The orientation for the new volunteers was held on 26 January 2015, at Jogram Mandir hall, Law College road. A total of 39 volunteers turned up. The orientation was structured into 5 major activities;

Wake up activity:

The new volunteers were made to dance four simple steps to a song along with the old volunteers and the coordinators. This was to done to get the complete attention of the new volunteers and was a great start.

Why Volunteering?

Before proceeding with the presentation the volunteers were questioned for their volunteering motives. We wanted to know why they chose BHUMI and why they want to go for educational volunteering. A video depicting the educational statistics of India was then played to update the new volunteers.

Bhumi Presentation:

The presentation informing them about the goals and objectives of Bhumi, followed by a video which briefed about the different projects and how the academic sessions are conducted was played.

Ice breaker:

The volunteers were then divided into groups, and asked to design costumes for one guy and one girl in the group within a given time limit using newspapers. They had to display these costumes on the ramp with an innovative pose at the end. The motive behind this activity was to bring out their creativity and teamwork. We added another surprise twist to this activity by asking them to introduce their team members in the end.

Volunteer Impact:

This was followed by a video which introduced the volunteers to Bhumi Pune. This was then followed by a presentation which focused on the volunteer impact and consequences of volunteer drop outs. In the end, volunteers were asked to decide upon the project of their interest, join the group discussion for each project followed by a personal interview.

Awnish Raj, Volunteer LEM

I don’t want to live in the kind of world where we don’t look out for each other.Not just the people that are close to us,but anybody who needs a helping hand.Everybody needs the best start in life and education is essential for a child’s development.There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are preserved,that their welfare is considered that the have no fear,that they live in peace and that each of them reach their goals in life.Working with BHUMI, which is one of Indias largest youth volunteering organisation,I dedicate a few hours every week towards the development of under-privileged children and that is a great source of mental peace. In addition to that satisfaction I am also adding multiple skills to my profile that are especially good at complementing technical or quantitative backgrounds.The physical,emotional and intellectual impairments that poverty inflicts on them can mean a lifetime of suffering. Investing fully in them today will ensure the well being and benefit the future generations.

Nilanjan Chaudhuri,Volunteer LES

Association with Bhumi, one of India’s largest youth volunteering organization, has been a wonderful experience. I am associated with the Little Einstein Science Project of Bhumi, responsible for practically demonstrating the theoretical concepts of science. Being a science enthusiast myself, I love doing practical demonstrations of various experiments. While volunteering, I brushed up on my knowledge of science thanks to the questions by the inquisitive kids. I learnt patience and now I can handle the kids better. This has also made me handle people outside. I now know how to convey things in a very comprehensive manner and describe them lucidly. At the end of each session, we question the kids on their level of concept understanding and it feels good that I have widened their horizon of science. I enjoyed the trip we had with the kids at the science park wherein it was a mutual learning experience. Bhumi provides a great platform to budding volunteers like me.

Mahima Mani , Volunteer Kanini

Bhumi is a great platform towards doing good humane work. by creating awareness and making differences in the life of those who are in need.It gives me immense pleasure to be a part of Bhumi I always think I should’ve joined Bhumi early. As I feel after joining Bhumi,my life’s perception has changed.Earlier I used to think teaching is such a tough job but now after meeting those kids and going through teaching experience, I feel it is wonderful.It is so blissful to teach those who are really in need.On my first day I got goosebumps when those kids started welcoming us with the nice song and did aarti.It was a great experience.Every time I go there I feel so happy and it makes go there everytime.I put in my best for them because it gives me inner satisfaction and strength.Lastly I wanted to express my feeling through a quotation given by Mahatma Gandhi,”The Best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

INTERACT, ENGAGE & ENACT

The new and old volunteers of LEM project were part of an interesting interacting session with the kids from the centers. Various activities involving leadership skills, classroom management and many more were conducted for the volunteers. The event brought out the problems that the project was facing and also the feasible and probable solutions for those problems. The volunteers were asked to provide the solutions according to their understanding of the project. The kids were introduced to the new volunteers and an activity involving kids was carried out. The activity was a simple painting one wherein, the kids could express their feelings and thoughts. The volunteers were asked to help the kids and thus improve their bonding. The volunteers were also given a training on the LEM learning kit.

