Physical Recreation Partner- FootballFirst India introduce Coaching Camp with International Coaches from England

FootballFirst trains young footballers in techniques and life skills associated with the exciting game of football. Our professional coaches motivate and tutor the footballers of tomorrow in a fun and active environment. We work with schools across India to deliver this exciting learning opportunity to boys and girls of all ages. 

They have partnered with the International Soccer School of Bolton Wanderers Football Club, England (BWFCISS) to give young footballers in India an opportunity to experience firsthand, world class coaches and the latest international coaching techniques and methodologies. Bolton Wanderers Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the English Premier League. 

In collaboration with BWFCISS we are organizing a Football Coaching Camp from the 17th of October to the 22nd of October. Highly experienced UEFA licensed coaches from England will come to India to coach and scout talented young footballers from schools across the NCR region. BWFCISS has been involved in various such football initiatives across the world including Australia, Canada, South Africa, Egypt, Iceland, Norway and US.

We invite all schools across NCR to nominate their top 11 football talent to take part in this Football Camp for free. The football coaches from the schools will also be invited to attend the training camp with the international coaches.

For more information:

Programme Coordinator: Dhruv Arora +91 99990 79889

Email: info@footballfirstindia.com

Website: www.footballfirstindia.com

Office: +91 11 40167043

Introducing Talent Enablers as YES Centre

'Talent Enablers' is a non government organization with focus on sports, arts, culture and environment for young people. Operating in Dehradun, they have been tirelessly working towards 'cultivating and fostering an environment for creative, artistic, musical expression and preserving the environment and cultural richness of India.'The team at 'Talent Enablers' believe that everyone has the imagination and creativity and it people needs only a gentle push in an informal yet enabling environment to bring 'the talents that lies just below the conscious level' out. 

'Talent Enablers' has four aims:

• To develop skills of the marginalized, socially deprived, economically disadvantaged, differently abled but talented sections of the society, particularly women and children. They believe that by developing basic skills, people can achieve independence, be adept at personal expression and become active in social and community involvement. 
• To 'enable the athletic, artistic and creative development of children to strengthen the cultural roots of the emerging generation'. 
• Provide a common platform to 'inspire talent to visualize, stimulate their imagination, encourage hope and promote self-confidence, develop creative thinking to solve problems and make better life choices'.
• To provide energy to everyone around by enabling the self belief to go beyond normal thinking.  

Supporters of Talent Enablers

• The Doon School is India's leading school with an international reputation. As YES Centre of The Award Programme, they are key ally to Talent Enablers as well. 
• SDIPA Shiamak Davar Institute of Performing Art is India's leading dance institute with branches in all major cities. 
• Victory Art Foundation Inaugurated in March, 2004 Shiamak’s Victory Arts Foundation (VAF) is a not for profit organization committed to making dance a meaningful experience for ‘all’. 
• Audio Wagon is an organisation that give chance to those people who want to achieve something in the field of music and have ability to create music. 
• IMA Blood Bank Uttarakhand is an NGO which create awareness through various campaigns
• Sanskar International School is a day and residential school located at Dehradun. 
• Yati Skates is the first of it’s kind team of International/National skaters who train the children of Uttaranchal through roller skating coaching in schools, Institutes, clubs, Organizations.
• Global Network Website Services is a Dehradun based website developing and hosting company.
• The Doon Global School is a co-educational, residential and day school. 

As a YES Centre, Talent Enablers will facilitate the Award availability to all young people in its areas of operations, particularly those from the disadvantaged sections of the society. 

IGE Delegate Devanjali shares brief notes

After that long journey we finally there and heard welcoming voices KARIBU! (welcome). We reached the KCB youth centre it was an overwhelming moment to see attendees to see a total of 92 attendees from 52 different Nationalities, all eager to interact and introduce themselves. Divided in 8 different groups names after the animals found in Africa we left for Savage Camp, Sagana next morning all set to undertake the adventure challenge. Over the next three days we managed to successfully complete all our activities that included Hiking, Mountain Biking, Rafting as well as Rock Climbing. Fighting bad weather made the activities even more exciting and enjoyable.

