CHILDREN

"I brought my younger daughter to the park as she has her summer holidays and was keen to find out what this event is all about. My older girl is in doing well in high school", beamed Rafiq Ahmed (name changed) who visits Bangalore regularly from Tumkur. He was one of the eager members of the audience that swelled after the annual Global Walk for India's Missing Girls that started outside the Haji Ismail Sait mosque in Frazer Town reached Coles Park around 4 pm on Saturday, May-5, 2012. The motivation behind the Global Walk (which has been conducted in over…

Early Sunday morning on April 8th, when most of the 'namma bangaloreans' were looking forward to savour their morning cuppa or catch up with their weekend sleep, a group of young IT professionals hit the city roads to cycle 25 km. All for a cause. Cycle rally. Pic courtesy: volunteers of Utthaan project This group of enthusiasts joined hands in an exercise named Project Utthaan - All India Music Album launch, a CARTMAN initiative which aims to fund the education of underprivileged children. CARTMAN, an NGO was founded in 1989, by the visionary Padma Bhushan Professor N S Ramaswamy, founding…

We volunteers from Ladies Circle India (LC India) help underprivileged children with education and healthcare; we donate school uniforms, computers and books, provide midday meals, build classrooms, build toilet blocks, run health camps and much more. Ladies Circle India (LC India) is a non political and non-sectarian organisation of young women, who are wives of members of Round Table (Round Table India is an organisation which aims at promoting service, fellowship and goodwill in national and international affairs) between the ages 18-40. We have the opportunity of serving the community, fostering and strengthening friendships between like-minded young women and help…

It is Saturday afternoon and the community welfare centre at Dr Ambedkar Nagar, Koramangala 5th block is abuzz with a bunch of excited 8 to 15 year olds. Today is the day the children of this slum get to learn computers and maths from volunteers of Bhoomi, an NGO.Just as this reporter stepped in, she heard cries for Andrew. No class ever starts without Andrew she was told. He is a student of class VIII in Sacred Heart high school, Richmond road. His eyes sparkle with dreams and his smiling face brims with confidence. Andrews S, wants to become a…

Even before summer camps became the fad that it is now, Bal Bhavan in Cubbon Park has had summer camps. The camps have been going on for over 25 years now. Divya Narayanappa, secretary of Bal Bhavan says, "We have modified the summer camps this year and introduced Sanskrit as a compulsory class to revive the traditional culture."Around 142 children have already registered for the camps. With the registrations still on, they are expecting almost about 200 children to be enrolled in the Bal Bhavan summer camps this year.ScheduleApril 12 to May 20, 10 am - 4.30 pmBatch: 5 to…

I was at a baby store and in walked a pair of newly minted parents buying everything that the "helpful" store staff pointed to them. Socket covers? Door slammers? latches? Bring it on. Baby monitor? But of course. Do you even need to ask? Diaper pail? Umm...looks cool...ok we will think about that one. Pic: Reshmi Chakraborthy I had to restrain the urge to run and shake the lovely pair out of their baby buying stupor. Because that was me six and half years back, visiting stores armed with a list, courtesy baby books, baby websites and friends, all made,…

Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), Bangalore is organizing a 'Vacation Training Program on Bio-Resources' for students from 7th May to 26th May 2012.Funded by Department of Bio-Technology, Government of India, this program consists of lectures and interactive sessions with eminent scientists and experts in the field of biology and bio-resources, visits to research institutes, orientation to skills required for field-biology and out-door camps. Students who have appeared in Class X examination in 2012 from recognized schools in Karnataka are eligible to apply. The application forms and other details are available on our website. Please visit http://atree.org/vtpLast…

It is not only the number of birds in our lake that is growing but also our team, slowly but steadily! We are happy to induct two teams of volunteers PNLIT Mitra and PNLIT Young Rangers. As of now we have three supporters in the Mitra (Friends) category and four Young Rangers who make up for their lack in years with youthful enthusiasm. To those of you who had suggested names for the PNLIT juniors - "PNLIT Young Rangers" was the name that the child members chose for themselves. With these new volunteers to assist us, we shall soon be…

Birthdays are not anymore a simple affair with a bunch of friends, cake, balloons and candles. Today, childrens' birthday bashes can be quite a fancy event with everything from bouncing castles to magic shows, all managed by professionals. Pic: Wikimedia commons Hotels/party halls have tie ups with event management companies for the décor and theme of the party though it is optional. "The basic décor starts at Rs 3000, magic show at Rs 2,500, tattooing at Rs 1,500 and caricature at Rs 2,500", says Srinivas N, an event manager. "My five year old son is always excited to go to…

EntertainKids is a group working to make entertainment reachable to underprivileged children. If your question is "Why entertainment?", my answer is that food, shelter and education were not my only necessities as a child; I loved watching movies too!EntertainKids tries to bring some fun in the lives of underprivileged children, and also motivate them towards education.We plan to achieve this by:• Getting access to children by connecting with government schools, NGOs, orphanages etc. We are in talks with many organisations including Friendship Foundation, Hope Foundation, Sparsh, Runner's High, Ananya Summer camp and UW Bengaluru.• Getting cinema halls, theatres, circuses etc…