download 24th annual report

Sevalaya Annual Report 2011-2012


REGISTERED CHARITABLE TRUSTSEVALAYA

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No.: 2/25 - Rajaji NagarMain Road (Ground Floor),Pillaiyar Koil Street,Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai - 600041.Phone : (044) 24484009, 9444620289

Uthiramerur unit:

V.MURALIDHARAN(FOUNDER & MANAGING TRUSTEE)

CONTACT PERSON:

visit us at : www.sevalaya.orge-mail : [email protected], [email protected]

Aayalur village,Kilampakkam Post,Thiruvallur Dt. - 602024.Mobile : 9629299351

Vadanallaur village,Uthiramerur,Kanchipuram Dt. - 603406.Mobile : 9940880726

Aayalur unit:

Chennai City Office:

Kasuva village,Pakkam Po.,Near Thiruninravur - 602024.Phone: (044) 64611488,Mobile : 9444333529, 9444793505

Kasuva unit:

®

Date of Establishment : 29.05.1988Constitution : Registered as a Charitable

TrustThe Great Inspirersfor the venture : Mahatma Gandhi,

Mahakavi Bharathiyar & Swami Vivekananda


BOARD OF TRUSTEESBOARD OF TRUSTEESBOARD OF TRUSTEESBOARD OF TRUSTEESBOARD OF TRUSTEES

ADADADADADVISORVISORVISORVISORVISORY COMMITTEEY COMMITTEEY COMMITTEEY COMMITTEEY COMMITTEE

HONY. CO-ORDINATOR HONY. CORRESPONDENT

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Mr. V.Muralidharan - Software Engineer - Founder & Managing Trustee

Mr. G.Ilayaraja - Software Engineer - Trustee

Ms. N.Jayanthi - Social Activist - Trustee

Dr. K.Kannan - Educationist - Trustee

Mr. E.Lakshmi Narayanan- Tax & Investment Consultant - Trustee

Mr. Manu Kapila - Software Engineer - TrusteeMr. K.C.Prembabu - Software Engineer - Trustee

Mr. G.Ramesh - Author, Consultant and AdjunctProfessor - Trustee

Mr. R.Shankar - Entrepreneur - Trustee

Mr. N.Vikram - Software Engineer - Trustee

Mr. A.Annamalai - Gandhian Activist

Mr. K.Mohan - Educationist and GandhianActivist

Dr. G.Nammalvar - Organic Farming Guru

Dr. D.K.Oza IAS - Retired Chief ElectionCommissioner

Mr. R.Natraj IPS - Retired DGP

Mr. T.S. Venkataramani Ms. Bhuvaneswari Muralidharan

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


Leaders who inspire us....The founder had a chance reading of Mahakavi Bharathiyar’s poemon Saraswathi Pooja when he was a young boy studying in the 7th

standard. That was the spark that led to the great organisation thatSevalaya is today. The theme of the poem is that just uttering somemantras, keeping books in front of the goddess’ picture and offeringsandal and flowers is not real Saraswathi Pooja. Rather openingschools in areas where there are none and ensuring that every townhas access to education is the true form of worship. Educating onepoor child is holier than constructing a thousand annadhana (freefeeding) centres and ten thousand Temples. Hence the school whichoffers quality education free of cost to poor, destitute children.

The study then extended to Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhiwho along with Mahakavi Bharathiyar became the inspiration for theideals, goals and activities of Sevalaya.

Swami Vivekananda says that if someone is hungry, then food is theonly God for that person. Even if a dog goes without food in thisworld, then there is no point in having any religion. Such powerfulthoughts are the basis for the Swami Vivekananda Hostel in Sevalaya.As Vivek means “wisdom’’ we have also named our library SwamiVivekananda Library.

Gandhiji says that India lives in its villages, and the real service toIndia is service in villages.

The common thread in the philosophy of these three great men is‘service to the needy’

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Message

Dear Shri Muralidharan,Very glad to know that Sevalaya is stepping into the Silver jubilee

year of its existence.Such occasions are worthy of celebration. But,that real objective behind Such celebration is to once again renew ourpledge to serve the downtrodden and Underprivileged to the best ofour abilities keeping in view Swami Vivekananda’s famous Word “theyalone live who live for others,the rest are more dead than alive”.Sevalaya’s Growth during the past 24 years has been remarkable.Their work is truly praiseworthy and that is how they qualified for ourSwami Vivekananda Award. The friends and devotees who attendedthe function were all praise for your activities.

Our prayers to Sri Sri Thakur,Ma and Swamiji that they give youstrength and courage to march ahead with your noble resolve.

Yours in service,

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Sevalaya Annual Report 2011-2012 5


MessageSevalaya is a standing example of what one man’s dedication and

commitment can do to help the needy, of course, with the help of

likeminded people. In the early years of Sevalaya I had heard about

the service being rendered by the organization but only last year I

had the God-sent opportunity to visit and see personally the various

kind of activities that have been undertaken- providing a home for

orphaned children, offering free education for hundreds of Children,

taking care of the aged. For such work to go on for quarter of a

century without break is no easy task; everyone connected with

Sevalaya should be concerned about their responsibilities every

waking moment.

I have no words to say in appreciation of your service beyond

praying to God to give to Mr. Muralidharan, his family and everyone

engaged in the service activities of Sevalaya health, Strength and a

continuous flow of funds for many more years.

Lakshmi VenkatramanGallery Sri Parvati

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From U.S.A.

Since 2010 we are extremely happy to be

involved with the Sevalaya. The organization

is very well managed and thoughtful in its

execution. We have experienced that the

Students and the elderly are well cared for.

Thank you to the administration and to Mr. &

Mrs. Murali for their commitment to the poor.

Robert & Mai BreechSanta Monica, CA,U.S.A.

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My dear Sevalaya team, hi kids!

It has been almost half a year since I had the honor of witnessing the

amazing work that Sevalaya does year after year. Not only did I

experience Sevalaya, I was also allowed to be an active participant in

its projects. Here I was Able to see how a development project, run

only by natives, can make a great contribution to all. The kids, who I

was in daily contact with, were able to receive education that is so

direly needed in order for them to live a good life in the future. Thanks

to Sevalaya hundreds of Children are given a future every year. I am

thankful for that. But Sevalaya is not only serving the children, it is

serving everyone who is in need. Here I am not only thinking of the

animals that are hosted on the farm or the elderly, for whom Sevalaya

is giving a roof above their head and things to do; I am also thinking

of people like me, Westerners, who from the perspective many Indians

have everything. But the love, the attention and the incredible experience

that Sevalaya allowed me to have, is a treasure that only few people

are able to hold, I have, and speaking from my experience, I am sure

that Sevalaya will continue to serve all people for another 25 years!

Greeting from Amsterdam to one of the warmest places in the world!

FinnAmsterdam

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G.Ilayaraja,Alumni & Trustee,Sevalaya.

Message

“If I look back at my past, I just wonder how Icompleted my school education with ease in a verytough financial situation of my family. It is Sevalayawhich has made my life fruitful in all means. I completed10 standard in Sevalaya in 2000, still I feel am a studentof Sevalaya.

My acquaintance with Sevalaya as student and now asa trustee has seen several changes over the years.When my father passed away, I was 10 years old andmy studies became question mark. It is Sevalaya whichsheltered me with hostel facility; provided freeeducation and made me to complete my school andcollege! Now I hold an MCA degree and am workingin a leading software company.

The values that I learnt here have made me successfulin life!!

Regards

Ilayaraja

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Hello,

My name is S.Santhakumar. I belong to Thiruvannamalai. My family is

very poor. There was no money to even study in a Govt. school. With

great difficulty I somehow managed to pass my 10th Std. Then I came

to Sevalaya through some friends. Sevalaya was ready to help poor

students like me. I joined in Std. XI and got through my XII with good

marks. Sevalaya also helped me to graduate in Maths. Now I am well

employed with Reliance Communication. Many of my friends are also

doing well thanks to Sevalaya’s timely help. I am able to support my

family. I take this opportunity to thank Sevalaya, its management all

the staff members and pray that the services offered by this organisation

may keep growing in future.

S.Santhakumar,

Thiruvannamalai.

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Hi!This is U.Radha. I am an old student of Sevalaya. I am proud about that.Now I am doing my final year political science in Presidency College. First Ithank Sevalaya for giving me this opportunity to write because it helps me torecollect my sweet memories in Sevalaya. Sevalaya is my foster mother, I amhappy that I studied in Sevalaya. Without Sevalaya I can’t be here. It givesgood life and good status in this society. I joined Sevalaya when I was 10years old. From the age of 10 to 17 Sevalaya took care of my studies, health,provided me psychological support and opportunities for extra curricularactivities.

When I was in Sevalaya I didn’t feel homesick any time because they tookcare of me better than my parents. They helped me overcome my stage fear,negative thoughts. I learnt Hindi, Music, Spoken English, and personalitydevelopment. “No one can beat the service of Sevalaya” . They taught meabout life from the experience of elders at Ramakrishna old age home. Ihave lot of friends in Ramakrishna old age home. They are my grandmas andgrandpas. Surely I want to tell about Murali Anna and Bhuvana Akka, whoare the founder and Hony. Correspondent of Sevalaya. They are very polite,kind and sweet too...I like them and love them a lot; I learnt a lot of thingsfrom them. Next my school teachers, I had great teachers; they are not onlyteachers but my friends too...Now also I share my all happenings in my lifewith them. Love u teachers. I have got a lot of friends in Sevalaya and still Ihave contact with them. I will1 not forget my Sevalaya till the end of my life.Love u Murali Anna and Bhuvana Akka.

“LOVE U SEVALAYA”

U.Radha,

Chennai.

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Hi!

I am B. Rajeswari. I joined Sevalaya when I was 11 years old. I fully

utilized all the opportunities given by Sevalaya and did well not only

in academics but also in various extracurricular activities which

moulded my personality. I stood school first in my 10th std board

exams and after graduating from QMC in the department of Chemistry

I wished to pursue my masters but my family’s financial situation

was not conducive for this. So I did my B.Ed. and to my great joy I

got the opportunity of working in the same school which had moulded

me. Further Sevalaya is also helping me to realise my dream by

helping me to pursue my masters through distance education.

Whatever I am today, is all due to Sevalaya.

B.Rajeshwari,

Pakkam,

Near Thiruninravur.

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News in Media


News in Media

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News in Media

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News in Media

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News in Media

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News in Media


For children, poor and needy - life coping, characterbuilding and elevating education

For residents - sound body, sound mind and sustainingfood for the intellect and the spirit

For the rural folk – healthy and happy living withcapacity enhancement for a self-supportinglivelihood.

Uplift of Poor;Unbounded Cheer!

Vision:

Mission :


Sevalaya Organization ChartsevaLaya ManageMent teaM

Founder & Managing Trustee, Trustees,Advisory Committee Members,

Hony. Co-ordinator, Hony. Correspondent & Centre Heads

Chennai CityOffice Mr.A.A.Kingston

Mr.Y.GowthamBuddhaPR Head

Ms.A.KalaiarasiAdmin.&Accts. Head

Mr.N.RavichandranPR Team

Ms.N.AnnapurnaBharathi Team Head

Mr.V.JeevanandamVivekananda Team Head

Mr.L.LoganathanGandhi Team Head

Kasu

va C

entre

Hea

d

Ms.R.VijayaHr. Sec. HM

Ms.B.NirmalaHr. Sec. AHM

Ms.S.MariyammalHigh School HM

Ms.S.SumathyHigh School AHM

Mr.J.LakshmananPrimary HM

Mr.MT.AnandPrimary AHM

Ms.S.LakshmiNursery AHM

Mr.P.SoundararajanBoys Home

Mr.V.VaratharajanIntegrated Campus

Mr.G.G.Mohan RajFood

Ms.J.DhanasreeGirls Home &Old Age Home

Mr.L.LoganathanVillage Development

Mr.BalajiGoshala & Craft

Mr.S.AnandAgri.&

Waste to Wealth

Bharathi Team Gandhi Team Vivekananda Team

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Ms.D.JayabharathiLibrary In-charge

Mr.C.PrakashMedical


SEVALAYA’S MAHAKAVI BHARATHIYAR HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL

MathsMr. R.Kannan

TamilMs. B.Nirmala

PhysicsMr. A.Prabhu

Computer ScienceMr. A.A.Kingston

AgricultureMr. K.Venkatesh

EnglishMs. N.Annapurna

Department Heads

ChemistryMr. V.Jeevendran

BiologyMs. R.Vijaya

CommerceMs.S.Lakshmi

Social ScienceMr. R.Vijayaraghavan

Physical EducationMr. A.Raj

EconomicsMs. P.Lakshmi

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XII Standard Results-2012

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X Standard Results-2012

S.Praveen KumarI Rank (1086/1200)

G.AjithII Rank (448/500)

L.Dinesh KumarI Rank (451/500)

S.PrithivirajI Rank (451/500)

V.PradeepaIII Rank (444/500)

G.Jothi lakshmiII Rank (1084/1200)

J.JansiIII Rank (1071/1200)

D.AravindIII Rank (1071/1200)


S.Praveen Kumar1086/1200

J.Jansi1071/1200

G.Jothi laksmi1084/1200

D.Aravind1071/1200

S.Kalpana1064/1200

S.Ethiraj1063/1200

S.Gayathri1053/1200

M.Mahalingam1052/1200

S.Thirumalai1047/1200

M.Nandhakumar1043/1200

G.Muthu Kumar1043/1200

J.Gopinath1043/1200

K.Sangeetha1041/1200

S.Surya1031/1200

P.Elaiathal1027/1200

D.Swarnalatha1020/1200

C.Ponni1018/1200

A.Dhaneshwari1016/1200

D.Uma1016/1200

T.Kumaresan1012/1200

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Achievers who scored more than 1000 marks in XII Std.

A.Karthikeyan(1006/1200) S.Shobana 1001/1200S.Venkatachalapathy(1002/1200)


Achievers who scored more than 400 marks in X Std.

L.Dinesh Kumar451/500

V.Pradeepa444/500

A.Raghu443/500

M.Saranya441/500

K.Prabahar433/500

R.Vaishnavi418/500

R.Manikandan415/500

A.Gomathi412/ 500

B.Vignesh411/500

R.Hemakumar408/500

E.Sharmila408/500

S.Santhosh407/500

M.Mohanraj406/500

R.Priya404/500

C.Nandhini 400/500

R.Karthick400/500

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S.Prithiviraj451/500

G.Ajith448/500


Hard to believe; isn’t it ?from a rural school with first generation learners!