From Sagana we proceeded to The Great Rift Valley Lodge, Naivasha, where we were welcomed by young volunteers who played and danced to the African tunes. Next day was the official launch of the event  which was attended by the President of Kenya. Getting down to work we now went into the workshop phase.There were be six workshops run over two days, the 7th and 8th September. As an attendee, we got to attend four out of the six workshops.The six workshops were as follows:

o    Reaching decisions (governance)

o    Reaching policy (youth policy)

o    Reaching support (fundraising)

o    Reaching the world (communications)

o    Reaching your goals (research)

o    Reaching youth (training)

The next two days were for service projects, we targeted four locations. I visited the Masai Girls hostel where we fenced an area, put up poles for volley ball and also worked on an area for a water tank. Each attendee planted a tree . ( each one reach one)

After focusing on all the sections of the Award we went into the Youth Forum, it was now time for us attendees to  take charge, we worked in groups on six different topics all day and the next day ran four consecutive sessions. All the workshops were attended by HRH, The trustees , members of the governing Council as well as the staff members.

The event was closed by HRH at a Gala evening at The Great Rift Valley Lodge itself. It was Great to know that the IGE2011 was the third largest event seen by the African Continent.

Ojas Patel and Divyansh Jain share their experiences from Youth Camp in Republic of Karelia

The International Award for Young People, Karelia organised a youth camp from 3^rd August to 9^th August in the Republic of Karelia, Russia involving delegates from different countries namely India, Singapore, Slovenia, Israel, Finland, Russia and the other CIS countries of USSR.

The participants included boys from Birla High School namely:-

Ojas Patel (11 science B)

Ayush Shah (11 commerce A)

Divyansh Jain (11 commerce C)

Some of the participants share their experience.

Says Divyansh Jain: "I had always actively participated in IAYP trekking programmes and was qualifying for my silver medal. My teacher came and told me about this camp "Beginning of Trust" which was to be held in the Republic of Karelia, Russia. Me and my friends were in for it from day 1. This camp was a totally new experience for us. It was organised by the people of Kujtezha village near Petrozavodsk. There were about 120 participant from 6 countries(India, Slovenia, Israel, Finland, Singapore and Russia). In the camp we took part in various number of activities. There were various workshops like Dancing, Singing, Apiculture, Fishing, Doll Making, etc. in which everybody took part with full enthusiasm. We had to provide them with special services like cleaning river banks, roads, school, making fence, painting windows and fence, etc. There were many lessons on trust that had an everlasting impact on us and taught us to trust others in order to be trusted. There was a trek to the neighbouring village Bolsha Shelga, where we learnt about local Russian culture, dance, music, lifestyle, etc. We had a special programme in which the delegates from each country had to give a presentation on their own countries. This enabled everybody to learn about each-other. We had a special dance night in which everybody had to dance in different tunes of life symbolized by different colours of the rainbow. It was 2 hours of non-stop fun. On the closing ceremony, the Russian people performed their traditional dance and sang folk songs. Everybody showcased their talents in their respective fields. We were awarded with a certificate as well. There was a special thanks giving to the families with whom the participants stayed. The main motive of the camp was to promote and encourage interaction among people of different countries and enthuse a feeling of trust for each other. We all made many friends with whom we will always stay in touch. Through this camp we also learnt another thing. We felt the presence of India even outside India when we saw a Russian lady performing Indian Classical dance in Indian attire and when we saw a teacher from Israel singing songs from Indian movies. This camp was like a special gift to us which will be cherished by us forever.”

