We have been fortunate to receive long term support from individuals in India and abroad.

Rev. Deborah Lindsay and William, representatives from First Community Church visited Deep Griha recently. First Community Church have supported us since 1975. Through all these years people associated with FCC have contributed in numerous ways. They have not only contributed but actively participated in the various projects of Deep Griha Society.

A group of 14 from All Angels' Church, New York visited Deep Griha in the month of January. The group was here to see the work of the organisation that various members of their church support. For most members of the group, it was their first visit to India.


25 students from Calvin College-Nursing Department, Michigan also visited us to see the work we do in the field of medical and health care.

All those who have visited us over the years have contributed to the work we do and at the same time learnt a lot from their experience here.

 
Aadhar Kendra Child Sponsorship Programme

A career guidance session was organised for the teenagers studying in grade IX and X of Aadhar Kendra from Tadiwala Road centre. This session was organised by Deep Griha’s counsellor. 18 children participated in this session.


At this point like most other teenagers, these teenagers are not sure about what they want to do in future. They are confused about which stream (Arts, Science and Commerce) or vocational course they should take up that will help them in future. Often the teenagers who are enrolled on the sponsorship programme have no one at home who can guide them. So, this session is crucial for the teenagers. The counsellor will be doing a follow up with any help the teenagers would require. Similar session will be organised for teenagers from the other centres in February.

January 30, all the children whose birthdays fall in January celebrated with a party, games and small gifts.


City of Child (COC)

 
The month of January was action packed at City of Child. All children were busy with the periodic school exams in the first two weeks of January.
 
Students of Tehmi Grant Nursing Institute were working with children at COC and the villagers from Kasurdi. 22 students and two teachers were staying at COC from January 3 to 30. They had organised a series health education programmes for the students of the local primary school in Kasurdi. Students also organised a basic health check up for all the children at Kasurdi and women who are a part of self-help groups run by Deep Griha Society. Another important initiative taken by these students was to provide first-aid training to the elder children and staff of City of Child.
 
Children participated in the flag hoisting ceremony and Republic day celebration organised by the staff of City of Child on January 26. The students from The Indian Law Society's Law College joined in the celebration. They contributed towards making this day more exciting for children by organizing a painting competition for the children. Children performed on few songs. The performances were greatly appreciated by everyone present. Dr. Neela Onawale, Rev Bhaskar Onawale, teachers from ILS Law College and a few guests were present.
 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who have worked with the children at City of Child. Each one of them has contributed in their own way. Be it by organizing fun events, health check ups, recreational workshops, beautifying the dormitories and the COC campus, conducting special classes in Mathematics and English and so on. We really appreciate all the efforts put in by all of you. We look forward to your continued support.

All the centres of Deep Griha Society in Pune celebrated the Republic Day with the staff and beneficiaries. Children at all centres had prepared a few songs and so had some of the staff members. Sweets were distributed on the day.

 
Women’s Empowerment

Four young girls from the adult literacy classes under the Women’s empowerment programme attended a Fashion Design and Creative Workshop. This workshop was organised by Innocent Heroes Foundation in association with Symbiosis Institute of Design. Students from about eight NGOs participated in this workshop.
 
The six day workshop was held in the premises of Symbiosis Institute of Design, Viman Nagar. On the last day of the workshop the children displayed the products made by them. The products ranged from paper bags, lamps, tie-dye products, folders, greeting cards, bookmarks and so on. Participants from Community Aid and Sponsorship Programme, Disha and Catalyst for Social Awareness won the first, second and third prize respectively for their work.
 

Innocent Heroes Foundation, under their new vertical “UNITY” will create a Marketing platform for these NGO’s and the products made by them.
 

Makar Sankranti celebrations

 
On various days in the month we celebrated Makar Sankranti, a festival that falls on January 14 at our three urban centres. This is a special day for the married women. They are invited for a get-together called Haldi-Kunku and given gifts (utensil, clothes, etc.), which the woman of the house purchases on that day. Typically, women wear black sarees or black colour dress on this occasion. The significance of wearing a black colour dress is, Sankranti comes at the peak of the winter season and a black colour wear absorbs more heat and helps keep body warm.
 
Women’s empowerment, Sure Start and DISHA used this occasion to get all the women beneficiaries together. At the Haldi-Kunku programme they created awareness about domestic violence and maternal and new born health through street plays. Awareness session was just one part of the event and was followed by song and dance performance and distributing til-gul. Every centre organised a combined event for all programmes in a similar manner. At every centre the scene was same – room full of colours, women wearing their best sarees and smiles everywhere!

 
Hope you enjoyed reading about the events at Deep Griha Society in the month of January. If you wish to know more about any of our projects, do visit our website www.deepgriha.org
 
 
Best wishes,
Deep Griha Team