It was a fun outing on a sunny winter morning with Rotary Club playing gracious hosts to our children. The bus ride to and from the venue was equally memorable.

20 sets of warm clothing (pullovers and track pants) arrive from A Ray of Hope, bringing a lot of cheer and warmth on a cold January morning.....

 

Our NEEV student, 16 year old Furkaan Pathan, wins the first prize at the art contest organized by The Mahatma Gandhi International Foundation, Montreal in September, 2010. A proud moment for us!

Furkaan is artistically inclined and has a keen interest in computer based designing. He aspires to go to "College" and further his studies after school. We wish him all the best...

The beneficiaries were identified, screened and divided into two batches for the training programme - One at Kalakot Block and the other in Rajouri Block. They were explained how modern technology could improve their productivity and were also given a hands on expeience at the State Sheep Farms. The training was attended by the Sheep Husbandry Department officers, vets, lead bankers and insurance sector representatives, besides dignitaries from NABAD and the District Commissioner, Rajouri.

On the 9th of June, 2010 DEEP Foundation adressed a forum consisting of the youth and a few responsible elders of village Langate, Hindwara in Jammu & Kashmir.

In the absence of employment opportunities, frustration had set in amongst the youth, even though some of them were educated. We spoke to them about opportunities and self reliance in agriculture sector by forming self help groups and land banks. The village has shown a lot of interest and have agreed to encourage and assist their children by allowing them to use their land for this purpose. We look forward to working with them from them next quarter. We have  established a core team to help us take this initiative forward.

Liddervat, Tehsil Pahalgam, distt Anantnag, Jammu & Kashmir

Deep Foundation launched their first mobile school at the beautiful valley of Liddervat. We are grateful to David Tyler Trust, UK and A Ray of Hope - UNESCO Youth Ambassador for the Culture of Peace for supporting us at every step and helping us make this possible.

http://www.unesco.8m.com/BKI/myalbum.html

Liddervat is like a base camp. This is where a huge community of the nomadic shepherds camp before they progress towards the Alpine pastures at Kolai glacier or Tarsar Lake...This year, untimely rains and snow played havoc with their migration schedules and they suffered huge losses in their flocks.

Besides primary school level classes, our school also aims at involving the women of the community to revive a special weave that has now become an almost forgotten art form. The classroom will be used by the ladies in the afternoons for this purpose.

This school will shift to Tarsar Lake once the snow melts there and then to Village Pingagala, Distt Rajouri in the winter months, only to be back here in the summer months.

Mohammed Bashir belongs to the Bakkarwal(shepherd) community of Jammu & Kashmir. They are almost entirely nomadic, spending approximately six months each on the plain and mountain pastures. Every year, around the end of May/early June, they cross over to the Valley via the Mughal Road and other corridors in the Pir Panjal.They migrate along with their animals and travel a distance of almost 300 Kms on foot over a period of  one month. They camp at Tarsar Lake for four months and set out for Rajouri in October end.

Bakkarwals are a poorly represented people in the State - socially, economically and educationally - and have been increasingly marginalized owing to their nomadic lifestyles.

Bashir has studied till Higher Secondary level and realises the significance of basic education, particularly for the girl child. He has been homeschooling his own children and since the last 2 years, he has been helping the people of his community by imparting Primary School Level education to the nomadic children.

DEEP Foundation is providing a 16'x14' tent to Bashir to run classes uninterrupted, round the year, providing the children shelter from rain and cold winds. Soon we propose to extend the facility to the ladies of the community, most of whom are illiterate. We are in the process of identifying a resource from within the community who could be trained and empowered to take this initiative forward.

Proposed Launch date : June 16, 2010

This project is being supported by A Ray of Hope - UNESCO Youth Ambassador for the Culture of Peace and David Tyler Trust, UK.

The first class of NEEV was attended by 35 children of age groups ranging from 5 years to 15 years.

We are grateful to all our friends and well wishers who have come forward to help us make this event a big success. It was heartening to see them donate art supplies and refreshments, while many have registered as volunteer teachers who would be undergoing resource training soon.

