Deepam Quarterly Newsletter (Apr-Jun13)

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Contents
Quarterly update (Apr-Jun13) ...................................................................................................................... 3 Events ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 Scholarship @ VRS .................................................................................................................................... 3 Volunteer Meet......................................................................................................................................... 4 New volunteer Induction program ............................................................................................................... 5 Deepam Curriculum ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Deepams Uniform Fund ............................................................................................................................... 6 Libraray visit by WM center children ............................................................................................................ 7

For any queries or clarifications, please reach out to janavi@deepam.in

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Quarterly update (Apr-Jun13)

By JanaviShyam Welcome to the new academic year 2013-14! Deepams quietest quarter of the year was filled with much to do for the Deepams leadership team. The team came out with Deepams first ever common curriculum for all centers. The curriculum was finalized after many rounds of discussions among all center representatives. The off-time for kids also ensured us in the leadership team to take stock of all students and volunteers. The team decided to take attendance up a notch by creating an online mobile app to enable all center heads to update attendance of their kids and volunteers. VRS center celebrated its scholarship distribution for the year with much fanfare. The event was held at the center with all deserving kids. Deepam continued its quest to be of all-round help to our children and as an example KBM center distributed funds to the school towards uniforms for their students. In another first, Deepam published a yearly report on its work as the Deepam Annual Report 2012-13. An attempt has been made to give a true picture of the work done by the volunteer team and yet keep the format simple. This report was possible only because of the work done by all volunteers over the year. A link to the main report is available below Deepam Annual Report 2012-13 by deepamnl

Events
Scholarship @ VRS
By Anuradha Murali

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2012-13 was the second year that the Regional Grand Lodge of South India Charitable Trust came forward to support the Scholarship program at VRS center. We were delighted when the Trustees agreed to come to school and give away the scholarships to the children. When the guests - Mr.Rajan Sekri, Mrs.Sekri and Mr. Sivakumar - arrived, there was a quick round of introductions, and everyone assembled for the event. The school teachers were seated on a bench and the parents of the 6 scholarship recipients on another. Volunteers preferred to stand at the back, each with a cell phone camera ready to click away. After welcoming the guests and highlighting the activities of the Trust, Abhishek Mundhra requested Mr Sekri to address the gathering. The next 15 minutes were delightful with Mr Rajan Sekri packing words of advice and encouragement, in a jovial and spirited talk that was interrupted many a time by loud claps. Meantime, another well-wisher of Deepam, Ms.Amritha who had earlier donated a huge haul of stationery and colours, was called upon to give away crayons to all the children, delighting them further.

Volunteer Meet
By Janavi Shyam

The latest volunteer meet was held at our VRS center. Around 40 volunteers attended the meet. The highlight of the meet was the formal release of volunteer guidelines which all Deepam volunteers are expected to abide by. Many volunteers spoke on their experiences and suggestions on how to improve our class sessions. On the lighter side, there were fun events and games organized for volunteers.

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New volunteer Induction program

By Janavi Shyam

We had our first Induction Program for this academic year organised by Meera Sundar and Praveen at our WM Centre. 11 new volunteers attended the program. Meera briefed about Deepam and its various activities. Balaji, a fairly new volunteer from KBM center shared his experience to encourage other new volunteers.

Deepam Curriculum
By R.Rajagopalan At every Deepam Center, we have all along been carrying out assessment of children at the start of an academic year and categorizing them as Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced, based on their level of understanding, ability to grasp, liking and interest to learn the English language. While each Center followed a structured approach of its own to generate in children the interest to learn and develop curiosity, the lessons and activities devised differed from Center to Center.

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Deepam Leadership Team mulled over this and after series of deliberations decided that as the children of most of Deepams Centers are at an even level, it would be of significant advantage if a uniform syllabus is adopted across Deepam Centers for taking English and Computers to the children. This decision gave birth to Deepam Curriculum Team that later pored over countless websites and books, visited many shops, talked to number of experienced teachers, held discussions among themselves and eventually came up with books that exactly suited Deepams needs. The sets one each for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced groups -- finalized by the Curriculum Team for English consisted of one Primer / Reader for the Volunteers to teach from, one Activity Book for each student to work on, and one Handbook that elaborated on how to optimally utilize the themes contained in the Primer / Reader. Books dealing with the basics of Computer in 2 progressive levels were also identified for use by volunteers across Centers. Besides the above, the Team has also procured many books for use by volunteers to supplement the lessons contained in the Primer / Reader and Activity Books for all the levels.

Deepams Uniform Fund

By Janavi Shyam

Deepam provided funding for uniforms to the children of Sri Venkata Nivasam Primary school, West Mambalam . V Praveen, center head of WM Centre handed over Deepam cheque for Rs.10000 to the Headmistress of the school. KBM center also received a cheque of Rs.15000 for the same cause which was handed over to the school headmistress by the center head Prasanna.

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Library visit by WM center children

By R.Rajagopalan

For some 10 children of Deepam West Mambalam, a visit to Library very close to theirs was an experience as interesting as it was inspiring. This library called Sri Chakra Library -- is run by Karthik, a young guy who holds Masters degree in English and History and an M.Phil degree too. He is differently abled, having restricted mobility. The volunteers of WM center got to meet him in April and were impressed with his lively chat. It was planned to take few WM center kids in batches to the Library to get them inspired. We spoke to school HM, obtained her permission and left word with Karthik's mom about our plan to bring children to the Library on a Saturday. She and her son were only too glad to say 'Yes'. All the books in Karthiks collection have been accumulated by him over the past many years and maintained with loving care. These books are stacked in a neat way. There are books to take you down memory lane, books that you had always wanted to read but never got round to it, books that todays youngsters would like to read and loads of books and magazines (in English and Tamil) specially meant for school-going children. Even long after the visit, the childrens excitement lingered on, their eyes alight. Probably with the thought of the story theyd just read or because theyve found a treasure trove and a friend just next door.

Those who are interested in Deepam with respect to volunteering/ Donations/ Events for kids/ other information, please reach out to janavi@deepam.in For more information, check www.deepam.in or visit us at www.facebook.com/deepam.chennai

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