Dropouts : 1.23%

Total school pass percentage : 99%

They are not “Just Pass” cases!XII STD Public Examinations 2011 - 2012 No

Entered.......................................................... 117

Passed........................................................... 117

Marks Below 50%........................................ 00

Marks 50%-59%........................................... 15

Marks 60%-69%........................................... 26

Marks 70%-79%........................................... 45

Marks 80 and above...................................... 31

X STD Public Examinations 2011- 2012 No

Entered.......................................................... 90

Passed........................................................... 90

Marks Below 50%........................................ 03

Marks 50%-59%........................................... 20

Marks 60%-69%........................................... 29

Marks 70%-79%........................................... 20

Marks 80 and above...................................... 18

That is to say out of every 100 students joining our school atkinder garten 99 students come out successful completing HigherSecondary (12th grade) Examination.

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StudyingOur Old Students - What are they doing now?

Medical 001B.E 036Degree Courses 174Teacher Training 008Post Graduate Courses 001Nursing 005Diploma in Agriculture 001Polytechnic 007Catering Technology 001Total 234

CompletedB.E 014Degree Courses 137Polytechnic 008B.Sc. Agriculture 004Teacher Training 025Nursing 005Diploma in Agriculture 002B.Ed 003Fashion Technology 002Bachelor of Social work 001

Total 201

EmployedPrivate Concerns 163(including MNC’s in various capacites)Police 001Teachers 025Total 189

The above statistics relate to our students who completed 12thstandard from our school from 2005 to 2012.

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We are a continously Learning OrganisationOur Teachers are still Students

(Sponsored by M/s Mara W Breech Foundation, USA.)

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Indian Overseas Bank,

Dr. R.K.Salai,

Chennai – 600004.

SB A/c No.: 029101000008743

General Account

Branch IFSC Code : IOBA0000291

Indian Bank,Dr. R.K.Salai,Chennai – 600004.SB A/c No.: 408048361FCRA accountSWIFT CODE : IDIBINBBMAS

Branch IFSC Code : IDIB000D035

OUR BANKERSOUR BANKERSOUR BANKERSOUR BANKERSOUR BANKERS

Indian Overseas Bank,

Dr. R.K.Salai,

Chennai – 600004.

SB A/c No.: 029101000020343

Sevalaya School EducationProject – 35 AC

Karur Vysya Bank,

16 Dhandapani St., T. Nagar,

Chennai – 600017.

SB A/c No.: 1239172000001496

Sevalaya Children’s HomeProject – 35 AC

Dena Bank,

Hamilton Bridge Branch,

Chennai – 600014.

SB A/c No.: 051110025214

Sevalaya Old Age HomeProject – 35 AC

Karur Vysya Bank,

16 - Dhandapani St.,

T.Nagar,

Chennai – 600017.

SB A/c No.: 1239155000005146

Mahakavi BharathiyarHigher Secondary School

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OUR OUR OUR OUR OUR AAAAAUDITUDITUDITUDITUDITORSORSORSORSORS

Hon. Financial Auditors:

M/s Menon & pai,Chartered Accountants,

12/4 - Ashirwad Apartments,

Puliyur First Lane,

Trustpuram, Chennai – 600024.

Social Auditors:

sociaL audit network uinited kingdoM,

Centre for Social Initiatives Management (CSIM),

Bangalore.

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ATTENTION DONORS!Sevalaya is registered under Foreign Contributions RegulationAct,1976

Regn. No.: 075900640

Donations to Sevalaya qualify for exemptions under sec 80 G ofIT Act

Donations to Sevalaya’s School Expenses Project and Old AgeHome Project are eligible for 100% exemption under sec 35 AC /80 GGA of IT Act.

For Direct Remittance of Funds to Sevalaya for Indian Tax Payers:

Account Name : SEVALAYA

Account Type : SB

Account No : 029101000008743

Bank : Indian Overseas Bank

Branch : Dr. R.K.Salai Branch (E E Road Branch)

Chennai – 600 004.

Branch IFSC Code : IOBA0000291

Account Name : SEVALAYA FCRA

Account Type : SB

Account No : 408048361

Bank : Indian Bank

Branch : Dr. R.K.Salai Branch, Chennai - 600 004

SWIFT CODE : IDIBINBBMAS

Branch IFSC Code : IDIB000D035

For Direct Remittance of Funds to Sevalaya for Overseas Donors:

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*Please e-mail the transaction details once you effect the transfer to enable

us to track the credit and issue receipt.


YEAR

STUDENTS STRENGTH POSITION FROM 2004 TO 2012

PASS

PER

CENT

AGE

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SCHOOL RESULTS FROM 2007 TO 2012

16331460

12781043

897884763

576465

STUD

ENT

STRE

NGTH

YEAR


STAFF STRENGTH

FINANCIAL STATUS FROM 2005 TO 2012

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1.00 1.251.45 1.60

3.00

3.76 3.72

YEAR

YEAR

NU

MB

ER O

F ST

AFF

32

4653 55

60

71

83

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Dear Friends,It is a great feeling to start the 25th year. Sevalaya stepped into its silverjubilee year on 29th May, 2012. From 5 children and two staff in 1988to 1633 children, 65 senior citizens, 40 cows and 112 staff memberstoday, it has been a long journey!

In the 24th year, we added one more centre at Aayalur village inThiruvallur district. We also moved our city office from Adyar toThiruvanmiyur, to a more spacious office. The Kasuva centre and theVadanallur centre have been functioning and expanding as usual.

We completed the construction of the new girls’ hostel and moved allthe girls to this new facility which is built as per the new JJ act norms.We converted the old girls hostel into third school building.The capacityof our first building was 1000 and as we had more demand, last yearwe expanded the capacity to 1500 by constructing the second schoolbuilding. Now with the second building also getting full, we have addedthe 3rd building which has a capacity of another 500, taking the totalcapacity to 2000. A dining hall which can accommodate 600 peopleand a new kitchen are under construction now. Currently we have girls,boys and senior citizens dining halls separately and still the capacity isnot enough. With the new dining hall, all residents can sit together andhave food. The current dining hall at the children’s home will become apart of the third school building and the one at the Old Age Home willbe a common hall for the elderly. More lands were also bought andorganic farming and training sessions on the same are being conductedin Kasuva village.There were many inspections and audits by Government and donoragencies and we got the school recognitions renewed, financial

Managing Trustee’s Report

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statements submitted to authorities and listing and accreditation withdonor agencies renewed. As usual Sevalaya won many awards thisyear also. Sevalaya children won an international award for propagatingorganic farming, national award for cartoons, many other awards forsports and cultural activities.

This year also our 10th and 12th grade students got 100% results.Many training programmes were arranged for the staff to improvetheir teaching skills. The training programmes covered many areaslike educational institution management, teaching of various subjects,making classes interesting, different teaching methods etc. All thesehelped us to retain the 100% results and also made the classes moreinteresting for the students.

Mr. K.C.Prembabu of Tata consultancy Services has joined as a newTrustee.

We thank all our donors, supporters, well wishers, Government officialsboth at district level and state level, all visitors, volunteers both domesticand international, other charities, network of charitable organizations– all of you supported us in our journey and only with your supportwe are stepping into our silver jubilee year.

Thanks & Regards

(V.Muralidharan)Founder & Managing Trustee


SALARY AND BENEFITS ANALYSIS

SLAB OF GROSSSALARY (in Rs) PLUSBENEFITS PAID TOSTAFF (PER ANNUM) TOTAL

DISTRIBUTION OF STAFF ACCORDING TO SALARY LEVELS

MALE FEMALE

10000-25000 00 00 0025000-50000 03 21 2450000-100000 21 38 59100000-200000 15 12 27

Total 41 71 112

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British Council sponsored a trip for 3 staff members (S.Mariyammal, B.Nirmala andR.Vijayaragavan) to go to Cunningham Junior School, UK as part of an exchange program. Theexpense incurred was Rs. 1,49,580/-..

Overseas Travel Details

Domestic Travel Details

Salary and Benefits of Head of the Institution - NIL

None of the Trustees receive any remuneration.

> 200000 02 00 02

Name & Qualification Experience RoleSalary & Benefits(in Rs.) per Annum

10 years Centre Head, Kasuva Centre 2,62,200

Lowest Paid Staff member:M.Jaya

First 3 Highest Paid Staff members:

< a year Cleaning Asst. 36000

Mr. A.Thiruvilankumar 1 year Centre Head, Citry Office 2,16,000

Ms. N.AnnapurnaM.A., B.Ed., M.Phil.

10 years Head Mistress 1,98,000

Mr. A.A.KingstonB.Sc., M.A., M.A., B.Ed., PGDCA

Name Place Amount Sopnsored byT.S.Venkataramani & Pragati 2011, Rs. 4296/- VIBHAL.Radhakrishnan PuneBhuvaneswari & NGO Day Rs. 1234/- -Diana Lenin Microsoft, HydrabadV.Muralidharan& Sri Vivekananda Award Rs. 10000/- Sri Ramakrishna MathA.A.Kingston Function, New DelhiNadana Sabhapathy& DFC Award Rs. 3002/- The Riverside School3 students Ahmedabad Ahmedabad


PHILOSOPHY OF SEVALAYA

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Name of the organisation‘Sevalaya’ means ‘Temple of Service’. Swami Vivekananda calls thepoor man as ‘Dharidranarayana’. Service done to poor and destitute isactually the prayers offered to the God. Bharathiyar also says that hewho can’t bear the sufferings of others is a ‘punniya murthy’ (blessedsoul). As all our service activities are meant for such poor, destitutepeople, the place is named as ‘Sevalaya’.

Vision and MissionThe underlying philosophy behind our vision and mission publishedelsewhere in this issue are as follows:-

Vision:Based on Swami Vivekananda’s teaching that by helping others we areonly serving ourselves and it is only the giver who is blessed. Ourvision statement captures this succinctly.Mission:The basic tenets of our mission, based on the teachings of our inspirersMahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Mahakavi Bharathiyar are:

Providing quality education to the poor and destitue Providing food, shelter and support to the needy Rural uplift

Symbol of the organisationThe Symbol shows that someone is watering a plant. Who is watering isa non-issue. Any seed sown in the land needs conducive environment togrow. On the other hand, the tree is already hidden inside the seed. Theenvironment is not creating the tree. The environment is only helping thetree, which is already inside the seed, to come out and grow. SwamiVivekananda has said that education should bring out the divinity, whichis already in man. Such an education is man making and character buildingeducation. However, he also says that we can’t even teach an ant.Hence at Sevalaya, we believe that we are only providing conduciveatmosphere for the children to grow, so that whatever is hidden insidethe seed, will come out and grow.


Slogan‘Love all Serve all’ is our slogan. We have to serve whoever is in need ofour service, irrespective of which caste, religion or country he or shebelongs to. Also the service should be done with love, remembering thatwe should thank that person for giving us an opportunity to serve.

On the envelopeAll Sevalaya envelopes carry the following Quote from SwamiVivekananda. ‘The first of everything goes to the poor; we have a rightonly to what remains’. We keep hearing sayings like ‘Charity begins athome’ and ‘whatever is left over after we satisfy our needs, can be usedfor Charity’. But Swami Vivekananda says that first do charity and whateveris left over can be used for self. If Charity begins at home, most likely, itwill end at home also. If we can provide for charity only after satisfyingour needs, it is like taking bath in the sea ater the waves stop, becauseour needs will always expand to match our increased income.

The visiting card

The visiting card of Sevalaya carries the colour photo of the Trinity ofSevalaya viz Mahatma Gandhi, Mahakavi Bharathi and Swami Vivekanandaon the face just to ensure that the card not only serves as a visitingcard but also carries the message of the three great men.

Prayer at Breakfast/Lunch and Dinner time

It means that sharing and eating what you have is the highest formof virtue. Donors who come and celebrate their birthdays, weddingdays and observe memory days of their family elders sponsor manyof the meal to children at Sevalaya. Our children pray for them beforethe meal and thank them for sharing and eating what they have, anexhibition of highest form of virtue.


Invocation song

In all Sevalaya functions, our children sing ‘Achamillai, Achamillai’(No fear, No fear), a song composed by Bharathi. Bhagavad Gita saysthat fearlessness is one of the virtues one should possess. To emphasisethis fact, we sing ‘Achamillai’ as our invocation song.

Three Cardinal Principles

As you enter Sevalaya, you will notice ‘the writing on the gate’ - ‘Pleaseshed all your preferences / prejudices, if any, based on caste, creed,colour, religion, language, sex, nationality etc., before entering’. This isone of our basic principles at Sevalaya. We welcome all, whoever needsour service, or whoever wants to serve, irrespective of whatever ‘group’they may belong to.

All our services are rendered free of cost. We will not collect any fee fromanyone. Our school is free, we give uniforms, books, notebooks etc, freeto all children studying in our school. Even pick-up and drop is arrangedfree for small children coming from outside. Our medical centre andlibrary are all free for all the villagers. The old age home is also freeand the residents need not pay anything. We do this because we areserving that section of the society, which cannot afford to pay for anything.

We are giving continuous training to our staff to treat our children andsenior citizens with love and affection. Any sort of physical punishmentis banned in our school. Serving these children and the senior citizensis the very purpose of our organisation.


OBJECTIVES OF THE ORGANISATION1. To provide love and affection in addition to food, clothing and shelter to

children till they are able to stand on their own legs.2. To provide them value based education that should ultimately teach

them to live happily and peacefully.3. To take care of the health and hygiene of the children.4. To take care of the uplift of the rural areas surrounding Sevalaya in the

matters of literacy, education, health care, civic awareness, gender equality,attitude building etc.,

5. Acquiring and developing adequate space with a salubrious climate andpleasant environment conducive to the physical, mental and spiritualdevelopment of the children.

6. Inducting right type of workers, training and motivating them for a serviceoriented lifetime career for the organization.

7. Through a continuous process of public relation activities, create a generalawareness of the aims and activities of the organization so as to gainmoral support and the much needed resources.

8. Bringing in the concept of professional management to ensure maximumutilization of human and material resources.

9. To achieve total self-reliance.

VALUES WE ARE KEEN TO IMPART:1. Orientation to the Teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda

and Mahakavi Bharathiyar2. Love of all human beings without prejudices based on caste, colour,

religion, language, gender, nationality etc.,3. Spirit of Service and sharing.4. Patriotism.5. To have an aim in life and to develop the attitude and skills to pursue

it.6. Confidence to achieve one’s objectives and attitude to adopt only the

right means towards ends.7. Courage to do whatever one wants to do and the clarity to know

what one wants.8. Courage to face and handle any situation in life.9. To bring to play one’s potential to the fullest extent.10. Involvement and dedication to any task undertaken.11. A sense of discipline.12. Attuning with the Universal Energy through Prayer.

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SWAMI VIVEKANANDA BOYS HOME AND MOTHER TERESAGIRLS HOME (Recognized as “Childrens’ Home”under Dept. ofSocial Defence, Tamilnadu Govt.)

