Quarterly Newsletter

January - March 2019

• StepUp-ShapeUp• ScalingandStrengtheningtheRuralEnterprise

HealtH InterventIons

ConneCtInG tHroUGH eDUCatIon / aWareness

• FightagainstTuberculosis• PersonalHygiene-Keytowellness• WorldCancerDay

• RoadSafetyAwarenesssession• READmobilelibrary• LifeSkillEducation• PeerPressure-asocialpressure

skIlls to sUCCeeD

Contents

let’s learn- tot

lIvelIHooD

• NurseryTeachersTraining(NTT)

• Opportunitiesformotivation

saksHarta se safalta • CareerCounsellingandCompetitiveExaminationSession• PrayasInitiative

reaD approaCH for envIronment

• WasteSegregationandManagement-Safe Drinking water & Waste Management

InternatIonal Days/CelebratIons

sUCCess story • SuccessstoryofAsha

• RepublicDayCelebration• CelebratingInternationalWomen’sDay• CelebrationofInternationalWomen’sDaywithPerkinsTeam• SankrantiCelebration(Pongal)• Holi-theFestivalofcolours• BirthAnniversaryofSwamiVivekananda• NationalGirlChildDay• WorldWaterDay

CONNeCtING tHrOuGH eDuCatION / awareNessroad safety awareness session

Everyyear,thousandsoflivesarelostontheroadnationwide,andeveryyear,roadsafetybecomesmoreandmoreimportanttoteachtoourchildrenastheystarttheirjourneyasnewdrivers.On8thFebruary2019,aRoadSafetyawarenesssessionwasorganisedat Government School Jamalpur by Amazon Cares CommunityOutreach Centre by READ India. The awareness session wasconducted by the Amazon staff volunteers from the AmazonFulfilment Centre (FC). This awareness generation programmeplayedanimportantroleineducatingtheschoolstudentsaboutthesafetyrulesconcerningroadsandtrafficsetbytheGovernmentofIndia.

reaD mobile library

MobileLibraryprovidesthemostflexibleoflibraryservices,notbeing restricted to any particular place. If the readers are not

abletoreachthelibrary,thismobile librarycanreachouttoitsreaders. This has been proved by the READ India CommunityLibrary and Resource Centre (CLRC) at Karmad (Maharashtra)supportedbyPerkins.Thestaffsvisit thenearbyvillageswherebookswere issued by students and villagers. They Also visitedthoseschoolswhere library facility isnotpresent.Amongst thereader’sstudentspreferfictionbooks,middle-agedpeoplepreferhistoricalandreligiousbooksandtheyouthmostlyselectbooksforcompetitiveexaminations.

life skill education

Life Skills are essentially those abilities that help to promotementalwellbeingandcompetenceinyoungpeople,astheyfacetherealitiesoflife.Weneedmanyskillstofunctionasindividualsandasmembersofsocialgroups.Keepingthis inmind lifeskillsessionsareorganisedon22ndJanuary2019forthebeneficiariesat the READ India Community Library and Outreach Centre(CLRC),Karmad(Maharashtra)supportedbyPerkins.Thesessioncovered various aspects of life skills that gave the participantsunderstanding about social skills, that included Appreciating /validatingothers,Buildingrelationshipswithfriendsandfamily,listeningandcommunicatingeffectively,Takingresponsibilityandcopingwithstress.Socialskillsenableadolescencetobeacceptedin society and social norms.Which provide the foundation foradultsocialbehaviour.

peer pressure - a social pressure

Peersplayalargeroleinthesocialandemotionaldevelopmentofchildrenandadolescents.Their influencebeginsatanearlyage

andincreasesthroughtheteenageyears.On14thFebruary2019,aworkshopwasarrangedon“peerpressure”attheREADCommunityLibraryandResourceCentre(CLRC)Karmad(Maharashtra)supportedbyPerkins.Theobjectiveoftheworkshopwastogiveunderstandingaboutthepositiveandnegativepeerpressureandhowcanwefaceitsuccessfully.Theparticipantsarrangedarole-playtohighlighttheeffectsofbadpeerpressure.Theworkshopwasinformativeandparticipativeforallthestudents.