Ojas Patel, one of the participants, shares his experience:

“During the camp, apart from participating in many workshops such as music, dance, agriculture, fishing, we also did social service like painting windows, building wooden pathways, cleaning river banks, etc. Interaction with foreign delegates was a spectacular experience in itself. There were many interactive sessions and fun-filled games that helped us get along with other participants. During the camp, we had a trek to a nearby village called Bolsoe Shelga where we learnt about their culture, folk dance, traditional instruments, and lifestyle. A ceremony had been conducted in the camp in which delegates of all countries had to make a presentation about their country and display it as a workshop to the participants of the camp and the local villagers during which India received a lot of interest from everyone. There was a dance ceremony organised in the camp in which everyone had to dance in groups on all the tunes of life symbolised by different colours of the rainbow. On the last night of the camp there was a closing ceremony in which the participants performed the Russian traditional dance. The last night was amazing with the camp fire and participants singing and dancing till mid night. The foreign delegates were given certificates for their participation in the camp, and finally a special ‘Thank You’ was given to the local villagers without whose help the camp would not have been successful. On the last day we were taken to Kizhi Island, a historical place, for an excursion. The camp was an amazing experience for all of us; we met the best of people from different corners of the world. We were surprised to see a Russian lady performing Indian Classical Dance and a guy from Israel singing Bollywood songs. After the camp we visited the two of the most beautiful places, St Petersburg and Moscow. In St. Petersburg, we saw the winter palace, their churches and also had a boat ride on the river Neva. We also met few of our friends from the camp. 

We also went to a small town on the outskirts of St Petersburg named, Wyberg. In Moscow, we visited the famous Red Square where we saw Kremlin, a few churches and museums. Again we met a few of our friends from the camp. The best part in Moscow was the Independence Day celebrations that we saw on our way to the Indian embassy. It was a wonderful experience for us and we hope to treasure it for many more years to come. We would sincerely like to thank our school, our award leaders, Joydeep sir who had accompanied us to the camp and who helped us from time to time.”

HSBC Gold Award Participants share their Residential Project at Kemri experience.

The Kemri Conservation Project, sponsored by HSBC India engaged 20 IAYP Gold Award participants successfully in a residential setting. The group travelled to the project site near Udaipur, Rajasthan in 2 batches. Designed with two key prioririties of ecological restoration/conservation and community outreach, the project allowed the participants to work on teamwork and get a sense of leadership in the fight against climate change.

The Kemri project is a unique initiative that seeks to restore greenery in the country by allowing participants to learn first hand the importance and benefits of conservation, allow them to share their insights with young people in rural India; and most importantly, help build bridges of understanding between rural and urban dwellers.

Aloysius Chrispin Franklin, one of the participants shares his experience :

“I always wanted to be a part of an organization that looks notonly for its own benefit but also for its community and ourplanet. I am really proud to say that HSBC follows it and encourages its employees to implement simple but effective steps to make the world a better place to live. Doing the Award is a great opportunity as it not only enables you to set simple and realistic goals but actually drives you towards it, whether it is personal goals or an aim to reach out to the community in providing service.”

The Kemri Conservation Project allowed me to meet some of my peers from different HSBC locations in India. From being total strangers, we became good friends as if we had known each other for ages. The entire project was an amazing and experience. Everyday we had something different to work with- clearing the forest area from weeds and invasive plants, painting metal tree guards, digging trenches to set pipe-lines; planting saplings and even tagging them with our names. The work was enjoyable; we got a chance to interact with the local people and the few schools about eco-conservation. At the end of the day we all got this intense feeling of satisfaction that we did something really good!

Our daily walks into the forest to sight various species of flora and fauna, the presentations and explanations given by our project leader at Kemri conservation gave me an entirely new perspective on climate change and the effect it can have. Even though we were a small team to work with, I am sure each one of us volunteers grabbed enough information and sustainable methods that will seed out to our friends and their friends in a matter of time.

Srikanth Ganti, summarising his experience :

“The Award has provided us a wonderful opportunity to feel the urge and work for the community. I am very satisfied and happy after spending quality time exploring the beauty of the nature and take part in conserving it. The long treks across the terrain envisage more on the need to conserve nature and preserve the ecological balance. Watching birds and understanding them creates a strong sense of responsibility to protect the nature.”

