Blanket Donation Programme

Sidhartha Sen Gupta, Award Leader from Miles Bronson Residential School, Guwahati, Assam shares a report on the blanket donation programme by the Award participants of the school.

“Service to man is service to God!” With the advent of winter when early mist and cold slow our daily activities, there are many under-priveleged people who are at the mercy of all under the open sky! Nature responds to the cold and even the birds look for warmth and shelter.

Amidst this cold, when we prioritise our responsibilities towards the people around us, we also fulfill our life’s mission. This is the opportunity that IAYP participants get by their involvement in different activities. As IAYP is a life-enriching programme, we feel fortunate that on 11th December 2016 Sunday, we organised a ‘Blanket Donation Programme’ for the roadside dwellers of our city. It’s heartening to mention the response was hundred percent, with the presence of non-IAYP students and teachers too. And our next venture is to ensure the distribution of the collection in coming days.

This act of kindness will not only bring smiles to their faces but will also spread awareness about our responsibilities. “We may not eradicate the poverty of the whole nation, but if we take pledge to help at least one in our community; that’s great and thus we spread Humanity.”

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

My experience with IAYP

Gauri Jaswal, Bronze Award holder from Amity International School, Noida shares her experience with the Programme
My experience with IAYP began one sultry August morning in my school's amphitheatre. It was stuffy and I wasn't really paying heed to what the gentleman from the Award Foundation was talking about. I thought: I don't want to commit to a six-month-long competition! And then he said, "The Award is not a competition. It's a challenge for yourself and you are judged by your yardstick, not ours". Suffice to say, that caught my attention! I enrolled and after clarifying (multiple times!) with my Award Leader that you could really do any activity as part of IAYP, I started with the Award.  I chose yoga as Physical Recreation, learning a language (Mandarin and Italian) for Skills and cleaning the area around my apartment building as Service. Although I'd like to say that I enjoyed all four areas equally, the truth is that the most enjoyable part for me, an introvert by nature, was the Adventure camp. I simply loved the week I spent with friends from school! Of course, the days were gruelling and we hardly got any rest, but I got to zorb for the first time, experience the horror of rappelling and nearly succumbed to heart failure while rock climbing! I absolutely loved every second! At the end of that week, I knew that I had made the right decision by participating in IAYP.
The other areas were definitely fun as well, hard as it may have been to get myself to do that one hour each week (and end up doing two!). I am glad that I kept going. Now that my six months are up, I find myself unfolding the yoga mat or logging on to Duolingo. But, I know that I still have Silver and Gold to go!  Click for pictures

Nature: A Commitment to Preserve and Nurture - A report by Manju Verma (Award Leader)

Award participants of Cambridge International School Phagwara, in their commitment to preserve and nurture nature, moved a step forward by adopting a local park in Phagwara city. The school took this initiative in a collaborative effort with the residents of Urban Estate Phagwara to improve and maintain the park.

Mr. Som Prakash, MLA Phagwara City, inaugurated the event. He motivated the participants to follow the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan to keep the city, state and nation clean.

This initiative was further supported by residents and community members who will volunteer their time to improve the chosen park. All the IAYP participants and members present there pledged to keep the park clean and work on a variety of projects including planting and maintaining flower beds; maintaining the trails and paths; painting and caring for park structures; cleaning up litter; planting, mulching, and watering trees; and ensuring the park is well maintained. The Award participants also pledged to visit the park every Sunday. An inspirational song "Zariya" sung by the students of Cambridge International School strengthened the spirit of the movement.

Principal Jorawar Singh encouraged the students to preserve nature for our future generations. Pankaj Gautam, a leading businessman of the town and a great social activist also motivated the students to plant more trees. The event was initiated under the guidance of Anita Somprakash, Jaswinder Kaur (MC), K. S. Bains (Managing Director CIS), Jorawar Singh (Principal), Amarjeet Singh (Administrator), Pankaj Gautam, members of Urban Estate Phagwara, staff and students of Cambridge International School Phagwara.

Click for pictures

Thank You, IAYP!

Tushar Gupta (Silver Level), Sat Paul Mittal School, Ludhiana sharing his experience of his Award Journey.
IAYP is a fantastic amalgamation of adventure, fun and learning.  I have evolved and matured with the IAYP from a free willed amateur to a mature and responsible citizen. Be it sports, community service  or student empowerment, the IAYP through its plethora of activities has provided me various opportunities to develop the leader in me.  It has nurtured my survival instincts, made me social and affable.  Above all it has given  me the freedom to express and feel and has kindled in me the fire to do something constructive for society and the community at large.
My journey during the session 2014-15 has been magical and enriching as I have been a part of various new initiatives to spread global awareness. Through the Rise and Vote campaign, I fervently  asserted that it is everyone's duty to vote in the elections if they dream of a great India.  How can I forget the Candle March to protest against the Gadhimai Festival where thousands of animals were brutally slaughtered to satiate the the thirst of ignorant villagers? I feel as a part of the community, the onus is on us to bring about an effective change.  I remember vividly participating in the Swach Bharat Campaign wherein I, along with many passionate volunteers undertook the humongous task of bringing about an awareness among Ludhianavis to clean the Sidhwan Canal. Then, the Chail trip was an enlightening one where we saw the life of want and neglect and realised that we are gifted with so many amenities. I volunteered to teach, paint, cook and undertook such exhausting physical pursuits like flying fox, rappelling and trekking. I am thankful to the school and IAYP for showing  us the  panoramic view of life with all the technicolor images of good and bad and building core values like integrity, team spirit, reverence, tolerance and respect.

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.