Posts Tagged mad
Chilling Out With Core Chennai!
Posted by Aruna in Volunteer Files... on February 26th, 2010
Mercury rising!
Yet another sweltering summer morning stretches lazily across the city, peppering the pavements with impressively balanced tender-coconut and watermelon pyramids. Perspiration seems to be Chennai’s most-popular pastime and resigned sighs are heard almost everywhere even as the day boots up – almost being the operational word here, for we do have some significant exceptions… 
In a children’s home tucked away in the city, volunteers are accosted by a bevy of energetic kids all clamouring for their attention, eagerness brimming over in their smiles. Voila, the typical welcome that precedes class at any of the several MAD centres in Chennai! For these children and their volunteer Akkas and Annas, soaring temperatures are easily forgotten in the shared energy that English class brings.
This refreshing experience of finding joy in learning through MAD is orchestrated in Chennai by a core team that not only believes the glass is half full, but also orders some chocolate cake to go with the yummy milkshake that’s no doubt in the glass. Now it looks like the team’s invaded this blog to say hullo and to offer you a slice of not the cake – alas! – but their lives. 
Come on, let’s go talk to them! *beckons readers over*
Here’s Vaishnavi Srinivasan. She’s the president of the Chennai team.
Hey Prez! *waves*
Don’t call me President! It reminds me of Prathiba Patil, and I hope I’m nothing like her! she exclaims.
So we’ll obligingly call her Vaish, hm? *whispers* Her friends prefer to call her Teacher Amma, though, referring to her tough work ethic! 
)Oh look, there’s the perennially busy Anantha Padmanabhan, Ananth or Anzee to his friends. He’s in charge of Operations.
Wassup, Ananth! Tell us a bit about yourself before you hurry away on MAD work, will ya?
Well, what do I say?, he wonders aloud. I’m someone who wants to live life to the fullest. Never say die and be the change and all that, yeah, that’s me!
), music, reading and writingAruna joins in when we’re chatting with Ananth. She’s the spunky girl in charge of HR. She loves her nickname Arunskie and woe to the person who calls her Arun by mistake!
Aruna is the most-consistent revenue provider for CCD with her frequent coffee cravings, and I have a feeling she’s on her way there right now! Let’s ask her! Getting coffee, Aruna?
Oh no, she says and tries to speed away on her candy-pink Scooty. We ask her to introduce herself before she goes and this is what we get: I’m stubborn, talkative and extremely mischievous.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Some Aruna funda~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Education: The fear of killing innocent lives made her overlook her love for Biology and choose engineering (@ Salem College of Engineering) over medicine!
Work: Been employed with Mahindra Satyam for so long that she’s now virtually a part of the office furniture!
Special skills/interests: She’s a novelaholic, and can spend hours in the company of books
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Come on now, let’s go meet Abdul Hameed, our Corporate Relations Officer and Ravi Kumar, the most Resource-ful member of the team.
Abdul, the outgoing, happy-go-lucky, and down-to-earth maddie, appreciates and loves the fact that he learns a lot from his children. Don’t let his (inexplicable) pose in the photo fool you! This man knows how to balance fun and professionalism with perfect poise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Some Abdul funda~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Education: MBBS from Madras Medical College
Work: Clinical Resource Consultant *wonders what on Earth that is!*
Special skills/interests: Movies, music, long drives, experimenting with new cuisines (this possessor of a mouthful of sweet teeth loves Pastries with a capital P!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ah, now I introduce you to one of MAD Chennai’s oldest volunteers (not in terms of service, but age )! Ravi believes that he is too complex to be defined in a few words. You’ll find a bit of everything in me, he avers. Maybe we should call him Avial Ravi, then! Through MAD I’ve understood that life’s more than work and money, he says. Hear, hear!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Some Ravi funda~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Education: Engineering from Utkal University, Orissa (Don’t ask more about this, he says)
Work: At Wipro Technologies (B-o-r-i-n-g, he yawns)
Special skills/interests: Movies, reading, cooking (his yum brinjal-and-sambar combo is legendary – as in we’ve heard a lot about it but nobody has proof of its existence ), and assembling *destroying?* computers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trailing behind them all in a rather scatterbrained way is Meenakshi Nandhini, the trainer-person in our team. Nobody believes her claim that she’s an introvert and her extreme verbosity and her weird sense of humour make us all wonder how her kids sit through her classes!