After the Kemri experience, I have been doing my own bit for the environment. Thanks to Mayur and team for this interesting, inspiring, insightful and illuminating journey of my life. I also urge people to be more enthusiastic and opt for IAYP and experience the exhilarating, enervating and extravagant journey at KEMRI and enlighten self that merely “feeling” the brand is totally different from “being” the brand.”

Gold Holder & Regional Intern Dinesh Gajendran shares how The Award changed his life

A Gold Award holder, Award Leader, Co-ordinator, Social Innovator,International Award Ambassador, Asia-pacific regional intern are accolades that define his life today, were just a string of unconnected words a few years ago for Dinesh Gajendran. Today, as the second Asia Pacific Regional Intern for the Peter Cruddas Social Innovations Initiative, Dinesh is working to showcase those Award Holders who have used the experiences from their Award to change lives of others in their communities. Read more to see how the Award allows young people to engage in Communities and be RECOGNISED at the highest level for their leadership.

Way back in 2007, when I chanced upon a newspaper article on Youth Exchange Programme, I did not realize that it was going to change my life. When I signed up for it, little did I know that it would be a turning point for my future endeavours in social development.

I started my Gold Award journey in 2007 from Chennai and spent a lot of time with South Zone Award Authority as part of the organizing team for Award Leaders workshops, Indian Special Projects in Olcot School Vellore. The Indo Mauritius Youth Exchange Programme was another eventful journey. A Masters in Business and Administration (MBA), from the Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai helped me become a better organiser of events.

For the Gold Level I had to engage in several activities for Skill, Service, Physical Recreation, Adventurous Journey and Residential Project. For the service section I started teaching Kho-Kho, an Indian sport to the children from an under-privileged community in southern Tamilnadu. As I was already a national player for the same sport and also a coach for the state team, I was able to impart personal experiences to them. It also gave me immense satisfaction to know that I was able to help these children for whom education was just a dream. Dreams come true one day if you pursue your passion. I fully realized the meaning of that maxim, when the team I coached won the state championship and the children were given an opportunity to pursue their higher education. This experience gave me the confidence to start the Audacious Academy for Sports and Social Development endeavours in social development. (AASSD) with focus on training young people from the rural areas in basic sports like Kho-Kho.

I was recognized as a Social Innovator for the Peter Cruddas Social Innovation Initiative (PCSII) 2010. This helped me get a direction to achieve my goals. Through the Award, I was able to carve a path for the rural students also bring out the stark realities and challenges these students faced.

Post PCSII, I represented India as an International Award Ambassador in the Beyond Sport Summit 2010 at Chicago, USA. My rural sports initiative received great response and won specially selected Best Entered Project 2010 for the UNICEF Sport for Education Award. I felt proud to be the youngest delegate in the group of all decision makers in the sports arena. Participating in the Beyond Sport Summit I got the vision to transform an initiative into a well-structured organization. Audacious Academy for Sports and Social Development (AASSD) today has a vision to develop projects that use sports and the Award Porgamme for development to deal with peace, health, environment, education, and social inclusion in rural areas.

Goenkan Awardees celebrate Earth Day

"Save the Earth, it’s the only one we have." Year after year, students update their facebook status, and send group SMSes creating awareness about the significance of 22nd April. But rarely ever do people actually take the initiative to carry out even the simplest of ecologically beneficial activities in an attempt to make at least the society around them a better place to live. This year was different, the IAYP participants at G.D. Goenka World School decorated brown paper bags with earth slogans and messages for the retail store in their school to use as an eco - friendly alternative to plastic bags. Interestingly, not only was the environment made a slightly better place, but the students that made the bags also developed a better understanding of the deterioration of the environment and the importance of conservation.

