Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow

Learning is most impactful when it is clubbed with fun. To create an environment where the young girls can absorb while having fun, our USF Mumbai Chapter organized their very first residential camp from 7th-8th July 2018 at Somaiya Campus, Somaiya Vidya Vihar.

Through a mix of activities and workshops, our Shalinis were able to rejuvenate, rejoice and rediscover. The highlight of the camp was the Talent Show, where the Shalinis took to the stage and displayed their hidden talents in the form of poetry, dance and drama.

Art is not what you see but what you make others see

To nourish and fuel a passion for art, the team of Artreach India has been promoting our aspiring artists at Udayan Ghars, through sessions in different art forms giving children a platform to discover themselves.

Artist, Mr. Nikhil Kumar Mahajan on 14th July 2018 led a workshop wherein he taught the participants about connecting art with music and dance and as a bonus, our children additionally learned about composing EDM (Electronic Dance Music)

A similar workshop was conducted on 11th August 2018. Led by artist, graphic designer and musician, Mr.  Pratyush Gupta, the participants were given a visual-musical demonstration of his pop-up book on classical music, 'Swarpeti'. He, further in the workshop, taught the participants to create pop-ups by folding paper. In a brief presentation on graphic design, he also showed examples of infographics, animations, his own posters and other design work and had a short conversation about it all.

Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened

Interestingly, India accounts for 50% of the world’s elephant population, around 25000-27000.

Initiated by our donor, Ms. Katharina Poggendorf Kakar, the head of Tara Trust, two German volunteers, Ms. Nora and Ms. Antonia conducted a 2-day workshop on the 7th- 8th July 2018 educating our children of NOIDA- Udayan Ghars, about elephants, where they learned of their habitat, lifestyle as well as the problems they face, through innovative fun filled activities.

Qualities like teamwork, value for Mother Nature, and co-existence of humans and others in harmony were promoted through the workshop. The aim was to evoke a sense of responsibility in the children to take small steps in preserving flora and fauna.

Learning is a never-ending process” With experience, we aim to catalyze interventions that aid in improving standards in care

Our caregivers participated in an exhaustive training programme on professional caregiving techniques that acquainted our staff about trauma-informed care, attachment patterns and developing and grooming their skills to provide effective care to children. Based on the modules by FAIR START Foundation, the programme was conducted from October 17th - 18th July 2018 that culminated in the certification of the participants (caregivers across different Udayan Ghars) as professional caregivers.

Similarly, to prepare our IT students for employment competition, a capacity building training was conducted to empower our faculty members. Dr. Ajay Srivastava led the training on “Effective Counseling Skills”. In his training, he highlighted the importance of counseling and its practice in the modern era, as well as the difference between counseling & marketing, and what approach we should follow for counseling etc.