A look into your life, please, Nandu!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Some Nandu funda~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Education: Eight schools and no colleges, she declares with a satisfied grin. As an afterthought she adds: I’m doing my MA Eng. Lit. by correspondence, though, the same way I did my BA. Does that count?
Work: Freelancer at times, but unemployed would be a better label, she muses.
Special skills/interests: She’s curious about everything and has a looooooong list of interests that would obviously bore the eyeballs off you, so we’ll stop here!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So there! I’ve run out of people to introduce! And typing out this blog post I’ve realised that we’ve quite a few (alleged) good cooks in the team. This certainly calls for a potluck, folks, for the proof of the pudding lies in the eating! We’ll arrange for one soon, I hope. *smacks lips in anticipation*
So ciao for now, co-madsters! Make sure that the next time you visit Chennai you call us early to reserve your tables! Tipping the cooks with candy bars is of course highly recommended!
- Ms. A. N. Ony Mous, MAD Chennai team member
The Jovial Santa and the Smiling Cherubs…Yes! It’s Christmas Time!
Posted by Rakhi in Party !!!, The Things That Happen..., Volunteer Files... on January 23rd, 2010
“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents.” Espousing this opening line of Little Women, we the maddies of Divine Home, Trivandrum decided to celebrate Christmas with the kids inculcating all its nuances; be it the presents or the Santa Claus. To our surprise and joy, the children of playschool “Friends” brought a lot of goodies as Christmas presents for our kids. (Thanks to fellow maddie Anoosha whose aunty owns the playschool.) The gifts varied from a brand-new frock (which went to the cutie pie Kesiya) to coloring books, sketch pens and what not!
After a mad scramble to get the costume of Santa Claus and the cake, we reached Divine Home to be welcomed by the beaming faces of our cherubs:) The excitement and elation that oozed from their faces on seeing us heightened, when we started playing musical chair .With all the spirits of a game they went around the chairs, some of them even dancing to the tune of latest hit song “daddy mummy”! Since it was taking aeons for the Santa Claus to get ready and most of the volunteers were busy helping him, the rest of us had the hectic task of controlling the naughtiest bunch of kids. Most of our kids are very small, K.G. to second standard kids forming the majority and to quote our VP HR Keerthi who’s teaching in another shelter home, “Kids shouldn’t be this small!!!”
The children scurrying to make it to the musical chair.
YIPEE!! I got my chair!
Arjun desperately trying to control the kids while Robin cheekily retorts
It was time for the grant entry of the Santa Claus bagged with all the goodies. Our jovial Christmas papa aka Ganesh came hopping in sans the sleigh. The exuberant happiness of the kids on seeing the Christmas father was palpable from the way they all swarmed near him, tugging at his robe, trying to get a handshake and pulling at hisbeard to take the mask off. And yes! He was welcomed with a chorus of jingle bells . But to our dismay Kesiya and Diana, two of the little ones we have there were so scared on seeing Santa that they started crying. Nothing we said pacified them. So finally, our dear Santa Claus had to take the mask off. Pronto! We got their smiling faces back again. The already brightened up faces became even more lit on seeing the yummy cake. Even we the volunteers had a hard time keeping our hands off it and the rest of us had to practically cajole Arjun and Shasta to prevent them from attacking the cake! Luckily, the cake was big enough to feed all and the kids got at least two pieces.
Yummy yummy cake!
The picture speaks for itself
If you thought getting gifts from Santa was easy, then you are wrong! You have to ask Santa a question before you get the gifts. But our kids are way too smart.They all had something to ask Santa, even the unusually quiet ones in class. To actually witness the true joy in the heart of a kid reflected on his face, observe them while he opens his gift-the one face of his that you will never find fading in oblivion. The kids who got puzzles started doing it then and there. Ranjith and Kesiya adorned themselves in their new dresses. The rest of them were excitedly showing their gifts to us. It was certainly a moment to cherish.
