Purkal Youth Development Society - Creating change agents in Rural India

The Purkal Youth Development Society (PYDS) is a registered charity dedicated to enhancing the lives of disadvantaged rural youth through education and empowering women through skill development.

The PYDS program dates back to 1998, when GK Swamy first started tutoring four young students in English and Mathematics in his home. Mr. Swamy with his friends found several sponsors who were willing to fund their formal education and these four children were enrolled into a local English Medium Secondary School. The number of children seeking help swelled and in 2001, 29 students were participating in the sponsorship scheme and coming to Mr. Swamy’s house after school.

Formally launched in 2003, PYDS has grown rapidly and today has over 215 children under its care. Accommodation has moved from the Swamy’s house to a custom-built school campus in 2005.

PYDS provides young people in the rural community around to quality education, mentoring and learning, thus providing hope and control to become of transformational change in their society. This simple effort to provide at least these few underprivileged young people a healthy learning environment, no different from that available at many good schools in India. Young people get a sense of self – esteem and confidence to learn and excel, realize that poverty is nothing to be ashamed of and that they should respect and honor the culture and parentage that they come from. By helping them develop their inner talents and build confidence in their self, PYDS allows young people to overcome such barriers and reach their potential.

PYDS and Young adults: PYDS are committed to helping young adults discover talents and in providing for college education and work experience. Through vocational training and english speaking classes, PYDS successfully provides young adults to acquire knowledge and professional skill to leading professionals in the global market place.

PYDS believes that by strengthening capacities of young peoplethe youth in the community, generations of educated and healthy families can be created in the rural Uttaranchal region.

Most of the parents in this community are barely literate. None of them, even the wealthy few in the village, have had the advantage of a good education. They have therefore little idea of what education means and what it can do to change lives. Sadly, few parents are involved with the lives of their children. In this scenario, we are attempting to provide the example and mentorship that educated parents of successful children provide their children.

We believe that the capability of the families and the community also has an influence on the shaping of the individual. Highly educated and well-placed family and community members can raise the aspirations of future generations. They also act as mentors and role models, and can provide the influence that is often required to help their community access services and a good standard of living. The absence of these influences has made a significant difference in career achievements in this poor community.

Click know what young people at PYDS have to say.

National Training Workshop

Start Time:	Friday, January 8, 2010 at 11:00am
End Time:	Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 4:00pm
Location:	Chinmaya International Residential School
City/Town:	Coimbatore, India

40 Award Leaders and Trainers from all over India reach Coimbatore on the7th of January 2010.

The Workshop is for capacity building and training; the Strategic Plan will be unveiled and the Communications Team will put forth the new agenda "Equip for Life". This will be the change agent and challenge young people everywhere.

Nivedita the Communications Manager will also explain the Brand pack, GAHN and on the sidelines meet Award partners, to help win hearts and partner to build a great Award Programme in India.

The IAYP India Team in place!

A big thank you to JCB, the IAA, the Trustees and all the Award supporters for helpling us build a wonderful national office. The Team now has on board the National Director, Training & Development Manager, Communications Manager, Executive Assitant and one Office Assitant!

The team of five is committed to winning hearts and partnering to challenge young people anyhwere. We welcome all to our office at Shahpur Jat, New Delhi