Funtala - A Fun Day!

Funtala

At Asha Sadan

Funtala is a FUN DAY.... Celebrated as a birthday of a donor. This Program is specially designed by OYA for the kids (3-6years)  and the girls (14-18 years)  to have loads of fun in creative ways.

Funatla Events for Children (3-6 years):

• Racing to the Jungle: The children were bubbling with energy to race their way by hopping or walking the walk of various animals. They hopped like little bunnies, and jumped like funny frogs, swayed slowly in a squatting position to quack their way like darling ducklings and galloped with confident strides like majestic horses. The common action that accompanied all the walks was the cheerful laughs.

 

• Rhythmic Rhymes: The children instantly caught the tune and the actions of the sweet rhyme, ‘Where is Thumbkin’. The impact of the rhyme was such that every visit Oya made after the Funtala, we were greeted by the ‘Thumbkin’. Singing to the rhythm, the kids learned how to greet people using the English language while having loads of fun.

 

•  Nana Nani ki Kahani:    The kid  wereall ears and eyes to hear a new story ‘Lion and the Mouse’. Gleaming eyes were eager to have a peak at the enthralling pictures. Curious minds awaited and tried to guess the up-coming events of the story. The gang ready to have loads of fun joined in the drama the story created through their actions and all the growling and squeaking to enhance the characterization in the story. Finally, the kids wrapped up all the fun they had not only listening but participating in the story and stored it in their memory along with its precious message of being there for your friends in need and respecting each individual for who they are.

 

 

•  Skipping Fun: Two volunteers of OYA held the tricky skipping rope from the two ends and made various obstacles using the rope for the kids to either jump over the steady rope at a short height or to pass from below it when held higher or jump over the dancing waves of the rope, all that without touching the rope. Each child enjoyed playing with the rope in this fun way and awaited their turns for each of the different obstacles.

Funatla Events for Young Girls(14-18 years):

•           Taal se Taal Mila: The girls instantly put their singing talent and their knowledge of hindi songs to use while having fun participating in various competitive rounds. The traditional ‘Antakshari’ round was a good warm up. Then the challenges increased the excitement through rounds like singing songs with the given words, guessing the song from its tune and acting out the songs while their team mates tried guessing it. The girls through the ups and downs of winning and losing each round learned to pull each individual’s resources together and work as one team.

 

•       Dramebaaz : It was a treat for the eyes and our hearts & minds to see the girls perform street plays, beautifully on the topics given. The focus of the street play competition was to express the our agony about some existing social issues using satire, irony, sarcasm and prepare a play that pinched our conscience but made our hearts laugh out loud. The girls demonstrated brilliance in their work, be it their ideas, presentation, acting skills, dialogue delivery or group work. The judges and the spectators witnessed creativity at its best.

The team performing on the topic, ‘Bhrashtachaar Humari Zaroorat Hain’ won the sparkling Trophy - "CREATIVE INNOVATORS" presented by OYA.

 

•         Soothe Your Soul: One of our promising volunteers, Nihar played a mix of old and new melodies on his guitar. It was the best way to bring the day’s events to a memorable end. The girls, Asha Sadan’s management and OYA team members all joined in to sing to the strings’ melodies.

 

A day packed with Smiles, Laughter, Innovations, Creativity, Talents, Learnings and FUNNNNNN!!!!! :) :) :)

 

 

How to be a Successful Entrepreneur - An Expert Talk

Expert talk by Mr.Rahim Munshi

Organised by OYA.

Topic :                         How to be a Successful Entrepreneur

Date:               13/04/2013

Venue:            Nalanda Foundation

Participants:   Social Entrepreneurs/Budding social groups/Psychologists/Counselors/any individual who would like to know more about the concerned topic

 

About the Resource Person - Mr. Rahim Munshi:

He is an IIT ian from Mumbai and a member of the Front End New Business capture team. He has the Ability to see the “ Big Picture “and understand multiple disciplines with technical credibility. He has Excellent communication / listening skills and capability to prepare and present to all levels of management and also has the Ability to work in a team environment, with a high level of initiative. He has extensive knowledge and experience to identify, modify, develop and implement systems engineering plans, processes and procedures. He is very knowledgeable and experienced in leading, training and facilitating Qualify Function Deployment (QFD) methodology and Risk Management. Above all, he is a man with multiple talents and humility.

