Toybank event at Dreamz unlimited

We had been for the Toybank event at Dreamz unlimited (an orphange at Malad) on the 16th JAn 2011... We had a card making workshop which full of fun...colors...and creativity followed by the toy distribution.

Tidbits from the event.

Spreading the Light

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. ~Buddha




img courtesy: Google images

Aasra

“Whats your name?”
Bajrang…!
What will you be wen u grow up?
Hanuman..!!

Prompt came the reply from the 6year old Bajrang at Aasra….after which we couldn’t stop laughing. He was serious about his ambition. He dint like it that we laughed at him. He even showed us his muscles and smiled. Yes, we had been to Aasra on the 11th of Dec that was a Saturday as decided. This was our last meet for the year.

With a big bag full of clothes for the girls, a few toys for the boys and party caps for all we headed towards Aasra with lil information that there were boys present at the centre too. The last time one of our friends had been there , the centre had only girls. Luckily we had carried a few toys along with us which we then gave to the boys there. There were only four boys present , the rest of them had bunked their classes today …so did the girls.





Aasra is a day care centre where street kids come and study, eat , play and in the evening go back home. It has a lot of centre’s all across Mumbai. The one we went was at Thane east , we had to walk through narrow lanes , passing a lot of small houses before we reached the place. The Teacher there told us that the kids usually bunk classes on Saturday as they go begging to the Temple closeby so that they can collect money. They get atleast Rs.100 on the Saturday which is like too much money for them and hence prefer begging to studying. This shocked us.



We then settled down with the four boys present there who were more interested in studying than begging. There were 2-3 youngsters who had come from their college to voluntarily teach the kids maths. They gave the kids a hour an hour break so that they could spend some time with us. The kids were smiling when they came to knw that we had gifts for them.



We asked everyone’s name , gave them the party caps and the toys and settled down with them talking and hearing their stories. One of the boy when asked “what will you be when u grow up?” replied , “ Main bada hoke bada aadmi banunga didi”….we said, “ bada aadmi banne ke liye padhna chahiye”….”Main padhunga didi..praaaamise.” The confidence in him made us really happy.

We even asked them to solve a few Maths sums, 3 of them were confident while the fourth one ..the smallest of all ran screaming” arre baap re yeh bohat bada hai mereko nahi aata “ when we asked him to add 10 + 10. :P They then played with the toys and showed us how to operate the car we gave them. We loved the way they kept telling “didi aap firse aaoge na?” “firse aao …apka number do….main aapko fone karunga” :P





After spending an hour with them , we left the place with memories that we shall cherish all our lives. The Innocent smiles, the twinkling eyes and the naughty talks wanting us to go back to Aasra once again, perhaps, one day we will.

Toybank - Mobile Creche Event

When we got a mail from Toybank to be a part of the Mobile creche toy distribution event at Mindspace's Construction site, we readily agreed. The event was co-sponsored by Mastekk Foundation. The toys were collected by them and were to be distributed to the kids of the labourers at the construction site.

Mobile creche centres are set up in rooms on the construction site itself. They have a crèche for the below threes, a preschool for the three to five year olds, a bridge course to support older children enter the local municipal school, and an after-school programme to assist children with their homework and studies. Run by specially trained staff, the centres are cheerful, lively places, filled with song and laughter.They have centre's all over mumbai and in many other cities. To know more about them www.mumbaimobilecreches.org

We had to buy a few toys at the last moment as the toy collected by Mastekk were falling a lil short. As soon as we got a call from Farnaza, Toybank we immediately started packing the 12-15 toys that we had in stock, (the ones we had bought for giving out to the kids at AAsra). Wrapping them was fun and a first time for me as i had never been to any of the gift wrapping sessions of Toybank. We also wrapped a few toys at the station. Again a first time for us with people curiously looking at us.



As soon as we reached the centre , we realised that we were the first to arrive. We were greeted by 10-12 cute lil kidss who were all excited to get the toys. One of the girl gave us flowers too. After 10 mins the MAstek gang and Toybank arrived with 3 cartons full of toys.



We made the kids sit in a circle and started talking to them. Some very enthu, some talkative and some very shy. They danced for us on a marathi song, they sang a few songs and also told us who their fav actor/ actress is. Two kids danced on "JALWA" a salman khan song.. it was hillariousss ... tht kid actually walked like salman khan ;) and he was only 5 yrs old. Damn cute.







We then played passing the parcel with them, whoeva had the ball when the music stopped got a gift(toy). The kids participated and had a lot of fun. We could see them smiling when they recieved the gifts and were eager to open it up but they had strict instructions from their teachers to not open them here.





Overall the whole event was fun. And when something has to do with the kids how can u not be happy at the end of it.

Anmol Indeed

Like promised to the kids, we visited Anmol once again last Saturday on the 4th Dec 2010. We had not thought that the kids would remember our names because we had been there before diwali which was like 2 mnths back.



But to our surprise, as soon we entered the premises , one lil girl peeping from the window called out “Didi”… we looked back, she said “aap aaye the na pehle?” And I quickly remembered that this was the girl who had me into splits last time “sharmila.” But this time she looked different with that new hair cut of her's. After waiting for 10-15mins finally we met the Sister in-charge, she spoke about the kids, their stories, how some of these girls where brought here and how some of them were deserted by family and misused once they turn 18. It was really frightening to hear those stories.



Then one by one the kids came down to meet us after their carol singing session. Sister asked them to tell their names and they started “My name is aarti”…My name is pooja” and this went on and on until one naughty girl said “My name is khan” We all burst out laughing. It was awesome to knw that the kids remembered us and also remembered that we dint attend their diwali function. But nevertheless they danced for us on the same song they did for the function, they even sang songs.



As soon as the sister left us alone with the kids, they began doing a lot of dhamaal. They wanted to dance on every song being played by us. They even dragged us one by one and made us dance with them. Their talks, their laughter, their dance and all the energy flowing made us feel like “WOW” this is what we call fun. They even called Shahrukh khan “Buddha” :P and did all the nautanki that they can.
They even posed for the photo’s ..and trust me they were better than the kareena’s and the priyanka’s.



After all the dancing session was over we distributed eatables that we had bought for them and the soaps, sugar, toothpaste and other stuff were given to the sister.
The 2 hours at ANmol was all we needed after the previous days stressful events going on. It made us feel happy and more than us it made the kids feel special. That is what we wanted.



Trust me the kids at Anmol are a bunch of Action & energy packed naughty angels and meeting them means your not going to get of the place without a smile on your face. :)

Upcoming events

1. Anmol (once again) :Too excited to meet the kids. :)

2. The Toybank event at Mobile creche

3. Aasra

Watch this space for more updates.

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