HealtH InterventIons

fight against tuberculosis

Tuberculosisisaninfectiousdiseasethatusuallyaffectsthelungs.Comparedwithotherdiseasescausedbyasingleinfectiousagent,tuberculosisisthesecondbiggestkiller,globally.Consideringtheimportance of conducting an awareness session for the peopleof the community, a session was organised at the CommunityOutreach andResource centre (CLRC),Gosaiganj (Lucknow)on25th and 26th March 2019. The session was conducted by Dr

NidhiGulathi,whichcoveredbasic informationon tuberculosis,theearlywarningsigns,symptoms,TBdiagnosisprocessfollowedbythepreventionandtreatmentofTuberculosis.

personal Hygiene- key to wellness

Implementing good personal hygiene practices has both healthandsocialbenefits.Maintainingpersonalhygieneisnecessaryformany reasons; personal, social, health, psychological or simplyasawayof life.Keepinginmindtheimportanceofmaintaining

personal hygiene and imparting this knowledge among theyoungones,ahealthawarenesssessionwasorganisedon12thJanuary2019atAmazonCaresCommunityOutreachCentreatManesar(Haryana)byREADIndia,withadolescentgirlsbyDr.SurjeetGupta(RCHSpecialist).

Itwasaninteractiveandinformativesessionfortheparticipants;theywerealsoabletoasktheirdoubts.

World Cancer Day

World cancer day is an annual observance that intends toincreaseglobalawarenessofcancer.On20thFeburary2019,Volunteering Opportunity for the Staff members of AmazonFulfilment Centre (FC) was organised at the Amazon CaresCommunityOutreachCentreatKumaspurvillage,SonipatbyREADIndia.

Theeventwasorganisedon the themeofWorldCancerDayduringtheeventparticipantsweremadeawareregardingthedangersignofcanceranditsprevention.Theeventprovedtobeinformativeforalltheparticipants.

opportunities for motivation

To exploreways inwhich thewomen from the community cangetanopportunity tosellhandmadeproductsmakingaway formotivation,thewomenbeneficiariesparticipatedintheexhibitionorganizedon13thto16thMarch2019attheCommunityOutreachCentre(CLRC)atGosaiganj(Lucknow)supportedbyInternationalFlavorsandFragrances(IFF).

This exhibition and sale also served the purpose of the Holicelebrationwiththecommunitymembers.HandmadeProductsbythebeneficiarieslikeEmbosspainting,Sarees,Handmadewoolencraft itemsandDecorative itemweredisplayedintheexhibitionforsale.FooditemslikeChipsandtraditionalsnackitemsmadebythewomenwerealsodisplayedattheexhibitionforthesale.Thiseventsawgreatparticipationof thepeople fromnearbyvillageswhichproved tobeagreat sourceofmotivation for thewomenwhoparticipatedinthisevent.

lIvelIHooD

Let’s Learn- tot

nursery teachers training (ntt)

Aroleofanurseryteacherplaysavitalroleintheformationofachild’sfoundation.Theyarethetrainedindividualwhoplaysanimportantroleintheformativeyearsofachildindevelopingthepersonality,knowledgeandgrowthofthechild.On13thFebruary2019, Nursery Teacher Training (NTT) orientation sessionwasorganized at the Amazon Cares CommunityOutreach Centre at

Kumaspur,Sonipat.

NTTtraininghasbeenintroducedattheCommunityOutreachandResourceCentre(CLRC)toteachanewskilltoachieveplacementsin upcoming schools of the area. The registered candidates aretrained for a period of 3months followed by the internship of3months. After the completion of this course, the trainees areawardedthecertificates.

step Up - shape Up

Skills to Succeed Programme is the bedrock of READ Indiacommunity development interventions from past three yearsand this year in phase 4, READ India is striving tomake ruralwomenenterprisingagentsofchangeintheircommunities.Overtheyears,READ Indiahasbeenable tobuilda strong,dynamicandvibrantresourceofchangeatthegrassrootsthroughfocusedlivelihood development interventions. To become a successfulentrepreneurandsustaintheenterprisesourentrepreneursneedtopolish their skills and inorder tohelpall thosewomenwhoarelookingtowardsusforcapacitybuildingandhandholding.A

skIlls to sUCCeeD

training programwas organised byREAD India in the name of‘STEPUP–SHAPEUP’ from16thJanuaryto20thJanuary2019atRamadaGurgaonCentralandwasconductedbyourresourcepersonMsPreethaRaghav.

During the training, a panel discussionwas organizedonRuralEnterpriseManagementwiththestudentsofmanagementfromthe School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL). The main objectivesof theTrainingofTrainersunderskills to succeedwas to focuson developing entrepreneurial skills like personal branding,interdependency, respecting the colleagues anddevelopmentofbusinessetiquettes.Thecentrerepresentativestothefacilitator

concludedthetrainingwithamockpresentationtoexhibitfewproductsassamples.

scaling and strengthening the rural enterprise

OneneednotbeanEntrepreneurbeforeyoustart;youbecomeanentrepreneurduringtheprocessofpursuingdreams.READIndiaorganizingtrainingundertheprojectof“Skillstosucceed”inMaharashtra.Tobuildavalue-basedsustainableenterpriseforRuralIndia,inwherethesetrainingareconductedthroughTrainingofTrainers(TOT)andthebeneficiarieswillbetrainedonScaling&StrengtheningtheSustainableEnterprise.