For poor, orphan and destitute children - The homes provide food, shelter,education, opportunities for skill development and talent promotion inan atmosphere of love and care. The children are taken care of till theycan stand on their own legs. Many of our children are now well settledin life pursuing careers in diverse fields such as qualified mechanics,electricians, artisan, bank officers, nurses, software professional etc.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA OLD AGE HOME(Unaided, Recognised by the Social Welfare Department, Govt.of Tamilnadu)

The Home shelters poor and destitute senior citizens and provides peacefuland dignified living in their twilight years - and a decent farewell whenthey leave this world.

MAHAKAVI BHARATHIYAR HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL(Unaided, Govt. Recognized, Tamil Medium)

The School provides education for classes 0 to XII for the children of theHome as well as from poor families in the surrounding villages. Most ofthe students are first generation learners. Free Note books, uniforms forall children and free transport for the elementary school children areprovided. Apart from the syllabus prescribed by the state Government,we have framed our own syllabus for teaching the lives and works ofMahatma Gandhi, Mahakavi Bharathiyar and Swami Vivekananda whichthe students are taught in a phased manner. The School has achieved100% results in the Board examinations continuously. Support is alsogiven for further studies after completion of higher secondary course.

KASTURBA CRAFT CENTRE conducts a six month certificate courseoffering free training in tailoring for poor rural woman. Free Computerclasses for the rural poor youth and women are also conducted.

VINOBHAJI GOSHALA shelters milk yielding as well as dry cows.

Activities


MAHATMA GANDHI MEDICAL CENTRE conducts free medical campsfor the residents as well as the villagers periodically.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA FREE LIBRARY (including MOBILELIBRARY) for the residents and villagers has a good collection of booksincluding complete works of Mahatma Gandhi, Mahakavi Bharathiyar andSwami Vivekananda.The library is used by the villagers as well as ourresidents.

All the services are rendered absolutely free of cost without any distinctionon the basis of caste/creed/religion/language/gender etc. We do not evenask for the religion/caste in our application form for admission to theHomes or for staff, unless otherwise specifically required by theGovernment. Corporal punishment and any other form of humiliation isstrictly prohibited.

Integrated Campus

A new concept of integrated campus has been implimented under which25 destitute children and 25 destitute senior citizens are housed in thesame building.

Geographic Coverage

The organization functions in a hamlet, Kasuva near Thiruninravur40 km west of Chennai. This village which is the centre of ouroperations has undergone marked transformation in many fields inrecent years through Sevalaya’s service activities.

The first satellite centre of the organisation now functions atVadanallur village in Uthiramerur in Kanchipuram district, wherethe village people have started benefitting from the vocationaltraining classes being conducted in computers and tailoring.

The second satellite centre is now functioning at Aayalur village,Thiruvallur District. In this centre free tailoring training is providedto the rural women .

City Office

Sevalaya has a city office at Thiruvanmiyur.


Governance

Sevalaya Board consists of socially minded professionals with keycompetencies like child care, education, counselling, moral education,information Technology, finance control etc. They are required to havefaith in the values of Gandhiji, Bharathiyar and Vivekananda. Each trusteeis in charge of some specific areas and makes weekly visits to monitorthe respective areas, and present their reports in the managementcommittee meeting. They fully involve themselves in the annual strategicplanning and monthly review. They also monitor the record keeping,facilitating accurate and prompt submission of statutory returns. Thetrustees do not receive any renumeration including conveyance, sittingcharges or whatever. Within the overall mission and vision, the organisation is divided into 3functional and 2 supportive units. The 3 functional units are:

1. Bharathi Team – includes primary school, high school, highersecondary school and library.

2. Gandhi Team – includes village development activities craft centre,agriculture and goshala.

3. Vivekananda Team – includes old age home, boys’ hostel, girls’hostel,Integrated campus and medical centre.

These functional units are supported ably by Public Relations andAdministration units.

Annual Strategy Meetings

One of the unique features of Sevalaya in the annual strategy meetingheld every year before the start of the new academic session. As earlyas January all the residents of Sevalaya’s Old age home , Children’shomes, students in our school, staff working in the various units ofSevalaya are asked to write briefly what they think Sevalaya did well inthe current year, what could have been done better and what they feelshould be done in the coming year. The Managing Trustee then

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consolidates these ideas which are then discussed in the annual strategymeeting. The staff & management zero in on the main points and thelist of goals for the new year is prepared. It is split up according to theareas where it will be put into action and all the staff then prepare thelists of things they will be doing that year based on the areas they workin. Based on this an annual calendar is prepared, which breaks up theactivities day wise. This make each employee of Sevalaya take up theirown responsibilities and be more conscious of the work they have to doinstead of work being thrust on them by someone. This makes everyonea partner in the progress of Sevalaya as a whole.

Every month in the meeting of the Managing committee where the trusteesand the unit leaders participate, the activities and results achieved arereviewed. An “Action items” list is drawn up which is pursued till theaction is completed.

The organization publishes a monthly Newsletter and an annual reportwhich includes the audited Accounts, circulated to all donors and wellwishers. The report is put on the website also (www.sevalaya.org)

In formulating Sevalaya’s annual plans, the organisation gets writtenfeedback from all the stakeholders including children, senior citizens,staff, trustees, and select donors. All visitors to Sevalaya are requestedto give their feedback in the prescribed form.

HR

The consistent and unqualified success of the organisation is, without adoubt, due to the dedication of the entire staff who give their all with‘service’ as their watchword. The organisation recognises this selflessservice attitude of the staff, with suitable programs. The staff are trainedon an on-going basis in academic and personality development areas toensure their skills remain up-to-date. They are also encouraged to pursue

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Donors

Sevalaya today runs completely on donations made by well wishersand does not receive any government grant. These donations whichform the life blood of the organisation could range from a small one-time amount by an individual to large amounts given regularly byfunding foundations. The donor could be anyone from a local personwho lives a couple of streets away to a foundation based in USA orEurope which has heard of and probably even seen the good work thatis being done and the growth achieved by Sevalaya consistently yearafter year. The organisation, on its part, extends its policy of non-discrimination to its donors too. Every donor, small or big, one-time orregular holds the same place in the eyes of Sevalaya,

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higher studies and several staff members have availed and are availingthis service for various courses (see the chart published elsewhere).Although as a voluntary organization, we are exempted fromcontributing to Provident Fund, we as a welfare measure,have takenup a Group Superannuation policy covering all employees completingone year of Service. Besides this we have covered the life risk of ouremployees under a group term policy.

VolunteersThe staff of Sevalaya is well supported by a team of volunteers whocome to our organisation and share their time, energy and creativityexpecting nothing in return but the pleasure of having done the rightthing. There are foreign volunteers, including gap-year students, whocome and stay for a period of 2-3 months and work on specificprograms. There are also volunteers who come as and when timepermits and help out in any area that the staff needs them to. Corporateemployees typically come on weekends to take ‘fun’ classes for thestudents. Many colleges like Anna university, IIT Chennai, PresidencyCollege, New College, Soka Ikeda College, etc come on NSS Camps fora week and take up various activities. Social Work students come ontheir academic project work and spend couple of months.


which ensures that any and all communication regarding the activities,successes, financial status and plans of the organisation are sent toeach and every donor to keep them apprised and to ensure transparency.Hence, as a policy, we do not publish a “Major Donors List.”

FUTURE PLANSThe success of Sevalaya in Kasuva village has caught the attention ofmany people from other parts of the country and many are asking thequestion why not replicate Sevalaya in other locations. Last year westarted an unit in Vadanallur village, near Uttiramerur, Kanchvaramdistrict. This unit has been funcitoning well. Now this year we haveadded one more centre in Aayalur village.

Also it has been our long time goal to start a free University for thebenefit of orphan, destitute and poor children.

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GiveIndia God Parents

Credibility Alliance ,

Guru Krupa Foundation,

TERI, Digital Literacy,

Page Pierre Foundation,

CIOSA, Puthiyathalaimurai Foundation

Proud to be associated with


News and NotesBharathi teaM:AchievementsSevalaya students have done theirorganization proud be securing 100%pass results in the X std XII Std. Publicexaminations.

In X Std, 2 students, L.Dineshkumar& S.Prithviraj stood first with 451 marksout of 500 followed by G.Ajit with 448marks and V.Pratheeba with 444marks. 18 out of 90 students whotook the exam scored above 400 outof 500 marks.

The school topper in XII Std isS.Praveen Kumar who scored 1086followed by G. Jothilakshmi who scored1083. The third place is shared byJ. Jansi and D. Aravind, both of themscoring 1071. 117 students appearedfor the exams and 22 students havescored over 1000 out of 1200 marks.

The students have once again provedthat however disadvantageous thefamily situation is, given proper facilities

they can achieve success. Sevalayathanks all the donors, well-wishers andsupporters for helping the organizationto provide support to the underprivilegedchildren thus bringing about a changein their lives.

Annual Science ExhibitionDr. G.Venkobha Rao (consultant)inaugurated the “Chemistry in Daily life”-3 day Annual science exhibition atSevalaya’s Mahakavi Bharathiyar Hr.Sec. School on 11/08/2011. Studentshad displayed various projects clearlyexplaining the role of Chemistry in allaspects of our life including food,environment, human body etc.,Dr. Rangadurai, Dean of Sciences,Vinayaka Mission University, was thechief guest for the valedictory functionof the Annual science exhibition.Students from Angel MatriculationSchool, Thiruninravur, Dasar HighSchool, Thiruninravur and Govt. HighSchool Pakkam, also participated anddisplayed their projects.

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Pongal Celebrations

Inauguration of Annual ScienceExhibition


CompetitionsOn 24/07/2011, 1434 students weretaken to ‘BalaKalakaar’ Programmeorganized by AIESEC at St.GeorgeAnglo Indian School at Aminjikarai.Students participated in variouscompetitions like Drawing, Dancing andSinging etc. They also enjoyed thecultural programme organized by thehost.

On 18/10/2011, students of classesVI to XII participated in the Exam onSwami Vivekananda conducted by SriRamakrishna Mutt in commemorationof Vivekananda Jayanthi.

On 19/11/2011, 6 students participatedin the drawing competition conductedby Brahmakumaris at Valluvar Kottam,Chennai. 35 students participated in the“Tamil Valarchi” Competition conductedby Srinikethan Matric. Hr. Sec. Schoolon the same day. Bhavani of V Stdwon the third prize in OratoricalCompetition, D.Deepakof IV Std wonthird prize in Tirukkural Competition andTamilselvi of II Std won third prize inTirukkural & Story telling competition.22 students participated in the Quiz

competition conducted by TCS AXAGroup at TCS Siruseri Campus onthat day.

In the Rotary Neeta Talent Competitionconducted at Chennai on 21/11/2011,R.Vignesh of Std. IX secured the 2nd

prize in the drawing. 34 schools fromall over Chennai participated in thevarious competitions.

400 students from V Std to IX Stdparticipated in the competitions likedrawing, singing etc conducted by“Ilampirai” Charitable Truston 03/12/2011.

Sangeetha from V Std participated in‘Gita chanting’ competition finals atChinmaya Vidyalaya school atAnnanagar, Chennai on 04/12/2011.

Sevalaya participated in thecompetitions conducted by VasishtarAcademy, Erode and won several prizes.P.Dilipkumar of XI Std was declareddistrict winner in poetry.

10 students from Sevalaya participatedand won prizes in the oratoricalcompetitions conducted by Vendhan

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Sevalaya’s art exhibition atRussian Cultural Centre

The launch of ‘Every Child Can’ compaign


Tutorials on 10/01/2012 at their centrein T. Nagar, Chennai in which 150students from various schoolsparticipated.

On 12/12/2012, eight studentsparticipated in Drawing competitionconducted by Vasantham Memorialtrust on the theme of CancerAwareness at K.K.Nagar, Chennai.

On 18/02/2012, 26 children fromSevalaya participated in the programme“Vivega 2012” – Interschoolcompetitions on elocution, poetry,creative writing and drawing conductedby Anna University. Sevalaya won theoverall championship for the third yearin row.

On 08/07/2011, Rotract club of Akashconducted an Inter school competition– Thiramai Por (war of talents) inSevalaya. Sevalaya team emerged asthe winners in both Volley ball and Throwball matches.

33 students participated in the 2 dayinter-orphanage event Siragugal 2011,on 09/07/2011 and 10/07/2011

organised by Bhoomi Foundation. On09/07/2011 they participated in theSports Competitions held at ChristianCollege Matric Hr. Sec School - Chetpetand won prizes in more than 20 events.

On 10/7/2011, they participated inliterary and cultural events l ikeOratorical competitions, Spelling Bee,Rangoli, Design an Ad, Pot Drawing,Clay Sculpting, Face Painting etc andmore than sixteen students won prizes.Sevalaya also won the overallchampionship in Siragugal 2011competition. Cricketer Mr. LaxmipathiBalaji and Playback singer Karthick werethe Chief Guests and distributed prizesto the winners.

On 12/10/2011 Drawing, Oratorical,Quiz competitions were conducted forselect students of VI to IX & XIstandard by the publicity officer,forestry extension Centre, Poondi.

Sangeetha of V Std won the first prizein IV-V level at the Gita chantingcompetitions conducted byThamaraipakkam Chinmaya Misssionand qualified for the final round to be

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Overall Champions ofSiragugal 2011

Overall Champions of Thiramaipor


held in Chennai. Eight students ofSevalaya (Six from Primary andtwofrom Higher Secondary) childrenwon prizes in the competition.

Sevalaya students participated inElectrofest organized by the ElectronicsDepartment of Hindu College on02/03/2012. The school team won thefirst prize in Debate andThangapandiyan of Std. XI won theprize for best speaker.

EventsFrom 05/05/11 to 09/05/2011, Ma FoiFoundation held the annual “DishaCamp” at Sevalaya. Nearly 100underprivileged children participated.Ms. Latha Pandiarajan, Trustee of MaFoi foundation took part in the camp.

From 23/05/2011 to 28/05/2011, Singleteacher schools held their trainingprogramme at Sevalaya campus. Thistraining programme was attended by60 teachers from various villages inThiruvallur district.

On 12/06/2011, Spoken English classesthrough video conference wereinaugurated. Ms. Sahithya Hari fromUSA taught English for ten studentsthrough Skype every Sunday.

On 14/06/2011, a programme on “LetsLearn to Appreciate Poems” wasorganized by Sevalaya. Isaikkavi.Ramanan participated and delivered aninspiring speech on Bharathi poems.

On 15/06/2011, free note books & twosets of uniforms worth Rs 15 lakhs weredistributed to 1500 students. Mr.B.V.Ramanaa, Hon’ble Minister forHandlooms & Texti les, Govt. ofTamilnadu, participated as a Chief Guestand honored the function. Mr.N.S.A.R.Manimaran, Hon’ble Memberof the Legislative Assembly of Tamilnadufrom Poonamallee distributed two setsof uniforms to staff of Sevalaya. Mr.Rajarajan, District Counsellor, distributedgifts to the staff of Sevalaya whocelebrated their birthdays in June.Mr. R.Chandrasekar, Union Counsellor,participated in the function andaddressed the gathering.