The other activity was perhaps more fun filled, but had the same intent. Planting saplings and decorating the pots was a great initiative by Aarushi. IAYP Silver participants planted seasonal flower saplings and painted them so that they could be donated to the NGO, ADAA. Not only does planting a sapling help a little more oxygen enter the environment, but the painted pots act as the ideal decoration for a recently established organization.

Earth day was a huge success for the school's IAYP group but the end of Earth Day surely doesn't signify the end of environmentally friendly actions, because everyday deserves to be Earth Day, and the Earth deserves a little help to bounce back from the deterioration that man has caused.

Goa Football Association- one of five Australian Sport Outreach Programme (ASOP) Partners

Since 1959, Goa Football Association (GFA) established as the official administrative body of football in the state of Goa has been making endeavouring to develop football to 'keep pace with the fast changing scenario in the country.' 

However, the local crop of players, with no structured training and  sub standard level of technical fundamentals emerged as they only had playing experiences limited to inter-village tournaments organised in the rice fields of Goa. To advance quality of competition, marketing, sponsorships and greater audiences, GFA introduced their 'Youth Development Programme' (YDP) in 1998, with financial support from Kannan Devan, a subsidiary of the Tata Tea Company. In addition to promoting professional football, GFA's YDP like the Grassroots Football Programme and the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge are equipping young players become proficient in the game. The GFA YDP aims to encourage football participation from the grassroots and provide a pathway for recreational as well as elite performance football players. 

The Youth Development Committee(YDC) introduced a new system to allow continuity of the development programme by establishing a training centre for various age groups and by training and developing 'youth coaches' for grassroot level development. The GFA partners with Clubs to organise and spread youth development. The YDC supports the clubs by providing qualified coaches, equipment and media archives of games, etc. 

The Grassroots Football Programme with the aim of developing a cadre of community sports coaches for capacity building of the GFA to deliver a high quality, regular, age-appropriate, inclusive and fun YDP for children from the ages of 8 to 14 years in Goa. GFA as one of five partners of the Australian Sports Outreach Programme (ASOP) in India believes that a game as football should be broad based and they are committed to introducing and ensuring a quality football program at the grassroots for those children who do not have access to quality sport. The motto "Better coaches, better football" serves to grow the knowledge pool of football coaches in Goa (especially at the junior/community coach level). A collaborative partnership with Football Federation Australia (FFA), to ensure that program inputs and delivery meet certain quality standards so as to benefit all concerned stakeholders as well as establish growth pathways for coaches and athletes.

For more, please visit Goa Football Association website. 

- Information taken from the Goa Football Association Website 

‘A mesmerizing fortnight’- Arnav Saxena shares his experiences from the First Spiti Gold Solar Project held in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh from June 11th to 25th, 2011

 Award Partner Ecosphere presented a unique opportunity to Award participants to complete their adventurous journey and their residential project (Gold Level) in Spiti this summer. Ecosphere founded by Gold Holder and Gold Award Holders’ Society of India President- Ms. Ishita Khanna is a social enterprise dedicated to sustainable development in the fragile cold desert of Spiti. In June 2011, a group of nine Award Participants from spent two weeks successfully building a Solar Passive Bath (as in the banner) in the remote Buddhist nunnery of Morang Village, Spiti. This project will allow the nuns to save over 3.5 tons of fuel wood/annum and provide ready access to hot water in the winters when temperatures dip to – 35 degrees centigrade. Arnav Saxena, one of the Project participants from The Scindia School, Gwalior shares his experiences!

Getting dirty in the mud and having fun working amidst the beautiful Himalayas- the highest mountain range in the world, the calm and pure winds at an average altitude of 4000metres above sea level, the simple yet sumptuous meals with the local Spitians in their cozy mud homes… all of these would just have been a mere desire if I had not applied for the Gold Spiti Project.