Athree-daytrainingsessionwasorganizedforwomenleaderswhocancomeforwardandmotivateotherwomenintheruralcommunitytointegratethemselvesintoagroupandstarttheirownworkoranenterprise.Theywereengagedinthe3-dayworkshopfacilitatedbyourresourcepersonMsPreethaRaghav.Thetrainingsessionwascompletelyactivity-based,andtheparticipantswereencouragedtolearnbasicconceptsofenterprisemanagementthroughgamesandpracticalactivities.

saksHarta se safalta: Programme supported by PwC in Gurugram

Career Counselling and Competitive examination session

Sessionsoftheguidanceforcompetitiveexaminations,studentsare attending these sessions twice a week at the READ IndiaCommunityLibraryandResourceCentresupportedbyPWC.Theyare also shown educational videos on career guidance throughwhichtheyaremadeawareabouttheexamsthattheywillbeabletostudyfor.Afterthecareerguidancesession,thestudentscomeupwiththeirqueriesrelatedtothetopicsdiscussed.

prayas Initiative

The volunteering initiative named ‘Prayas’ organised at theCommunity Library and Resource Centre (CLRC) supported byPWCledaseriesofvolunteeringeventsinthisquarternamed:

prayas session 4 - Dreams and aspirations

Volunteersinteractedwiththebeneficiariesandmotivatedthemtoidentifyandfollowtheirdreams&aspirations.

prayas session 5 - Communication – way to connect

Communicationisatwowayprocess,itplaysanimportantroleonbothformalandinformallevel.Volunteersstartedthesessionwithdiscussingtheintricaciesofanimpactfulconversationandformalcommunication.

prayas session 6 - art of giving respect and listening Theartoflisteningandrespectingtheotherpersonwasdiscussedwith the beneficiaries. The session guided the beneficiaries topolishtheirlisteningskills.

prayas session 7 - Health awareness session Ahealth session organisedwas conducted by (DrKiran) and acouncillor(MsSandhya)thatsensitizedbeneficiariesonvarious

health related topics such as weakness, body pains, pregnancyandfamilyplanning

prayas session 8 - let us interact

Thefriendlygroupinteractionwasorganisedforthebeneficiariesandvolunteerswherevariousqueriesofthebeneficiariesrelatedtoeducation,careeropportunitieswereanswered.

prayas session 10 - Child psychology

An awareness session on child psychology was conducted byMs Vandana Dhingra that focussed on upbringing children anddiscussingvariousissueswithchildren.

The session focussed on girl education and taking professionalchoicesavailabletothewomen/girlsofthecommunity,relationship

betweenparentsandchildren,friendshipandpositivity.

prayas session 11 - self- Defence and safety

Thissessionaimedatcreatingawarenessaboutself-defenceandsafety among thebeneficiaries.The session focussedon raisingones confidence, awareness about one’s own weaknesses andstrengths.

prayas session 12 - family planning : Concluding prayas Initiative

Prayas initiative concluded with its last volunteering activityconducted on 16th March 2019. The volunteers conductedawarenesssessiononfamilyplanningandusingfamilyresourcesjudiciously. The session included discussion on sensitive topicslikepopulationexplosion,unemployment,womenempowerment,healthandhygiene.

reaD approaCH for envIronment

Waste segregation and management Safe Drinking water & Waste Management

On 11th and 16th February 2019, an awareness session wasorganisedonSafedrinkingwaterandwastemanagementbytheCommunity Library and Resource Centre (CLRC) supported byInternationalFlavoursandFragrances(IFF)atinthecommunityofMangaliammanKoilinChennai.Peopleofthecommunityweremadeawareaboutthemethodstopurifywaterandbenefitsofsafedrinkingwaterasthislocationwasfacingproblemsofillhealthduetoclimaticchangesandunsafewaterdrinkingpractices

republic Day Celebration

RepublicdayhonoursthedayinwhichtheconstitutionofIndiacame into effect and India celebrated its70th republicday thisyear.READ IndiaCommunityLibraries celebratedRepublicDaywithsamespiritsacrossthecountry,whethersmallkids,school-goingchildren,boysandgirls fromthecommunity,womenandtheREADstaff,thisdaywascelebratedwithallthebeneficiaries.