We all congregated on the 16th of March, 2010 at 4pm at the Community Centre of Sector-A Pocket-C, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi on the auspicious day of the first Navratri, coinciding with the Hindu New Year this year. The ice was broken very quickly with this adorable, enthusiastic bunch of children from the adjoining villages of Kishangarh and Mehrauli. We discussed the concept of being rewarded for good deeds and showed them how they could gradually save their own money by being good and helpful. As a follow-up activity, they painted their own earthen money banks(gullak)...

This was followed by music and dance and we had a lot of fun dancing together to the beats of the latest Bollywood music. All the dancing called for a refreshing break and they tucked in to snacks and soft drinks. They went back home, very happy and proud, with their beautiful and colourful creations.

Video link on YouTube :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGOeEZ8cfoM

For more photographs of the event, please visit the DEEP Foundation page on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=152715&id=164050953045&ref=mf

DEEP Foundation's fund raising stall showcasing exquisite weaves and embroideries from Kashmir(12th-14th Feb, DLF Promenade, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi). The proceeds are being used to support our education initiatives.

DON MC BURNEY - Director, A Ray of Hope UNESCO Youth Ambassador for the Culture of Peace

"We welcome our new friends who are caring and being cared for through Deep Foundation India. The family of A Ray of Hope will be truly enriched and in the months to come we hope to advance their goals with a positive contribution. The script below is from Sujata and the music from the video is being sung by two very talented young ladies from Northern Ireland. Together we will endeavour to make a difference. This video is dedicated to those in Deep Foundation who aim to bring the hand of friendship and help to those in need. My own personal best wishes to Mohammed a shepherd and teacher , living at 14,000 feet and looking after two flocks !"

www.unesco.co.uk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBVA_-tVuHY

"Every Member of the DEEP Foundation has been deeply impacted in some way or the other with burning issues in our country like slackening agricultural growth when 70% of the country still lives in the villages(we have been reduced to a state when we even have to import inferior quality of food grains from countries like Canada and the US - a glaring example of our huge potential as a nation, but completely mismanaged...... Our growing concern and a helplessness in individually trying to do something about it is what got the team together and offered a common platform. We all agreed that we should make a concerted effort to try and promote agriculture as a viable means of livelihood, thereby promoting entrepreneurship amongst the youth. Kashmir was a logical choice because they were affected the worst.... and that is where the story unfolds....

Most of the pictures tell a single story - that of hope... - A Ray of Hope... :) It is there in their eyes... people are tired with the senseless violence and have realised that it hasn't got them anything.....In fact they have lost most of what they had.... including hope... They were just surviving when the DEEP Foundation team met them....Their eyes light up when we tell them what we plan to do and give them the courage to believe that together we can all work towards world peace and create a better world....that is what we have tried to capture in the photographs......

Finding self driven individuals like Mohammed Bashir at 14,000 feet is a rare treat and we help in whatever way we can.... We have promised him support with education aids and training on how to use them effectively....His 'school' has to take a 6 month long winter break because these shepherds go their different ways once winter sets in and camp there once again in April when summer sets in....At the moment, all trekking routes are sealed in Kashmir due to heavy snowfall....."

Even  though there are schools for autistic children in the city and some are doing a commendable job, there are not many facilities available for such children to spend outdoor time.

Playtime Delhi is an initiative of a set of parents and a young clinical psychologist that aims at teaching these boys how to negotiate outdoor space, meet new people and experience different places. It is this outdoor experience that is  new. New for all these boys — Abhimanyu, Vivaan, Ansh, Niraj, Sahil and Vishu. An experience far different from the skills taught by the special schools some of them go to.

This Sunday it was a completely different experience from their bouts of cricket, football, skating or outdoor photography.... It was an exposure to aerobics with Fitness Trainer Sujata Suri and Dr. Rupa Dasgupta who is a key pillar at 'Sarahana' - a special school for children with learning disabilities. They were introduced to the gym ball and the trampoline, besides some fundamental, basic movement on the floor.

The children related to the environment from the time they stepped into the studio and enjoyed themselves immensely with all the latest tracks playing in the background. The kids followed it up with a snack and cola session. It was a big party at the Vasant Kunj Sports Complex on a sunny winter morning and they went back happy, contented and wearing their biggest smiles.

Deep Foundation was delighted to host the event and look forward to providing many more interesting platforms to Playtime Delhi in the months to come.

The age group of these children vary from 11 to 25 years. The group keeps in touch with each other through Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Playtime-Delhi/100000381308982