The jovial papa
… and his alter-ego!
Christmas celebrations are never complete without the Carole songs and our kids are not far behind in this also. “I like to be a Christmas tree…” they sang in unison along with actions, with a little help from us volunteers (they couldn’t contain the excitement which in turn made them forget the lines in between).
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way…
The mad scramble for making this day perfect for the kids finally paid off! Yes! We celebrated Christmas with all its spirits and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Usually the kids are extremely sad and at times the younger ones cry when we leave from their home. But it was different that day. They were so happy that day and so contained with excitement that they were busy admiring their gifts when we left them; some of them even didn’t realize that we had left. That day added to those myriad memories that we have spent with our kids.
Our kids – all happy-happy!
P.S.:
A Child’s Call
Posted by tannu in Volunteer Files... on January 20th, 2010
I may look young, I may look weak;
I may look small, past may be bleak.
I have seen, what you cant imagine;
I have felt, what you cant examine.
But what was yesterday
is left behind today.
With dreams n love,
I start now-a-days.
The world is new, bright n coloured;
my thoughts are new, beautiful n cultured.
All I ask, all I want
is a small fair chance
like all of you demand.
I ask a light, to guide me in dark;
I ask a hand, to shape my mark.
I call someone, to embrace me now!
I call someone, to answer my how’s.
I’ll be the student,
you want me to be!
Will you be my teacher,
my guide, my didi?
Lights, camera….awesomeness !!
Posted by Karthik in Party !!!, The Things That Happen..., Volunteer Files... on October 17th, 2009
Current Emotion- Yet another year; and yet another Diwali in Cochin (Sigh!)
But then, the clouds struck, and in the background of lightning and thunder somebody spoke –
Hey, Chotu Diwali on friday and your class on friday too….
Current Emotion – ahan
Rapid thinking and a few phone calls = Diwali celebrations at YMCA Boys Home, Thrikkakara.
Jazim (the latest noobie aka tingu no. 2) and I arrived earlier and had a chat with the warden and the kids. We planned a greeting card making competition; Gautam and Harsha got the chart papers and sketch pens. We also got Ladoos, Chocolates and Candles to light up the occasion. After a brief description of What, How and Why Diwali and after the most enchanting mythological story about Diwali by me –
Current Emotion: Thank you…thank you..
Negative Creep(Harsha & Jazim): Ya RITE !!
- we started off with the competition by around 545. Blesson, Elizabeth, Saina and Sumit joined us well ahead before it started. Controlling a bunch of hyper-excited kids is not so easy but it is my baae haath ka khel
Negative Creep – OOOoo…pinne !! (that’s mallu for yea rite)
We viewed some really amazing drawings and messages on the cards. They made three fold cards. Some kids actually tried to present the story of Diwali while the others expressed joy, lights and happiness in the greetings. The competition was just a spoof and in the end, everyone deserved the yum yum sweets for the efforts they put in. Afterwards, we distributed chocolates, candles and ladoos. Soon, YMCA would be lit up with diyas and candles. (Awesomeness 1.0)
A few other people also planned to celebrate Diwali with the kids at YMCA. They got some pedas and crackers like phool jhadi, chakri and anaar.
Current Emotion- Ah, once upon a time, a boy named Karthik used to light up his neighbour’s cat’s tail as part of his Diwali rituals….(drifting to Mexico 
) 
This point, we had a hard time with the kids, but again thanks to me –
Current Emotion – Buhahaha
Negative Creep – And blesson and gautam and everyone else !!
- everything was safe and sound.
Personally, I always regret not being able to be with my family during Diwali. But this year, everything has been different with MAD.
Happy Diwali people !! Cheers and stay safe
PS: We have a lot other pictures uploaded on facebook !!
Trivandrum MADiac’s Do Some P.T.!
Posted by Melvin in Volunteer Files... on July 3rd, 2009
Ever heard of Nikunjam Apartments?
