DI Highlight

Dear Friends,

I take great pleasure in sharing a small story that shows the fighting spirit of our kids. Navaneethan is one of our bight students in Adyar class. Currently, he is in ninth standard. Six months ago, we decided to provide Navaneethan scholarship for his typing exam.

The exam is due next month and I happened to meet the instructor. He was not very happy with the performance of our students [ couple of them are eligible to appear for exams next month]. He said he has to try hard and train to get them pass. After this interaction, I met our students and briefed them about the discussion. I simply said, "you guys have set an example for the other fellow students who are coming for the typing class, if you guys fail, then this would only create a fear in other students mind".

Just a few minutes back, I got a message from Navaneethan - 

1st Test. Paper 1 - 20, Paper 2 - 30 Total = 50 Result = Fail

2nd Test. Paper 1 - 0, Paper 2 - 24 Total = 24 Result = Fail

3rd Test  Paper 1-39, Paper 2 -  82 Total = 121 Result = Pass Rank = 4th in class

4th Test Paper 1- 64, Paper 2 - 80 Total = 144 Result = Pass Rank = 2nd in class

God has blessed us to have wonderful kids to with. Our children are the best and they are someone who can go beyond our expectations. It is us, who has got to be there for them. I am very very happy today and am sure they would come out with flying colors. One more important thing - As soon as I announced this in group, our friend Pallavi came forward to support his entire course. Am sure she would be proud and happy as we all are!!!

Regards,

Natarajan

DI five years celebrations - Fun outing

DI five year celebrations - ECR outing report

Student performances in DI

Dear Friends,

I take great pride and joy in sharing this good news with you all. Our students, rather I should say our younger sisters, Fathima [ Seventh semester 74% ] and Bhuvaneswari [ 3rd semester 88.5% ] have scored excellent marks and have made us all proud.

The marks they have scored is the proof for their wonderful commitment to the cause and zeal to be on the top always. I am sure they would soon achieve their desire to be self reliant and not just bring DI possible only for their family, but also to very many families similar to theirs. 

Deepambigai - Student at Anna University whom we are supporting has scored  75% in her 6th semester. Our student Ponni as usual has come out with flying colors scoring 74%. She stands joint third in department.

In addition, Ponni also has cleared OCA with 71%. If you remember, we took the decision to support Ponni for this exam with complete faith that she would clear it. She has proved her worth.

Please join me in congratulating all these students in their stupendous educational achievements.

Regards,

Natarajan

Road safety competition in Chennai

Hi All,

Partnering with ArriveSafe, Dream India conducted a drawing competition for children in the Government school in Valasarawakkam, Chennai on the 1st of November. Though we did not get selected for the final round, the kids did extremely well and  managed to bring out the best of their knowledge by way of drawings. The volunteers used this opportunity to thrust the importance of good traffic culture, to the kids. The drawings can be seen below

Thanks
Varun R
Dream India

Mayanoor Sports Club - Inauguration

Dear Friends,

I am extremely happy to share the wonderful news that with the help of Mr.Gunasekaran, we have started our very first "Dream India sports club" for Mayanoor school children. 

It has been dream of a few of our friends in DI to create awareness about physical activities and provide a platform to bring the talent of children in various sport. It is then, we met Mr.Gunasekaran sir, HM of Mayanoor school. Sir told me about his dream of starting a sports club for the children and with the consent of our trustees, we decided to execute this project. 

Our friend, Manikandan [ DI Mumbai and Chennai volunteer] would sponsor this sports club entirely on his own. Dream India also thanks Mr.Gunasekaran for giving us a chance to start this sports club and for his wonderful support.

A brief note on Mr.Guna sir: He gave up his lucrative job overseas and came back to India with a burning desire to become a teacher. The students of Mayanoor are the one blessed to have Mr.Guna as their HM. Sir is one of the action board members of our Partner India Sudar.

It is important to note that Mr.Guna sir is gonna take care of the payment to the coach every month on his own. We cannot find a better person than Mr.Guna sir to start this sports club.

Regards

Natarajan Raman

Dream India Science Exhibition 2009 - Adyar Government School

Dream India conducted Science Exhibition at Adyar Government School on 21.11.09 for the students of Class 8 and 9.

The Students split themselves into 12 teams consisting of 2 to 4 students. A whole gamut of  topics were selected which included Rain water harvesting, Electric train, Periscope, Optical Illustration Using Lenses, Glass Moulding,  Parts of human body, Importance of Wild life, A walking robot, Essentials of Vitamins, Pedal Car, Global Warming, Park, Volcano, Electrical Conductivity, Few Chemical Experiments etc.

We were surprised with the creativity that these students demonstrated knowing that they never had the opportunity to organise an exhibition or visit one!