 

Outcome of the Talk:

Participants learnt about various dimensions of working in a team like:

·         Team Building

·          Team Sharing

·         Importance of Acknowledging  & Appreciating Your Team’s Work

 

They also learnt about ways of successfully achieving ones goals through topics like:

·         How to Achieve your GOAL

·         Focusing on ‘What You Do’ – Ones actions that determine the outcome

·         Overcoming Distractions while Setting and Achieving Goals                

 

Finally, they received priceless guidelines to build a successful organization and be a successful Entrepreneur.

The response of the talk was remarkable. Various participants came ahead to share the experiences they had during their journey towards establishing an organization. Viewpoints were shared and each participant returned home with a new vision and plenty of hope for success in all their endeavors.

Teacher -2nd mother to the child

OYA conducted workshop on Effective teaching on 16/04/2012 in Friend’s School. The workshop was attended by around 25 pre- primary and primary teachers. And it was the wonderful learning and teaching experience for both teachers and facilitator.
The workshop started with the experience sharing of the facilitator Raheen Jummani. Hearing the different experiences, some sort of difference was observed in teachers. They look inspired and seemed that the different angle of life was exposed to them. The coordinator (head of the section) was going to sit for 20-30 mins for the session as she had other commitments and meeting. But she was so touched and was inspired by the talks and experience of the facilitator-Raheen that she cancelled all her meeting and attended the entire session.
The session was very interactive. The power point presentation on Effective teaching was upto the mark. Precisely each topic was covered. All the problems faced by the teacher in the classroom setting with students, co- teacher, coordinator were addressed and teachers were satisfied with solutions given to the problems.
The words such as compartmentalization, pro-active, introspection, etc. took the session to the different dimension. Though the workshop was on Effective Teaching, but the real life examples given and faced by everyone beyond teaching, was a ladder to self growth and knowing oneself better. At the end of the workshop some eyes were moist and hearts were melted. The Effectiveness of the workshop was evidence by the feedback received from the teacher. Teachers said that, “such important concepts which actually we know but take it lightly were explained beautifully with great examples and deeper meanings, which directly nailed into our hearts.”
There were also suggestions for conducting self-development, confidence building and many more workshops in near future. OYA is looking forward to have more such heart touching and self growth workshops with teachers, students, parents in Friends School.
Regards,
Dhara shah

OYA Salutes Women

OYA CELEBRATES WOMEN'S DAY...


That day when all the women gathered together,
We met….
…Strength
That the courageous women demonstrated in their lives
Bringing up their children amidst all difficulties.
We met…
…Sensitivity
That each of the kindhearted women reflected
Through the tears that rolled down on other women’s stories.
We met…
…Gratitude
That was expressed by acknowledging
The important presence of the other in their lives.
We met…
…LOVE
The unseen emotion seen in everything we do.
The team of OYA had the greatest of pleasures
In having amongst us
All the lovely women
Who guided us through our lives
Who made us what we are today
Who were the inspiration behind everything we did
Who were there with us through thick and thin
And the experience that all the women had together that day
Was absolutely beyond what words can ever describe.



- Behroz Dumasia
Head - Remedial Education Project - OYA

A NEW LIFE

Out of junior college, and I was bored of Science. I did not think much of transistors.
I had the chance to study Psychology. There was a world out there though, that was unhappy with the idea. It so seemed that 90 % ‘getters’ had to be out of their minds want to graduate in arts! “Oh, did you say Computer Engineering? Okay, will do.” 6 months of programming and I was bored again. I could now not stand the thought of spending another moment studying what else ‘#’ included.

Again – I was chicken and did nothing about it.

4 years whizzed past, and luckily, I chose the perfect job for myself. It was a job that took only as many as 2 years to tell me that I needn’t be chicken all my life, that nothing that # included was going to paint the memories I’d see that one moment before I died and that if I spent anymore time making money for my boss writing thousands of sentences in a language only the computers could understand – I’d have to jump off a cliff (Okay, maybe not. But you get the gist).

