AFFECXN (Read: AFFECTION), is a Newsletter published by Catalyst for Social Action (CSA). Established in September 2002, Catalyst for Social Action (CSA) is a Not-For-Profit organisation dedicated to the cause of child welfare and adoption. CSA works as a “catalyst” focusing on a holistic approach to child welfare and rehabilitation in the following domains - ?Transforming lives of orphan children via initiatives ranging from providing education and training, health and hygiene plans, nutritious meals and overall well being ?Promoting and facilitating adoptions wherever possible

In the area of enabling holistic care of children, we support a number of child care organisations in the Children's Committee - In Focus! News Flash - CSA Happenings! areas of Nutrition, Hygiene, & Health, Education & Vocational skills, Infrastructural support and Children's Committee - In Action! CSA Activities - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Recreation activities. We have made and continue Words! to make a valuable difference to 1600+ children across 48 homes in 4 states that we support. Adoption Facilitation - Adoption Rocks! As part of our Adoption Facilitation process, we Lend Us a Helping Hand! work with existing rural institutions to facilitate adoptions. We have successfully facilitated over 200 adoptions so far since inception. CHILDREN'S COMMITTEE - In Focus!

In this edition, in focus is the formation and running of Children's committees. Its relevance, roles & responsibilities of members - all these and much more....

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act [JJ Act], 2000 is the primary legal framework for juvenile justice in . The Act provides for a special approach towards the prevention and treatment of juvenile or children and provides a framework for the protection, treatment and rehabilitation of children in the purview of the juvenile justice system. An offshoot of the JJ Act is the formation of Children's Committees at every childcare institution. Officer in Charge of every institution for juveniles or children are to facilitate the setting up of Children's Committees to ensure involvement of children in running of the institution. The committee shall be constituted solely by children.

CSA has been mobilizing childcare agencies we work with, to form Children's Committees and we have been successful in guiding children to help form these committees. The children's committees are to maintain a register for recording the activities and proceedings, and place it before the managing committee meeting every month. There are also provisions for setting up of a complaint redress mechanism in every institution and a Children's Suggestion Box – accessible to children – where children can drop their complaints in writing.

The underlying purpose is to provide guidance on how to function and equip children in improving their confidence levels, engage in decision making, come up with ideas to improve conditions of the institution, develop educational, vocational & recreational plans, support each other in managing crisis, make suggestions that would be beneficial to all the inmates.

We have helped children with selecting their leaders, explained the roles & responsibilities of each member, get them to conduct periodic meetings, maintaining records and minutes of the meeting. It has been observed that on the whole, children are very receptive and have been enthusiastically participating and contributing their time, talent & ideas for various initiatives. Some of the younger children are still in the process of learning to execute their tasks as committee members but in general are quite excited!

Some of the initiatives / tasks that Children's committee members have been managing - ?At all locations, committee members are keeping stock of hygiene kits supply and following up with their peers to ensure that they are following do's and don'ts shared during oral & personal hygiene awareness sessions ?In Goa and , 'Health & Hygiene' minister demonstrated hand washing techniques and encouraged their friends to follow ?In Goa, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha, members have been planning different recreational & cultural activities on different occasions all by themselves with little or no help either from the institute's management or CSA Children's Committee is an excellent means of empowering children and gaining hands on experience on various life and management skills right there at the orphanage itself.... Children's Committee - In Action!

Children's Committee members in Goa - demonstrating A Drawing competition organized in Goa - hand washing techniques to other inmates President of Children's Committee handing over Prizes to winners

Children's Committee members in Madhya Pradesh - Formation and explanation of roles & responsibilities

Children's Committee members in Maharashtra - Committee Members in discussion Chart showing names of children in charge of different roles Adoption Facilitation - Adoption Rocks!

Adoption is a beautiful, life transforming experience. It is a blessing for the child and parents and unfolds joys which know no bounds! Some angels who found their families in the past few months can be seen below.

This poem beautifully illustrates the feelings of an adoptive parent the moment they set their eyes on their 'miracle' angel...

