2

Newletter: April-June 2014

CHARITABLE SOCIETY

Karm Marg Delhi Office

Shed no. 4, Khasra no. 258, Lane no. 3, Westend Marg,

Saiyed-ul-ajaib, Near Saket Metro,

Saket, New Delhi-110017

Ph: 9717323301/ 9899392567

www.karmmarg.org info@karmmarg.org

Facebook: Karm Marg

REGISTRATION NO: S 31258 19t May 1997

Society Registration Act XXI of 1860

The new academic year always brings with it new things, loads of excitement and the joy of impending summer holidays. This year the new financial year also started afresh on a new note as we downsized and moved our office into a new rented premises in Saket saving us a big chunk of rent money. We also set up and moved all our back-end operations to our office at Faridabad in an attempt to consolidate most activities into one space.

Lorem Ipsum Dolor [Issue] :: [Date]

2

byline [Name]

Anita’s* Story (name changed to protect identity)

Even though we have been involved with children from disadvantaged backgrounds since 1997, once in a while we still get taken aback looking at the state of the children referred to us. It makes us realize how urgently good child protection and emotional crisis management services are needed in India.

Anita* came to us in early July 2013 referred by the Child Welfare Committee. Delhi Police had found her on the streets. Her file stated that her parents died in front of her and her brother was kidnapped and hence she ran away from her home. Her real age is unknown but she seems to be around 10-11 years of old.

She came to us while in acute depression but had not been under psychological treatment yet. There was extreme insecurity and aggressive behaviour. She indulged in self-harm and seeked a lot of attention. She locked herself in a room or toilet, refusing to open the door for hours and constantly threatened us with suicide. She managed to run away from our home four times and we found her in the same place that she was found by the Delhi Police initially. It was impossible to leave her alone even for a second. Many a times we wondered if we would be able to manage as we did not have a full time Counsellor on board.

Judging her needs, we sent her for regular Psychiatric treatment at one of the renowned specialized hospitals in Delhi. She is still on medication and behavioural therapy.

Our experience told us what she needed was a safe, secure loving environment where she would feel acceptance and a sense of belonging not strictness and oppressive rules. We started by giving her a lot of positive reinforcement and loads of unconditional love. We explained to the other children at the home that she had gone through a lot and needed their support. She needed a family. Our older kids took it upon themselves to do just that; and that is what it seems started to work like magic.

Our staff provided her in house counselling and were available to her beyond the call of duty, 24x7. Our young alumni who are also our staff offered her friendship and sharing of their tough experiences. It was a very tough three months initially but gradually the walls around her started cracking. Her tears were replaced by the sweetest smile. Soon she became more involved in the daily routine. We started taking her out with all the other kids for fun outings and visits. She started forming bonds and began trusting, which was a huge step for her.

Lorem Ipsum Dolor Issue [#] :: [Date]

3

Today, Anita* has started going to school. No one who saw her a year ago would believe the progress she has made in such a short time. She greets every visitor with a bright smile. Along with taking care of herself, she looks after the younger children at the home providing them love and care. She calls Karm Marg her home and never wants to leave.

Children like Anita* need the kind of individual attention that gets very difficult to provide in institutionalized care homes. We feel it is a great example that strengthens our belief in running a children's home like an extended family where rules, expectations and strategies are fluid and cater to every child's individual need.

We have had many children in more dire circumstances referred to us in the past. With our experience and instinct we have successfully managed to make most of them settle and become self-reliant adults. The learning through this experience was that since we have a few young alumni and some new staff members on board now who do not have that much experience in handling acute cases, we felt we should proactively provide training to them in this regard.

So this quarter we began a counseling training workshops for all our staff conducted by the team at Sarthak, a well-known Psychotherapy Clinic run by Dr Achal Bhagat. Basic skills of handling fragile states when new children come to us, their effect on other children at the home, their emotional upheavals and adjustment problems are a few areas where this training has helped immensely.

Few selected staff who work directly with the children have been earmarked to receive further specialised training too.

The staff has also reported good feedback since the training adding to their own personal growth and understanding of their own pre-conceptions and emotional blocks.

Like we always believe, we learn from children sometimes more than what we can teach them. The resilience, courage and warmth they exude motivate us to keep learning, growing and improving the care we provide.

Lorem Ipsum Dolor [Issue] :: [Date]

4

News at the Home

Girls

Boys

Total No. of Children

1 At Karm Marg 22 21 43

2 Youth (above 18) for skill training and studies

1 2 3

3 New children -Short stay 4 3 7

4 New children- Permanent stay

2 2 4

5 Children  restored  with  their  families

4 1 5

6 Young  adults  who  got  jobs  and  are  living  independantly  

1 1 2

Total Number of direct beneficiaries

30 29 59

Health

In   general   the   health   of   the  children  was  ok  but   some  of  our  younger  kids   suffered   from  small  pox.   Some   new   children   who  came   for   short   stay   had   some  health  problem  and  also  had  skin  problems   which   spread   between  younger   children.   It   was   taken  care  properly  and  also  we  have  a  plan   on   how   to   handle   it   in   the  future.

