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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Volunteers of the Month - March 2009

Featured Volunteer - Naveen Panigrahi

(extreme right)

Naveen has been a part of Dream A Dream for almost a year now. He works with DELMIA and was looking forward to volunteering not only to do something for the society but also as a means to meet new people and improving his social network. Besides being a part Volunteer Management team, Naveen has been associated with DaD programs like Udaan and Mentoring. Naveen likes listening to Hindi songs, watching movies and cooking. We wish Naveen all the very best and hope that he continues with his volunteering initiatives with the same commitment that he has shown so far. You can congratulate him on naveen.panigrahi@gmail.com

I was introduced to Dream a Dream by one of my colleagues at office. Volunteering was quite an abstract term when I became a part of DaD. During the course of my association with DaD I learnt more about its programs and the impact it has created through its various volunteering initiatives. I always liked spending time with kids and DaD has provided me ample opportunities to spend my weekends in a more meaningful way.

The smile on the face of the kids and positive energy they bring keeps me going. I have drawn so much from the society around me and now by volunteering I am able to contribute to the society in a more useful way than just paying my taxes on time.

Volunteering with DaD has been a great experience. I have met so many new people that have influenced my social circle in a significant way. Besides, every new volunteer has his perspective of the issues that we are confronted with in today’s society and how we can help to address them. Most importantly I have made some really good friends by working with Dream a Dream.

Featured Volunteer - Ramalakshmi Subramanian

Rams, as we at Dream a Dream fondly call her, is a software engineer for oracle. In her free time, she likes to paint, read and keep trying to do something new. Ever since she joined Dream a Dream, she has worked tirelessly towards helping the children through various programmes such as Udaan and Mentoring. She shows a great anxiety for the child and is always putting the child’s welfare before all else. The enthusiasm she brings to our community is contagious and she continuous to be a positive influence on the lives of all those people who cross her path. Apart from programmes, she has also served two terms on the Volunteer Management Team that has helped conduct many inductions and workshops. We hope she will continue dreaming with us. You can congratulate her on itsramss@gmail.com


I heard about Dream A Dream from a friend, and started volunteering without any expectation. Initally I wasn’t sure if sports programs would make any difference at all. But to my surprise, on interaction with the children for more than a year now, I realised that it makes a lot of difference. I like all the programs because it is a fun way of teaching the most important lessons of life. I have met some wonderful people here and want to be part of it always.

The small crescent that I see on the children’s face, keeps me going. The love and affection that they shower on me keeps me restless when I miss a class. Also the positive change in them after our sessions motivates and urges me to do more.

Volunteering is always a win-win situation. It made me realize that I need them as much as they need me. It made me accept people as they are and has made me non-judgemental. It has given me confidence and made me understand that nothing is more important in life other than love. I learnt a lot of skills from the UDAAN session that I was doing. I learnt lot more from the children than from the curriculum. My sense of responsibility and level of commitment to even small things has increased. Not just volunteering, but meeting other volunteers and knowing them has helped me know about many fields which I had no clue about. The positive changes have made me optimistic and dare to dream.

Let's break the Vicious Cylce!

Poverty is a vicious cycle. And so is abuse.

We form our self-concepts about ourselves before we are of age six. That means, before age six we have more or less decided the course of ninety percent of our future life. So what happens when a child is left uncared and unwanted through his childhood years? When his self-concept is not even given a chance to know what love and self-esteem means, let alone to embrace and internalize it? We are left with a vicious cycle of abuse which finds its purpose only in permeating itself.

I still have a vivid image of a young boy (who was about eleven, but looked six) I watched playing in one of the community centers a few months back. He was bubbly, active, talkative and normal, by the standards of normal, in that setting. But as he kept running and playing, every few minutes he would suddenly stop for a couple of seconds, do a fake stagger while rolling his eyes and dragging his feet. And just like that he would drop that stance and start playing again. In the beginning I thought he was unwell, only to realize much later, while I was pondering over it at home, that he must have been unconsciously imitating his drunken father. And it sent a shudder through me to realize what would happen when he would be old enough to realize that he doesnt need to fake it anymore. In all probability, another drunken wife-beater? Will the cycle ever break?

Education is of course the key to the door to the way out. It is no doubt the fundamental right of every child. But so are life-skills. Life-skills that teach you to respect others, and more importantly, to respect yourself. When children are not given the right nutrition, or the right psychological enablers for growth, they fail to thrive (which explains why the boy looked much younger than he was). So what can we expect of children who grow up without ever seeing a positive role-model or never having anyone telling them that they are capable of having positive ambitions and achieving them? A man who abuses his family is a culprit, but how much better if instead of fighting a losing battle to reform him, we are able to take that same man as a child and give him some respect and love, in turn teaching him to respect others and give love to others?

At the level of the State, we all understand that it is about creating an environment that allows people to find dignified and fulfilling employment than giving away money to the poor. At the level of an individual, it is about creating a childhood for him that makes him want to be better than his circumstances. Admonishing a man for abusing his family and not caring for his children, is just like giving money to the poor without a source of employment. They both provide temporary relief, but dont treat the cause.

So lets attack the root-cause and love and nurture these children, to in turn teach them to love themselves and others. Lets break the vicious cycle of abuse. And hopefully, with a little providence, also of poverty.

- Suchetha Bhat, Udaan Volunteer and Mentor.