The much-awaited day arrived on 11th June, and we met the entire Spiti Group in Delhi. We met Daniel- an Award Participant from Hebron School Ooty, Olga- Volleyball coach and Award Holder from Russia, Tanushree- Award Participant from Open Awards Centre in Delhi and Nivedita- Communications Manager and Award Leader from National Office. We boarded the overnight bus to Shimla, where Angdui-Ecosphere Guide and our escort to take us to Kaza- the capital of Spiti, met us. Our arrival in Kaza was delayed by five hours due to a landslide! I faced high altitude sickness and could not go with the group to Key Monastery the next morning. Luckily, I overcame the sickness by taking Diamox and resting.

That afternoon, we were briefed about the Solar Passive Bath Project in the nunnery of Morang. The construction of a solar bath is of great significance in this region as burning great amounts of fuel wood contribute to black carbon emissions and rapid snowmelts of glaciers at a local level to CO2 and. Our project would enable the local people to cut down on emissions and also to have better hygiene through regular availability of hot water.

We left for Morang the next day, assembled all the tents and toilets and played volleyball. Our target was to build an 8 feet high room from just wet mud and rocks, a true challenge! After spending 4 days working really hard, getting really dirty and having a lot of fun with, we left the newly constructed walls to dry and left for our Exploration to the Langza, Komic (the highest village in Asia) and Demul-remote villages where we did home stays to experience the Spitian culture. We even hiked up Balari Top located at 5200 metres from Demul. This was the most challenging but scenic hike.

We returned to Moraang to complete the roof and install the solar heater with massive water capacity of 200 litres.  As we finished the project, we realized how far we had come from struggling to lift a spade in the high altitude, being shy to interact to becoming a strong, confident and well knit team. We watched the King of Spiti inaugurate the Structure with the nuns chanting prayers proudly! We were delighted to have completed the Project in record time. We realized that this was the end of a challenging yet amazing experience, the memories and friendships will last us our lifetimes! Thank you Ishita, Ecosphere and Award India teams. 

IGE 2011 Team India excels

A great time and more so fantastic opportunity to build knowledge base; serve the needs of young people and instill leadership in the youth from all over the world.

Team India had been very happy to lead by example, share best practices and participate with élan in all the workshops as well as events. Devanjali may have been one of the youngest, but did lead from the front, let us all share a high five with her!

Raja our anchor, with his deep knowledge base a well as experience as an Award Volunteer contributed in making the Team India become the cynosure of all the eyes, well done dear Raja and we hope you will be one our promising stars in the years ahead.

Often it is said 'Dil Jeeto' or win hearts, and this is where the real success of Team India rests.

Cheers...

Special Olympics Bharat- one of five Australian Sport Outreach Programme (ASOP) Partners

Special Olympics is a global organization that allows more than 3.4 million athletes with intellectual disabilities to participate in sport. The Power of Sport has allowed hundreds of thousands of volunteers and coaches to positively affect the lives of people with intellectual disabilities each year since the establishment of Special Olympics in 1968. 

Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. This mission allows people affected by disabilities to get continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship. All Special Olympics activities - at the local, state, national and international levels - reflect the values, standards, ceremonies and events of the Olympic movement. Finally, most Special Olympics activities are run by local volunteers, in order to create greater awareness among people about intellectual disabilities. 

The Special Olympics Programme Bharat  has so far drawn over 37000 coaches to work with over 750234 athletes across 31 State Programs. India being designated a Priority Nation by Special Olympics International, the goal is to extend the Special Olympics programme throughout the country and reach over 1,000,000 people with Intellectual Disability by end 2012.

INITIATIVES:

Through the Athlete Leadership Programmes (ALPs) athletes can explore opportunities for greater participation in our movement beyond sports training and competition: as coaches, officials, team captains, spokespeople and Board and committee members. These leadership roles allow athletes to speak persuasively; interview with the media; mentor and speak up for other athletes; discuss their opinions on policy and governance; analyze financial reports; and research and prepare for fundraising events. 

Initiatives like Healthy Athletes programme help athletes to improve their training and competition by focusing on overall health and fitness. This is achieved through basic health screenings, provision of preventative and some treatment services, educational information, and referrals for follow-up care.