CELEBRATING NATIONAL SCIENCE DAY

The science trip was conducted as a part of celebration of National Science Day on 28th February,2015. About 55 students of Maher accompanied by about 13 volunteers were a part of the trip. Out of 55, around 5 had participated for an oration competition on the topic describing their favourite scientist. The science centre comprises of two two floors. The first floor included automobile components and the kids could see the working of it’s various parts. The second floor consisted of two sections: one on fun science and the other on new upcoming topics and energy.Apart from these many other scientific theories were explained in easy to grasp practical models.All in all it was a wonderfull experience for the kids and the volunteers alike that spread knowledge,fun and bonding.

On March 14,2015-BCC(Basic Computer Course) Examination was successfully conducted at Pune. 5 students from Dr. Radhakrishna Sarvapalli Prashal,Bopodi (Centre 3) and 6 students from Maher Ashram at Vadagaon Sheri (Centre 4) making total 11 have appeared for the examination at Pai International Learning Solutions,Pune. Kids were accompanied by Suren Mohanty- Kanini Project Co-ordinator,Pune and Rohit Gurlhosur-HR Kanini, Pune. Subrajyoti,Ravi (both Kanini Volunteers) and academic staff from Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishna Prashala.

Bhumi Corporate League, a fund raiser event, was organised for the first time in Pune on 28th February at Swami Vivekananda ground,Chinchwad, Pune. A total of 10 companies participated in a day-long football tournament competing for the prestigious BCL trophy. The team from Cognizant which played brilliantly throughout the day bagged the first prize while the favourites Wipro ended up second. The matches were played with great enthusiasm and sportsmanship. Even the kids who were watching the event were given a chance to showcase their talent in football. Through BCL the Pune team could raise a fund of 30,000 rupees excluding all the expenses. The efforts put in by the BCL team of volunteers was commendable. The success of the event is the testimony for the hard work that these volunteers put in.

The team has changed since, have a look at the updated version at www.lead.bhumiverse.org

As we step into a new year, there will be some key changes to Bhumi’s Projects Team. While every project will continue to have a volunteer-national facilitator, he/she will be closely supported by a Bhumi employee/full-timer as follows. Please spare a few minutes to also understand the various communication channels for queries and major issues.

      

 

     

From L to R: Ranjani and Ganesh Kumar

Agne Kirupha (Operations Manager) will be supporting the coordinators in implementing the Little Einsteins – Science project nationally. If you have issues/queries, contact the Science Support team [Yuvaneshwari, Agne Kirupha, Arvind Lakshmanan – National HR and Vivek Agrawal]. Agne will also be managing operations in Chennai and provide a supporting role for operations and volunteerism promotion nationally.

   

From L to R: Yuvaneshwari, Agne and Arvind

Ayyanar Elumalai (co-founder, Bhumi) will be supporting the coordinators in implementing the Nakshatra Reach Out projects nationally i.e.Arts, Dance, Football, Music, Theatre and Volleyball. If you have queries/issues, contact the NRO Support team [Ayyanar Elumalai, Raghunathan, Swathi Sukumar – National HR  and Vivek Agrawal]

     

From L to R: Ayyanar, Raghu and Swathi

Vaishnavi Srinivasan (Executive Director) will be supporting the coordinators in implementing the Speak Out project nationally. If you have queries/issues, contact the Speak Out Support team [Lavanya Jagannathan, Mathangi Chandrasekhar, Vaishnavi Srinivasan, Aaditya Venkatesh – National HR, Princee Chaudhary and Vivek Agrawal]

       

From L to R: Lavanya, Mathangi, Vaishnavi and Aaditya

Anusha Vasu (Project Associate) will be managing city operations in Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Tanushree Sharma (Regional Manager) will be managing city operations in New Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Kolkata.

Vivek Agrawal (Chief Operating Officer) will be managing HR, projects and operations nationally.

            

L to R: Anusha, Tanushree and Vivek

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Dr.Prahalathan KK (co-founder, Bhumi) is involved in strategy, project monitoring and finance. If you have any other or unresolved issues Bhumi’s Support Team can be contacted [Ayyanar Elumalai, Ganapathy Krishnan, Dr. Prahalathan KK, Vaishnavi Srinivasan and Vivek Agrawal]