NAA Team Visits Jammu

The NAA Team visited Jammu and Kashmir on 7th and 8th November 2016. Kapil Bhalla, National Director, visited Jodhamal Public School, Jammu on 7th November and met with the Award participants along with the Award Leaders. The Principal Trilok Singh Bist was also present during this interaction.

Kapil Bhalla also visited Sri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra and met with University authorities and explored the possibilities to spread the Award programme among the University students. He also shared the different case studies with the authorities.

Bivujit Mukhoty, Programme Manager visited Jammu Sanskriti Vidyalaya, Jammu on 7th November and delivered three orientation sessions to three groups of students. The orientations were attended by approximately 70 students.

On 8th of November Kapil Bhalla and Bivujit Mukhoty attended the Award Presentation Ceremony at Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School, Jakh, Samba. Ten Bronze Award participants received their Award from Mr. Chander Parkash, Hon'ble Minister for Industries and Commerce, Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir. The NAA Team would like to thank the Hon'ble Minister for his time and inspirational words to the Award participants and Award Holders. We also wish to congratulate the Award Holders for completing their first step in the Award Journey.

My Days with the Award

The Young People of today are vocal. They want to talk about their experiences, their likes and dislikes and interests. The Award Programme encourages Young People to speak their minds. Let us hear from Dev Suri, Gold Award Holder about his experiences...

I am immensely grateful to my school Jodhamal Public School, Jammu for initiating me and motivating me to participate in the IAYP programme. After going through assorted adventurous journeys, village visits, conducting events and developing distinct skills I was beginning to see myself as a teacher or trainer in the IT sector.

It was a memorable day for me when I received the prestigious Gold Award in 2014 at Delhi, awarded by former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Dr SY Qureshi .Throughout the programme I welcomed the exposure to different lifestyles via the village visits and developed a positive perspective towards the development of society - overcoming the negative attitude that I had earlier. I realized that it is programmes like the IAYP that really make the difference and challenge others with the question: "If we can, then why can't you?", thus creating a web of people who care for preserving the ecosystem. I myself motivate others to take up this programme which helps in the development of life skills and as a way to render services to the society at a young age.

All around us we see that the growing corruption, scams, violence and other issues have created pessimism in people; but these are the people who mostly stand and stare. It is time for the young minds of our nation to take some action by being a part of this programme, for nurturing optimism towards the eradication of such evils, for developing a character or combination of skills and emotions that will create better human beings as light of hope for our planet. It is necessary to realign our perspective towards life and to find the meaning of our existence in the ecosystem, to strive for the betterment of our future and conservation of environment and its inhabitants, and this is where the IAYP programme has definitely helped me, because a change of perspective is all it takes to see the light.

IAYP Award Ceremony and Workshop at Jodhamal Public School

On 23rd May 2015 Award Presentation Ceremony for The International Award for Young People (IAYP) was held in Jodhamal Public School, Jammu. The honourable chief guest Bivujit Mukhoty (Programme Manager Award Programme Foundation) was welcomed by Trilok Singh Bist (Principal) along with Monika Sethi (Vice -Principal). Shallu Sharma (School coordinator for IAYP) introduced the chief guest, who inspite of the busy schedule consented to grace the occasion, which was succeeded by the invocation and welcome note by the IAYP students followed by knowledgeable and inspiring address by the chief guest wherein he highlighted the importance and impact of the award on youth. He emphasized that the sole objective of the award is character building and empowerment of youth so that they develop ability, focus and determination for any type of achievement and to face any challenge in the real world. The chief guest facilitated and appreciated the four silver and sixteen bronze awardees. The award ceremony was followed by the various cultural items prepared by IAYP students. They presented enchanting dance performances, inspiring and motivating nukkad natak on women empowerment and exhibited thought provoking paintings. Their work was appreciated by all and had instill desire, confidence and enthusiasm in the minds of aspiring students to join IAYP.  The programme was concluded by vote of thanks by Shallu Sharma.  Bivujit Mukhoty and Shallu Sharma also introduced the Award Programme to the new aspirants and briefed the Award philosophy and structure to them. The entire workshop had instilled desire, confidence and enthusiasm among the new participants.  Click here for more pictures

Experience of IAYP...

Shivani Verma, from Jodhamal Public School, Jammu shares her Silver Journey experience with the Award family.
Since childhood I have been interested in painting and it was thanks to the IAYP that I had a platform to display my talent which was widely appreciated by my teachers. I have always been a shy person but participating in the IAYP programme helped me overcome my shyness and also prove my worth as a good artist. IAYP activities helped me hone all spheres of my personality from my speaking skills to confidence level.  So, I am really thankful for this great opportunity through which I discovered my true potential as a person as well as an artist.
Even the adventure camps opened new horizons for me because of which I came closer to nature, capturing through my paintings, the beauty that I saw around me. I hope you appreciate my paintings and feelings behind it.  And the credit obviously goes to IAYP. IAYP taught me to "Dream big and be realistic because the sky has no limit".

Returning home

Ayushi Atri, Silver Award holder from Jodhamal Public School, Jammu took up painting as her Skill.  Ayushi shared some of her paintings with us.  In her own words, Ayushi describes one of the paintings which she is sharing with the Award family.
This beautiful piece of art describes the scene after sunset..... when all the birds and other creatures are returning to their homes after the sunset....... this painting tells us the importance of home when all the creatures return to their homes after a full day of hard work for their family. Everyone feels a sense of safety in their home...... so this painting tells us the importance of shelter for every creature through a midnight scene after dusk when all the birds are flying back to their shelter, taking food or to meet their loved ones.

Click here to see more paintings

Learning from the people of Ismailpur Kothey

Jodhamal Public School organized a Residential Project for Gold Award participants under International Award for Young People at village Ismailpur Kothey in Jammu & Kashmir.

The Residential Project gave the participants a shared purposeful experience with people who are not their usual companions; working towards a common goal. It was an experience that broadened participants’ outlook and horizons.

Seventeen Gold participants started the project under the guidance of Award leaders namely Ms Shallu Sharma & Ms Deepmala Sharma and also a local guide Mr Tulsi.  The participants stayed there in village with the local families and lived their life in the way locals did. They cooked food, did cleaning jobs etc as the villagers did. They visited villager’s work place that is fields, brick kiln and their dairy farms, they also visited dispensary of village and enquired about the health facilities provided by government in the village. In the free time the participants used to play different games with the village kids. During the night stay the participants used to teach adult people in village and narrated value based stories to the kids in very interesting manner.

During this project participant learnt a lot about the village life, culture and tradition and came back with unforgettable memories. This project was an enriching experience for them which they will carry forward throughout their life . The award has brought a lot of change in the attitude of the children and we can see a sea change in their attitude towards the under privileged people in the society.