In this movie clip from our April 11th, 2009 visit, Dr. Thinesh tells the kids how to use a stethoscope.
Archive for May, 2009
Movie Clip: Using a Stethoscope
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009Perspective: Making a Difference
Monday, May 11th, 2009
ARTICLE BY SRIRAM RAMGOPAL It remains too early to know whether or not we achieved our objectives. We have tried hard to develop and carry out activities teaching these values, but whether or not they learn something from it is not so clear. It is difficult to change the way people are. It’s hard to make people, especially a group of children, realize the importance of things like handwashing and hygiene when their parents and surroundings tell them otherwise. Likewise, it’s hard to convince children that with hard work and with a positive mindset that they can indeed be doctors, cricket players and policemen, when everyone and everything around them seems to contradict that notion. The effects of health education, etiquette, citizenship and creativity are hard to impart to a group of children who have been taught that such things are meaningless. Thus, though we have tried very hard and will continue to do so, we may or may not reach our objectives. Nonetheless, we will do our best to reach them because we strongly feel that these things have value and are important. However, I have realized over the last several visits to Ramavaram, that we are making a difference here, though in an unexpected way. Though we may or may not be successful in reaching arbitrarily stated objectives, something is changing, though slowly and subtly, in this group of children. Every time we go to the slum, the children rush out and are excited to see us. They are excited when we sit them down in groups, and though they quickly grow tired of being lectured, they are immensely excited by the prospect that young adults, coming from entirely different walks of life, take time, every week, to go and see them. For a group of children who receive little attention from their parents, the adults in the community, or from their teachers, the fact that we come there for the sole purpose of spending time with them carries great meaning for them. We sit down with them in small groups, and they take great pleasure in sitting next to us. Many of our members speak little or no Tamil but despite this, the children love to talk to us about everything they can possibly think of. They love the thrill of communicating with somebody who cares about them. Some of our members are especially successful at talking to the kids there and finding out what their problems are, and by listening to their problems with a sympathetic ear, we can connect with these kids on an emotional level and produce more positive change than we could by merely following orders on a checklist. On Saturday evenings, as we come home from another day at Ramavaram, we wonder whether or not we were able to teach anything to the kids, and whether anything will change there as a result of it. No doubt that progress comes slowly and it is too early to expect dramatic changes. No doubt that the things we are teaching the children there will slowly but surely change their behavior, as long as we are consistent and clear with them. Of course, we will continue to refine our lessons and our plans in the community as we gain more and more experience with the people and from other organizations. I strongly believe that we can make a difference here and break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness for at least a few families here at the Ramavaram slum. However, after spending time with these kids and showing them that we care about them, I’ve come to realize that there is more than one way to define success. By sharing happiness, compassion and goodwill in these children, I believe we can give them something more meaningful but less measurable: hope. And for this reason we will keep trying to make a difference here despite the odds we face.
We have been going to the Ramavaram slum for over a year now, and our goals and objectives for the community are maturing in many ways as we learn more about the people there as well as about ourselves. The educational programme that we started from March of this year has been working well, but perhaps not in the ways that we expected it to. We worked hard to elucidate the goals of what our program were going to be; and we decided on a number of objectives. These were based on the information that we had about the children from numerous visits, from their parents, and from a visit to their school that some of our members made earlier this year. As Bhavya described, these were health education, teamwork and trust, values, etiquette, citizenship and creativity. These goals were selected because we thought they would help these children become responsible, hardworking adults, who had careers and a bright future ahead of them.
Update at Sangam India
Monday, May 11th, 2009
These are a few of the things that have been going on over the last week:
- Exciting new plans for a website are in the works. The website will be designed by Tina Ye and the content will be written by our board members as well as by several guests who’ve generously contributed their time and expertise. We’re all looking forward to this site and we’d love your input on what you think should be included in it.
- We are working hard to achieving Non-Profit Organization (NPO) status in the United States. We have written our mission statement, as you can see in a previous post.
- We are continuing planning of our Educational Programme and Vasundhra is doing research on Vocational training programmes that we can implement when we get started again in June.
Skit 1: The Giving of a Rakhi
Sunday, May 10th, 2009Part of a series about skits produced for the Ramavaram children.
