Aid Delhi Newsletter May 2005

Association for India’s Development Delhi Chapter

Newsletter, May 2005 Edition # 1

“Learning humility, purity and simple-living from those who don't take too much from the earth... Targeting the problems of hunger, disease and oppression that sadden their lives... Inspiring in each other trust, Confidence and support for one another...” Our Mission

Table of contents

From the Editor’s Desk Krishna, Riputapan

From the Editor’s Desk Journey of Delhi chapter Projects Parichay Tsunami Relief Work Faith Foundation Nayi Disha Cells RTI Environment Health Services Livelihood Generation Fund-Raising CSR

We are extremely glad to release our first newsletter. The objective of this newsletter is to keep everyone interested in AID-Delhi abreast with the developments taking place. It’s taken a while to come up with this one but we shall do it regularly (read quarterly) in future. This being the first newsletter, Anuj (our honorary President) gives an insight into how Delhi chapter started last year and its journey till date. We have described about some projects which are currently going on. All the projects are given from first person view to be more effective.

Events Campaigns Knowledge Sharing (Kyoto) Facts

We want this newsletter to not just provide the “news” about AID Delhi but also act as an awareness tool. So in this newsletter we are sharing some facts about the KYOTO protocol – a protocol to protect our invaluable environment. In every edition we would like to bring such an informative article.

Open Volunteer Positions Future Roadmap

Also featured are the experiences of our volunteers. Plus the current open volunteer positions with us.

Volunteers Speak… Contact Information

We expect comments / suggestions about this newsletter from the readers, so that we can make it better.

“Be the change that you want to see in this world”

AID Delhi – A heart-warming journey

holistic growth. Things were, however, moving very slowly.

Contributed By: Anuj

Varun and Krishna designed the first website for us. It was crude, but things were in place.

I came in touch with AID in October 2002 while I was pursuing my MS at University of California, San Diego. It was when I was about to return to India after completing my Masters that I realized I should work with AID in Delhi too. There was not much that was going on in Delhi at that time. There was an online group that was not very active. I met Neelesh (the only active AID Delhi contact then) in my first week in India and we discussed a bit about how things are and what needs to be done. This was not about Development of India, it was about how to revive AID Delhi. We decided to call a common meeting on the Republic Day (about 20 days from the day we met). Meanwhile, I discussed my interest in volunteering with a non-profit organization with a lot of friends. Many of them showed interest. I am really grateful to them for providing the moral support then. Had they not shown that initial interest, AID Delhi might not have been possible. About 8 people attended the first AID Delhi meeting. The meeting was a monologue – obviously by me… I talked about AID and what it does in India. I talked about what all we can do. I talked about our full-time volunteers in India - the Jeevan Saathis and also the Saathis. Possibly I could not capture their imagination that well, only 2 of them came to the next meeting. The first meetings were about gaining a critical mass and things to be done to build a dedicated group so that something can actually be accomplished. People listened to me, but then thought that the dose was heavy and did not turn up in the next meeting. But I was definitely interested in a serious group. Not a group of people who would meet to socialize. So, the first challenge was to get dedicated people to volunteer. The second and a very important challenge was to have a meeting place. We wanted to meet in central Delhi to be fair to volunteers from all corners of NCR. The first few meetings were held at public places like Wimpys, Jantar Mantar, Birla Mandir, Bangla Sahib Gurudwara etc. Meanwhile we had started with some activities – in particular, books collection for our Shiksha Vahini program and meeting school principals for enrolling them into the program. The program involves improvement in quality of science edu cation in schools through special Joy of Learning sessions and by linking schools for