Kissed an Angel

Today I kissed an angel I knew it from the start The first time my angel smiled at me Rajesh Duraiswamy and Ramesh KV and Mamatha Neelakantan P. and Sindhu N I gave away my heart Subhashini adopted 4 months old Ramesh adopted 10 months old adopted 6 months old girl child girl child Nethra - Nov 2013 male child Idhant - Oct 2013 Supriti - July 2013 Today I kissed an angel This angel child of mine Though not of my creation My child by God’s design

Today I kissed an angel My heart is dancing wild A family, by a miracle Blessed by this angel child --Author Unknown NEWS FLASH - CSA Happenings!

Support to Children in Orphanages:-

Health & Hygiene Support - ¬Medical camp conducted in December 2012 in Mumbai for 100 children by doctors and specialists from Wockhardt Foundation. De-worming done, children in need of spectacles have been provided with the same, vaccine administered to all kids, children above 12 years of age were given teeth fortifying toothpaste. For girls found to be anaemic, doctors suggested intake of leafy vegetables to reduce iron deficiency and iron fortifying capsules were provided. ¬Skin Care sessions are being conducted this month across the board to educate children on how to take care of their skin and how to identify common skin infections such as insect bites,hives,rashes,dandruff etc and seek help & timely medication. ¬In Pune, as a follow up to Health checkups, children in need of spectacles have been provided with the same at the Observation Home Boys,Observation Home Girls and Nirankar orphanage. At BVJSS, Budhrani Eye hospital sponsored spectacles, eye surgery, medication etc. ¬A Dental Mobile Van regularly visits orphanages on voluntary basis to address dental problems. Regarding ENT treatment, case papers have been prepared and the BVJSS institute can take children to the hospital for follow up treatments; expenses will be borne by CSA ¬In Odisha, dental treatment was carried out at 3 orphanages and many children have been treated for dental decays and other dental issues ¬In Goa, Hygiene kits distributed to 230 children. CSA also conducted an awareness session on good hygiene practices via a presentation and also showed a video on dental care. Treatments for dental and eye problems have also begun. 5 children have been prescribed spectacles too ¬In MP, de-worming session has been done for children from few orphanages

Nutrition Support - ¬Many children were found to be underweight post medical health check ups. Hence, additional food items such as pulses and ghee is being provided on a monthly basis to improve the diet of 25 children from Girija orphanage at Kharghar, Mumbai ¬12 children from Matoshree children’s home, Pune are being supported with grocery items to supplement their regular food intake ¬Around 110 children from Bapuji Seva Sadan, Odisha will be receiving nutrition support to boost their overall health ¬130 children from Bethesda Life Centre, Goa are being provided with milk, pulses and ghee to help overcome underweight issues ¬36 children from KSSS, MP are being provided additional nutritional support in the form of milk

Education & Vocational Skills Support - ¬BVJSS, Pune were finding it challenging to fund uniform stitching expenses for 400 kids. We helped fund a larger portion of the costs while BVJSS paid the rest. Children received new uniforms on Republic Day, 26th Jan 2014 ¬Children from Nirankar orphanage, Pune are provided with a tuition teacher who helps with their homework and assignments ¬CSA is taking care of the transport expenses / school bus fees of children going to school from Nirankar,Pune ¬With a view to helping girls from Observation Home at Bhiwandi stand on their own feet, CSA commenced a Basic Tailoring unit in December 2012. Over this period, they have mastered basic tailoring, gone on to do an advanced course and then, around 40 girls also underwent a course in hand embroidery. They have made beautiful hand embroidered handkerchiefs. A fresh batch of girls commenced course from January 2014 ¬ Batch of 20 girls will complete their 3 month tailoring course by January 2014 at Observation Home-Girls Pune ¬ In MP, we have set up a Computer Training facility at Asha Kiran orphanage inorder to provide computer education for 80 children NEWS FLASH - CSA Happenings!