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Single teacher schools heldtheir training programme at

Sevalaya campus

Certificate distribution function atVadanallur


On 18/06/2011, “Let’s understandPuthiya Aathisudi” progarmme wasorganized by Sevalaya. Mr. BharathiBaskaran participated as resourceperson and shared his views onBharathi’s Puthiya Aathisudi.

On 25/06/2011, a Team of 120members from HCL, visited Sevalayaand rendered voluntary service. Theycleaned all the class rooms, hostels,playground and they planted 30 saplingsin the school and hostel premises. On25/06/2011, 15 volunteers from Nokiavisited Sevalaya.

On 26/06/2011, YuvaShakthi, YouthWelfare Association, conducted atraining programme for members /volunteers.

Four students attended the meetingof TERI (The Energy and ResourcesInstitute) on 06/09/2011 at Sri SaradaVidyalaya, T. Nagar to finalise theactivities of the club for the current year.

25 students from XI Std visitedShaastra 2011, the annual technicalfestival of IIT Madras on 01/10/2011

and 02/10/2011. The children watchedwith interest the 3D animation show,junk yard war, robotic car race and Airshow.

On 12/11/2011, TCS volunteerMr. Prembabu and his team organizeda topper’s award ceremony at thecampus. Students who had secured thefirst three ranks in the annual exam ineach class were presented mementosand dictionaries.

On 14/11/2011, Sevalaya studentsparticipated in the District level scienceexhibition in Thiruvallur. They presentedmodels highlighting the advantages ofOrganic farming and disadvantages ofChemical farming.

A picture drawn by G.Vignesh of IVStd was published in the “THE HINDUYoung World” Newspaperon 22/11/2011.

Prabhu of XI Std and Vijay of IX Stdparticipated in the Environmental campat Rajasthan organized by TERI as apart of its EduXchange programmefrom 08/12/2011 to 18/12/2011.

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Sevalaya students wonPramerica spirit ofCommunity Awards

MBA Students from Belgium inSevalaya


On 21/01/2012, Mr. Prembabu and histeam from TCS, initiated a month longactivity- “Book Reading Programme” forstudents of Std VI to IX and XI. Atthe end of the month “Best participationaward” will be given to the best class.

5 students from Std XI were offeredfree membership cards at the BritishCouncil Library.

On 10/02/2012, 50 students from nineschools, teaching staff and twoemployees from TERI visited Sevalayato see the greening activities in thecampus, which included organicfarming, bio-gas plant, vermin compostplant, solar lighting and solid wastemanagement.

A de-addiction camp for villagers wasconducted by Alcoholics Annonymous,on 02/03/2012.

On 18/04/2012, members of AXA UKteam visited Sevalaya.

Five students of Sevalaya’s MKBHSSattended the INSPIRE InternshipScience Camp organized by

Department of Science and TechnologyGovt. of India to attract best talents inscience from 21/05/2012 to25/05/2012 at Maraimalai Nagar. Thecamp was coordinated by ThePresidency College, Chennai.

Functions & FestivalsOn 06/06/2011, World EnvironmentDay Function was organized bySevalaya at Camp Tonakela.Mr.Arumugam, Forest Ranger, Poondi,Mr. E.D.Chandrasekar, Director ofTonakela, Mr. P.Murugavel, DistrictEnvironmental Officer and Mr.Rathanchand Sharma also participated.The chief guest motivated thestudents and gave an inspiring speechon the importance of planting treesaplings and preserving them. Morethan fifty tree saplings were plantedby Sevalaya students at CampTonakela on the Occasion. On thesame day a documentary film on theimportance of a forestation was shownto the students at the School campus.

Tamilnadu’s Former Chief MinisterMr. K. Kamarajar’s birth anniversarywas celebrated on 16/07/2011.

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50 Students from 9 schools, teaching staffand 2employees from TERI Visited

Sevalaya to see the greening activities inthe campus

Easter Celebrations at Sevalaya


Mr. Neelakandan, Secretary, ThiruvallurSocial Counselling Centre, Mr. KannanSocial Counselling Centre andMr. Kannan, Deputy President,Thiruvallur block, Pakkam Krishnan ofthe congress party were the ChiefGuests. Prizes were disturbed to thewinners of the quiz Competition andthe crossword puzzle on Kamarajar’slife that was conducted on 09/07/2011.Prizes were also distributed to the firstfive rank holders among boys and girlsin the X and XII Board examinations,on behalf of Mr. Victory Mohan, thechairperson of Ambattur, on theoccasion of his birth day.

The 64th Independence Day of Indiawas celebrated on 15/08/2011.Thousands of students of Sevalaya’sMahakavi Bharathiyar higher secondaryschool saluted the national flag hoistedby Dr. I.Jayanthi (District PrincipalMunsiff, Ambattur). Julia, a volunteerfrom France and Olga and IlyaVolunteers from Russia were the specialguests on the occasion.The AlumniAssociation of Sevalaya and ThiruvallurRed Cross society organized a blooddonation camp as usual. Old students

of Sevalaya, college students, staff andmanagement of Sevalaya donatedblood on this occasion.

On 17/08/2011, PrajapithaBrahmakumaris celebratedRakshabandan at Sevalaya by tyingRakhi threads and distributing sweetsto residents and staff of Sevalaya.

Sri Krishna Jayanthi and VinayagarChathurthi were celebrated on 27/08/2011. Swami Vimurthanadaji Maharaj,Editor, Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam, SriRamakrishna Mutt, Chennai, was thechief guest and he spoke to the childrenon Lord Krishna and Lord Ganesha.

Teacher’s Day was celebrated on08/09/2011. Mr. Balaji Sampath(Founder, AID INDIA) was the chiefguest on the occasion. Addressing theaudience he said that a teacher’s jobis not only to teach subject but toinculcate good values in their studentswhich will help them to make greatstrides in future. Mementos weredistributed to all the staff of Sevalaya.

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Independence Day Celebration

Mr.Balaji Sampath, AID INDIA atTeachers’ Day Celebration


Bharathi Gandhi Vivekanada Day wascelebrated on 13/09/2011. Every yearSevalaya conducts inter districtcompetitions (oratorical, essay, poetrywriting, Quiz, drawing) on the lives ofBharathi, Gandhi & Vivekananda forschools in Chennai and Thiruvallur districtto commemorate September 11 whichhas a special significance in the lives ofthe three leaders. More than 500students from 23 schools in Chennai&Thiruvallur participated in this year‘scompetitions. Prizes were distributed tothe winners by Swami AbhiramanandajiMaharaj (Secretary, Sri RamakrishnaMission Swami Vivekananda College,Chennai).

Saraswathi Pooja was celebrated on04/10/2011. Mr. Raman, Manager,Indian Bank, Thiruninravur was the chiefguest on the occasion. PattabiramAnna Nagar Auto stand association did“annadhanam” for the children ofSevalaya Home. They also donated 10bags of rice.

On 14/10/2011, Gandhi Jayanthi wascelebrated at Sevalaya. The chief guestMr. J.Prabhakar of Ennangalin

Sangamam gave away the prizes tothe top rankers of the free state-wideGandhi examination conducted bySevalaya in which 12500 students fromall over Tamilnadu participated.

On 18/10/2011, Diwali celebrationscommenced at Sevalaya.Mr. Prasanna of CIOSA was the chiefguest at the function. 1560 Orphan &destitute children and senior citizens ofSevalaya were given new clothes forDiwali.

On 14/11/2011 Children’s Day wascelebrated at Sevalaya.Mr. Karu.Palaniappan (Film Actor &Director) was the chief guest. As partof the celebrations, children fromSevalaya organized a small culturalfunction at the children’s ward inGovernment Hospital, Thiruvallur anddistributed fruits and biscuits to thechildren there. On the same occasion,Vitamin A drops was administered toall students below the age of 5 studyingin Sevalaya’s Mahakavi BharathiyarHigher Secondary School. The VitaminA drops was donated by The VitaminAngels of Mumbai. Mr.Karu.Palaniappan

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Mr. J.Prabhakar of EnnangalinSangamam at Gandhi Jayanthi

Celebrations

Swami Abhiramanandaji at“BGV DAY” Celebration


also released the advanced computerskills self-learning CD for employabilitytraining, meant to improve thecomputer skills of the rural youth.

Sevalaya’s 23rd Annual Day wascelebrated on 09/12/2011Mr. C.Ve.Shanmugam Honorableminister for School Educationand Mr. B.V.Ramana, Hon’ble ministerfor Environment were the chief guestson the occasion. Sevalaya’s 23rd Annualreport was released on the occasionby the Hon’ble Minister for SchoolEducation. Mr. R.Manimaran, Hon’bleMember of Legislative Assembly, Chiefeducational Officer, Thiruvallur andother officials from the Districteducation Department participated inthe function.

Bharathiyar Day was celebrated atSevalaya on 10/12/2011.Mr. Rajendran, RI, Thiruvallur was thechief guest on the occasion. Prizes weredistributed to the toppers in the freeState Level open book examination onBharathiyar conducted by Sevalaya.

Mr. V.Rao from Help Foundation visited

Sevalaya campus 16/12/2011 andinteracted with the children sponsoredby the Foundation.

Maths Genius Sri. SrinivasaRamanujan’s 125th Birth Anniversarycelebrations were held on 24/12/2011.Mr. Kannan P. Srinivasn (Chairman,P.K.Srinivasan Maths Education &research Trust) the chief guest of thefunction enthralled the audience with abrief yet beautifully chronicled lifehistory of Sri Ramanujan & distributedprizes to the toppers of the RamanujanMaths talent test - an inter districtcontest for students of Chennai&Thiruvallur Districts conducted bySevalaya on 25/11/2011, in memoryof Mathematics genius Shri. SrinivasaRamanujan. 180 Students from 22schools participated in the event thisyear.

Christmas & New Year was celebratedat Sevalaya on 27/12/2011. Dr. JaganMoorthy (Ex member of LegislativeAssembly) was the chief guest on thisoccasion. Pastor Charles Bennydelivered the Christmas message &Mr. D’Cruz and friends entertained the

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Honble MinistersMr. C.Ve.Shanmugam andMr. B.V.Ramanaa at the

Annual Day Celebrations


children with a cultural programme.The children were delighted to see theSanta Claus dancing to the jingle bellsand distributing sweets and cakes tothem.

Every year Sevalaya organizes‘Smokeless Bhogi’ rally to createawareness on the harmful effects ofburning waste especially plastics. Thisyear’s rally was held on 11/01/2012.The rally was flagged off byMs. V.Thirumanju Aruldoss (PanchayatPresident, Pakkam) &Ms. K.Dhakshayani (Panchayatpresident, Puliyur). Volunteers Lynn andCaroline from Singapore and Charlottefrom England , Village ward members,and more than 1500 students fromSevalaya’s Mahakavi Bharathiyar Hr.Sec. School, Angel Matriculation Hr. Sec.School, Dasar School, Govt. Hr. Sec.School, Velliyur, Swami VivekanandaSchool Sivanvoyal, Melapedu Govt.Middle School, Magaral Middle School& Pakkam High School participated inthe rally. The students carried placardsdepicting the harmful effects of burningwastes especially plastics and rubberand raised slogans to spread themessage among the general public.

On 13/01/2012, Sevalaya displayed aphoto exhibition on the Life of SwamiVivekananda in the “Adarsh Youth Mela”for College students organized by YuvaShakthi on the occasion of NationalYouth Day – Birthday of SwamiVivekananda, at VivekanandaAuditorium, Anna University, Guindy,Chennai.

On 14/01/2012, Sevalaya celebratedSmokeless Bhogi, Traditional Pongal andSwami Vivekananda Jayanthi.Smt. B. Valarmathi, Hon’ble Minister forSocial Welfare and Shri. B. V. Ramanaa,Hon’ble Minister for Environmentparticipated as Chief Guests in thecelebrations. The Social WelfareMinister distributed prizes to the toppersin the State Level free Examination onthe life of Swami Vivekanandaconducted by Sevalaya. The Ministeralso handed over the cheque of Rs25000/ to Ms. Mahalakshmi ofSevalaya under the Govt. scheme formarriage assistance to poor girls. Shealso presented a memento on behalfof Sevalaya to Mr. G.Chittibabu whohad been Sevalaya’s Headmaster for15 years and has now joined

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“Smokeless Bhogi” Rally

State level Swami VivekanandaExam prize Distribution at

Sevalaya


Government service. Dr. P.Venugopal,Honourable Member of Parliamentdistributed gifts to employees ofSevalaya who celebrated their birthdaysin January. Mr. N.S.A.R. Manimaran,Honourable Member of State LegislativeAssembly, released “Vidiyal” themonthly manuscript magazine preparedby the students of Sevalaya and it wasreceived by Putlur Mr. Chandrasekar,Union Chairman of Thiruvallur.Ms. Ruth Vennila, District Social WelfareOfficer, Thiruvallur, Mr. Syed Rawoof,Probationary Officer, Thiruvallur,Mr. Sakthi Ramesh, Vice Chairman,Thiruvallur, District Councillors,Smt. Bommi, Smt. A.Selvakumari,Panchayat Union leaders, Smt. ManjuAruldas, Smt. Datchayani, Smt. Mallikaand advocate Shri. R.S.Rajarajanparticipated in the function.

On 26/01/2012, Republic day wascelebrated in Sevalaya campus.Volunteer Ms. Kym Anderson from UKhoisted our National Flag. A farewellparty for the XII Std students was alsogiven on the same day. 50 old studentsparticipated in the meeting.

The Annual Sports day was held on27/01/2012. Mr. V.Mohan, Inspectorof Police, Vengal presided over thefunction. Prizes were given to thewinners of various events held for thestudents, senior citizens, parents,village youth & women.

On 19/02/2012, 11 students and 4 staffparticipated in Vivekananda JayanthiCelebrations at Thiruninravur. Theprogramme was organized byMr. A.C.Ravi, Thiruninravur.

Forest officers of Poondi forestorganized World Forest Day celebrationson 21/03/2012 at Sevalaya. Membersof Junior Red Cross and Karuna clubtook out a rally reinforcing theimportance of planting and nurturingtrees and safeguarding the existingones. School students presented asmall mime on the same concept. TheForest department gave away prizesto students of Pasumai Padai clubs ofThiruvallur who had shown greatconcern and sincerity in all their projectsand to a farmer from Kadambathurfor planting a large number of trees inhis farm. Sevalaya got the best campus

76

Annual Sports Day Celebrationsat Sevalaya

At the forestry extension centre,Poondi


award from Tamil Nadu forestdepartment for growing many treesinside the school campus.

Sri Ramanavami was celebrated atSevalaya on 30/03/2012.Mr. K.Thangaraj, President, All IndiaSai Samaj was the Chief Guest for theoccasion.