A visit to Qudsia Ghat had motivated us to study pollution in Yamuna and some work also went into planning an inter-college social awareness event. Not much materialized in the first half of the year. Many volunteers lost steam and discontinued. It was tough to continue; almost nothing was working the way we wanted. We did not lose hope though. We started meeting twice a week, once in central Delhi and once at STMicroelectronics in N oida. Things were still hazy. Nothing clear was in sight. It was after one meeting at ST tha t Krishna showed interest in going to Parichay. I was elated, but skeptical. Many previous volunteers had shown similar interest but were not seen in the following meetings. Krishna proved my skepticism wrong. His regular visits to Parichay motivated othe rs. Anirban joined soon. His enthusiasm and ideas also made people to sit up and think. It was no longer just one person who was speaking. Somendra and Yuvraj joined the group. I met Mayank -- This IIT-IIM grad had left his high-paying job to venture into non profit organization sector. His regularity and commitment motivated others to follow suit. Things had reached the critical mass. There was no looking back. Amit arranged for a stall at Rendezvous – the IIT festival, where we showcased Parichay’s stuff. Sales were great. Parichay had never sold more than Rs.2000/- in a stall. Sales here surpassed Rs.4500/-. This was a major moral boost to all of us. We had got a source through which we could support Parichay – our only project at that time. This was followed by numerous stalls. Sambit went to BITS Pilani. We put up stalls in different colleges in Delhi. Things looked good. In the meanwhile, our interaction with ST had also started taking shape. While Environment Day poster campaign was one level of participation, we supported material collection during Flood relief activities. We set up a stall at ST and sales surpassed Rs.25000 in three days. This was fantastic. Meanwhile Lippika had come across reference of Faith Foundation in a magazine and Anirban set out to search for Reshma, whose interview had appeared in the magazine. Soon, we started working with Faith Foundation too. Our participation was very limited. While Vijay bhaiya at Parichay had an almost part-time job, Reshma and Shubhadeep at Faith Found ation had full -time

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jobs. We did not have bandwidth supporting and facilitating. We did that.

beyond

Lots of things were moving simultaneously. Volunteers at ST, under Parul’s enthusiastic leadership, were exploring CSR initiatives like vermicomposting, gray water recycling etc. for the new campus. A research study was done and quotes invited. There were discussions about collaborating in Digital Unify program. The relationship was strengthening. Sveta, Arti, Mayank, Roopa and Mithilesh started going to Nayi Dishaa over weekends. Like other activities, this was erratic in the beginning. Things improved slowly though. Peeyush then joined with his Joy of Learning kit. Then there were campaigns like the ones for clean water in Bhopal, Global Day of Action for Justice in Bhopal and campaign for affordable medicines. Rajeshwar joined us on the Global Day of Action. His enthusiasm is infectious. We were on our way to the AID -India conference when Tsunami struck. The disaster and the devastation numbed us for a moment. The first session of the conference was devoted to whatever could be urgently done for Tsunami relief from the distance. Volunteers in Delhi were busy coordinating relief material. Requirements were changing every hour. People donated medicines, groceries, baby food and a whole plethora of material. We sent relief material from Delhi. We were swamped with calls from people who wanted to reach out and volunteer in the affected areas. We also got in touch with people who wanted to know how they could help from Delhi.

Parichay more self-reliant. We also need to work on CSR initiatives at ST and other organizations. We look forward to working on social responsibilities for individuals too. We wish to work on research projects. We wish to create educational and health awareness material and pamphlets. Digital Unify program needs to be started in right earnest. A proper network of organizations is a need of the hour. And then there is so much to ask for in terms of equality and justice. It sure is a long way to go, and together we will make this journey a success.

Projects

Parichay Contributed By: Somendra Parichay is a school located in north east Delhi. Mr. Vijay Bajpayee started this school in the year 2000. Presently the school is located in a building which is the shelter for some 25 families. Each of the families has five to eight members. Before Parichay’s existence, the male members of the family (above eight years) used to work and female members staye d at home. None of the kids went to school. Mr. Bajpayee started the school with the motive of educating the kids of the locality and to provide some sort of vocational training to the children so that they have a better living.

