Winter Serve 2009 Update

VOLindia is currently in the middle of its Winter Serve 2009!

We have a selected team of 25 volunteers from diverse backgrounds. Our team includes students of fashion, sociology, social work, economics, commerce, english and many other fields. These mixed groups of young enthusiastic people from all levels of society were divided into two groups so as to work on separate tracks; Child Rights and Disability.

After a two day orientation program and two days of theatre training, the group is now ready to go and perform for the diverse audiences.

They will be performing in different parts of the city for the next two and a half weeks. The places for their performances is diverse. Some days they will go to a community and during the others they will be in a corporate office. They will target young minds studying in schools and colleges and inform them about child rights and disability and will also go to public places and target varied age groups and strata's together.

Our volunteers completed their first performance yesterday in a mall in West Delhi and got a great response!

International Volunteers’ Day Celebrations!

VOLindia recently partnered with VSO to celebrate International Volunteers' Day on 5th December. Our celebrations were a huge success and reached out to about 500-600 young people across various colleges in Delhi. VSO promoted their website www.getinvolved.org encouraging young people to volunteer and VOLindia promoted its upcoming winter “Serve 2009”.

We visited Rajdhani College on the 1st, Deshbandhu on the 2nd, Jamia on the 4th and Hansraj College on the 5th. It was also an occasion for all our old VOLindians to meet and all our stalls were driven by our ex volunteers.

We encouraged young people to participate in our programs and also asked them to write on our graffiti wall. Many young people voiced their opinion on volunteering and also wrote about the power of young people today.

All in all VOLindia spent an exciting week spreading the message of volunteering among the youth of Delhi. It was not only work but also lots of fun!

VOLindia's New Website

In partnership with Blue Lime Studios, volindia.org has been re-designed with an aim at better user experience and information management. Finding the information you wanted should now be a breeze.

The new website features a layout that is easier to navigate and the textual content on every page is gentler on the eye. A revamped colour scheme brings out the enthusiastic and proactive spirit of VOLindians while subtly reinforcing the brand colours of VOLindia Foundation - orange, blue and green.

If you haven’t already seen the new website, click here now and let us know what you think of the re-design. We will truly appreciate your honest feedback.

A poem by Pulkit Khanna

LEAD ME TO THE LIGHT

Do not wish to wet my eyes & blur my vision

I still have a long way to go, a will to get out

To understand all around me, to answer my doubts

Am only waiting for someone to whisper

Who will lead me to the light?

My thoughts need a road to follow

My path desires a purpose

My body wishes for a will

My heart needs passion

And my life needs a meaning

I walk now, moving ever so anxiously

A light is all I see, that is what pulls me

It answers my questions, fuels my curiosity

But, is there is an end to this at all, or is that a myth?

Or will it only take me into the depths of this labyrinth?

My thoughts question the road to follow

The purpose of my path still unknown

The will I have needs reassurance

The passion in my heart needs sustenance

And the life I lead waits for its uncertainties

Absorbing all that I see around me, I now run

I run toward the light that calls me, one who answers

Who gives me more questions to think about…speak about,

To make me a man, face this life & those around

Still, come back to guide others around

Pulkit Khanna

(The light symbolizes the Volindia experiences which have made me more aware about life...)

HIV awareness campaign around Delhi.

Hello Friends,

Does HIV spread through mosquito bites or by sharing razors?

The answer is…no! You may think you have all the answers, but check your knowledge by joining us for an interactive street play on HIV/AIDS.

VOLindia Foundation invites you to join our volunteers as they perform an energizing street play on HIV/AIDS all over Delhi. After surveying about 500 Delhi-ites between the ages of 15-24, our young VOLunteers were enraged to find the extent of misinformation that people have about HIV/AIDS. Their next step was clear: to provide accurate information to the public on sex and HIV/AIDS in a fun, interactive, and engaging atmosphere.

All the volunteers performing are members of the VOLindia Foundation, an NGO that mobilizes a core of India’s urban, educated youth to volunteer their time on social projects in partnership with other Delhi NGOs. These volunteers are between the ages of 15-24, the same group that is also at highest risk for HIV/AIDS. (35% of HIV infected people in India are between this age group.)

The street play will be performed at five different locations to ensure the highest impact. There are two performances each day; one in the afternoon and one in the evening. The performance itself will last approximately fifteen minutes followed by a game that will challenge the public to answer basic questions on HIV/AIDS prevention. Our program schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 – Janakpuri District Center at 1:00 PM

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 – Netaji Subash Place at 4:30 PM

Thursday, July 10, 2008 – Lodi Garden at 2:00 PM

Thursday, July 10, 2008 – outside of Dilli Haat at 5:30 PM

Friday, July 11, 2008 – Opposite India Gate at 1:30 PM

With India having the third largest number of HIV infected people in the world; dissemination of accurate information on HIV is an urgent need. Our main objective is to demystify the many myths surrounding the disease and to remove stigma attached to the people suffering from it. If you can attend any of our performances, or would like to support us in any way please contact Rajika Seth at rajika.seth@volindia.org / 9899788330 or Muneer Panjwani at muneer.panjwani@volindia.org / 9711234585.

Thank you.

VOLindia Team

"Let's Spread Awareness" by Aakriti Malik

LET'S SPREAD AWARENESS

As the day starts,
With a start so bright,
It's us who all, can add to the light,
To people suffering from HIV and AIDS,
After all it's of us that the society is made,
Coz, like us they too are gifts of GOD,
They too need to live and not to be shot,
They too are beautiful from the heart,
Try and just be a part,
Of their lives so wonderful, filled with dreams,
It's only we who like a "team"
Can spread awareness about the present scene,
Coz you never know when you too may get,
And then curse yourself and regret,
Of what you don't even know,
So take your time nice and slow,
And when you are ready and know,
That you too can help and you too can care,
To everyone, with whom you can share,
About HIV and AIDS, you "CAN" make them aware.

Another VOLindia Naz volunteer reflects on her experience

After the Survey

Initially I thought it would be damn easy to take the survey and people would treat us with high regards since we knew more than them..But then..zoom! I get my first shock at Mc Donalds where a couple just blatantly refused to take up the survey even though they were busy doing nothing. After that I had an amazing time with few school kids and illiterate guards who were more than ready in knowing stuff. Yet again, I found myself at my wit's end when I was literally snubbed by a group of friends.
Over the days I personally became more patient and tolerant to various type of people. I also developed this power of convincing people and making sure that they talk about such a sensitive and taboo topic.
After being snubbed , hit on by guys, pestered by people who questioned the authenticity of our knowledge,etc. I feel great that I could explore this part of the Indian Society and get rid of my own inhibitions of talking to a stranger about a topic like HIV and AIDS. I would love to term the people who took this survey as "Seasoned Soldiers". :)

Regards
Kriti Kakria