Easter was celebrated on 07/04/2012.Ms. Rani Thomas (Editor,‘Roobavathiyee’ Magazine) kept theaudience enthralled with stories fromBible and advised the children to aimhigh in life.

Mahaveer Jayanthi was celebrated on08/04/2012. The Managing Director ofAsia Engineering Pvt. Ltd. Mr. M.K.Jainspoke briefly about the Prince who lefthome at the age of 30 in search oftruth and who is now worshipped asBhagwan Mahaveer and about the lifestyle of Jain community which followthe Bhagwan’s teachings. Notebooks,Pens and Sweets were distributed tostudents.

The valedictory function of the free onemonth computer training and SpokenEnglish courses conducted by Sevalayawas held on 30/05/2012. Certificateswere distributed to the 60 rural youthwho completed the course by Mr.L.Sundararaman, DirectorManagement Services (P) Ltd. whopresided over the function.

Global Exchange ProgrammeUnder the Global Exchangeprogramme with Cunningham Hill JuniorSchool, UK, organized and sponsoredby The British Council, three teachersof Sevalaya - Mr. R.Vijayaraghavan,Ms. B.Nirmala and Ms. S.Mariyammalwent for a weeklong visit to UK on24/09/2011. They observed theclasses and also taught the children ofCunningham Hill Junior School. ThreeTeachers from Cunningham Hill JuniorSchool also came on a weeklong visitto Sevalaya. They arrived on06/02/2012. The teachers of bothschools worked on the ongoing jointproject titled ‘Vasudeva Kudumbagam’.The project started in 2009 and sincethen five teachers from Sevalaya’sMahaKavi Bharathiyar Higher

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Mahaveer Jayanthi Celebrationsat Sevalaya

Cultural programme by SevalayaStudents and Cunningham Hill

Junior School teachers


Secondary School have visitedCunningham school at St.Albans in twobatches and five teachers from UKhave come to India so far.

International Art Camp forunderprivileged ChildrenMr. Keshav, Cartoonist, The Hinduinaugurated the one week InternationalArt Camp for the underprivileged byThe Children’s Art Village, California ,USA at Sevalaya on 26/09/2011. 200children participated in the Camp.Mr. Bob Breech, Ms. Mai Lai Breechand Ms. Lynn McGovan from theChildren’s Art Village, and Mr. MariAnand, Mr. Suredranath, Ms. Abirami,Mr. Andrew Jesudoss, Ms. Kala Guruand Ms. Deepa Sridhar were the facultymembers. Mr. Bob Breech taughtphotography. Ms. Mai Lai,Ms. McGovan, Mr. Mari Anand,Ms. P.Abirami, and Mr. AndrewsJesudoss taught painting and crafts tothe children. Ms. Kala Guru taught theChildren Indian classical Music andMs. Deepa Sridhar taughtBharathanatyam.

The valedictory function of theinternational art camp forunderprivileged rural children was heldon 01/10/2011. An exhibition of theart items created in the camp was alsoheld. Ms. Lakshmi Venkatraman(Gallery Sri Parvati, Chennai), the chiefguest, went through the various exhibitsat the camp.

Joy of Giving Week CelebrationsEbay offered stall space for Sevalayato reach out to their employees on04/10/2011. Nearly 30 to 40 membersvisited the stall and made contributions.

The Courtyard Marriot hotel on AnnaSalai invited Sevalaya’s old age homeresidents for a film show on05/10/2011. The 30 senior citizenswere received by Mr. Karan, GM of thehotel and Mr. Satish, HR Manager.They were taken to the conference hall,where an old Tamil movie “Karnan” wasshown. This was the choice of thegrandpas and grandmas. They wereall served with hot idlies and pongal.The film went on for three and halfhours and the entire staff came out tosee the visitors off.

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Mr. Keshav at International ArtCamp Inauguration

Art,Craft,Dance and Music classes


On 07/10/2011, eight Volunteers from“Kelsa Solutions” coordinated byMs. Devika Dharmaraj spent a day atSevalaya’s Service Centre volunteeringtheir services in various forms like takingclasses for students of X & XII,cleaning the Old Age Home premisesand interacting and bringing cheer toresidents of Sevalaya’s Old Age Home.On the same day Sevalaya studentsparticipated in several gamesconducted by Associates from TataConsultancy Services (TCS). Prizeswere distributed to the winners at theend of the events. TCS Associates alsosponsored lunch on that day andpresented a cheque for Rs one lakhfor Sevalaya’s Diwali celebrations. Theevent was coordinated byMr. Prembabu of TCS.

On 08/10/2011 Dr. Rajeev Roy, ENTspecialist checked our Old Age Homeresidents and arranged free medicinesfor them. On 21/10/2011 Audiometrytest was conducted for the seniorcitizens.

On 08/10/2011, Samudhaayafoundation of Padmasri Sudha

Raghunathan, popular Classical singer,organized a lecture demonstration onCarnatic music at Sevalaya servicecentre.

Vocalist Ms. Amritha Murali presentedmany popular krithis and explained thebasics of Carnatic music and thestructure of a classical music concert.She was accompanied by Ms. RanjaniRamakrishnan on violin andMr. Thanjavur Pravinkumar onmridangam. A quiz programme wasconducted at the end of the sessionand the students enthusiasticallyanswered the questions.

On 10/12/2011, Mr. P.Narayanamoorthialong with 20 students of IX and XIstd. visited the Poondi forest atThiruvallvur. This programme wasarranged by Forest Extension Centre.

NSS CampsThe NSS students of Sevalaya carriedout activities of cleaning the campusregularly. During the year they alsocleaned Thiruvallur Veterinary Hospitalcampus. They removed theunnecessary plants and bushes and

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Ms. Amirtha Murali presenting alecture on Carnatic Music

Old Age residents with TCSVolunteers at Sevalaya


planted tree saplings in the hospitalcampus. The students also undertookcleaning of the areas aroundThamaripakkam Siva temple.

The National Service Scheme (NSS)students from New College, Chennaivisited Sevalaya as a part of their NSSprogram and conducted a medicalcamp at Puliyur village in ThiruvallurDistrict.On 22/10/2011 NSS Studentsfrom IIT Madras conducted Englishclass for XII Std students.

School ClubsThe school has various clubs like theEnglish Club, The Tamil Club, TheMaths Club, The Science Club and theSocial Studies Club. Teachers organizedthe activities of the Clubs in such away as to make the children developan interest for the languages andsubjects and make learning fun. Onmany occasions teachers from otherschools and from various walks of lifealso were guest speakers.Mr. Chellamuthu from KulipalayamGovt. Hr. Sec. School participated asresource person and explained how todraw graph accurately as a part of the

Maths club activity. Mr. Raheem,Mathemagician taught the studentseasy and simple ways of learningGeneral Maths., Algebra, primenumbers etc.,. Mr. Mahesh,Development Officer LIC, spoke onMagic Square and demonstrated it inone of the Maths. club meet. In oneof the Tamil Club Meets Mr.Kumaresan,Editor, Theekadhir was the chief guestand spoke on “How to pronounce Tamilwords without error”. He also spoke onthe importance of Science and SocialScience in the respective club meetsto the students.Mr. Chandrasekhar,Lecturer, Indira Group of Colleges,Thiruvallur was the guest speaker atthe English club and Social Sciences Clubmeetings encouraged the students tospeak in English.

The school also has Red Ribbon Club,Karuna Club, Junior Red Cross, andInteract Club and Pasumai PadaiClub.33 JRC students cleaned all thepublic water tanks in Kasuva andRamanathapuram village and picked upthe plastic waste in Kasuva –Ramanthapuram. On 20/07/2011 asignature campaign to introduce a law

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Mathemagician Raheem withStudents

Scotland volunteer Ms.Kymtaking English Class at Sevalaya


forbidding plastic usage was organizedby Pasumai Padai club. Nearly 1434students and all the staff signed thecloth acknowledging their support tosuch a law.

SportsOn 14/07/2011 and on 15/07/2011,60 students from Sevalaya participatedin the District level KhoKho sports meetorganized by Nazareth College, Avadi.Totally 110 teams from various schoolsparticipated in the event. Sevalayaachieved third place in junior level andsuper senior level Kho- Kho match.Aruna Kumari of standard XII won thebest player award.

On 11/08/2011, Poonamallee Zonal levelsports was Organized by Sevalaya atCampus. The senior, Super Senior boysof Sevalaya team were the winners atHand ball and Table Tennis. Karthick ofVIII A won the first Prize and Harish ofVIIIB won the second prize at theCycling Competition – Junior Levelorganized by Sevalaya at Nathameduon 12/08/2011.At the Poonamallee Zonal level sports

organized by a Govt. Higher SecondarySchool Poonamallee on 17/08/2011 atS.V Varathappan Hr. Sec. SchoolPoonamallee Sevalaya Girls team atSenior and Super Senior level were thewinners at Khokho and the boys teamat Super Senior level were the winnersat Ball Badmiton.

Sevalaya organized the PoonamalleeZonal inter school Sports competitionson 03/09/2011. The different sportscompetitions were held at SevalayaSports ground & Avadi Police grounds.The Sports Meet was inaugurated bySevalaya’s M.K.B.H.S. School HeadMaster and Bharathi Team Leader,Mr. G.Chittibabu. The Olympic flamewas lit by Sevalaya‘s VivekanandaTeam Leader Mr. A.A.Kingston. Morethan 300 students participated in thedifferent athletic events which included100mm, 200mm; 1500mm discussthrow, Javelin throw & relay race.Mr.V.Muralidharan, Founder & ManagingTrustee of Sevalaya participated in thevaledictory function and gave awayprizes and certificates to the winnersof the various events. Special policeII battalion Inspector Mr. Narayanan,

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Table Tennis Coaching byVolunteer Carol from China

Chinmaya Vidyalaya Studentsplanting fruit tree sapplings at

Sevalaya


Mr. Muneer of Rotract club of Akash &Pakkam M. Subramani also participatedin the function.

25 children participated in PanchayatYuva Kridaaur Khel Abhiyan match atSevvapet on 18/12/2011 and wonprizes.

Staff Study CircleEvery Saturday at the staff meeting,the staff members in turns shared theirviews about the books that they haveread during the week- books on a widerange of topics – biographies, spiritual,self-improvement, etc.

Staff TrainingOn 09/07/2011, four resource personsfrom Vidya Sagar conducted a trainingprogramme on Identifying and HandlingStudents with Mental retardation /Learning Disabilities.

On 16/07/2011 Ms. Parvathyconducted a training program on Downsyndrome.

On 16/07/2011, 12 teachers fromSevalaya attended the ‘Alma Mater’subject+ programme. Mr.

T.T.Rangarajan, Founder- of AlmaMater & Frozen Thoughts magazinegave an inspiring speech on “PremSathChit Ananda”. Sevalaya was introducedto Alma Mater by a regular donor,Mr. A.V.Senthil.

On 23/07/2011, Ms. V.Mahariga andMs. D.Priya attended the Gita Chantingtraining programme at Chinmayamission Thamaraipakkam.

On 14/09/2011, Ms. Sumathi Venkatand Ms. Hema, English Teachers fromNational public School, Chennai visitedSevalaya and observed the EnglishClasses in the Primary Section. Theylater interacted with the Englishteachers of Sevalaya and providedthem useful tips on teaching English tothe primary children.

On 17/09/2011, Ms. Indra,Ms. Sheeba, Ms. Uma Maheswari andMs. Aruna teachers from SBOA SchoolAnna Nagar visited Sevalaya andobserved the English Classes in the High& Higher Secondary School. They had

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Training programme on identifyingchildren with learning difficulties

Alcoholic Anonymous Meet atSevalaya


a meeting with the English teachers andsuggested better teaching techniques.

On 12/10/2011, Science teachersS.Mariyammal, G.Jothi and S.Jayaseeliattended a training programme on howto conduct Science Practicals for X Stdstudents at Immaculate Heart ofMary’s Girls Higher Secondary Schoolat Avadi, organized by DistrictEducational Officer, Thiruvallur.

On 15/10/2011, six English teachersfrom Sevalaya - C.Adimuthu, D.Priya,S.Binoy, E. Aadambasha,S. Anantharajan and V. Jeevanandan- observed English classes at SBOAMatriculation Higher Secondary Schoolat Anna Nagar.

Two teachers from SevalayaV.Jeevanandan & J.Lakshmananattended a training programme on childPsychology development conducted by‘Kuruvilla Jacob Memorial EducationalTrust’ for three days from 20/10/2011to 21/10/2011.

Two teachers from SevalayaE. Aadambasha & S. Anantharajan

attended a training on adopting activityoriented methods for teaching Englishfor classes, VII and VIII under theUniform system of School educationfrom 20/10/2011 to 21/10/2011 atKamarajar Girls Hr. Sec. School,Ambattur . The training was organizedby the Department of School Education.

On 08/11/2011, AID INDIA conducteda training program for teachers to teachscience through simple experiments andteaching methodology to improve thewriting skills in Tamil. 17 Teachersparticipated in the training program.

On 10/11/2011, 11/11/2011,Mr. Jeevanandan and Ms. G.Jothi alongwith two students went to Thirur DIETfor “Life Skill Education” program.

On 19/11/2011, Ms. Annapurnaattended the Quality school enclaveprogram on “managing next generationclass room” conducted by CII. Anumber of eminent educationists spokeabout the challenges in today’sclassroom and solutions to overcomethem.

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Birth Anniversary Celebrationof Shri. K.Kamaraj

Mr. Kannan P.Srinivasan at Ramanujar’s125th Birth Anniversary Celebration


On 10/12/2011, Dr. S.S.Rajagopal(Educationist) delivered a speech onRight to Education Act to the staff ofSevalaya. He also answered all queriesof the staff in this matter.

Ms.N.Annapurna & Mr. S.Anantharajancompleted the 2nd module of theEducation for Leadership programmeconducted by Kuruvilla Jacob MemorialTrust from 17/12/2011 to 22/12/2011.The session about Instructionalleadership had a lot of interestingsessions on teaching learningmethodologies.

On 04, 05 & 06/01/2012,Mr. V.Jeevanandam andMr. J.Lakshmanan attended the 2nd

session of disability training conductedby Kuruvillaa Jacob at Vidya MandirSenior Secondary School, Chennai.

On 21/01/2012, Mr. C.Adhimuthu,Mr.V.Jeevanandam, Mr. Benoy andMr. E.Adambasha attended a sessionon teaching English non-detailed andgrammar through activity conducted bySBOA.

On 09/02/2012, 2 teaching staffattended TERI workshop at MaharishiVidyaMandir at Kilpauk, Chennai.

Mrs. N. Annapurna and Mrs. B.Nirmalaattended the final module of theEducation For Leadership programmeat Kodaikanal conducted by KuruvillaJacob Memorial Education Trust from08/05/2012 to 13/05/2012. The highlyinteractive session dealt with the variousaspects of institutional leadership –learning organization, total qualitymanagement, tools in TQC, HRmanagement, Finance management,Office management etc.