Meera aunty, Riputapan and many volunteers contacted and joined us after they interacted with us during Tsunami relief activities. Meera aunty offered her house as a preferred venue for the CSH and almost one year after our revival, we had a home where we could meet and discuss things in a private informal environment. We celebrated our first anniversary (26 th Jan) at Parichay. We also formally decided on responsibilities for office bearers. Smita and Samira chipped in for managing the finances. We started contributing a lunch a month to the AID Delhi common kitty. So, a corpus is being built. We will use this to facilitate functioning of our projects and campaigns. It will make us financially independent. When we look into the future, there are lots of challenges. We need to put lots of effort at Nayi Dishaa and Faith Foundation to smoothen their functioning. We need to make the community at

The thought was simple but the task was enduring. In the next few years more and more people joined their hands to strengthen the activities at Parichay. The description will b e completely imaginative since during those days AID was not a part of Parichay. It would be a mere tailoring of words if I try to describe what Parichay is today. It is a part of their life now. AID joined hands with Mr. Bajpayee in mid-2004. Krishna (AID volunteer) started going to Parichay

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to teach the kids. From July, I too started going to Parichay on every Sunday. AID's participation has catapulted Parichay's progress. First it was only at level of teaching. Then we arranged for a stall in the IIT Delhi festival for the hand made items of Parichay. AIDers manned the stall along with Vijay Bajpayee. Then there were few more stalls of Parichay which followed with AID’s participation, out of which the most important one was at STmicroelectronics , Noida wh ere Parichay items worth Rs. thirty thousand were sold. It brought smiles to the kids. On the eve of Diwali, school bags were given to the Parichay kids. It was a delightful moment for the kids.Next it was a picnic for the Parichay kids which was also jointly organised by AID. From January 2005 , Parichay started its masala making unit. Ladies of the community they were eager to work. They were provided with chakki, mixer and the unit started. Though we have not yet managed to have a great sale of items bu t we are trying to get hold of more and more people who can buy these things on a regular basis.

documentation and sorting of relief materials at our godown in Chennai. For the collection of relief material, we approached many companies to organize collection camps in their premises. All the companies we approached agreed readily. The camps saw an overwhelming response. We had camps at ST Microelectronics, Fidelity, Private Sector Partnerships -One Abt Associates and ITC. Besides these companies, we had a lot of donations in both cash and kind from numerous individuals. The most striking aspect of these donations was that these came from people of varied economic backgrounds. But the intentions were the same. Everyone wanted to contribute in whatever way they could. After the collections, we sorted all the material and packed them neatly into cartons with labels on top. The intention was to relieve our over -worked friends at Chennai of the extra-effort.

Presently four children are going to formal school with the help of some enthusiastic sponsors. What AID is looking for is the self sustainability of Parichay. Well to few it might be an obscure idea. But to all of us Parichay is a struggle for these socially deprived people to make an impression in the society. We have faith on our volunteers and with the blessings of our well-wishers; we hope to make this struggle successful.

Tsunami Relief Work Contributed By: Sambit Within hours of the disaster, AID Delhi started mobilizing volunteers and collecting relief material. We decided to provide all kinds of logistic support to AID Chennai. We were swamped wi th phone calls from all parts of north India for information on the on-going relief efforts, and for volunteering opportunities. In order to work efficiently we divided ourselves into two teams: The first h eaded by Anuj dealing with all the volunteering activities; and the second by Li ppika and me managing the collection of relief materials and their dispatch to our Chennai office. For this, we were in regular touch with the Chennai office as the requirements were very dynamic and were updated every week. Volunteers were organized according to their experience and expertise. People willing to spend more than two weeks were directed to the Chennai office. There they were assigned work and sent to the affected areas. Others, who could spare less time, were assigned work like

