ADAA – Apni Duniya Apna Ashiana (Our World Our Home), is an effort aimed at helping, assisting and guiding the lives of street children, orphans, physically handicapped children and destitute children.

Activity Report and Annual day, Year Ending 2008

 

(The pictures and content on this website is the property and responsibility of ADAA. It should not be replicated or used without the formal permission from ADAA administration. Any such misuse would be subject to legal action.)

 

Mobile Classroom for street children in a Bus

 

Clay and kids

 

Picnic for street children

 

Annual Event 2010

Annual Event was held in village Barhana on 5th Feb 2010.  Mrs. Sonia Rao, CSR Steria India Ltd was chief guest. Scholarships and prizes to the deserving students were given. Teachers who had given 100% result  were also felicitated.

 

Gathering of students	Saraswati  Vandana
Girls enjoying cultural programme	Bhajan by Rajesh Sharma
Geeta reciting motivational poem 'Nanhi chinti jab dana lekar chalti hai'	English poem 'I want to prove myself' by Sunny
Touching  poem on female feticide by Rambhateri	An English song  by Minakshi
Patriotic song XIth std girls
lighting the lamp	Navin talking to the children
Nana ji giving a shawl and momento to Sonia
	Republic day

 

 

 

During one of the class	Kids watching documentry	Shahid and Ankita teaching dance
warm clothes distribution	26 Jan	Games for girls	Games for Boys
Dance Adaa kids

 

 

Summer Classes for the children (May/June - 2009)

It included hobbies, music, drawing, English speaking, computers and motivation

Introduction to basic computer knowledge	Watching a Documentary

Street Children under food and education scheme.
	Project Hope/Asha is directed towards helping the needy children where ever they are. There are a very large number of needy children and ADAA may not be able to provide a roof to all of them. The activities in this project would involve food and clothes distribution, medical help, educative classes, checks against child abuse for labor and begging and other forms of exploitation.

 

 

A visit to the National Science Museum Was organised

The children got to learn a lot through interactive models and documentaries. They also got to see three dimensional movie. The children enjoyed the trip a lot.

 

 

Sunny is undergoing extensive physiotherapy in Gurgaon these days. If successful results are achieved in a months time, he may be able to walk for the first time in his life. If it does not happen now, it might be too late. We have to try our best.

 

Super Achievers

Sunny has scored 98.5% and stood First in his class. He is in third std. He wants to be a computer whiz.

Amit has scored 83% marks in his eighth standard exams of Sate Board. He wants to get a good government job so that he can support his family and work for the society.

Not being able to walk at all and staying in village, Geeta had to give up her education but now with support from ADAA she is pursuing her studies thru distance education.

Achievers and sponsored students 2008/09

	The village girls have shown lot of interest, sincerity and discipline. A number of them have secured above 80% marks in their school exams. They have picked up English too.		A lot of boys have been inspired to do well in studies. Amit has secured 83% marks. The other boys who have done well are also being encouraged.		Fifteen village girls from poorer families have been selected for scholarships.
The Achiever Girls		The Achiever Boys		The sponsored girl students

 

Developments in the Year 2008

1. Tie up with government agency 'Child Line' to address cases of needy children, abandoned children, orphaned children and such cases.

2. A 24hr child helpline started. Any person coming across any case of needy children can inform us on the numbers given on ADAA home page.

3. Checks against exploitation of children/infants for begging and labour. Checks established and carried out regularly.

4. A tie up with the board managing 'Mata Temple' in Gurgaon to attend to cases of beggar children and rag picker children for providing food, clothes and education and also for attending to other needs.

5. A tie up with Atul Kataria Memorial School in Gurgaon for utilising their resources and support for conducting evening classes for street children in their premises.

6.  Educational classes for village children and street children. Organising educational visits for ADAA children.

7. Warm clothes collection and distribution during winters of 2007 and 2008.

8. Taking up cases of exploited street children legally and with local administrative authorities.

9. Educational Scholarships for 20 needy children.

Lt Atul Kataria Memorial School	National Museum visit	Girls seeing exhibits	A talk to the village girls	A class in progress	Talk by TV anchor	Teaching	Visit to Zoo	Sunny on Zoo visit

 

Annual Day, December 21st, 2008

Girls folk dance	Another group folk dance	The event	Group song	Sunny reciting a poem
Ram Bhateri reciting a song on the social evil of female feticide	Deepanshi reciting a prayer with the children	Sunny getting his prize to a standing ovation.	Principal Malik, our volunteer anchor always.	An achiever Child receiving his prize
			Only he can handle such a large group of children single handedly with his humor.

Children receiving the prizes and scholarships.

Volunteers, staff and guests

 

Food distribution for beggar children and street children, 2008

Food distribution for the street children has been carried out regularly throughout the year 2008. Though we have been carrying out the food distribution at the scheduled times, we have also been keeping a watch for needy children who may need immediate attention. We have established a 24hr help line for same. Any one coming across a case of a child needing attention or a child being exploited or anyone wanting to donate clothes/food/toys can contact us anytime on the given numbers on ADAA home page.

 

Warm Cloth distribution for beggar children and street children, 2008

We carried out a used clothes collection drive in which people sent across used clothes and we also arranged to pick from places when people could not come themselves to hand over. Since small children's warm clothes weren't available in sufficient quantity, we purchased the same and distributed. Clothes were distributed among over 1000 adults and over 2000 children. Thanks to every one for contributing.

The year 2008 was full of difficulties and challenges for ADAA. We derive a lot of satisfaction from the amount of hard work we were able to put in and the results we were able to achieve. However, due to difficulties and shortage of funds we have not been able to set up the home for children. We are still determined to have it before the next academic session starts in 3 months time. We thank you for your encouragement and support. Please continue to support and encourage and we will definitely achieve our goal.