¬46 children were provided new sweaters and woollen caps at GASVS and KSSS, MP for the winters ¬Overall academic performance was reviewed in MP with teachers, school authorities and children were oriented on prioritising and using their study time to the best of their abilities. A tuition teacher has also been appointed at KSSS, MP to help children with English, Maths and Science subjects

Infrastructure Support - «CSA provided financial support to GASVS, MP to get electrical wiring changed & living area painted

Fun and Recreational Activities - «On the occasion of Diwali, 100 children from Bapuji Seva Sadan, Odisha enjoyed sweets,cakes,chocolates & soft drinks. Later they also enjoyed bursting crackers outdoors «CSA celebrated Diwali in Goa with 230 children across 5 orphanages «We celebrated Diwali with 34 children from Jeevan Jyoti orphanage in MP «CSA arranged for Children’s day activities at Observation Home - Girls, Observation Home - Boys, Nirankar Balgram and Matoshree Ashram in Pune. Totally, 267 kids enjoyed these activities. At OH - Boys, different games like musical chairs,chess,carom board competitions were held and prizes were give to the winners. A large cake was arranged for this occasion and children cut the cake. District Judge from Juvenile Justice Board was the chief guest and he spoke about Chacha Nehru on this occasion. At OH - Girls, a dance program was arranged & all the girls enjoyed dancing to various songs and enjoyed eating some delicious cake Nirankar orphanage children played dumb charades and received gifts for their participation;they were delighted to cut the fruit cake and enjoyed the snacks served Matoshree orphanage children relished the cake, chips and chocolates and were very happy to receive gifts. All in all, children enjoyed Children's day celebrations conducted «CSA celebrated Christmas with 400 children from BVJSS, Pune. Different types of group fun games were planned like musical chairs, straw game, numerical games etc. Children were served a special meal. Children were also treated to cake & chocolates. Children were happy to receive exam writing pads. Children made their own Christmas tree and decorated it beautifully. It was a fun day and the true essence of Christmas was shown - that of spreading joy and cheer! «In Mumbai too, we celebrated Christmas with 30 girls from Balikashram. Cake decoration competition, one minute games,snacks,prizes and gifts were highlights of the day. Volunteers from Anglo Eastern Shipping accompanied our program officer and had a good time interacting with the girls « We conducted a drawing competition for 65 boys from a newly identified orphanage - Vivekanand Balakashram in Thane, Mumbai. The theme revolved around their'village & how they would like to see it develop'. Volunteers from Securities were present and they had sponsored special lunch for these children. They also played cricket with the boys and everybody enjoyed a lot «Under the 'Joy of Giving Week' initiative, Givaudan India had collected funds internally and contributed towards providing a TV set,games,sports utilities and snacks to 65 children at Balmandir, Panvel - Mumbai. One minute games were also conducted and the children had a lot of fun «Under the 'Joy of Giving Week - Grant a Wish' program, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co.Ltd. staff visited several orphanages in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh spanning about 400+ children and gave them cakes,chocolates,snacks and various indoor and outdoor games - most of these items were things that children had wished for & it was a pleasure to fulfill their wishes! «In Odisha, around 135 children went for a picnic and had a great time «In Goa, 130 children were treated to 'Pizzas' which many children relished for the first time in their lives! In one of the children's homes, we gifted them a full length mirror & children were thrilled to see themselves in the mirror! Children enjoyed ice creams,snacks and received gifts too. We organized a greeting card making activity too NEWS FLASH - CSA Happenings!

Other News - ¬One of our team members successfully completed a course in the field of Art Based Therapy [ABT] after undergoing training for 9 months. ABT encompasses the usage of different art forms while working with children in order to achieve individual goals in a therapeutic relationship ¬'Airtel Delhi Half '- Employees of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ran to support CSA at the Delhi and raised close to Rs.Three Lakhs for us

Adoption Facilitation:- ¬7 adoptions have been successfully facilitated since October 2013 by CSA [Maharashtra-3,Odisha-3, Madhya Pradesh-1] ¬In Goa, through consistent efforts, we have been able to successfully place a five & half year old girl child for adoption. Since the last two & half years, there were many hurdles as far as paperwork and her 'legally-free for adoption' status was concerned;issues have been resolved and now little Maria has been united with her adoptive family - she is no more an orphan