In all, we collected over 5 tonnes of relief material packed into more than 260 cartons. These included 5 cartons of essential medici nes, more than 7000 new clothes (donated by ITC) and dry ration. The relief truck was flagged off from the ST Microelectronics office, which also served as our sorting center, with a prayer and a one-minute silence for the millions affected by the killer Tsunami. We also pledged our complete support and help for those whose life has changed forever. We wish to acknowledge the contributions received by AID – Delhi for Tsunami Relief:S.No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name Dr.Meera Vaswani Rohit Bhasin Prem Rautela Rajat Kohli Arvind S Rooprai Parul Bajaj Harit Lal Neeraj Lal Rwik Sen gupta Sushrant Monga

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Contribution 5000 1000 500 2000 1500 4000 2000 2000 500 1500

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Sri Ram Gupta Amit Bhansali Ruchika Chaddha Roopa Iyer Amit Dhiman Anuj grover Min, JNU ITC Fidelity Bhavna Sharma

21

STMicroelectronics

22

Flextronics

150 500 1000 1000 2000 1350 1625 7000, Clothes Clothes, material Clothes, medicines Clothes, ration, medicines 4,28,100

Faith Foundation Contributed By: Anirban One fine day as Mrs. Reshma Ghosh was coming out of Barista (PVR Priya complex) she saw some kids picking rags and some playing like any other kid. Her curiosity led her to the fact that these kids belong to a nearby slum and are mostly ragpickers. The plight of the kids moved her and she thought of doing something to improve their lives. It was late 2003, she started spending weekends teaching around seven kids in front of Barista.She was joined by her friend Subhadip and her son Orko. In spite of their hectic office schedule their commitment towards the kids remains rock solid. Lots of passer-by's pause and have a look at what’s happening and then move on. Some ask questions regarding how can they help but they actually never come back to help. But as time passed a small fraction of people got motivated and started lending a helping hand. AID Delhi came to know about Mrs Reshma's efforts through an interview published in a magazine in September, 2004. After getting the coordinates of the class our volunteers (Anirban and Somendra) visited the site on a Saturday evening hoping to get information about Mrs. Reshma and her classes i.e. when and where exactly they are held. During the first visit we came to know from a shopkeeper that a lady has been teaching the slum kids for quite sometime and that the classes are usually held from 10 am onwards on weekends. We talked to some kids who were picking rags and they told us with gleaming eyes, which showed unflinching love for the lady who cares of r them, that Didi will come tomorrow for teaching them. We left the place with lot of excitement and decided to come back next morning. Finally that morning came and we (Anirban and Yuvraj) were there to meet Mrs. Reshma. The meeting was the beginning of a long-time

association of AID Delhi with Faith Foundation. We invited her to our CSH to tell us in detail about how everything started and what she aspires for the kids and how we can help so as to have a better future for the kids. Inspired by the meeting AID volunteers started going to teach the kids on weekends. They have raised funds for medicines and donated clothes for the kids. Faith Foundation is now more than 1.5 years old. Some of the kids are the earning members of their families so it took time to convince the parents for sending their kids for the classes. 40 -50 kids turn up for the classes on a regular basis on the weekends, 5 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Sometimes the number of kids shoots beyond 60. Classes begin with a round of simple warm-up exercises. Basics of mathematics, English, and Hindi are taught by the volunteers. Each volunteer takes care of a certain group. With the aim of providing a window to the creativity in the kids, drawing classes are also held. Prizes are given to motivate the kids towards studies, for best drawing or for the highest score in a test. Classes for awareness towards health and hygiene and their rights are also held. Some of the kids suffer from learning disabilities such as dyslexia making learning a real challenge. Medicines of common diseases are distributed to the kids standing in a queue, a virtue which learned men often forget, after every class. Finally the food packets are distributed among the kids so as to add a bit of nutrition value in their diet.

Students of various Delhi based colleges like IIT have been motivated to actively participate in teaching and other activities at Faith Foundation. AID has also facilitated presentations by Faith Foundation in various student forums in order to promote social responsibility among students at an early age. One memorable incident will remain etched in the minds of our volunteers forever. During one of the classes in peak winter we saw a puppy covered with pieces of foam and sleeping happily. On

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asking the kids we came to know that one of the kids named Chand, who saw the puppy shivering, collected pieces of foam lying around and made a warm bed for it. Love and care are not words in vogue for these kids but they are the true feelings which reside in thei r hearts. As AID believes in involving the community to solve the problems of the community, efforts have been made and will be made to motivate and involve people to contribute towards a better life for the underprivileged kids.