Sports News!

Govinda   and   Rahul   went   to  Indian  Football  Federation  (IFF)  for   football   coaching   at   Govt.  Sr.   Sec.   School,   Chattarpur,  Delhi.   This   coaching   is   for  boys  who  play  well  and  can  play  the  role   of   coach   whenever  required.  This  training  is  held  at  periodically   to   train   these  children.    Shayra   participated   in   a  Football   tournament   that   was  organized   by   the   girls   coach   at  Sector   XII   Stadium   Faridabad.  Tara  and  Kulsum  also  went  with  her  to  watch  the  game.  

Education update… The last quarter has been very exciting for our children at Karm Marg. All our children have graduated to the next class and were very excited to get back to school. Shayra has passed her Class XII Board exams with 71% marks and is seeking to join a University to pursue higher education, which we are helping her with. Vipin secured 62% and has registered for a web-designing course through our network.

Internships and Vocational Training

Opportunities

The teenagers above 14 were sent for internships keeping in mind their potential and area of interest. It varied from animal rescue center for two week training on animal care, an export unit for a month long screen printing training and our own vocational training units. One of the kids who is very interested in computers has been enrolled in a six month internship for computer hardware maintenance.

Lorem Ipsum Dolor Issue [#] :: [Date]

5

Summer Holidays..Fun & Learning

A group went to Nehru planetarium for matka workshop, to understand how earth work. Four children went to Craft Museum for Khel Mel workshop. They also learnt traditional ‘Gond’ style painting.

.

Our youngsters with special needs did a bake sale along with children from the expat Japanese community of Delhi. They visited Karm Marg and cooked together and successfully sold the cookies at the Japanese Community event the following day.

Over the summer holidays in June, all of the children were involved in workshops of theatre, painting, story writing, games, mural making etc. The younger ones were taken out to the zoo for a picnic and boat ride, which they enjoyed immensely.

Lorem Ipsum Dolor [Issue] :: [Date]

6

Tanushree held a storytelling and craft workshop with her two sons. They enacted the stories which the children enjoyed very much

Some kids participated in the ‘I Can’ Exhibition organized by Vidya and Child where they saw products made by children from slum areas and learnt about road safety.

Mr. Ashish held a theatre workshop at Bakheda for a personality enhancement through theatre workshop.

Nehal  conducted  many  activities  with  the  children  like  painting,  Mural  making,  Story  telling,  soft  toy  making  etc  

 

Jugaad

This  quarter   is   comparatively   is  of  less  pressure  as  all   the  exhibitions  are  over.  This  period  also  gives  us  time   to   think  and   improve  on  our  performance   in   exhibitions   of   the  previous  quarter.      New   strategies   are   discussed   for  the  next  season.  New  products  are  planned  and  we  plan  to  categorize  the   products   that   are   in   demand  and   we   try   to   phase   out   the  products   that   are   not   in   much  demand.   New   products   are   being  designed   and   are   put   into  production   for   the   coming  exhibitions.    As  the  prices  are  spiraling  high  it  is  the   time   that   we   work   on   new  prices   for   the   coming   season.  Costing  is  being  reviewed  with  the  help   of   the   board   members   and  new   prices   are   being   worked   out  for  the  products.    

>Nehal   came   to   Karm  Marg   for  internship   in   for   two   weeks   in  April.   She   conducted   many  activities   with   the   children   like  painting,   Mural   making,   Story  telling,  soft  toy  making  etc    >Diksha  Came  with  the  Japanese  group   for   Bakery   Unit  Inauguration  at  Karm  Marg.  The  special   needs   children   made  cookies  with   the   help   of   alumni  Payal  and  Laxmi.    >Sarjana   completed   her  internship  at  Jugaad  in  mid  June.  During   her   stay   at   Jugaad   she  was   involved   in   sampling,  catalogue   developing,   creating  and   designing   new   products  from   waste   materials   eg.  planters,  lamp  shades  etc.  

Plans ahead… We always try to find ways to connect with the local community specially the youth in and around our village through various outreach programs, medical camps or workshops. An important need of the hour is Gender Sensitization among the youth. While we are working with a few advisors on structuring the outline and details of a gender sensitization workshop, we have started reaching out to the local school teenagers. We feel that starting with fun activities is a great way to building a rapport and establishing a network with the local youth. So as a first step, we conducted a photography workshop with class XI children at the local Senior Government school which they really enjoyed. We are hoping to take this forward in the coming months.

Interns@KMNot so good news… The unseasonal storm caused a big portion of our boundary wall to collapse and we need about for Rs 50,000 for it’s repair. The electricity wiring of our home has also become dated and is in need of re wiring at an estimated expenditure of Rs 2 Lakhs.