It all started with the nagging feeling " how do I make my children more grateful for what they have"
Being your childs best friend and talking to him all the time helps but what is most effective are activities as actions speak so much louder than words. So it started with making them aware of the street beggars banging at our luxury car windows, giving them some money which as my wise husband rightly pointed out never goes to them but the cartel that runs this as a business. So we started carrying nutritious biscuits and handing biscuits to the street kids, the big smiles on their faces made my kids so happy and proud. As they grew older more was needed. We tried distributing pav vada on their birthday at a nearby slum, only to be mobbed which was definitely not a pleasant experience. Something more intimate, meaningful and structured was needed, but what ??
So I formed a small group of 25 kids, all our friends children, super privileged who needed a dose of gratitude and humility! Some of the fun activities we have done which are easy for you to replicate in your city
1) During Ganesh festival we bought eco friendly Ganeshas from Omkar, who lives in a nearby slum. All kids got together and painted and decorated the idols, Omkar was with us, talking about how long it takes to make the idol, helping them paint and we mothers taught them why use eco friendly idols
2) During Diwali, we got diyas and had an artist from the "warli" tribe teach them warli painting on the diyas and pots, a nice way for them to learn a dying art and support a tribe that needs to be conserved
3) During Christmas we invited 20 kids from a near by slum to our home, watched a puppet show with them and had Santa and our children hand them snacks and gifts, they all interacted and ate together, it has to be interactive and inclusive for it to be effective
4) During Holi, we went to a mentally disabled school to play holi with eco friendly colours
5) We had all our children listen to the local blind boys orchestra and hear the passion with which they sang and played their instruments
6) On Kargil day, we took them to the army disabled home to distribute sweets
7) We organised a fund raiser - a fashion show, dances and fun auction where parents and children participated to raise money for a local ngo
8) Another fun fundraiser - an art camp, where children learned various art forms(wine bags, trays, candles) and sold them to raise money for a local ngo
My goal with this blog is to post some good ngos (all audited and verified by me personally), their addresses and little needs where you can make your child contribute money from his piggy bank, places you can take your children and organise activities or call them home to conduct workshops in small groups. Lets all try to make our kids good human beings, socially sensitive and responsible and proud to be Indians !
Being your childs best friend and talking to him all the time helps but what is most effective are activities as actions speak so much louder than words. So it started with making them aware of the street beggars banging at our luxury car windows, giving them some money which as my wise husband rightly pointed out never goes to them but the cartel that runs this as a business. So we started carrying nutritious biscuits and handing biscuits to the street kids, the big smiles on their faces made my kids so happy and proud. As they grew older more was needed. We tried distributing pav vada on their birthday at a nearby slum, only to be mobbed which was definitely not a pleasant experience. Something more intimate, meaningful and structured was needed, but what ??
So I formed a small group of 25 kids, all our friends children, super privileged who needed a dose of gratitude and humility! Some of the fun activities we have done which are easy for you to replicate in your city
1) During Ganesh festival we bought eco friendly Ganeshas from Omkar, who lives in a nearby slum. All kids got together and painted and decorated the idols, Omkar was with us, talking about how long it takes to make the idol, helping them paint and we mothers taught them why use eco friendly idols
2) During Diwali, we got diyas and had an artist from the "warli" tribe teach them warli painting on the diyas and pots, a nice way for them to learn a dying art and support a tribe that needs to be conserved
3) During Christmas we invited 20 kids from a near by slum to our home, watched a puppet show with them and had Santa and our children hand them snacks and gifts, they all interacted and ate together, it has to be interactive and inclusive for it to be effective
4) During Holi, we went to a mentally disabled school to play holi with eco friendly colours
5) We had all our children listen to the local blind boys orchestra and hear the passion with which they sang and played their instruments
6) On Kargil day, we took them to the army disabled home to distribute sweets
7) We organised a fund raiser - a fashion show, dances and fun auction where parents and children participated to raise money for a local ngo
8) Another fun fundraiser - an art camp, where children learned various art forms(wine bags, trays, candles) and sold them to raise money for a local ngo
My goal with this blog is to post some good ngos (all audited and verified by me personally), their addresses and little needs where you can make your child contribute money from his piggy bank, places you can take your children and organise activities or call them home to conduct workshops in small groups. Lets all try to make our kids good human beings, socially sensitive and responsible and proud to be Indians !
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