Special Olympics Unified Sports brings together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities to train and compete on the same team. Throughout the year, in a variety of sports ranging from basketball to golf to fig u re skating, Unified Sports athletes improve their physical fitness, sharpen their skills, challenge the competition and have fun, too.

A part of the worldwide movement to empower those with special abilities through the medium of sport, Special Olympics Bharat as Australian Sports Outreach Programme (ASOP) India partner will not only empower through sport, but also change attitudes and help build communities. 

As ASOP-Award India Partner, Special Olympics Bharat will Engage and Reward the lives of the motivated young people who are a part of the Special Olympics movement in India. In the first year of operations, Special Olympics Bharat and Award National Team will identify key young leaders within SO Bharat to engage in the International Award and then build participation after a year long pilot. 

- Content taken from Special Olympics Website and Special Olympics Bharat website

YES Conference 2011

To the National Licensed Operators (NLO), IAYP India; YES Centres and YES Partners:

We are in the process  of planning the YES Conference 2011, as a part of our capacity building and training exercise. The dates for the Conference to be hosted by the National Award Authority at New Delhi have been fixed as 16th, 17th and 18th of October 2011. Please flag the dates in your diaries and do your travel bookings ASAP.

All arrangements for stay and the Conference at the India Habitat Centre will be made by and paid for by the Award Programme Foundation. The aim of the YES Conference is to bring together all the YES Centres and YES Partners and find ways to promote, provide and preserve the Award Programme in India.

You will be required to be at the India Habitat Centre as follows:

16th October 2011 - 11 AM to 6 PM

17th October 2011 - 10 AM to 6 PM

18th October 2011 - 10 AM to 5 PM

We will provide free accommodation for 16th, 17th and 18th only please.

Further details will follow. 

Cheers,

Sandeep Dutt

National Director

Why not you? - IAYP

The Award India YouTube Channel is now www.youtube.com/iaypindia
Get set with uploads and share your Award experience... 

IAYP and its Special Projects

The Special Project was launched in 1999 in collaboration with various well established NGOs to empower the disadvantaged youth from underprivileged sections of the society to realize their potential, build their confidence and work towards achieving their goals. The Special Project units aim at harnessing the potential of young people from socially isolated sections of the society and providing them the necessary resources to complete the Award programme. We, at IAYP, believe that everybody deserves a chance. This is exactly what the Special Project aims to do. In this task, the Indian Award Programme was assisted by a supporting grant from the International Special Projects..

The first such NGO to partner with IAYP India was Salaam Balak Trust, New Delhi and the Special Project thus came to be known as the Salaam Award project (SAP). It was later followed by opening of a second phase in Kolkata on 22 July 1999 and another one in the South Zone in January 2000.

Over 2000 young people are participating in the Special Projects programme on an equal footing. The programme is extremely popular with young people of both sexes and at times it is difficult to cope with their enthusiasm to join the Award Programme in all its activities.

Year 2010 saw a renewed focus and the launch of "Making a Difference" which helped us double the number of Special Project units. In 2011 alone more than 1000 fresh entrants will join us. There are fresh investments and partnerships with business, to build momentum and make the Award all inclusive, helping equip for life young people from all walks of life. We welcome volunteers, Gold Holders and organizations to work with us, we offer training and resources from the Indian Special Projects fund.

Manav Vikas School is the latest unit to join SAP. Located at Gururbasa village, Jamshedpur, the school is striving to provide even basic education to the children of Gururbasa and the adjoining localities. The students here are mostly from backward sections of the society (aadivasis). To accommodate increased number of students the school has started construction of seven new classrooms, the estimated total cost being around 12,00,000 Indian rupees. 50% of the cost has already been funded and spent on the construction of these classrooms, the roof and partial construction of walls and a staircase. Due to shortage of funds, the school has failed to complete the remaining construction. The school has therefore approached IAYP to help them find financers to complete the undertaken construction.