Sincerely

The ADAA Family

 

Activities and Reports

24 hr Child Helpline

Current Activities

0124-2307931, 4083193 09810245996, 9213337996          If you come across a needy child, a child/infant being exploited for begging, a child being exploited for work, a physically challenged child or an abandoned child. Please call us and inform us immediately.

1. Collection drive for collecting used/new warm clothes for street children for winters. 2. Child helpline started. 3. Ambulance facility to attend to any urgent cases of abandoned or unwell street child. 4.  Kitchen for street children established. 5. Awareness, motivational and educational activities for village children. 6. Team constituted to check areas of child exploitation for begging and cheap labor.

 

Educational Classes under Project 'hope' started January 2008

 

We have started taking classes under project ‘hope’. We have registered the children as students. All children are very enthusiastic, excited and happy to be learning.

   

 

How 'Asha/Hope' came about

 

Asha – ‘a hope’

While carrying out the clothes distribution drive, we chanced upon this group of about 30 makeshift huts made of bare minimum. I thought they might be the huts of labourers working in the constructions happening in Gurgaon – the so called Manhattan of India. I was wrong.
The moment we got down to distribute the clothes, there was a chaos, the whole crowd pounced on us. There was a woman with her child trying to get our attention by a repetitive request with a smile there was something irritating in it too). There was a woman with a handicapped child and the child had been told to move in such a way that his handicap is more prominently visible. There was a woman with an uncovered shivering girl child. Everybody trying to get attention. It was chaos and a shock for us khushi, sunita, mudrika, mahesh. I was trying to make sense. It was something anyone would run away from at first instant and here we were inside it by our choice. There was an urge to run away but I resisted it
As we tried to identify kids who needed help. And as the men and women tried to get more out us in terms of the kids clothes and biscuit packets. I was only trying to make sense out f it. There was no respect for each other. The men did not respect the women and the men and women did not respect the kids. There was no respect for any human emotions. I saw a man pull a woman's hair, I saw a woman slap a child. What was going on? Why? The hour long exercise was too exhausting but we were able to give clothes to some kids and distribute the biscuits.

One day later Sunita said that let us provide one cooked meal to the people in that place. Now, I did not have the courage to serve cooked food in that crowd(in my mind I was seeing them pounce and grab) but since Sunita was keen to take on all the work and effort, right from contributing the amount to getting the stuff cooked and transported, I agreed to be part of it. We were hoping that the people would organise properly when food was being served and when there was enough for all. We were wrong. The situation was even worse with every one trying to collect maximum. The men wanted and had before the kids and women, fine, no problem. There were women trying to collect for later. There were kids trying to protect what they had managed from other kids and have it too. There was an infant shrieking wildly every time anyone would come close to his plate while his mother was gone for more. At the end of the 2 hr exercise all was over and they had had their fill and collected for later too.

A possible answer to why they were behaving like this, was that people had come in the past and dumped the food/items before running away, leaving these people to fight over it. But it was not the complete answer.

They were ethnically, genetically different. They didn’t seem like one large family. Neither did they look like a tribe. Some were very dark, some very white, short, tall. Why were they staying together in these hutments?

The adults thankfully went away after the food. The kids remained behind. We started talking to them and they collected around us. Finally, they wanted to talk. No more pouncing or begging. They were joyfully telling how many times they had the sweet halwa. One said “I had ten times, mazaa aa gaya”. I was talking to Sunita in English and saying “I think we should bring education here first, food they are managing, they should develop respect for each other to live a happier life, a more meaningful life and a life out of which they can get something more”

We started talking to the kids. What do you all do? What do all the elders do? There was a pause, as we repeated our question. The evening cold breeze blowing was a silence in the ears. A boy looking blankly ahead and then at us said “maangte hain, sab maangte hain” (beg, everyone begs) The way he said, these words will echo in my mind for times to come. I could identify with the tinge of hesitation and the strong desire to say it too and the inevitability of saying it. I had got my answers.

A group of beggar families, discarded from everywhere, settled in an isolated open space, with the very next moment uncertain as they could be evacuated by the administration anytime(labourers are given time and place to resettle). In such life, how could culture, custom, tradition find space. I did not find their behavior wrong at all. The whole society does it in a more sophisticated and respected manner i.e. snatching, pouncing, manipulating/marketing gimmicks – they were all doing it in a basic and crude manner. For them it was daily survival.

Sunita asked “why do you beg?”. The boy said “kya karenge, gareeb hain”(what can we do, we are poor). With no other skill set or opportunity, begging would mean the difference between an empty stomach or a full stomach.

One question was still pending. What to do? How to do?
The boy was looking blankly ahead. I could see he had thoughts/dreams of possibility in his eyes. He said “aap khaana mat laao idhar”(don’t bring food here). “aap khaana mat laao idhar” he repeated “aap hame padhaao”(you educate us). A child for whom ‘a full stomach’ was a remote possibility everyday was saying that he didn’t want food, he wanted to study.

I had got my answers. I had got my hope. I had got my Asha.

This is what I plan to work on now.

‘Asha’ – ‘hope’ is like those childrens lives. Uncertain. We don’t know whether we will find them if we go there tomorrow. But till the time we do find them let us work on ‘hope’-‘Asha’.

 

Food/food packet distribution January 2008

 

   

 

 

A project of 'ADAA Welfare Society'

ADAA Welfare Society

Registered under the societies registration act 1860, Reg. no. DR/GGN/001, year 2007-2008

(The pictures and content on this website is the property and responsibility of ADAA. It should not be replicated or used without the formal permission from ADAA administration. Any such misuse would be subject to legal action.)