Skit 1: The Giving of A Rakhi
Narrator: The day of Rakhi is approaching. Swati, a young girl of 8 years, has been looking forward to this day for many weeks. She and her elder brother are very close to one another, and she loves him very much. She wishes to buy him a rakhi, but she does not have any money of her own. She does not wish to trouble her parents for money, as she wants this to be her gift.
Swati: (Talking to herself on stage) What will I do? I do not have any money to buy a rakhi for Vijay anna. I really want to buy him a rakhi. (She ponders for a while before she comes up with an idea.) Aha! I have a great idea. I will sell my doll and use that money to buy a rakhi.
Narrator: With that sweet thought in mind, Swati set out to the marketplace to sell her doll and to buy a rakhi.
Shopkeeper: Good afternoon beta.
Swati: Namaste Mr.Krishnamurthi.
Shopkeeper: What can I help you with today?
Swati: Well, I want to buy a rakhi for my anna, but I don’t have the money to buy one. I was hoping to sell my favorite doll.
Shopkeeper: Are you sure you really want to sell your favorite doll? I’m sure if you asked your parents to help you out they would.
Swati: But Mr. Krishnamurthi, I want this to be a gift for my anna from just me.
Shopkeeper: Hmmm, I see. Well, if you’re really sure that you want to do this then I will be happy to give you a rakhi in exchange for your doll.
(Shopkeeper goes to help other customers)
Swati: (Reaches for the doll)(Talking to herself on stage) Do I really want to give up my favorite doll? Maybe I can give away one of my other dolls in exchange for anna’s rakhi. But, if I get the other doll I won’t have enough money to buy anna’s favorite shiny, blue rakhi. I guess I should sacrifice my favorite doll so that anna can get his favorite rakhi.
(Swati exchanges her favorite doll for her anna’s favorite rakhi and starts to walk home.)
Swati: (Walks in the door and sees her brother watching the cricket game.) ANNA ANNA LOOK WHAT I GOT FOR YOU!! It’s your favorite rakhi, come let me tie it for you.
Vijay: Oh thank you Swati. The rakhi looks amazing. I love you.
(Swati happily ties the rakhi for her brother.)
Narrator: Swati learned the importance of sacrifice by giving up her favorite doll for her anna’s happiness.
Copyright © 2008-2009 Sangam India. All rights reserved
http://www.sangamindia.org
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Written by: Krishnakanth Chiravuri, Srikanth Chiravuri, Vidhi Makanji, Neil Mithal, and Abhiram Gunturi.
Mission Statement
Saturday, May 9th, 2009
Sangam India is a not-for-profit organization
dedicated to developing self-sufficiency
in underprivileged urban communities in India
by improving education, healthcare and sanitation
and by fostering leadership
to motivate and empower adults and children alike.
Facebook Message and Call for Help
Thursday, May 7th, 2009This message was sent to all of our facebook members today:
Hello Sangam India Members!
I hope this message finds you well. Thank you so much for joining our group and extending your support for our mission.
Sangam India is undergoing a lot of exciting changes this month.1. We are developing a new, updated website with exciting features and brand new content. For this, we need people who have creative ideas, writing ability, or experience with other non-profit organizations.
2. We are also working on getting non-profit status, registering in the United States. For this, we need people who have some knowledge of legal procedures, experience with other non-profits, or is ready to learn something new!
3. We have recently started a new Educational Programme focusing on positive thinking and values-based education, and we are working on curriculum and material development. For this, we need people who are creative, like games, and may have experience working with children, especially underprivileged children – in any country.
We would like everyone to get involved with these activities, since it is a chance for everyone who is not in Chennai to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty!
If you are interested in helping us with any of these activities, please contact us on Facebook, or you can email me at nivedita.gunturi@sangamindia.org, or Sriram Ramgopal at sriram.ramgopal@sangamindia.org. We look forward to hearing from you, and we’d love all the help we can get!
As always, we encourage you to join the mailing list for our monthly newsletter at http://list.sangamindia.org, and keep an eye on the blog at http://blog.sangamindia.org, since it is frequently updated and you can stay tuned to everything that is happening!
Thanks!