No? Well, I hadn’t either, that is up until recently. This building houses residential flats at Convent Road, Vanchiyoor, Trivandrum. It stands off a rather bumpy road lined by tall shady trees so that if you look up, instead of the sky, you’ll see a green canopy. (just in case you were wondering, I’m not a real estate broker) So folks, you might be just a tad curious as to why you should be interested in a non-descript building that you very unlikely ever to visit.
Well, you wouldn’t be…not unless you belong to the sub-species of Homo sapiens sapiens that are commonly known as ‘MADdies’ a.k.a. ‘MADsters’ a.k.a ‘MADiacs’. Nikunjam Apartments is going to go down in MADstry as the place where the foundations for M.A.D. Trivandrum were tentatively laid in Feb ‘09.
A second MADstoric event took place in the courtyard of this building on 21 June ‘09. Our first Process Training was conducted and was attended by the following V.I.Ps : Melvin (our oh-so-fearless leader and President) and some of the V.Ps including Ganesh (placements), George (PT), Maria(finance) and Keerthi (HR). It was also attended by the following V.V.I.Ps (who are trying to be the rock upon which M.A.D Tvm will be founded so that when rivers rise and fierce winds blow, MAD Tvm will remain standing): Sebin, Jackson, Lipin, Remitha, Lekshmi, Spoorti, Meghna, Nayanthara, Anusha, Radha Aunty, Praseetha Aunty and of course, yours truly, namely, Aparna, whom Vishnu (our VP for PR) has kindly permitted (cough delegated cough) to blog about the P.T. using mel’s account.
Anyway, since we were due to start at 10:00 a.m., we began sharply at 10:30 a.m. The training was conducted by George Abraham, our VP for Training and invigilation. By the way, it will be George and Jackson who will be making that arduous journey to Chennai for Teacher Training and then, they will impart the wisdom to the rest of us.
So where was I? Oh yes… George got his laptop fixed up and started off by congratulating us on making it into this ‘largest but most choosy youth volunteer network’. Then he dove headlong into explaining about PORs (Positions of Responsibility- National, City, Placements, English), typical M.A.D working schedules, credit system, roles and responsibilities of the interns, volunteers, buffer volunteers, teachers, mentors, batch heads, centre heads and a bunch of other heads… I confess, I emerged out of the whole thing with my head slightly reeling. But no worries. We established the basics:
a) the children are PRIORITY NO. 1
b) NEVER miss a class
c) ALWAYS maintain a minimum of 3 credits
d) DON’T FORGET to give your feedback
After all this, we were divided into two batches according to the homes we were assigned. Since we need to walk before we run and talk before we sing, we’re starting small with two homes : Divine Childrens Home, Poojapura and the Girls home at Nalanchira.
We then parted ways (no, there were no waving hankies or teary eyes)
and headed in excitement to meet the children whose futures lay in our hands.
And what were those visits like? Well, you’ll get the gist if you just visit our orkut community.
“Mighty things from small beginnings grow”- John Dryden
Is That Some Good V.Y.B?? :D
One simple question :
What do Valsalyabhavan(V), YMCA Poor Boys Home(Y) and Balbhavan(B) have in common??
Besides the fact that they’re all really small centers that MAD works at, well, I’m pretty sure they are different.. Two of these accommodate boys, the other for girls, different managements, different backgrounds, different settings..
Small, they may be, but on the closing weekend of May, the world found out that, no matter how small, or how far away from each other, or how distant from the epicenter of anything you are: Together, you Make A Difference!
Behold, MAD’s first ever mixed camp : The VYB Camp!
I had started thinking of this camp sometime in February.. Yes, February.. Why dint it happen sometime then? Oh well, Sanju, Sumesh, Paul, Aparna, Saju, Jonva, Shahnaz, Varkey and Co (I’m really bad at names, sure I left out quite a few) were not running around then doing the necessary, while I sat around jobless, pretending to be Camp Coordinator while covertly outsourcing all my work!
First Day : Sometime after 7 am..
We’re running behind schedule a bit.. The camp was supposed to begin at 7, but the kids haven’t arrived yet.. I’m apprehensive.. Somewhere inside we all are.. We know that mixing boys and girls at a camp just might backfire.. They might not talk, they might not be themselves in front of each other, given the backgrounds they come from..
Then I see the bus coming, the kids get down, walk towards the venue.. There is an air of suppressed excitement… Behind my back, I cross my fingers, and put on a smile that comes only with a lot of effort.. It’s time to begin the camp..
They come in, they sit down.. Boys separately, girls separately, with an easy ten feet separating the two groups.. My worries multiply within.. Inside my head : “Keep smiling you idiot.. Don’t look like a chicken being taken to the grave..!”
Art of Living has started.. There is not that much noise.. They’re not even looking at each other.. Oh God! This will probably backfire.. Where can I hide where Niki won’t find me for screwing up her precious Placements Project??
Second Day : Sometime after 9 pm..
We’re all standing outside on the ground… The bus is going to be a bit late, so we sit here and there.. I look around, I see my boys; Aparna’s boys; the Valsalyabhavan girls.. And I see the camp has worked.. They are talking to each other, having fun, enjoying each other’s company.. Yeah, take that Niki.. !!
My boys ask me to sing a song, I attempt singing ‘Thank You For Loving Me’.. Invariably I screw it up, and end up with a rendering that’s somewhere between an old floorboard in a haunted house that creaks very loudly and the sound that my bike brakes make when it rains.. But, nobody seems to mind, nor do I! Everybody is in too good a mood…
Man, is this awesomeness or what?? THIS, that moment, IS the V.Y.B Camp… We did it!! Woooohhoooooo!!!
V.Y.B – Day 2
Lessons in teamwork and leadership well learned. Both our kids and volunteers were looking forward to another eventful yet educative day. The art of living session by Ms Sudha saw our kids as enthusiastic as on day1. Many of them in fact vowed to make time for yoga as a part of their daily routine.
Post breakfast saw all us inspired to do more in life, to do that something which will make a difference. Mr Joby Mathew, an orthopedically challenged arm wrestler lacks two legs, yet he won the gold medal at the 29th world arm wrestling championship. A motivational session by him, made many an eye moist upon hearing how he overcame obstacles to do big in life. Narratives on how he had to jump in through the window to get inside bus and swim six rivers to go to school made must of us feel ashamed about under using our potential.
The theatre workshop by Ms Radhika and Mr Anilraj focused on building trust and getting to know each other. The game where kids where made to pass the ball by calling out the name of another person made sure that they knew each other well. Building of trust was taught by two innovative games. In one of the games, kids divided into groups were made to stand in circles. One of them was asked to drop himself into the centre relying on the rest of them to support him. Though initially apprehensive, the kids dropped freely as the game progressed. The other game involved forming a huge circle. Two kids were designated Director and asst Director. A few kids were blind folded in the centre of the circle. They had to use the directions given by the director time and again and form a circle withing circle. Talk about trust!!
Career guidance session by eminent educationist and retd IAS officer Alphonse Kannamthanam proved to be an a informative one for the older ones. They sat engrossed and sometimes overwhelmed at the choices they had ahead of them in life. The younger were busy making the cards for the donors.
A Consolidation and Reflection session by Commodore Vishwanathan had kids coming up and telling us what they learned and what they would definitely take back at the end of the camp. Most satisfying part of the day indeed. Kids were all high listening to Commodore talk about rough seas, high tides and the exciting life Indian navy offers
The closing ceremony had eminent guests, donors and patrons visiting us.
MAD’s Got Talent a 300 point competition between the 4 teams saw some of the best talents over. In this 7 minute game, every member of the team had to show some talent on the stage for 6 minutes and the team on the whole had to do an impromptu group dance at the 7th minute. Somersaults, radio jockeys, bodybuilding shows. Our kids are the best.
Rainbow took home the “van bumper sammanam”. Too bad it wasn’t a maruti car. while the rest of us danced away to glory [ I couldn’t resist using that one]
Two real good days of fun, learning and experience for both our kids and us…
Introducing… Mangalore’s SuperMAD team!
Posted by Trishma in Volunteer Files... on June 3rd, 2009
Mangalore has always been known as that quaint little city on the beautiful coast of Dakshina Karnataka, where the wind sways the slender coconut trees to sleep and the quiet aura of the city brings calm to your soul. The birds chirped with the evening breeze, the sun smiled its sunshine down, and all was tranquil and serene.
And then… THUNDER strikes!
Rakesh Haridas aka THUNDER, like the superhero from the clouds, crashed onto Mangalore’s precious soul… and the city has never been the same ever since. He and his team of SuperMAD people are all set to cause a stir in the city and bring it some madness. Here’s the team:
Rakesh Haridas/President
Disguise: Engineer
Quoted: “Do as I command you, or watch the muscle power in action.”
Kirti Mohan/VP-HR
Disguise: Law Student
Quoted: “Oh I am a very resourceful person… in terms of all the naughty things I do! And I guess this is what makes me the VP – Human Resources!”
Trishma Pinto/VP-PR
Disguise: BCom Student
Quoted: “MADness is contagious! Spread the virus!”
Sajid Rahim/VP-Training
Disguise: Law Student
Quoted: “Words are my weapon, and training is my sword. Allow me to arm you in some MAD wisdom.”
Greeshma Rai/VP- Finance
Disguise: Law Student
Quoted: “Accounts and finances are a tough thing to manage, and owing to the fact that I’m a tough li’l girl (pun intended), I’m sure I can do a great job. Kids are such cutteee li’l angels, can’t wait any longer to start teaching them.”
Anand Radhakrishnan/VP- Fund Raising
Disguise: Engineer
Quoted: ”Am I MAD? No wonder I am. If MADness were an empire, then I’d be the Jester who dares call the Bald King so!”
Ann Alexander/Book keeper
Disguise: Law Student
Quoted: “I like kids, I love kids actually and wouldn’t mind keeping books for them, isn’t that exactly what I have to do? MAD is giving me an option to be with one of the greatest loves of my life – KIDS!! And I’d be happier than ever to keep their books, which is my second love by the way!”
We are all so pleased to meet you. Watch this space for more adventures of Mangalore’s Thunder Man & team!
PS – the REAL heroes in this adventure series are the kids… wait till you meet them in the coming blog entries!!
V.Y.B – Day 1
Our VYBrant Valtsalya Bhawan, YMCA, Balbhavan camp began with some mopping of water that refused to dry up [ Courtesy: our dear Jr chetan and team who washed the floors the previous night], fixing the sound system, and distributing t shirts on the 29th of May at Chinmaya Vidyala. As our volunteers streamed in and mats were laid on the floor, Our wonderful kids arrived escorted by their dearest MADdest chechis and chetans.
The Art of Living session by Ms Sudha saw our kids writhing into serpentine and stiffening into feline poses interspersed with grins and giggles, while, our hungry volunteers were seen smelling around and drooling over the appam and stew to be given out for breakfast. By the end of the session our kids and volunteers had learned a lot from some quick yoga to meditation to the importance of self and were already yearning for the day2 session. In fact even this scribe of yours who loathed yoga thanks to the one-hour-a-day-compulsory-classes-at-school was seen contemplating on making it part of her daily schedule.
Post breakfast, our one and only Sr took over. Divided into four groups and assigned mentors our kids were soon seen shedding their inhibitions and mingling with each other. Rainbow, Check9, Galaxy and 9stars started vying with each other for the “van bumper sammanam” (grand prize) to be given out at the closing ceremony next day.
MAD pentathlon comprising of passing the parcel, bombing the city, decking your favourite teammate with some real good accessories, blowing the maximum number of balloons, and bursting the maximum too had both the volunteers and kids going MAD. The victim for the demo of decking-your-favourite-teammate-with-some-real-good-accessories was Jr. to quote Sr, “da this is the revenge for all that all you write on the blog”. Oops!! Readers please do pray that this favourite scribe of yours never is victimized for all that this pen, I mean keyboard, is yet to write.
