October Round Up
1 – Excursion to Innovation Centre in Bangalore
A group of 44 children studying in classes VIII to XII from SOS Village Bangalore visited the Innovation Centre at Dayananda Sagar University, Bangalore to gain exposure to the world of research and innovation. The children visited different engineering and IT labs and Professor Sudha from the University gave an orientation about Innovation and Product Designing to the children.
2 – SOS Children win the Hindi essay competition
Two of our children from SOS Children’s Village Visakhapatnam are among the top five state-level winners of an online Hindi handwriting and essay writing competition. Based on the theme ‘Hindi Meri Priya Basha,’ the competition was conducted by Rastriyaa Hindi Prachara Sabha, Hyderabad. Over 600 children from 13 districts participated in the event.
3 – SOS India promotes Swachhata on Gandhi Jayanti
On October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, SOS India organised a ‘Cleanliness Drive’ at one of its Community Outreach locations in Begusarai as part of Swachh Bharat Mission. Members of SOS India mentored Self Help Group and Bal Panchayat, village level leaders and community members participated enthusiastically in the event, adhering to COVID-19 precautions.
4 – Low-income families receive books and uniforms from their state government
Connecting underprivileged families to government schemes and subsidies forms a significant part of our community outreach initiative. Recently, caregivers belonging to our community outreach programme in villages in Andhra Pradesh were presented with text books, shoes, uniforms, masks and bags from the state government under Jagananna Vidya Kanuka scheme, benefiting over 90 children.
5 – Did you celebrate the World Mental Health Day?
On World Mental Health Day, SOS India organised an event where Mr. Sumanta Kar, Senior Deputy National Director, SOS India and Dr. Shilpa Gupta, a renowned parenting coach highlighted the need to strengthen the emotional wellbeing of children, especially during the current crisis. SOS India community outreach teams held awareness meets on mental health in several locations in Bhopal.
6 – Handwashing is still in vogue?
At no other time has handwashing gained more importance than in the current pandemic. Hence, this Global Handwashing Day was ever more critical to raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap. At our community outreach locations in Varanasi, SOS India animators counselled children and caregivers on the practice of handwashing, especially during the pandemic.
7 – Children help design community spaces through painting workshop
A one-day, drawing and painting workshop was held for children of Bal Panchayat at one of our community outreach locations in Anangpur. A local artist led the workshop and helped children paint murals with social messages on the walls of the community centre. Children learnt that making art is not only a useful engagement but also helps in reducing stress.
8 -Alternative livelihoods is the saviour
As part of its capacity building initiative, SOS India Family Strengthening from Nagapattinam organized a seven-day training on poultry farming for its beneficiaries in village Karuvakankadai. Around 30 caregivers, who are engaged in livestock rearing, learnt about breeding, hatching, and operations of alternative poultry farming, such as Japanese quails, ducks, turkeys and Guinea fowls.