Stakeholder Training & Sensitization:- «CSA Goa was invited by the Directorate of Women & Child Development (WCD) to attend a half day awareness programme on Government Foster Care Scheme «CSA roadshows were done in Goa, Mumbai and Pune Accelya Kale offices to create awareness amongst staff regarding the work we do, support required and how they can engage and help. Post these sessions, we have received a heart warming response in the form of payroll giving,nutrition support,volunteers,hygiene kit support etc. «A workshop on 'Understanding CSR from Corporate and NGO Perspective' was held by CAP - Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy in Dec 2013 and our co-founder Mrs. Bharati Dasgupta was invited to represent the NGO sector and be part of the panel discussion alongside other noted personnel from the NGO and Corporate world

Advocacy & Research:- «We filed our first RTI petition in Goa under the Right to Information Act 2005. RTI was filed with respect to obtaining data and reports on inspections done under the JJ Act,2000 Registration for Children's Homes in Goa

CSR Partner Activities with Accelya Kale [Patron Sponsors]:- «'Pune Marathon Dec 2013' - CSA along with Accelya Kale employees participated at the Pune marathon to promote and create awareness. Group of 20 participants ran the charity run along with CSA banners,posters.The event went off well and many people were interested in knowing about CSA and the work we are involved in «'Mumbai Marathon Jan 2014' - Staff from Accelya Kale and CSA participated in the dream run. We also had some of our longstanding supporters run the full and half marathon and raise funds for CSA «'Christmas celebrations at Girija, Mumbai' - As part of the festivities, we organised Christmas celebrations for 25 boys from Girija orphanage at Kharghar. Children decorated little cup cakes and the best cup cakes won prizes.They also enjoyed playing 1 minute games.Santa Clause was the 'show-stopper' for the evening and gave away prizes to winners and also handed gifts to all children. Volunteers from Accelya Kale together with CSA distributed snacks to the children and had a fun evening with the kids. Media personnel covered the event and an article featured in and Sakal, a popular Marathi newspaper too. On the occasion of Christmas, CSA gifted children with cartoon print T- Shirts CSA ACTIVITIES - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words!

Hygiene Kits distributed to 230 Wockhardt Foundation team of doctors & specialists children in Goa conducted Medical camp in Mumbai for more than 100 children

Eye check up in Goa | Dental treatment Odisha | De-worming session MP |Skin awareness Mumbai

Nutrition support Goa | Sweaters and woollen caps given to children in Madhya Pradesh CSA ACTIVITIES - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words!

Computer centre set up - MP | Spoken English support - MP | Tuition Electrical wiring and wall painting support at teacher support - Pune GASVS - MP

Diwali celebrations - Goa | Childrens Day celebrations at orphanages in Pune

Christmas celebrations - Pune CSA ACTIVITIES - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words!

Fun times at Mumbai orphanages with staff volunteers from Standard Chartered Securities and Givaudan

Christmas celebrations - Mumbai

Children enjoying pizzas, ice creams, gifts and a full length mirror in Goa! CSA ACTIVITIES - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words!

'Joy of Giving' activities conducted at orphanages in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh with staff volunteers from ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Accelya Kale staff enjoying Christmas celebrations with children from a Mumbai orphanage CSA ACTIVITIES - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words!

CAP workshop on Understanding CSR Bill CSA roadshow to Accelya staff in Goa

CSA and Accelya Staff at Mumbai and Pune Marathon LEND US A HELPING HAND!

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention”

We have a long way to go before we can truly say that sustainable, value based care and support is being provided to children in adoption agencies and orphanages.

CSA believes in the highest standards of governance and transparency and will share project specific information with you.

We invite you to support our cause in the form of individual or corporate donations / sponsorships. We have a host of donation options to choose from and you can select appropriate options that suit your philanthropic needs. Kindly get in touch with us for further information on donation options available.

Donate today and become an active 'catalyst'! Cheque: Made payable to “Catalysts for Social Action” and sent to - Address: CSA, C/o Accelya Kale Solutions Ltd, 3rd Floor, Modi House, , Naupada, Thane (W), Mumbai 400 602

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Landline: Mumbai - 022-67808888 | Pune - 020-24227090 Email: [email protected] | Website: www.csa.org.in Join our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CSAadoption