Celebrating International Women’s Day

Woman–thepowertocreate,nurtureandtransform!InternationalWomen’sDaycelebratedtohonourtheirremarkablecontributionto society. READ India celebrated this day collaborating withSchoolofInspiredLeadership(SOIL)withwomenwhoaretakingREADMissionforwardandarecommittedtoREADIndiabeingapartofitsLibrariesandPreSchools.Allthewomenleaderswereawardedacertificateofappreciationfortheircontribution.

Celebration of International Women’s Day with perkins team

Celebrating the social, economic, cultural and politicalachievements of women on international women’s day with

InternatIonal Days/CelebratIons

representativesofPerkinsIndiaPvt.Ltd.,whereinthebeneficiariesweremotivatedtomeetthefemaleemployeesofPerkins,whomthey envisioned as examples of confidence, independence andsuccess. Women leaders from the community were awardedCertificate of Appreciation for their passion and positivecontributionfordemonstratingownershipoftheprogrammesatREADCommunityLibraryandResourceCentre,Karmad.Womenbeneficiaries shared their experiences of connecting with whofeltpositivechangesintheirlifeafterattendingcapacitybuildingtrainingatthecentreandhowtheyhaveprogressedintheirlivessocially,economicallyandemotionally.

sankranti Celebration (pongal)

MakarSankrantiiscelebratedacrossthecountryindifferentwaysandtheculturalsignificanceofthefestivalvariesgeographicallyaswemovefromonestatetoanother,witheverystatecelebrating

and welcoming the new season of harvest in their indigenousmanner. Pongal {Sankranthi Celebration}was celebrated at theAmazonCaresCommunityOutreachCentreatHyderabadbythecentrestaff.VariouseventslikeRangolicompetition,BogiFlameDance, Lemon Spoon Game were organised. Followed by prizedistribution.

Holi- the festival of colours

Entire country wears a festive look when it is time for Holicelebration.On20thMarchHoliwas celebrated at theAmazonCares Community Outreach Centre at Taoru (Haryana), thecelebration took placewith a great enthusiasmwith the youngones,youthandtheelderpeopleofthecommunity.Thecelebrationsawdifferentculturaleventslikesinginganddancingonvarioustraditionalsongsfollowedbyrangolimakingbythebeneficiariesatthecentre.

birth anniversary of swami vivekananda

150thbirthanniversaryofSwamiVivekanandawascelebratedatthecommunitylibraryandresourcecentre(CLRC)on12thJanuary

2019atKarmad,Bambhardawiththebeneficiaries.Thisdayisalsocelebratedasanationalyouthday.TheeventwasorganisedtoencourageyouthtofollowShri.Vivekananda’spatriotismandhis teaching for betterment of society. Swami Vivekananda’sthoughts can inspire youth towards national integration andfor social change.Hismessageof universal goodwill and self-awakeningremainsrelevant,especiallyinthecurrentsituation.

national Girl Child Day

EveryyearNationalGirlChildDayiscelebratedon24JanuarytoraiseawarenessamongthesocietyregardingtherightsofgirlsinIndiaandtogivethemequalstatus,education,respect.Takingforward and supporting this initiative by the Government ofIndia,theREADIndiaCLRC(CommunityLibraryandResourcecentre) at Karmad (Maharashtra), Gosaiganj (Lucknow),AmazonCaresCommunityOutreachCentreatTaoru,Manesarand Sonipat celebrated the National Girl child day. Childrenweremotivatedtodisplaytheirartworkthroughpostermakingbasedonthistheme.

World Water Day

WorldWaterDay is an annual observanceday thathighlightsthe importance of freshwater. Creating awareness regardingthe importance of water is done through various awarenessgenerationactivities.Essaywritingcompetitionwasorganizedon22ndMarch2019attheREADIndiaCommunityLibraryandResourceCentre(CLRC),Karmad(Maharashtra)supportedbyPerkins with youth on the topic Importance of SavingWaterfollowed by a discussionmoderated by Dr UrmilaMane. Thediscussionemphasisedonwhyshouldweconservewater,howcanwesavewaterandwhatarethecausesofcontaminationofwater.Itwasobservedbythemoderatorthatparticipantshadagoodknowledgeregardingwaterconservation,whoactivelytook part in the discussion andwrote relevant essays on thetopic.

reaD HIGHlIGHts

AmazonCaresCommunityoutreachandresourcecentreatTauru(Mewat, Haryana) won the Federation of Indian Chambers ofCommerceandIndustry(FICCI)awardsforthebestcommunitydevelopment initiative. The awardwaswon for itswork in theprevious 4 years promoting education, health, livelihood andenvironment, which establishes the READ model of education,enterprise and community development in the roots of thecommunity.