The Primary School Teachers regularlyattended the CRC training organized byDistrict Educational Office during theyear. Balwadi Teachers were sent fortraining on Montessori teachingmethods.

Students’ TrainingOn 23/07/2011 Alma mater Subject+programme was organized for X andXII standard students.Mr. Sabarinathan, an almanite gave an

84

Mr. S.Mani Inauguration ofComputer Course

Dr. S.S.Rajagopalan at the trainingon Right to Education Act


inspiring speech on how to develop theindividual skills of the students.

Mr. Nishanth, Project associate, CSIE,IITM conducted an introduction classon Computer Science for students ofStds XI & XII on 10/09/2011.

On 20/11/2011, Ms .G.Jothi andMr. R. Vijayaraghavan took 32 studentsfrom X Std to attend the program “Wewill Win” conducted by Dhinamalar atThiruvallur. A number of useful tips onpreparing for the board exams weregiven during the programme.

On 08/02/2012, five MSW I yearstudents from various colleges,organized a Career guidanceProgramme for XI Std students byMr. Joshua Suresh Kumar of St. John’sMat. Hr. Sec. School as a part of theirCommunity Service Programme.

On 11/02/2012, Chinmaya Mission,Thamaraipakkam conducted a trainingsession for IX and XI Std students onmultiple intelligence.

Two volunteers from Chinmaya Mission,

Tamaraipakkam spoke to the studentsabout the Science behind the differentrites and rituals of Hindu culture.

Dr. S.Gunasekaran, Head of the PhysicsDepartment of Pachaiyappa Collegegave motivational lecture for Std. IXand Std. XI students on10/03/2012 and Mr. Ananda Rajan ofPattabiram spoke to the students onlife skills on the same day.

On 22/04/2012, free summer courses(Computer and Spoken English) forvillage youth was inaugurated byMr. H.R.Mohan (Associate VicePresident, The Hindu). He lauded themanagement for their services andhoped that the students would makefull use of this opportunity to acquirevaluable skills.

ToursThroughout the year, all the childrenof Sevalaya school were taken on atour class wise to places like Children’sPark in Guindy, Arignar Anna ZoologicalPark in Vandalur, Arignar AnnaCentenary Library at Kotturpuram, BirlaPlanetorium, Marina Beach,

85

Photo Exhibition of Independence

Dr. S.Gunasekaran, HOD,Physics, Pachayappa’s College

with Students of IX & XI


Vivekananda House, ElliotsBeach,Poondi Lake etc.,

On 07/06/2011, Sevalaya staff wenton a one day tour to Yelagiri.

On 23/11/2011, Mr. K.Senthilnathan andMs. R.Ponprabha along with 56students visited the Hatsun Dairy format Sunguvarchatram. The visit wasorganized by Mr. Nandakumar, a donorand well-wisher of Sevalaya. Thechildren saw the different stagesinvolved in the packaging of milk andpreparation and packaging of differentdairy products.

On 11/07/2011, 53 students of theAgriculture group were taken to anorganic farm at Kattiampanthal inUthiramerur owned by Mr. KannanRajagopalan.

32 students of standard XI, who werethe toppers of the book readingcompetition conducted by Associatesof Tata Consultancy Services,Mr.Prembabu and friends, were takenon a tour to Mahablipuram on15/04/2012.

Sevalaya Staff and their families agroup of 85 people went on an annualpicnic to VGP family entertainment parkon 01/05/2012. They spent the wholeday enjoying the rides and the beach-a welcome break from the swelteringheat.

YogaRegular Yoga classes were conductedfor IX to XII Stds. by teachers fromKrishnamachari Yoga Mandiram.

gandhi teaM:Awareness programmesKottu Murasu, the cultural troupe ofSevalaya visited nearby villages andthrough cultural events like songs, skitsand dance created awareness abouteradicating illiteracy and child labour,dangers of alcoholism and drugs, globalwarming, health and hygiene.

On 27/08/2011, 11 Students , oneProject Associate and under theGuidance of Prof. John BoscoLourdusamy from IIT Madras visitedthe vil lages near Sevalaya andinteracted with various segments ofvillage and understood the economics,general life style and job availabilitysituation in villages.

From 25/01/2012 to 29/01/2012,Sevalaya put up a stall in the HinduSpiritual Service Fair 2012 at DRBVaishnava College, Arumbakkam,Chennai.

On 18/05/2012, Sevalaya conducteda Programme on Health and Hygienein Pallathumbur village. Nearly 30

86

Yoga Training by KYM


women participated in the programme.Ms. Sangeetha from Sevalaya was thefacilitator for this programme for villagewomen.

Children’s ParliamentOn 30/06/2011, Children’s Parliamentfor the year 2011-12 was inauguratedat Melakondaiyar. Ms. JanakiRamanujam, President, MelakondiayarVillage, participated as chief guestMs. Mariammal, Social Developmenttrust also participated in the programmeand spoke on students role in shapingthe future of India.

On 20/07/2011, Children’s Parliamentguided programme was conducted.Ms. Logammal participated in it as chiefguest and guided the students on howto conduct Children’s Parliament.

Mr. Immanuel, Advocate, Thiruvallurinaugurated the Thiruvallur DistrictChildren’s parliament on 20/09/2011.Children from 60 schools participatedin the function. The coordinatorMs. Logammal spoke to the children

on the functioning of children’sparliament.Functions, FestivalsOn 14/10/2011, Saraswathi Pooja wascelebrated in Uthiramerur Unit ofSevalaya. Nearly 50 vil lagersparticipated in it.

Medical CampsOn 30/06/2011, a free eye camp wasorganized by Mr. M.Subramaniam ofPakkam and Mr. Vengal Velu. A teamof doctors from Uma hospital AnnaNagar conducted eye checkups formore than 500 students and 50 Seniorcitizens. 20 senior citizens wereidentified as having cataract and weretreated free of cost. Free spectacleswere also provided to those whoneeded them. The camp wasinaugurated by Mr. K.Arumugam, StateExecutive member of DMDK party.

On 02/07/2011, Sankara eye hospitaland Sevalaya jointly conducted eyecamp at Sevalaya campus. 110villagers and residents benefitted.

On 06/07/2011, a free veterinarymedical camp was conducted at

87

Sri Krishna Jayanthi &Vinayagar Chathurthi

Celebrations

Inauguration of Thiruvallur DistChildren’s Parliament


Sevalaya. The medical camp was jointlyorganized by Sevalaya and ThiruvallurAnimal Husbandry Department.Dr. G.Kamalanathan, Assistant Directorof Thiruvallur Animal Husbandryinaugurated the camp. All the cowswere vaccinated. Cattle with problemslike throat infection, dysentery andwounds were treated. Pregnancy levelsof the cattle were also tested. Cattleswith severe health problems were givenGlucose drips. More than 50 cows, 30oxen, 25 goats, 25 hens, and 2 dogsfrom surrounding villages were givenmedical assistance in this camp.

On 28/07/2011, a free eye camp wasorganized jointly by inner wheel club ofMadras Metro District 323 and AravindSai eye hospital. 100 villagers residingin and around Kasuva attended in thiscamp.

On 05/08/2011, Eye camp for checkingvision power Agarwal eye hospitalorganized by an NGO Thol Koduppom.

On 09/08/2011, Rajan eye care hospitalconducted a free eye camp for school

children. The camp was organized byRotary Club of Madras North West.

On 15/08/2011, Spectacles weredistributed to the persons identified byArvind Sai Eye hospital, Pammal at theeye camp organized by Inner wheelclub in July.

On 07/09/2011, Dental camp wasorganized by Rotary club of Guindy R1Dist. Doctors from Kottivakkam dentalcenter provide treatment.

On 09/09/2011, Rotary Club of MadrasNorth West provided spectacles for 19school children as a follow up of theeye camp organized by them.

On 18/03/2012, a medical awarenesscamp on anemia was conducted byDr. Malavika Vinodkumar of SundarChemicals at Kasuva and Vathatturvillages. 150 villagers participated in it.This is part of a six months projectwhere regular blood tests will be doneand medicines and nutrition given toimprove the condition in the villagewomen and children. In the processnearly 600 villagers will be benefited.

88

Free Eye Camp at Sevalaya

Medical awareness campConducted by Dr. Malavika


On 29/05/2012, an eye camp wasconducted in Sempedu village.Dr. Senthil from Pranav Foundation,Mogappair, Chennai and Sevalayaconducted the eye camp in the village.Nearly 150 villagers participated in thecamp.

Mobile LibraryTo encourage reading habit among thevillage youth Sevalaya’s Mobile Libraryvisits the villages around Kasuva everyweek with about 250 books. Thevillagers make use of the facility.

Rural developmentSwami Vivekananda Library wasinaugurated at Sevalaya Unit atVadanallur village, Uthiramerur Taluk on29/03/2012. Swami Pratheshananda,Secretary, Sri Ramakrishna Mission,Malliankaranai was the Chief Guest.

Nine Old Student’s Association andParents Association were formed in sixvillages, namely Pakkam, PakkamColony, Aalathur (Pallathumbur),Melakondiyar, Sivanvayal & Sembadu.

A new tailoring institute of Sevalaya

was inaugurated in Aayalur village on28/05/2012 in the presence ofMr. Jaishankar, Union Council Member,Kilambakkam. Mr. Putlur Chandra Sekar,Union Chairman, Mr. Putlur Senthil,President, Putlur Panchayat,Smt. Gomathi Babu, President, AayalurPanchayat were the special guests andmany Panchayat members participatedin the function.

Training ProgrammesSevalaya runs free computer andspoken English classes for villageunderprivileged youth during summer,every year. This year the classes wereinaugurated by Mr. S.Mani, Senior Vice-President, Corporate social responsibility,Orchid Pharma on 01/05/2011.

The valedictory function was held on28/05/2011 and Dr. Swaminathan Jose,Principal, Loyola ICAM college oftechnology, was the chief guest.Certificates were distributed to thecandidates who successfully completedthe one month long intense computerand English course.

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Mobile library atMelakondayur Village

Inauguration of Sevalaya,Ayalur Unit


On 17/06/2011 and on 18/06/2011,training on first Aid methods wasorganized by Puthiya ThalaimuraiCharitable Trust. Mr. Sundararajan andMr. Sivaprakash from ICF trained thestudents in various first aid methods.40 students participated in theprogramme.

On 09/07/2011, certificate distributionfunction was conducted at Sevalaya,Uthiramerur. Mr. G.Selvakumar,Managing Director, ASSEFA Sarva SevaDairy Ltd. participated as chief guestand distributed certificates to fiftystudents who successfully completedSevalaya’s Computer TrainingProgramme.

On 25/08/2011, Sevalaya organized aone day seminar on “Organic Farming”at the organic farm of Mr. KannanRajagopalan at Kattiyampandal,Uthiramerur, Kancheepuram District.Dr. G. Nammalvar, Organic FarmingGuru addressed Panchayat Leadersand 60 farmers from nearby villages.

Ms. Priyanka Selvakumar, Manager, HRof the garment company, Triumph

International (India) distributedcertificates to the 45 trainees whocompleted the first batch of 6 monthstailoring training at Uthiramerur Branchof Sevalaya in a function on28/08/2011 at Sevalaya, Uttiramerur.The trainees were also given job offerson the same day.

On 24/10/2011, Mr. S.P.Kalyanaraman,Expert in Organic farming visitedSevalaya’s organic farm and providedguidance for better practice/implementation of Organic farming.

On 18/11/2011, Mr. Nadana Sabapathi,Gandhi Team Head, Sevalayaparticipated in the one day trainingprogramme on Organic Farming,conducted by Mr. Sundarraman in hisfarm at Sathyamangalam, ErodeDistrict.

On 02/12/2011, Mr. V.Muralidharan andstudents Parthiban and Manikandanfrom VIII standard attended Designfor Change programme at Chennai.The students talked about their projecton “Organic farming.”

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Seminar on Organic farming byDr. G.Nammalvar

Tailoring & Computer CourseCertificate Distribution functionat Vadanallur, Kanchipuram Dt.


Mr. S.Karthikeyan from Om SakthiIndustries Kumbakonam gave trainingto handle power weeder at paddy fieldin Kattiyampandal Village, Kanchipuramdist on 22/12/2011.

On 22/01/2012, a function wasorganized to distribute certificates tothe students who have successfullycompleted tailoring & Computer Trainingat Sevalaya centre at Vadanallur,Uthiramerur. Mrs. Pramila Vinayagam(Ex. President of Town Panchayat) wasthe Chief Guest and distributedcertificates. Mr. Madhuraimuthu (WardMember of Town Panchayat,Uthiramerur), Mr. Angamuthu(Agricultural Officer, Vadanallur),Mr. Jayachandran (Vadanallur),Mr. Dhanasekar (Vadanallur),Mr. Balasubramaniyam (Vadanallur).Mr. Ravi (Vadanallur), Dr. D.K.Oza(Retd. Chief Election Commissioner),and Mr. Kannan (Vadanallur)participated in the function.

A 2 days training programme onorganic farming was conducted bySevalaya’s Institute of Sustainable andNatural Farming at Kasuva village on

13/03/2012 & 14/03/2012. 25 farmersfrom Chennai & Thiruvallur districtsparticipated in it.

On 20/05/2012, Sevalaya’s Institute ofSustainable and Natural Farmingconducted a Training Programme inThamaraipakkam highlighting the needand viability of organic farming and ademo on preparing Panchakavyam,organic manure. Nearly 50 farmersparticipated in this camp.

Tree PlantingOn 08/08/2011 and on 09/08/2011,130 teak saplings were planted byworkers from dept. of forest,Thiruvallur. The programme wasorganized by Sevalaya. The saplingswere planted at District ForestEducation Center, Thiruvallur.

On 18/08/2011, 125 plantain tuberswere collected from Mr. Ramesh,Melankondaiyar village and planted inschool campus.

On 21/01/2012, Karuna Club studentswent to Thamaraipakkam and planted150 tree saplings.

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Planting of tree saplingsSevalaya’s Karuna Club at

Thamaraipakkam

Tailoring & Computer CourseCertificate Distributed byMrs.Pramila Vinayagam

(Ex.President of Town panchayat)


vivekananda teaM:CampsCamp Tonekela association, Avadiplayed the host for 30 children fromSevalaya who went on a three daysummer camp from on 19/05/2011 to21/05/2011. The children were veryhappy to play under the big trees inthe camp site and they enjoyed theirgames, songs, plays and food. On thefinal day Mr. Poonamchand Sharma ofVenkateswara jewelers of Avadi was thechief guest and distributed prizes to thewinners in the various competitions.

On 02/07/2011, Rotract Club of Akashconducted Sangamam camp in which111 students from Sevalayaparticipated. The Rotaracterspresented Cultural events like dance,drama and songs.