Nayi Dishaa

Environment This cell doesn't need any introduction - think all that you can think of. Yamuna, Rainwater harvesting, toxic wastes, energy conservation, water conservation, alternative energy, waste management, environment sensitive technologies etc. will only be some of the things that this group will work on... The group will have enormous flexibility in what it desires to take up. Essentially, this cell will mark AID Delhi's foray into environment related issues. Activities on Envirionment day (June 5), Yamuna Walk, Toxics tour etc. all come under the purview of this cell.

Contributed By: Mayank

Health Services

Nayi Dishaa Free Educational Society was started by Mr. Jaswal - a retired Army officer - in 1992 in NOIDA. AID US had supported Nayi Dishaa for about an year earlier. Nayi Dishaa is a government recognized primary school and the admission cri terion is that the child should belong to a family of income lower than Rs.1500/- a month.

This cell will be a precursor to the AID Delhi's initiative in health care. The cell should begin by writing health related pamphlets and translating those in English to Hindi. This cell will also be involved in "affordable" health care techniques / activities for the urban poor (and if possible rural poor). Besides, it’ll involve studying age-old health care practices in different cultures and communities and documenting how they fit into the society of today. The cell shall also arrange visits of doctors to our different projects.

AID Delhi's interaction with Nayi Dishaa started in July 2004 when we contacted them to donate books we had collected from Mata Jai Kaur Public School (Ashok Vihar) as a part of our Shiksha Vahini program. Volunteers started visiting the school over weekends and teaching for about 2 hours. Some volunteers also visit the school on weekdays to teach for about an hour.

Cells Contributed By: Anuj, Riputapan (Th ese cells are basically study groups)

Right To Information This cell will essentially spearhead the "Right to Information" (RTI) campaign from AID Delhi's side. We already have some basic contacts with Parivartan (the pioneer in "Right to Info" in Delhi). The participants will interact more with Parivartan. They should also be members of Right to Information Manch - which was launched about a year back and is a stable forum now. They will update the group about RTI, file RTI applications and also encourag e other AID volunteers to file RTI applications and be active and aware citizens.

Livelihood Generation This cell shall work in close consonance with Dhriiti. We have been in contact with Dhriiti (www.dhriiti.org) for quite some time. They are a very active group of young people who are working for community empowerment. They work with the community to design a livelihood generation methodology / business model for them. This cell will act as a launch pad for AID Delhi's foray into micro-credit, self-help groups and community entrepreneurship. This cell will start with studying different community empowerment case studies from over the world to get a good feel of what a big difference their contribution can make. Anirban Gupta and Nidhi (of Dhriiti) will be more than happy to help and guide us through this.

Fund Raising Does this cell even need an introduction? This cell will be involved in coming up with innovative ways of fund-raising for AID Delhi (and its partner NGOs). The target is to make donors aware of AID's activities and then motivate them to contribute to the cause of India's development. We can collaborate with Art and Dance clubs in different colleges and ask us to perform for a

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charity show - not only will we promote local talent, but also raise money at very low cost. Need is to work with lots of groups. This is one of the most exciting (and possibly strenuous ) activities. I mean, I remember the excitement and the tension when we organized fund-raiser concert in San Diego.

dispelling the animosity and fostering the feeling of oneness among the people of India and Pakistan.

