Program Updates
Aadhar Kendra Sponsorship Program
The Quarter started with a picnic to Thorat Agro Tourism, 170 children with 8 team members and volunteers from other programs to help look after the children. The children had been keen on a picnic for a while and they were very excited when this activity came together. The ‘rain dance’ and swimming pool were the favorites for sure, other activities included a play area, a magic show, and of course lunch. The children and the young adults had a lot of fun, with feedback like ‘most memorable day of my life’ for some. We intend to bring regular picnics back for the children.
Children’s meetings with Field Staff continued, ensuring the voice of the children is present in the plans that the team makes for the program.
A Legal Awareness session was conducted at the three centers, to ensure that the children understand their legal rights as well as accountability as citizens. The team also let the attendees know the steps that they could take in situations where they may need legal assistance.
City of Child
City of Child had 54 registered children in this quarter although 2 students were absent for most of the quarter and 33 of these students had part sponsorship.
9 students and a teacher from their school, travelled to Solapur, a town about 133 miles away, for a Drop Ro Ball competition. The children are happy to participate in these inter school competitions and realised that this time they hadn’t practiced as well. They won silver. These opportunities are exciting and encourage the children to participate in multiple competitions, where the exposure and experience in itself count for a lot.
The students also visited an Agriculture exhibition at KVK, Baramati which is a district level Farm Science Center. The Center provides innovative solutions available to farmers. As children at City of Child observe and participate in the farming activities at City of Child this visit was informative, the children had insightful questions and were very excited about their visit.
Since last year City of Child has been organizing an Annual Day, where the team and the students showcase what they are facilitating/learning at City of Child throughout the year. Long hours of practice and a lot of excitement goes into making the day successful. The performances and events organized at their respective schools are missed by most of the parents as they live too far away. This event makes sure that the parents can watch their children’s performances and celebrate them.
Volunteers from BNY Mellon painted across the premises, this time using Warli art which is a traditional folk art from the Warli tribe of Maharashtra, India.