The Annual three day Camp at CampTonakela, Avadi was organized from05/05/2012 to 07/05/2012 this year.On the first day Ms. N.Jayanthi,Trustee of Sevalaya spoke to thechildren on Bharathiar’s life and poemsfollowed by a quiz based on the talk.

On the second day Mr. Ilayaraja,Trustee of Sevalaya had an interactivesession with the children on the Life ofSwami Vivekananda. Ms. Nirmala, AHMof Sevalaya spoke to the children onGandhiji on the third day. Apart fromthe lectures various sports events andvarious competitions like singing, dramaand dance competitions wereconducted for the children. The childrenalso enjoyed playing in the swimmingpool in the camp site which was awelcome change from the scorchingsummer heat.

The valedictory function for the campwas held on 07/05/2012 in whichMr. Mahonaran, Camp Manager,Tonakela Association, Chennai andL.Poonam Chand Sharma,Venkateswara Jewellers, Avadi were thespecial invitees. Prizes were awardedto the winners of the variouscompetitions held on the three daysby the special guests

EventsOn 25/07/2011, Hindu College Rotractclub conducted a story tell ingcompetition for the students of Stds Vto VII of Sevalaya Children’s Homes.

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“Sangamam” by Rotract Clubof Akash

Mr. C.Poonam Chand SharmaValedictory function at Camp

Tonakela


The girls hostel block sponsored byPage Foundation was inaugurated on18/08/2011 by Mr. Page Pierre of PageFoundation and Prof. D. Oyon of SwissUniversity. This hostel building is built inaccordance with the new JJ act, andwill serve as a model building. This isbuilt as there is demand for more andmore girl destitute children to joinSevalaya hostel, as this institution isseen as safe home for such girls.

On 27/07/2011, Ms. Sudha &Mr. Balakrishnan were the chief guestsin a function organized to distributeconsumables like tooth paste, soapetc., products of Hindustan Unilevercompany.

Nearly 150 Children and 25 Senior citizenfrom Sevalaya participated in the Oneday culture event organized by JEEVSwami Rameshwara Anand Saraswathiblessed the occasion. Magic show,magic program and other cultureevents were held. Breakfast and Lunchwas providing for the participants. Eachchild was presented a bag of goodieswhich included tooth paste, soap,powder, etc. Dhothies, Shirts and

slippers were presented to the men andsarees and slippers presented to theladies. The children and senior citizenshad an enjoyable day out.

On 01/11/2011, six students fromSwamai Vivekananda Boys Home andMr. M.T.Anand, Staff, Sevalayainteracted with the villagers in Kasuvaby visiting their homes.

On 27/11/2011, members from KilpaukSai Samithi organized a bhajan programfor the old age home residents tocelebrate the birth anniversary ofBhagavan Sri Satya Sai Baba.

On 11/12/2011, three volunteers fromTCS, Velachery visited Sevalaya andinteracted with the residents of the OldAge Home. They conducted smallgames like musical chair etc for theresidents.

On 05/01/2012, 20 volunteers fromWings of Shade Cognizant, MEPZ,Tambaram, Chennai visited Sevalaya.They interacted with the residents ofChildren’s Home and Old Age Homeand presented gifts to them.

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Inauguration of Girls Home

Donation of Consumablesby Hindustan Unilever


On 07/01/2012, Dr. Vikram, psychiatristand Mr. Anandalakshmi, Psychiatristfrom SCARF visited the campus andprovided one on one counseling for theresidents who needed such service.

On 08/01/2012, “Pasam Train Friends”visited Sevalaya and entertained theresidents by presenting a culturalprogramme.

On 14/01/2012, nearly 15 volunteersfrom Rotract club of Soka Ikeda Collegeof Arts & Science for women,MadhanangKuppam, Chennai, Rotractclub of Gurunanak Arts & ScienceCollege and Rotract club of Anna AdarshCollege for women in the title of “SokaAlbatross”, visited Sevalaya old AgeHome and celebrated Pongal festivalwith the residents.

On 26/01/2012, 10 students and 2 staffwent and received cloth materials fromRajasthan Cosmo Club Foundation,under “Dinesh Kumar Bhandari” newcloth scheme for 1000 students atT.N.Rajaratnam Auditorium, Adyar,Chennai.

Mr. V.Muralidharan was the chief Guestat the Wedding of Mr. Yazh vendan,son of Mr. Iyappan a donor and Wellwisher of Sevalaya on 05/02/2012. Theresidents of Sevalaya Old Age Homeparticipated in the celebrations.

On 11/02/2012, 20 staff from HP,Olympia Tech Park at Ikkattuththangal,Chennai spent half a day with Sevalayaresidents and organized Puppet Show,games, Magic show etc.

On 16/02/2012, 100 Staff membersfrom Asian PPG staff visited Sevalayaas part of their CSR program,conducted many games for the childrenand old age home and provided lunchfor all residents.

On 19/02/2012, Ms. Saraswathi andher Bhajan group from Ambattur cameto campus and sang devotional songs.Our CH and OAH residents enjoyed thebajans.

On 19/02/2012, 50 students from ourboys’ home went to Avadi and collectedfree cloths from Rajasthan Cosmo ClubFoundation’s cloth bank.

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HCL Associates celebratingDiwali at Sevalaya

Staff members with family atVGP Universal Kingdom


Mr. B.V.Ramanaa, Hon’ble Minister forenvironment, government of Tamilnaduhas created an endowment in the nameof Dr. J.Jayalaitha Hon’ble Chief Ministerof Tamilnadu, to provide special mealsto the residents of Sevalaya on theoccasion of her birthday on Feb 24th

every year. This year’s special mealswere provided to all the residents on24/02/2012, on the occasion of theChief Minister’s birthday in which manylocal volunteers participated.

25 staff members from TCS Ambatturbranch visited Sevalaya on 25/02/2012and took part in various campusactivities.

Junior Red Cross students ofSt. Immaculate School, Avadi and JainSchool Perambur spent the day withresidents of the Old Age Home on07/03/2012.

Mr. P.Saravanan & Mr. Jeevananadanconducted Children’s parliament forhostel students on 10/03/2012.

On 23/03/2012, NSS students from IIT,Chennai visited Sevalaya interacted with

residents of the old age home.

Members of Jamat–e- Islamic Hind,women’s wing spent one day with thechildren and old age home residentson 24/03/1202. Special lunch wasprovided by them on that day and theydiscussed the tenets of holy Quran.

Ms. Santha, Retd. Teacher of DRBCCHigher Secondary School, Thiruvallurinvited the residents of old age homefor her retirement function on03/04/2012. Mr. V.Muralidharan alsoparticipated in the function andfelicitated Ms. Santha.

Functions, FestivalsRamzan Iftar Party was organized atSevalaya on 25/08/2011. Mr. HayathBasha the head of the Melappedmosque participated in the function asthe chief guest. Mr. Mohammed Umar,Tamil Teacher Miyaci School, Mannadi,Spoke on the occasion bringing out thesignificance of the month of Ramzanand the Ramzan fast.

30 students from Gurunanak College,Chennai visited the Old Age Home on

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Ramzan Iftar Party

Jamant E Islamic Hind Women’swing sharing lunch with Sevalaya

Children


01/09/2011 and celebrated VinayagaChathurthi with the senior citizens.

On 15/10/2011, 30 students fromChildrens’ Home participated in the DiwaliCelebrations Organized by Inner wheelClub District 323A at Dr. MGR Janakicollege of Arts & science for women,Chennai. Sevalaya children were theguests of Inner wheel Club of MadrasNorth.

On 22/10/2011, Lions club of MadrasEast donated buckets and mugs forthe residents of Old Age Home. Lionsclub of Padi donated new clothes forDiwali for the senior citizens at Chennaion 22/10/2011.

The campus was alive with light andsound on the eve of Diwali on25/10/2011 as the children firedcrackers and lighted fireworks. Diwaliwas celebrated with joy and enthusiasmby the children and senior citizens alikeon 26/10/2011. In the traditional way,all of them had oil bath early in themorning and wore new clothes. AfterPrayers and a special breakfast the

children resumed firing crackers.Mr. Vaseegaran from The Art of Livingentertained the residents with a livelyBhajan Programme in which somechildren also sang Bhajans. Theresidents then had a festive lunch.

On 01/11/2011, 11 students fromSwami Vivekananda Boys Home andMr. Prabakar, Staff, Sevalaya went tothe Thiruvallur Govt. Hospital and metthe in-patients in Children’s ward. Fruitsand biscuits were distributed to thechildren for Children’s Day.

On 10/11/2011, “World Elders Day”celebrations were conducted byThiruvallur District Social welfaredepartment. Nearly 30 residents fromSevalaya’s Sri RamakrishnaParamahamsha Old Age Home won 10prizes in various competitions likesinging, Musical chair etc. ThiruvallurDistrict Collector Mr. Ashish Chatterjee,IAS presided over the function.

On 01/01/2012, Nearly 20 membersfrom Human Rights Organisation,Uthukottai celebrated the New Year inSevalaya Old Age Home by cutting

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Mr. Prasanna of CIOSA atDiwali Celebrations

Inauguration of Library atVadanallur, Kanchipuram Dt.


cake. They also organized a feast forthe senior citizens.

On 04 & 05/01/2012, senior citizensof Sevalaya went to the PakkamPerumal temple for the “VaikundaEkadasi”.

On 07 & 08/01/2012, the residents ofSevalaya Old Age Home went toPakkam Shiva temple for “AarudraDharsan”.

On 07/01/2012, the elders participatedin the II anniversary celebrations of SriVarasakthi Vinayagar Temples &Charities trust at Pagalmedu. The Trustdonated bed sheets to the Old AgeHome residents.

On 15/01/2012, 20 Rotract clubstudents from New College, Chennaicelebrated Pongal at Sevalaya andentertained the children with culturalprogramme and organized sportsevents. Mr. Vekatesa Mudaliyar ofPuliyur was the chief guest for Pongalcelebrations.

On 16/01/2012, Mattu Pongal - Thanksgiving festival for the cow- friend ofthe farmer was celebrated atSevalaya’s Vinobhaji Goshala.Sub-Inspector of Police, VengalMs. Paripooranam and VeterinaryDoctor, Dr. Ram participated. Sevalayaalso organized a ‘Volley ball tournament’for the village youth as an alternativeto Jallikkattu – the traditional bull fight.Nearly 42 teams participated.

On 12/02/2012, 25 residents of theold Age home participated in VallalarFestival at Veppampat, organised byJana Kalyan Trust, Chennai.

Members of Arpanam an NGOcelebrated Women’s Day in a novel wayby spending their time with the residentsof Sevalaya on 05/03/2012.

The onset of Tamil New Year wascelebrated on 13/04/2012 withtraditional festivity and gaiety.Mr. G.D.Rajasekaran (President,Koyambedu Periyar VegetableMerchants Association, Koyambedu,Chennai) greeted the children advised

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Volley ball tournamenton Maattu Pongal

Rotract Club of New College onPongal Celebrations


them to work hard to achieve theirgoals.

On 13/04/2012, 35 students fromChinmaya Vidyalaya Senior SecondarySchool, Anna Nagar, Chennai visitedSevalaya for Tamil New Yearcelebrations and planted fruit trees inOld Age Home Campus.

Interaction by AlumniSevalaya encourages its alumni tointeract with the present students onthe opportunities available to them oncethey complete School education andshare their experiences. During theyear our alumni K.Chitra, doing BioTechnology in Anna University , Trichy,B.Rajeswari and Durga,at presentworking as teachers in Sevalaya,M.Sandhya , Gayathri, Dhinakaran andG.Thenmozhi, students pursuing higherstudies, spoke to the resident children.

NSS101 students from Anna Universitystayed at Sevalaya Campus and didvoluntary services like taking classesfrom VI to XII, teaching physics withfun, giving training on first aid methods

and fire safety methods, helping inlibrary data entry, conducting culturalevents in old age Home etc. from 20/06/2011 to 26/06/2011.

On 13/02/2012, NSS volunteers fromAnna Adarsh College, Chennai visitedSevalaya.

On 03/03/2012, NSS students fromAnna University conducted careerguidance programme for X and XII Stdstudents of Sevalaya Children’s Homes.

On 01/04/2012, NSS students from IIT,Chennai came to Sevalaya Campus andtaught some Scientific, experiment inPhysics, Chemistry, Mathematics forour high school students

Residents TrainingKrishnamachari Yoga Mandiramconducted Yoga classes for the seniorcitizens on 10/09/2011 & 17/09/2011.

On 29/10/2011, Mr. Raj, PhysicalEducation teacher gave training on“First Aid”, to the residents of theChildrens’ Home.

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World Environment DayCelebrations at Sevalaya

Margazhi ThiruppavaiCelebrations at Sevalaya


On 13 & 14/02/2012, Mr. Gundurao,OAH resident attended the trainingprogramme on Sensitisation for thefamily Caregiver of Demented Elderlyat Chennai, organized by HeritageFoundation. The same personattended another one month certificatecourse on basic issues in Geriatric Careat Hyderabad organized by HeritageFoundation, National Institute of SocialDefense and Ministry of Social Justiceand Empowerment, Govt. of India from20/02/2012 to 21/03/2012.

Staff TrainingA.A.Kingston attended a two daytraining programme on “CharacterBuilding” arranged by Social DefenseDepartment on 24/06/2011 and on25/06/2011.

On 20/09/2011, Mr. A.A.KingstonParticipated in an NGO meet organizedby CIOSA in Chennai for discussingabout the Development of Women &Community.

On 14/092011, Mr. J.Selvanayagamparticipated in an NGO meet organized

by CIOSA in Chennai, about the careand protection for senior citizens.

From 27/01/2012 to 29/01/2012,Ms. Parameshwari, caretaker of MotherTeresa Girls Home participated in a 3days training programme on the topicof “Female child protection”, organizedby Madurai School of Social Work inMadurai.

On 18/02/2012, Ms. Anandhalakshmiand Ms. Subashini, psychologists fromSCARF visited our Children’s Home andOld Age Home and conducted trainingto staff to indentify the mentallydepressed.

Students Study CircleEvery Week the resident students, inturns, share the books they read inthe study circle meeting. The booksare of a wide range like Short Stories,biographies, self improvement booksetc.

ToursOn 09/09/2011 & 10/09/2011, 6 boysand 7 girls were taken on a tour to

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Tour to Mysore

Tour to Mahabalipuram


Mysore. 3 staff members and Ms.N.Jayanthi, Trustee, Sevalayaaccompanied the children.

38 hostel students accompanied by twostaff members went to Tirupathi in atrip organized by Rajasthan YouthMetro’s Chennai Food Bank as part oftheir silver jubilee celebrations on10/04/2012.