Corporate Social Responsibility CSR is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. This cell primarily focuses on promotion of CSR initiatives among corporate houses. It gives the corporate houses a chance to give back to the society they flourish in. Also it helps in making the employees more socially aware, turning them into responsible citizens. Under CSR initiatives, the most significant achievement of AID Delhi has been in developing a strong association with ST Microelectronics, Noida. Thanks to Parul’s enthusiasm, various tasks have been accomplished under CSR banner at ST and many other projects are in pipeline. Projects like Rain Water Harvesting have already been implemented. Proposal for vermicomposting is under review. Tsunami relief is perhaps the best example of CSR @ ST. In association with Goonj (an NGO) & ST, AID was able to dispatch muchneeded relief material to the needy in Tamil Nadu.

v Global Day of Action (Dec’04) - AID Delhi, We for Bhopal, Green Peace Delhi and The Other Media organized an event th at India Gate to commemorate the 20 anniversary of world’s biggest industrial disaster in Bhopal.

We hope to maintain our strong touch with ST, paving the way for more such initiatives at different corporate houses.

Events

v Protest Against Killings (Jan ’04 ) AID Delhi volunteers participated in the protest/ condolence meeting for social workers Mahesh and Savita, who were shot at point-blank range in Gaya, Bihar .

Compiled By: Riputapan From time to time, we have organized and been a part of various events. A summary of a handful of them has been listed. v

Indo-Pak Peace March (Mar-Apr ’05) – A walk into the hearts of people -- that is the aim of Indo -Pak peace march which kicked off on 23rd March. Anuj, Rajeshwar , Amit and Ripu joined the march. It’s a unique experience to be a part of such a march wherein people of all religions, castes etc. walk hand -in-hand singing songs of amity and peace. This peace march will go a long way in

Campaigns Compiled By: Riputapan v "Right to Affordable Medicine and Treatment" Campaign (Dec ’04) v Clean water in Bhopal Campaign (Nov ’04) v Goonj campaign in ST (Aug ’04) v Interlinking of Rivers Awareness Campaign(July’04)

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Kyoto Protocol Compiled By: Riputapan The Kyoto Protocol is a legally binding international agreement to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, which was initially negotiated during the CoP-3 meeting held Kyoto, Japan in 1997. The agreement would commit industrialized countries to reduce emissions of six greenhouse gases (excluding 03 and water vapor) by 5% by 2012. Rather than placing a specific target on each of the gases, the overall emissions targets for all six would be combined individual gas reductions would be translated into "CO2 equivalents" used to produce a single figure. The agreement specifies that all Parties to the Protocol must follow a number of steps including: v v v v

Design and implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation programs Preparation of a national inventory of emissions removals by carbon sinks Promotion of climate friendly technology transfer Fostering partnerships in research and observation of climate science, impacts and response strategies

Developing countries are not legally bound to emissions reduction targets as yet, because these countries have historically been responsible for only a small portion of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions Reduction Targets: Requirements to achieve the 5% group target: v 8% emission cuts by Switzerland, most Central and East European states, and the EU (which will meet its target by distributing different rates among its member states.) v 7% emission cut by the US v 6% emis sion cuts by Canada, Hungary, Japan, and Poland v Russia, New Zealand, and Ukraine are to stabilize their emissions v Norway may increase emissions by up to 1% v Australia may increase emissions by up to 8%Iceland may increase emissions up to 10% A provision in the meet its reduction from power plants countries may also

agreement allows a nation to quota by reducing emissions and automobiles. Developed achieve their commitments by

deducting the greenhouse gas emissions absorbed by carbon sinks from their gross emissions in the commitment period. This provision includes emissions absorbed or emitted by certain land-use changes and forestry activities, such as reforestation. Ratification The treaty becomes effective 90 days after ratification. The ratification procedure requires the signatures of at least 55 Parties to the Convention, and must include enough Annex I Parties (industrialized nations) to account for at least 55 percent of total CO2 emissions from industrialized countries in 1990. As of April 15, 2004, 122 countries had ratified or acceded to the Kyoto Protocol. But those countries represent only 44.2 of the total CO2 emissions from industrialized countries in 1990. The United States - the world's largest emitter - withdrew from Kyoto in 2001, so the only way that the Protocol will enter into force now is if Russia ratifies the agreement.