It’s been 2 years since I left that dreadful life-changing job – and I haven’t regretted it. When I chose to join Open Your Arms – I’m going to have to admit, I was doing it for my own selfish reasons. Here I was in TISS (Google it, if you couldn’t figure it out), trying to conceptualise a social venture in a field that I wanted to work in, finally trying to make the big shift into the not-so-known-to-me-world and wondering how a computer engineer was ever going to have a good enough answer to the question “What makes you think you have it in you to teach street children empathy?” I thought I had to buck up, and learn something that was of value to me. And my journey at Open Your Arms couldn’t have had a better reason to start.

Today, I’d rather spend my time counselling night-schooling adolescents about their lives, rather than advising my friend how to ‘stay out of the politics in office’. I can’t say in enough words, how peaceful it feels when I see adults realise the power of sharing and understanding each other’s joys and problems. I can’t express how excited I am about all the things I can experiment with here, at Open Your Arms, and all the things I’m going to learn about how hearts and minds run people. And lastly, I can’t thank OYA enough for not judging me by my background and for not frowning in disdain when I said ‘I’m not so good with the computers’.

Thank you OYA for giving me the chance to learn and grow. I admire the job that all of you set out to do every day and I believe in what we’re here for. Here’s wishing us the best in our endeavours.

Human beings are about the heart,
Human beings are about the mind.
When in them there settles a peace,
Peace, the world will find.

-Swetha Ranganathan

DISCUSSING PROFESSIONAL ETIQUETTE – An Experience

5 days and 14 workshops is how we at OYA remember that week to be about. Muktangan, an organisation that runs 7 English-medium schools for children had OYA over as one of their trainer entities to put together what was one of their intensive teacher-training weeks. We at OYA wished to deliver a workshop on Professional Etiquette for the Muktangan teachers. 26th to 31st December 2011 was when it was to happen and we eagerly waited for the first day.

On the first day there were 4 workshops to be conducted between the 3 of us - Raheen, Roopa and me (Swetha). Nishita and Dhara would conduct sessions the coming days. But we were all there to get a feel of the environment out there the first day. When we got to the place, the sight before us almost took us by surprise. There seemed to hundreds of teachers making their way up and down the place, exchanging morning greetings and probably discussing what they were in for that week. The trainings hadn’t even begun yet, but with the incessant chatter and the place resounding with laughter and brimming with activity, there was a rush of energy in the air and we knew this was going to be no easy business for us!

We hadn’t even smiled our last smiles at each other before the workshops began, that the teachers started pouring into all the assigned rooms, some running in quickly to pick a nice spot to settle down in. We could see that they looked forward to a workshop full of learning, reflecting and growing. We started getting set for the job!

OYA places focus on how Professional Etiquette is not just a matter of the outside, but that of the thinking we do ‘inside’, within us. To start practicing etiquette in our professional lives is actually to start thinking in a certain way – one that involves care, trust and respect, not just for others but for our work and ourselves. This was what our 1 ½ hour workshops were designed around.

We had our sessions planned out. We introduced, discussed, learnt and most importantly, shared several aspects of professional etiquette and its meaning, importance and manifestation in our daily lives. Role-plays that reinforced the learning during the workshop were the most fun, and we believe the teachers enjoyed them the most!

OYA had a hectic 7 days with the enthusiastic Muktangan teachers, but enjoyed every bit of it! We learnt a lot from the interaction and we sure hope they did too. OYA’s looking forward to more work with Muktangan and its teachers to engage in fruitful discussions on various other important topics that are the breath and soul of the multi-dimensional professional called ‘teaching’. As of now though, three cheers to Professional Etiquette 

Our Article in Hindustan Times and Our Wonderful Team...

Hindustan Times covered Open Your Arms.... in today's paper..... A Feather in Our Cap.....

Our OYA Team...... Who makes everything possible...... Feels Blessed to Have such a Wonderful, Amazing, Fantastic Team....

I Thank Each one of You - Veena Ma'am, Ambereen Jummani, Roopa Mohan, Behroz Dumasia, Nishita Desai, Candice Rosario, Dhara Shah and Swetha Ranganathan - for being There....


You all ROCK!!!!!


- Raheen Jummani
Founder/CEO
Open Your Arms!