13 students from Sevalaya homes andtwo staff members went on a two daytrip to Mysore on 25/05/2012 &26/5/2012.

Village students’ visit to Sevalaya65 students and five youth visitedSevalaya from Malliyan Perumal villagenear Arani on 17/05/2012. As a partof their Summer First Education Camp,they were taken on a tour of Sevalayaand after lunch Mrs. Nirmala, AssistantHead Mistress, Sevalaya’s Mahakavi

Bharathiyar Hr. Sec. School gave alecture on Bharathi, Gandhi &Vivekananda for the visitors.Visit to places of worshipThe resident students are regularlytaken to places of worship like temples,mosque and church nearby.

Wedding Bells at SevalayaSevalaya’s daughter D.Selvi enteredinto wedlock with Mr. A.Vijaya Senthil(Associate Consultant, Polaris Solutions)on 23/05/2012. The wedding wassolemnized in the presence ofHonorable Minister for Environment,Mr. B.V.Ramanaa B.Sc., D. Pharm.,Honorable Member of the LegislativeAssembly Mr. N.S.A.R.Manimaran,Mr. Putlur. R.Chandrasekar – Chairman,Thiruvallur District Social Welfare OfficerMs. Ruth Vennila, Probationary OfficerMs. Syad Ravoof, District CouncillorsMs. A.Selvakumari, Ms. Bommi andFilm Artiste Ms. Revathy.

100

Hon’ble Minister for Environment Mr. B.V.Ramanaa, Hon MLAMr. N.S.A.R.Manimaran and Union Chairman Putlur Chandrasekaran

at Sevalaya’s daughter Selvi’s wedding with Mr. A.Vijayasenthil


Mr. G.Ramesh, Trustee of Sevalayaand Ms. Lakshmi Murali, PrincipalConsultant, Tata Consultancy Servicesconducted a training programme on“Office Excellence” for theadministrative and Public Relations staffof Sevalaya at the city office in Adyaron 06/08/2011.

Ms. Deep Ranjini Rai of VIBHA was onan inspection visit to Sevalaya on19/09/2011.

puBLic reLations teaM:AwardsSevalaya was selected for Inspired bySwami Vivekananda Award. The Awardfor selfless social work inspired bySwami Vivekananda was instituted byRamakrishna Mission, New Delhi as apart of the 150th Birth Anniversarycelebrations of Swami Vivekananda.Mr. V.Muralidharan, Founder &Managing Trustee, Sevalaya andMr. A.A. Kingston, Head of VivekanandaUnit of Sevalaya received the Awardat the hands of Mr. Ajay Makan, CentralMinister of State for Youth Welfare(independent charge) at RamakrishnaMission, New Delhi on 23/10/2011.

Sevalaya Muralidharan was awardedthe Puthiya Thalaimurai ThamizhanPromising Star Award instituted byPuthiya Thalaimurai magazine at agrand ceremony at Chennai TradeCentre on 06/04/2012. He received theaward at the hands of film starMr. Surya.

Sevalaya student M.S.Sarathkumarwas shortlisted as one of the toptwenty winners from among 500applicants across nation for PramericaSpirit of Community Awards. Noted filmactress and theatre personality,Ms. Shabana Azmi presented a silvermedallion and a certificate of merit inthe Awards Ceremony at The ParkHotel at New Delhi on 04/04/2011, forhis efforts in promoting Organicfarming.

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adMinistration,accounts & pr teaM:

Awareness Rally on WomenEducation at Thiruninravur

Saraswathi Pooja at VadanallurCentre, Utiramerur


Art ExhibitionMr.Vladimir Mariy, Vice Consul anddirector of Russian Cultural Centreinaugurated the two day Art Exhibition“Flying towards a Better Future” bySevalaya at Russian Cultural CentreChennai on 20/02/2012. Ms. CharlotteChapman, a volunteer of Children’s ArtVillage worked on an environmentalproject with 600 high school students,teaching them to make birds out ofold plastic water bottles and oldnewspapers, gift wrappers and flyers.Sevalaya’s Art teacher Mr. AndrewsJesudoss also worked on this projectencouraging students to make colourfulcreepers, flowers, bangles andfacemasks out of the plastic pieces ofthe bottles that remained after cuttingout the birds. All the art pieces createdby the students were on display at theArt Exhibition. The students alsopresented a demo on how they madethe birds.

Conventions, Workshops…On 19/05/2011, Mr. V.Muralidharan andMr.G.Ramesh, Trustee of Sevalayatook part in “Global autism convention”held in Bangalore. Many delegates from

USA and Europe participated.

Ms. Diana Lenin, Public RelationsManager, Sevalaya attended a one dayworkshop on Fund raising organized byCIOSA on 25/09/2011.

EventsOn 03/05/2011, as part of summercamp organized by Udavum Ullangalfor underprivileged children,Mr. V.Muralidharan was invited to speakon “Gandhian Ahimsa is the need ofthe hour” in T. Nagar corporation girls’high school.

On 08/05/2011, Mr. V.Muralidharan wasthe guest of honor in the XI ducksCricket team annual cricket meet anddistributed the prizes for the winners inthe cricket competition. The XI duckscricket team presented their annualsponsorship to Sevalaya student on theoccasion.

On 20/05/2011 and 21/05/2011Purthiyathalaimurai organized a photoexhibition on “How did we get thisIndependence”. Photo exhibits includedrare photos from the Indian freedom

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Sevalaya Muralidharan getsPuthiya Thalaimurai Thamizhan

promising Star Award from film StarMr. Surya

At the Global Autism Convention


struggle. Mr.V.Muralidharan was theguest of honor and Sevalaya childrenpresented a colorful cultural programon freedom fighters.

On 09/06/2011, Mr. V. Muralidharan wasan invited speaker in a functionorganized by CIOSA to facilitateMr. K.Pandiyarajan, Hon’ble Member ofTamilnadu Legislative Assembly fromVirudhunagar Constituency on11/06/2011, Sevalaya Muralidharantook part in a meeting organized byCSIM to prepare for the Battle of Buffetprogram to be held on 02/10/2011.This will be a mega fundraiser programfor the NGOs in Chennai.

On 27/06/2011, Mr. V. Muralidharan wasthe chief guest in a function at Lotusblind Welfare Association andaddressed visually challenged girls onself confidence on the occasion ofMs. Helen Keller’s Birth Anniversary.

On 01/07/2011, Mr. V.Muralidharan,Managing Trustee of Sevalaya was thechief guest on the occasion of installingRtn. Ravi Kesavan as the president ofRotary club of Madras West.

Mr. V.Muralidharan & Mr. G.Chittibabu,were chief guests on 16/07/2011, onthe occasion of “Guru Poornima”celebrations at Vivekananda Vidyalayain Sivanvoil village.

Ms. Jayanthi, Trustee of Sevalayaattended a meeting of Inner WheelMadras club on 15/07/2011. The clubdonated a solar water heater, ceilingfans, a commercial mixer and dressesfor the residents of the Old Age Home.

Mr. V.Muralidharan attended thecommittee meeting of the Governmentdistrict committee for protection ofsenior citizens on 02/08/2011 at thedistrict collector’s office and presentedideas to protect senior citizens inThiruvallur district to District collector,Superintendent of Police and otherdistrict officials.

Mr. V.Muralidharan made a presentationabout Sevalaya to the Members of theProbus Club at Besant Nagar on08/08/2011 and to the Members of“White board” on 20/08/2011.

103

Mr. Ajay Makan, Central Ministerof State for Youth Welfare presents

Award to Sevalaya

Guru Poornima at VivekanandaVidyalaya, Sivanvoil


Mr. V.Muralidharan was the chief guestin the NSS inauguration program at IITMadras on 21/08/2011.

Sevalaya students made a presentationon Sevalaya’s design for change workat the “DFC – Principals meet” held inRain Tree hotel, Chennai on24/08/2011.

Members of Chennai “White Board”visited Sevalaya campus on27/08/2011.

Mr. V.Muralidharan was the chief guestat the temple “Kumbabishekam”function in Adikesava Perumal templeat Sriperumbudur, Kanchipuram district.

Mr. V. Muralidharan was featured in the“People’s Hero” column in the peoplemagazine.

Mr. V.Muralidharan was the Guest ofHonour at the inauguration of freetuition centre by PuthiyathalaimuraiFoundation at Pakkam Village on18/09/2011.

Mr. V.Muralidharan was the Chief Guestat the Srivilliputtur Old StudentsAssociation Annual meet held atThakkar Bapa Vidyalaya campus on18/09/2011.

Mr. V.Muralidharan was the Chief Guestfor Gandhi Jayanthi celebrations on10/10/2011 at Angel MatriculationHigher secondary school, Thiruninravur.

Mr. V.Muralidharan and Ms. Diana Lenin,Public Relations Manager, made apresentation on Sevalaya at BalmerLawrie & Co. Ltd., Chennai on11/10/2011.

Mr. V.Muralidharan inaugurated thePuthiyathalaimurai tuition centre atThodivasali village, near Tirupati on25/10 /2011.

On 02/11/2011, Mr. V.Muralidharanaddressed the students of socialentrepreneur course in IIT Chennai.

Ms.Bhuvaneswari Muralidharan & Ms.Diana Lenin participated in the NGO DayProgramme organised by MicrosoftIndia, Hyderabad on 09/11/2011 and10/11/2011. Sevalaya could reach outto many employees of Microsoft onthese two days.

On 17/11/2011, Sukhi Mandal SahyogClub, Alwarpet presented a cheque tosponsor the higher education expensesfor a Sevalaya Student’s Nursing courseat their meeting.

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Sevalaya Students won Pramericaspirit of Community Awards


On 17/11/2011, Mr. V.Muralidharan wasinvited to TCS office and the visitingAXA clients from UK presented acheque to support 25 children inSevalaya.

On 18/11/2011, Mr. V.Muralidharan wasthe chief guest and inaugurated PuthiyaThalaimurai free tuition center atVillapakkam village in Thiruvallur district.

On 19/11/2011, Mr.V.Muralidharan wasinvited as a special guest in the platinumjubilee celebrations of Brahmakumari’smovement.

On 15/12/2011, Mr. V.Muralidharan wasthe chief guest and inaugurated PuthiyaThalaimurai free tuition center atPazhaverkaadu village in Thiruvallurdistrict.

Sevalaya was invited to the communityempathy outreach fair by Infosys,Chennai 7/12/2011 and 08/12/2011.The Community empathy sabbatical atInfosys aimed to encourage itsemployees to work on communitydevelopment initiatives which benefitthe community at large. Ms. DianaLenin and Mr. Kamalakannan from

Sevalaya interacted with Infosysemployees who were interested inexploring options for participating in theactivities of Sevalaya.

Ms. Aarthi of GiveIndia 12 associatesfrom Cognizant Technology Solutionswho had donated to Sevalaya throughGiveIndia visited Sevalaya on03/12/2011. After a brief orientationabout the activities of Sevalaya theywent around the campus and interactedwith the children and senior citizens.They played cricket and throw ball withthe children.

On 17/01/2012, Mr. V.Muralidharanparticipated in the auditing committeemeeting of Credibility Alliance - Southzone, as a panel member.

On 20/01/2012, Mr. V.Muralidharanparticipated in the District senior citizensProtection Committee meeting, chairedby District Collector, Thiruvallur.

On 21/01/2012, Mr. V.Muralidharanparticipated in the “Youth personalitydevelopment” program organized byPuthiyathalaimurai foundation atArulmigu Sri Subramania Swami Artsand Science college” at Tiruttani.

On 30/01/2012, Mr. V.Muralidharanparticipated in a meeting convened byTamil Nadu Electricity Board andpressed for 50% concession onelectricity tariff for service organizations.

Puthiyathalaimurai Foundation’s monthlycouncil meeting for Thiruvallur districtwas held in Sevalaya campus on

105

UK Volunteer Ms.CharlotteChapman Teaching Craft at Sevalaya


19/02/2012. Mr.V.Muralidharan chairedthe meeting.

Mr. V.Muralidharan attended The FICCI(Federation of Indian Chambers ofcommerce and industry) annualadvisory committee meeting on28/03/2012, in Chennai and discussedcorporate social responsibility.

Mr. V.Muralidharan was one of thespeakers at Credibility Alliance AssessorsMeeting on 04/04/2012.

Mr. V.Muralidharan was the chief guestin the annual function of Sri Ram RamSeva Sangam in Tambaram, nearChennai and distributed the freeuniforms and books provided by theSangam to 125 underprivilegedchildren.

On 22/04/2012, Northern TamilAssociation (NTA) of UK organized acultural event at New Year Celebrationsat Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield (UK) inaid of charities. Famous Tamil singerMs. Chinmayi along with her group ofmusicians presented a musical nite.Sevalaya was one of the beneficiariesfor this year. Sevalaya’s UK based

Trustee Manu Kapila attended theevent on behalf of Sevalaya andreceived donations handed over byDr. Arutchelvam (President, NTA).

VolunteersFour MBA students from Vlerick LeuvenGent Management School,Belgium arrived at Sevalaya campus on22/07/2011 and worked on a projectto mobilize support for Sevalaya in UK& Europe.

One Volunteer from China, throughAIESEC, reached Sevalaya on22/07/2011 to take computer andEnglish classes in Sevalaya.

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Tamil Singer Ms. Chinmayi's musicprogramme at UK for Sevalaya

Mr. G.D.Rajasekar, President,Koyambedu Market at Tamil New

Year Celebrations

Mr. Raman, Manager, IndianBank, Thiruninravur at

Saraswathi Pooja celebrations


Kids’ Corner...

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Kids’ Corner...

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Kids’ Corner...

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SEVA

LAYA

TEA

MTO

GET

HER

WE

AC

HIE

VE

MO

RE

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HOW CAN YOU HELP US?

Financially…

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By way of time and services.....

• Be Mentors for orphaned/abandoned children• Training program for teachers and children• Dance, music, sports training for children• Spending time with senior citizens• Data entry and software development and support for our

operations• Entertainment for children and senior citizens• Writing project proposals and helping with PR activities• Projects by Social Work/MCA students• NSS camps

• Gap year projects by foreign students

By way of materials....

1. 20kv Diesel Generator

2. UPS for Computer Lab

3. Solar water heater (6Nos)

4. Sintex tank 3000 liter capacity -2 Nos

5. Sintex tank 1000 liter capacity-3 Nos

6. Stainless still tumbler -200 Nos

7. School Bag Small – 30 Nos for I to V students

8. School Bag Big- 30 Nos for Higher class students

9. Rexin bed spreads for OAH Residents – 10 Nos

10.Hand Stick for physically challenged students – 2 Nos

11. Rice (Childrens Home & Old Age Home)- 2250 kgs (Per Month)

12. T-Dhal (Childrens Home & Old Age Home)- 125 kgs (Per Month)

Particulars

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Kids’ Corner...

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Kids’ Corner...

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Kids’ Corner...

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