Facts Compiled By: Krishna

World’s Population Figures Year

Population (Crores)

Increase (Crores)

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

391 452 522 603 697

61 70 81 94

Open Volunteer Positions v School Teachers' Network Coordinator Responsibilities:§ Establishing STN in Delhi § Representing AID at various Govt. Agencies v Research Coordinator Responsibilities:§ Researching on topics viz., pollution; diet; chemical pesticides; organic farming; health; urban planning ; sewage treatment; environmental impact assessment; globalization; economic policies; gender inequity etc. § Converting the findings to a pamphlet format v Fund Raisers

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v

v

Responsibilities:§ Organizing fund-raising events and supporting the Fund-raising coordinator. Technical Writers Responsibilities:§ To come up with innovative ways to make learning fun for children § Prepare educational material for classes VI – X Relationship Managers Responsibilities:§ To serve as a poin t-o f-contact between institutional bodies and AID-Delhi § To organize AID events in your organization/institution and create awareness

Future Roadmap v v v v v v v

Vermicomposting, Environment Day, Energy Audits as part of CSR @ ST Discussion with Directorate of Education in order to spread STN To mobilize the volunteers coming from different parts of Delhi to volunteer in their respective zones. Hire paid volunteer(s) to sustain activities at Faith Foundation More stalls for Parichay and facilitate their drive to be self-sustainable Fund Raising activities to support the existing AID Delhi initiatives and to venture into new ones. Give shape to Digital Unify Program to bridge the digital divide

Volunteers Speak…

I also developed the AID Delhi website. Besides teaching at Parichay and website development there are a lot of other things which I developed during this experience . My attitude towards "society" has changed a lot. In the beginning I used to think that NGOs don’t do any work except show-off. Also there is very little that can be done by a person like me apart from donating money to poor people. I was wrong. "Everyone Counts" is proved in my case. I worked along wi th Vijay Bajpai and you and brought about some change in the lives of the children and their families in Parichay. Stalls were the next biggest part of my work. There I got a chance to interact with different kinds of people. It was really interesting to compare how volunteers in the stalls think and how people outside think. Besides I will always cherish the wonderful time I had manning these stalls, with my fellow AID Delhi volunteers. Then the awareness about various issues l ike saving water, electricity, oil , paper , what not!! Reduce, Reuse and Recycle . Actually these should be imparted while in schools. We should do something regarding this. In these 10 months, I met some like-minded people and meeting them is like adding wind to fire. It really increases the energy levels within oneself. We don't think "Why I am doing all this?" if we are not alone. When I got the job in Bangalore, I felt sad be ca use I didn't know how to tell you. But the fact has to come out and it came. Also I was sad because I doubt whether I would be able to deliver the same again.

Contributed By: Krishna As I prepare to join Intel in Bangalore, I would like to share my beautiful experiences with AID Delhi. It was in the month of February that I first met Anuj by seeing a poster in ST. He directed me to a CSH. The first CSH was at Birla Temple. I reached there at Indian timing (30 min late!). After this I didn't attend any CSH because of….laziness !!! But I was a member of volunteers list of ST. Then in June/July Anuj started conducting meetings in ST once in 2 weeks and sent a mail regarding the same. It was a turning point for me. I was always fond of teaching. In the meetings/mails, Anuj told about a slum school in Bhajanpura. I asked him for further details. He introduced me to Vijay Bajpai alias Vijay Bhaiya and I started teaching at Parichay.

It is really sad to leave a nice organisation, nice friends and nice work. But I will be continuing whatever that can be done through mails.

Contact Information Postal Address : AID Delhi , B-121, MIG Flats , Phase-IV, Ashok Vihar , Delhi - 110 052 E-mail : [email protected] [email protected] Website : delhi.aidindia.org Phone : 9818248459 (Anuj) Group Mail id : [email protected] [email protected]

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