Nivedita Gunturi
Skit Synopses
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
Part of a series about skits produced for the Ramavaram children.
About a year ago, we started thinking about how teaching the children skits, and having them perform them in front of an audience, would be a great way to teach them the importance of positive thinking, health education, and human values. The plan was to design short, simple, skits that would be simple to learn but that could impart these values to the kids as they learned them and performed them. Now that our educational programme is rolling, we hope that we can use these skits soon.
We asked a group of our volunteers from Dallas, Texas to come up with ideas for such skits. Here’s the skit synopses:
Honesty/Truth
Some kids are playing a cricket match when the best batter is apparently run out. The only people who know whether it is out or not are the kid who threw the ball, the kid’s best friend, and a group of younger kids who aren’t old enough to play but watch (the extras). The fielder who threw the ball is best bowler, and he has a personal rivalry with the batter who appears to be out. Since everyone playing trusts each other, they ask the kid who threw the ball whether he thought it was out. He says yes even though he knows it was not. The younger kids watching know that it is not out, and they make a commotion. The game continues. After the game, his friend confronts him and tells him that he knows that the batter was not out. His friend asks him whether he felt what he did was right. The kid who threw the ball expresses guilt and remorse and agrees to play fairly next time. He plays fairly in the next game, and both the bowler and the batter do very well in the game.
Non-violence
For the past few months, Karthik has been bullied by a senior. Karthik always reacts angrily which gives the bully great entertainment. This continues for quite a while before Karthik tells his parents his ordeal with the bully. His parents advise him to remain calm and to take no action against the bully. They emphasize that taking any violent measures is especially wrong. Karthik thinks about the advice his parents gave him and decides to follow their suggestion. The next day the bully makes fun of Karthik, but Karthik does not react. This continues for a few more days until the bully leaves Karthik alone.
Love
A family lives in a village which depends on a well that is almost 8 kilometers from their house. The parents are older, so their oldest son dutifully gets the water every single day. But the parents do not know that he is also getting water for the neighboring families. When the parents find out about this, they become concerned that their son might be straining himself and angry at their neighbors for taking advantage of him. Then, the son explains to them that no one asked him to bring them water. He just noticed one day that most of the neighbors were elderly and were having trouble bringing water from such a far distance. He went and asked his neighbors if he could perform this one service for them. He also reminded his parents that he had grown up beside these same neighbors; he told his parents that many of them were like family to him. In this way the son taught his parents the importance of love and the great impact it can have.
Right action
A shopkeeper in the local market sells statues of important people in India’s history. He is a man of excellent character and always tries to do the right thing. He has a family that he has to support, and he has a very hard time of doing it because he does not make much money. However, he and his family have always been able to get by. One day a man comes to his stall in the market and decides to buy a statue. The shopkeeper charges 50 rupees for the statue, but the man gives him 500 rupees accidentally. When the shopkeeper realizes this, he asks a friend to watch his shop and runs after the customer to give him back his change. The thought of keeping the 500 rupees which would have sustained his family for an entire month never crosses his mind. He finally catches up to the man and gives him back the money. The man was very thankful, and he asks if he can reward the man. However, the shopkeeper refuses the reward knowing that he was only doing what was right. The customer then asks if he can buy the rest of the statues that the shopkeeper was selling. The shopkeeper, who is very surprised by now, almost refuses, but the man insists. In this way, the shopkeeper is rewarded for his right conduct.
Peace
A brother and sister have a heated argument while their parents are not around. The brother runs outside to cool down and takes a walk down the street. Some of the houses he walks by are very calm, but others are very loud. The people inside are arguing very loudly. The boy realizes their mistake and takes it upon himself to try to keep a more peaceful environment at home. While the boy was walking outside, the girl talked to a friend. She told her friend the argument that she and her brother had. Her friend advises her to try to control her anger next time; she tells her to seek a more peaceful solution to the problem rather than yelling and arguing. The next time they have a disagreement they peacefully resolve it without raising their voices at all.
Sacrifice
The giving of a rakhi: A girl wants to give a good rakhi to her brother whom she loves very much. But the one that she has in mind is expensive, and she does not have the money to buy it. So, she decides to sell her most prized possession. With the money, she buys a beautiful rakhi for her brother. Her brother is very happy, and this makes the girl very happy.