It was very tough to decide the winners as most of the students excelled in their creations. The winners were announced based on creativity, cost, communication skills, presentation and teamwork. There was an unanimous decision for the first prize winner as they stood out from others through their demonstration skills, low cost and the simple yet interesting product. There were 2 second prize and 3rd prize winners. We also gave 2 special prize.

The models were displayed to all the school students on Monday.At the end of the show, both the students and the volunteers were glad at the outcome. We hope to have similar events in the future.

Regards
Kavitha

Gandhi Jayanthi celebrations 2009, SV Home

Dear Friends,

Like last year, we celebrated Gandhi Jayanthi at SV home this year too.

Quiz Prelims:

We started the Quiz Preliminary round around 9 AM. 50 students from SV home and 3 kids from Adyar school appeared for this. Janu and Ravin conducted the prelims.

Elocution competition:

This was followed by Elocution competition. Around 20 students from SV Home and Adyar school spoke. For the first time, the students also spoke in English. It was simply amazing to say the least. For someone who has seen the children speak last year, the performance has improved very well. It was a sight to see the children speak very confidently on stage and then run on to hug Kamala madam with huge relief. They had put in a lot of efforts and we could see the results very well.

Dr.Subash, Janakiraman and Sreeja were the judges for the Elocution competition. Snacks was served during the break.

Cultural programs:

After the snack break, children sang some patriotic songs, played a skit and a couple of dances. The songs and drama had very good meaning and brought the creativity of the students to the stage.

Lunch:

Thanks to Vasantham Mrs.Alli madam, we could get couple of rice, sweet, and couple of side dish all included for just rs.30 per person. Last time we had to spend more than 1500 extra, but madam took pains for us to order food for Vasantham and then send it from there for us. This saved us a lot of money and also gave us more variety to serve the kids.

Ice cream was given after lunch and it was time to start the quiz program.

Quiz:

Ravin, our official DI quiz master, started the quiz program. 9 teams of 3 each was selected and after various rounds of eliminations, 3 teams emerged as winners. It was good to see Adyar kids being part of SV home teams and work together and emerging winners. Janu shared on the areas the kids needs to work on to improve their general knowledge.

Vasantham Kids:

Around 8 Vasantham kids came along with madam. Shridhar and Jaikar Ganesh participated in elocution competition. This was the very first time the special kids of Vasantham participated in a program along with normal children. Special thanks to SV home kids and Kamala madam who encouraged the children to participate.

Every single person present was taken by surprise when these kids spoke without any kind of struggle or stage fear. It was just a perfect speech. Later, we came to know that Shridhar could not even stand up and walk when he joined Vasantham six years ago. He could not even speak then. All of us at DI can be proud that our function served us a platform for a special kid to display his special talent. His transformation is an example of dedication and the divine work done by Vasantham. His father had come in the evening and when he learned about Shridar winning prize [ We gave special prize to all Vasantham kids ] along with trophy, he could not stop breaking down.

Sathish, the cute and lovable kid of Vasantham, danced to a mixture of songs and this was followed by a group song. Sathish became a hero and all children mobbed him to shake hands with him.

Prize Distribution and Cultural:

Mr.Suresh Kamath, MD, Laser Soft, Mr.Murugesan and Mrs.Alli Murugesan joined Dr.Subash as chief guests for the prize distribution function. DI friends gave special memento for chief guests made by Vasantham children. Dr.Subash gave a wonderful speech and took time to congratulate Sathish for his wonderful dance performance. Mr.Suresh Kamath was humble and graceful as ever. Mrs.Alli Murugesan thanked DI and SV home for giving a platform for special children along with other kids.

The kids were very happy with the prizes. First prize winners got 4 books, trophy and a certificate. Second prize winners got 3 books, trophy and a certificate while third prize winners got 2 books, trophy and a certificate. For the first time, we gave a small token of gift to each of the children who performed a dance or drama or song.

Janu thanked everyone on behalf of DI, couple of kids shared their thoughts and later Kamala madam delivered vote of thanks. Later we took a few group snaps. Janu, Arunan and myself stayed back to discuss about studies and other things with children.

I take pride in sharing the message from Mr.Suresh Kamath sir - "Dear Natarajan and all Dream India friends, thank you for inviting me and giving me an opportunity to be with you and see those beautiful children smile.Honestly, you inspire me. For me, Dream India is really Dreams come true. God bless you all. Warm regards, Kamath".

The above message is a true reflection of sir's kindness and humbleness.

Sreeja, Kavitha, Arunan, Poornima, Manivanan [ YHM ], Janu, Ravin and Parthy took care of conducting the event smoothly. The event at SV home would have always been special, but this time, the presence of Vasantham kids only made the event very special. DI can certainly be proud of doing things first time and this event is an example of the good work God has chosen us to execute.

Anbudan,

Natarajan

Dream India