Next session had Usha Uthup crooning a lot of her popular numbers and the kids and volunteers alike doing a jig. A certain male volunteer from NUALS busy going gaga over the girls, from chinmaya vidyala who came to catch a glimpse of star, was an exception though.[ mail me for more details!!!].
Half way through it and in walked Ranjini Haridas of the Idea Star Singer fame. After a good round [I mean literally, all steps were being done in circles;)] of dancing our kids settled down for a personality development session were the kids divided into pairs was asked to collect as much info as possible about their partner and to introduce their partner on stage.
It was a very satisfying experience to see our kids open up to other kids of the opposite gender in spite of coming from girls only/ boys only schools. The what-happens-when-you-entangle-a group-of-kids-and-try-disentangle-them experiment on her guinea pigs that followed did give some fruitful results and wholesome fun.
Post lunch (yummmm!!!!) was the confidence building and self esteem session by Priyanka Idicula and her sister, our very own MAD volunteer, Rohini. Each group was allotted a state and made to make the outline of it on a cardboard and also represent its relief features using various kinds of dal and newspapers. They were also asked to find out some important information about the state and were quizzed on it later . Another activity involved tying up as many paper bags as possible filled up with newspapers onto one of the members of the team. Both activities concentrated on developing team spirit and confidence in the kids.
In the public speaking session by Mr. Sooraj, a renowned trainer from ‘Career Dot Com’ the kids not just learned the ten important tips for a good speaker but also came forward overcoming their stage fright and delivering some real good speeches. Indeed a proud moment for us at MAD.
Mr Stefan from Geojit BNP Paribas, a beloved donor of ours paid a visit to the camp. While our kids were impressed with the heavily accented “ente peru Stefan” by a live German in flesh and blood , the guest felt all the more impressed with some really good questions like, “what does India stand to gain in case of German-Indian ties”. The non acceptance by the kid of a diplomatic answer by Stefan got all of us feel so good. Our kids are smart!! Any doubts??
Dance and Body Movements session was taken by Ms. Radhika, a talented dancer trained at the prestigious Shiamak Dawar Institute of Performing Arts. The purpose of this session was to remove the inhibitions that the children have of the stage, of moving freely, and of being in the lime light. The paper dance in which each pair was given a sheet of newspaper and made to dance on it by folding it as small as possible in each stage saw some winners and some cheaters [ mail me for more info]. Everybody, kids and volunteers learned the steps to desi girl. Must have looked like one MAD MAD world to the school watchman.
Dinner and all of us were done for the day. With promises of a fun filled day kept yet miles to go before we sleep (thanks to sumesh 4 the taxi), we bid goodbyes. Hearts yearning, Clocks waiting to tick seven.
MAD Mumbai is Looking for You! Yes, YOU!!!
Posted by Rashi in Volunteer Files... on May 10th, 2009
Fear not, MAD offers you a topic to talk to anyone and everyone. Not only will those aunties of your mom’s kitty parties not pull your cheeks anymore but also you’ll finally have an answer to your dad’s friends’ questions about your future plans (Future is not equal to what you are having for dinner tonight) All you need to tell them is..
MAD Mumbai is planning their next recruitment drive. Thats all….!!
Well, we have 570 children in 3 centres which equals to around 120 volunteers. After our very successful recruitment drive numero uno, we have 24 volunteers. So this number needs to increase 5 fold. So we have a simple E1B5 (Each 1 Bring 5) virus which we are planning to spread. Mind you, we hope for it to have even more far-reaching effects than the H1N1 virus.
So,spread the word through your fingers (err..facebook, twiterring, emailing,etc etc ) or through your mouth (Talk to people) or any other way you want to.
Think you have friends who are MAD enough to join us? Volunteers can :
1. Teach kids English and Computers
2. Lend us their creative streak.
3. Help us raise money.
4. Organise career awareness fairs and programmes.
Minimum requirement is 2hours per week for a period of 1 year.
Everyone, flex your fingers, dial those numbers, type in those blogs, sms, emails and get sending. Spread the virus.. NOW!
Those interested, do mail mumbai@makeadiff.in
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