Community libraries for engaging Communities and empowering people

Libraries are the place where a person of every age can findsomething for themselves of their interest. A library playsan important role in community engagement. READ Indiaorganised a workshop on “Libraries for Engaging communitiesandempoweringpeople:NetworkingandPartnerships”on21stFebruary2019atDELNET.

TheworkshopbeganwithawelcomeaddressbyDrGeetaMalhotra,CountryDirector,READ India followedbyan inaugural addressbyDrB.Shadrach,AdvisoryBoardMember,whoaddressedREADIndia Community Leaders on the Importance of the librariestowardsthedevelopmentofourcountry.Hesharedhisviewsonhow the libraries could create an impact and can contribute tomakingbettercitizensandabettercountry.Throughhiswords,heenlightenedthecommunityleadersaboutEmpowering(removingbordersforthebiggervision),Partnerships(throughcommunityownership),Networking(locallevel,nationallevel,globallevel),andEngagingcommunities (towards librarieswhichare for thepeople,ofthepeopleandbythepeople).

DrH.KKaul,Director,DELNETaddressedtheparticipantsintheflagshipworkshopwhereheacknowledgedhisastonishmentbytheworkofreadingIndiaCommunityLibrary&Resourcecentres(CLRCs) in the rural communities and how these CLRC’s arecontributingtowardsmotherIndia.

READ India Community Library Resource centre (CLRCs)LibrarianssharedtheirexperiencesintheworkshopwheretheymentionedabouthowtheyarementoredandguidedtowardsthevisionofthisorganisationandexpressedtheirgratitudetowardsREADIndiainmakingthembetterindividualsforthesociety.TheworkshopincludedgroupactivitiesteaminguptheREADsocialinnovators and public librarians likeMs Shantwana Tiwari,MsNancyAnabel,DrPrabhjotKaur,DrNeezaSingh,MrAPSivakumar,MsSanjeevaniAtre,DrDeepakSrivastava,MrN.Avadaiappan,MrShibuItty,MrSyedKazi,MsChayaSharmafollowedbysuggestionsbyProf.JagtarSingh.ThegroupactivityfocussedondiscussionsonEducation, innovation& reaching tomarginalised communities,culture& literatureandgovernmentrelationships inorganisingvariousevents, information&communication,soft&leadershipskills.

Handing over of toilets constructed with the support of perkins India pvt. ltd.

The lack of availability of toilets in school premises is amajorprobleminmanyschoolsofruralpartsofthecountry.Thetoiletspresentarenotingoodconditionduetopoormaintenance.Thisleadstothedropoutofthefemalestudentsfromtheschool.READIndiawith the supportofPerkins IndiaPvt. Ltd, took initiative,constructed toilets in therural schoolsofAurangabad, tocheck

female,drop-outlevels,andworkedonincreasingawarenessonsanitationandhygiene.

On7thMarch2019,MrAvinashRavateandDnyeshwarPatil,HRteam of Perkins India Pvt. Ltd. alongwith Dr Amar Deshmukhand Dr Urmila Mane (READ India), ceremonially handed over

constructedtoiletstotheschoolofJalgaon.Thehandingoverofthesetoiletsweredoneinthepresenceofallthestakeholdersofthecommunityand theyweremotivated to takepropercareofthetoilet,takingownershipandresponsibilityofcleanlinessandhygieneholistically.

asHaAshais25yearsoldandhascompletedhereducationuntil 12th, afterwhich she couldnot continue her studies due to the lack ofmoneytopursueanyprofessionalcourse.Itwaswhenshe learnedabout theAmazonCares Community Outreach Centre atJamalpur,Manesar(Haryana)byREADIndiathatsheenrolledherselfinthebasicsewingandstitchingcoursetaughtattheCLRC.She is now happy to say that the tailoringcoursegaveheranopportunity to leanandearn a living. She has completed her basiccourseinsewingandstitchingsuccessfully.She is earning a livelihood on her ownand works from home. She has becomeindependent and is able to support herfamilyforwhichtheyareveryproudofher.

sUCCess story

READ IndiaFlatNo.115,1stFloor,TowerNo.4,HEWOApartmentsPart-I,Sector-56,Gurgaon,Haryana

URL:www.readglobal.org/our-work/read-india;www.readindia.ngo