Determination/Perseverance/Dedication
A kid in a poor house and a poor neighborhood while traveling to the market sees a successful doctor who has a clinic near the market. He observes the doctor for a long time and notices that he treats all his patients with love and compassion. He also notices that the doctor charges very little for his services. The boy then realizes that he wants to be successful like the doctor, and he goes home dreaming of becoming a doctor. He then perseveres and achieves his goal.’
Responsibility
A family of five lived in a modest home. The father went to work everyday, and the mother took care of the children. The mother was very devout and performed a pooja everyday. One day when she had to go to the market she asked her 3 children to offer prasadam to the Lord. She told them how important it was. However, after she left the 2 eldest children went off to play disregarding everything their mother had told them. The youngest child, however, wondered what the Lord would eat if prasadam was not offered. She understood how important it was to her mother that prasadam be offered, and she went to her 2 siblings and convinced them to help her. Together, they offered prasadam to the Lord and felt very happy.
Respect
A very new teacher is starting to teach a very rowdy class. All the students are making fun of the teacher, except Krishna and Ram, 2 brothers whom all the students look up to. After the class, Krishna proposes an idea to Ram. He suggests calling all of their classmates (extras) together and asking them to behave better the next day. They call everyone together and tell them that they must be respectful to the teacher since she is an elder and is trying to help them. On the next day, to the teacher’s surprise all the students are obedient and respectful to the teacher.
Humility
Vishnu was a very good student in school, and he was also very proud of his successes. His parent would advise him not to get overconfident, but he did not listen. Vishnu used to score higher on tests than all of his friends, and he would routinely brag about his scores to his friends. He would also make fun of his friends who scored lower than him. One day his friends grew sick of his arrogant attitude and did not talk or play with him. Vishnu was sad, and when he went home, he complained to his parents about his predicament. His parents told him that this was the result of his own actions. They told him that it is not good to be too proud or overconfident of one’s successes. Instead, they told him to be humble about his grades. They told him not to brag to any of his friends and not to make fun of them either. They also told him to help those who were really struggling. Vishnu followed their advice, and soon his friends were talking to him again. Also, he was able to make many more friends through his humble demeanor.
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Thanks to the authors for their time and for giving this project such careful consideration. They are Krishnakanth Chiravuri, Srikanth Chiravuri, Vidhi Makanji, Neil Mithal, and Abhiram Gunturi, all from Dallas, Texas. They really put a lot of work into this project and it was inspiring to see their efforts.
Skits: A Note From the Authors
Monday, May 4th, 2009
Part of a series about skits produced for the Ramavaram children.
As mentioned in a previous post, a couple of students from Dallas, Texas wrote some skits to teach the kids of Ramavaram.
The authors of the skits are Krishnakanth Chiravuri, Srikanth Chiravuri, Vidhi Makanji, Neil Mithal, and Abhiram Gunturi, from Dallas, Texas, USA.
Here is a short statement by Srikanth Chiravuri about the skits – what they were aiming for, and why they chose the values that they did.
The reason that we made these skits was so that the kids would understand the necessary values in life in an entertaining fashion. If we made them sit down and listen to someone lecture about these values, most of them would probably not pay attention, so that was why we planned to make skits. We picked these values because they are some of the basic traits that we thought children should learn. It was really satisfying when we were making the skits because we felt we were bringing a little peace and happiness to these children.
Updated Flyer
Monday, May 4th, 2009Our English Flyer has been updated with some information about our Educational Programme. We also changed one of the pictures to include the Educational Programme as well. We use these flyers to show people when we explain to them what we do. In addition, we hope that you’ll print them out and hang them up in your workplace where people can see them.
There are both color and black and white versions, available below as Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files; they are approximately 250kb in size. There is a Tamil version which has also been updated. Thanks to Uma Krishnakumar for her help with the Tamil version.
 Color Flyer |
 Black and White Flyer |
 தமிழ் சிற்றேடு (Color) |
 தமிழ் சிற்றேடு (Black and White) |
The Promotional Packet has been updated with this flyer as well. The flyers can always be downloaded on the contribute page.
The URL of this page:
