SAHAS

It was celebration time at .
Colourful kites, til ladoos, lots of singing and happy little faces !

The children also learnt about flying issues such as preventing falls from terraces, protecting one’s fingers from rough kite flying strings and preventing harm to birds.

, the kite flying celebration , is always very enjoyable for the children as they get to eat their favourite ladoos and take kites home.

Child friendly smart city initiative of Surat Municipal Corporation and UNICEF is the first of its kind which has built a partnership with various stakeholders such as NGOs , Academic institutions and others to understand what it takes to build a strong collective response towards creating a child friendly city.

and NJCharitableFoundation have been key partners from the inception of the initiative and have taken significant strides to exchange learnings ,insights and varying perspectives .

Together we are unpacking the essence of child participation and striving to design solutions towards their rights to health, education, nutrition and safety.

We are scaling up the model of conducting “ Bal melas” for children in schools and for specially marginalised children such as those with various disabilities . “Bal Samvad” are planned to be held at four different venues in the city if which two have been completed. These include activities by network partners that encourage children’s “learning by doing” and also provide an opportunity to have their voices and opinions to be heard.

and NJ Charitable Foundation conducted two activities related to education. The first activity tapped the children’s perceptions on how they would facilitate education of two children who had dropped out of school. The second activity , based on crafting “ My dream school” gave the children freedom to unleash their thoughts on an ideal school and education.
With the success of first two “”Bal Samvad” , we look forward to further fruitful participation and dialogues with children to feed into the process of building a “child friendly smart city”.

Watch this space….

( Our network partners:
Surat Municipal Corporation UNICEF ChildFriendlySmart City Knowledge Center, Surat, PP Savani Vidyabhavan , Vanita Vishram Women's University, SAHAS - NJ Charitable Trust , Surat Pediatric Association Charitable Trust, Child Online Protection Foundation of India, P P Savani University , Sarvajanik University, Vikas Desai)

Celebrations are a great way for children to learn new things. The last two weeks gave opportunity to children at the aanganwadis in our field area to celebrate “Rakshabandhan” and also “Teachers Day”.
For Rakshabandhan, the aanganwadi workers had prepared special pooja Thalis and explained the significance of the day as children tied Rakhis on each other.
Role plays were conducted on the occasion of Teachers Day where some of the children took up the role of teachers and pretended to teach the other children. The activity was a lot of fun and showed how keenly the children observed their teachers . The role play also gave the children a sense of responsibility .

“Dreaming and Planning Child Friendly City Surat” CFC Surat” - joint Initiative of SMC and UNICEF, Technical support UHCRCE

SAHAS NGO has been one of the key network partners in the effort towards building a “ child friendly” Surat city in which the rights of children are fully realised. An initiative which began almost four years ago, we have tried to understand the needs of children in various circumstances in the city through special events,sharing of experiences and knowledge of the partners , availability of data and services., etc.
A meeting was held by Unicef , Surat Municipal Corporation and the network partners to share experiences, recognise the gaps and identify the city level priorities in meeting the needs of children. SAHAS shared its rich experience of working with children in low income areas of the city and the need to focus on children out of school. Vibha Marfatia

As part of facilitating by supported a session with children on learning about plants, the varied shapes of leaves and their uses. Active involvement of children in learning and knowledge building through such activities ensures their interest and motivation in learning.

, the first centre of learning for children under the age of 6 years deliver
(ECCE) with the aim to ensure responsive care, early learning and development including early childhood education (ECE) which impacts lifelong development and learning, breaking the intergenerational cycle of and .ECE at aanganwadis is activity-based learning pedagogy, targeted specifically at developmental milestones of 0-3-year olds as well as 3-6-year olds, including those with disabilities and takes a -centred approach to develop self-learning skills.
Children were involved in doing various bydoing activities designed to engage in their own learning process that created curiosity in them to investigate and find more about themselves and the world around them. A colourful thumb printing activity and its association with one’s name facilitated and a desire to say more about one’s self, parents and teachers. Putting up the colourful charts on the wall after the exercise created a lot of joy…

June 12-13th were fun days for little tots , 3-5 year olds, in the community. It was “ Aanganwadi Pravesh Utsav 2023” where they got admitted into the aanganwadis for the first time with a lot of fanfare!
Aanganwadi workers led a procession going through their neighbourhood , with drum beats and singing which got the little ones and their mothers to join and come to the aanganwadi. Some were lucky to sit on bicycles,too! At the aanganwadi, more surprises were in store for the new admissions. Colourful rangoli , and flowers welcomed these children. They also had fun to have their footprint stamped onto paper. Observing their new environment with curiosity, checking out the toys and books , getting to know the aanganwadi workers ( their teachers ) , playing games with their peers made it easy to be comfortable on their first day at the aanganwadi. At the end of the day, the children enjoyed a snack and said goodbye to their teachers. Surely a happy experience at the aanganwadi on his/her first day will encourage the child to attend regularly after admission!

An awareness program was held for youngsters on “ World No To***co Day” where they learnt about the harm caused to one’s health due to smoking or chewing to***co. They said that while they try to stop their family members or friends from the habit, they found that it was not easy to give up. Many of those people did not believe that use of to***co causes harm to body and even cancer. Nevertheless, the children were determined to continue with their efforts .
***coday2023

It is annual summer vacation time for older children attending schools but for these little ones, daily activities continue as usual in the aanganwadis. They enjoy informal learning through fun activities under early childhood care and education . The aanganwadi workers also ensure that each child has good nutrition . Children very happily eat the Sukhdi, milk and banana distributed as snack . Later, at the end of the day, a lunch of thepla and dal shared sitting together with their friends puts a smile on their faces , and the many things to talk about with family as they return home! A happy, healthy , child friendly set up such as this aanganwadi is sure to continue attracting children where their needs are met.

Over the last few months ,
and have had the amazing opportunity to engage with different aimed towards facilitating an approach for all children in the city , as the key to breaking down barriers and prejudice, and creating an equal and fair society.
These special bal melas were facilitated by and had several participating, reaching with and impairments through various creative activities.
In the recent bal mela , we reached children with disability.
The credit for the success goes to child volunteers from SAHAS who were very enthusiastic but also sensitive to the needs of these special children . They designed innovative activities such as recognition of various sounds to engage the special children which created a lot of fun.

National Girl Child Day is observed every year in India on January 24 to promote awareness about the rights of a girl child .
SAHAS and NJCT are committed to advance their education , promote the importance of their health , nutrition and gender equality in every sphere. Supporting girls helps them to thrive and reach their true potential for a brighter future.

# nutrition

All child leaders of sahas NJCT who participated in exposure visit of botanical garden and who were involved in forming kitchen garden at Sahas centre are preparing for the Sci-Fi science fair event in the city. The event will be organised by NJ charitable trust in collaboration with Rotary club of Udhna on 31st December. Children are planning to present the principles of hydroponics through the models of organic farm and garden house.

City wide opportunities to present their knowledge and skills is definitely a boost for motivation of children.

On 24th December, Sahas NJCT work area had 8 little Santa Claus who were roaming around! In red dress code, 188 children from 7 Anganwadis celebrated Christmas. Children enthusiastically talked about Santa clause and received a nutritious gift of Chikki from Santa. The program ended with some music. Sahas centre children also followed the red dress code that day, played antakshari and celebrated Christmas.

Festivals and celebration is important part of childhood. Lets not try to miss these little opportunities to spread the joy!

Our kitchen garden curated by children themselves at SAHAS centre is flourishing every day. The plants like Methi (Felugreek), Palak (Spinach), Garlic, beat, Tulsi, Aloevera, money plant, office plant, Reddish - are growing every day! Children are not only offering necessary prerequisites but also every day love and care to all the plants!
. there is one more interesting update post is remaining in this post series, which is coming soon! Don't miss it. Stay tuned.

And we are back from our last post, as we had promised.. in step 2, SAHAS -NJCT child leaders applied their knowledge from botanical garden. They discussed among themselves. Total 16 children then contributed to prepare a kitchen garden corner at SAHAS centre. A green space created by the children and for the children. They themselves arranged soil, seeds and other material prerequisite for the plantlets. And here is the corner ready as you can see in the pictures!

Still there is no end to this story, stay tuned with our page for some more intresting updates under this green and healthy initiative!

5th November- what an exciting day for 10 SAHAS-NJCT child leaders! 5 boys & 5 girls thoroughly enjoyed their educational exposure visit to Surat Municipal corporation Botanical garden, (Kavishree Jinabhai Ratanjibhai Desai ,Snehrashmi, Botnical Park,SMC- SURAT) Smart children first learned everything from internet about this garden before visiting it in person.

A day long visit helped children to understand plants, medicinal plants, fruits, flowers, vegetables and what not! Children not only watched it for fun.. but sincerely noted down their names and importance.

But hold on... this visit was not just end of the story, SAHAS child leaders were geared up for applying this knowledge in a meaningful way. Stay tuned with our page for some interesting steps which child leaders proactively took further!

Celebrating “ Children’s Day” 14 November, 2022 at Aanganwadis and at SAHAS center. A joyful morning spent by children through fun , games and listening!
’sday2022

As part of knowledge building and to help them with school curriculum ,our children visited the Botanical park managed by Surat Municipal Corporation . They had the opportunity to see different Ayurvedic medicinal herbs and learn about their uses. Field trips such as this make school lessons more relevant and interesting for the children.

Diwali Celebration 2022 🎇🎆

In the last few years,the Surat Municipal Corporation, Urban heath and Climate Resilience center of excellence( UHCRCE) , and the Child Friendly Smart City Knowledge Center ( CFSCKC) Network Partners have given much attention to building an inclusive city geared to be child friendly. The aim is to create equal opportunities for all children which implies an effort to address all forms of discrimination against children on the basis of gender, disability, income,etc.
SAHAS, committed to realisation of child rights, has been an active network partner.
On 30 th September, a unique program was held, “Anero bal mela” for children from school for the deaf and verbally challenged with the support of “Muk badhir Vikas trust“ . Several stalls were set up by the network partners with different themes and activities.
The children eagerly visited the SAHAS- NJCT stall to participate in knowledge building games that were created by child volunteers from our organisation. A popular game was one that tested the children’s knowledge regarding help line numbers, such as Childline, Police, etc. Correct answer showed up as blinking of light on a board. The second game involved their knowledge in matching a situation or object shown on different cards with home, school or hospital. We also had some fun activities for the children such as putting Mehndi and wearing friendship bands for “ making friends “ with us.
And at the end , the children were very happy to give their feedback by writing and posting it into a feedback box. Several other visitors such as the mayor , trustees of the school , health Officers from ICDS , teachers and others also gave a feedback.
With the active involvement of the mayor in a leadership role as a defender of child rights , we look forward to a city committed to be child friendly in every sense!

The work of SAHAS and NJCT Appeared in news papers

Mothers and aanganwadi workers as teachers provide to a child, and later as the child enters formal this important responsibility is taken over by the teacher, preparing her/him for further development. Along this journey of the child , we recognise many other , both formal and informal “teachers” in the life of a child.
Happy Teachers Day to all teachers!

Ask any child - Ganeshji is undoubtly the most loved idol of most children. They look forward to Chaturthi very eagerly every year. …..
The enthusiasm of the children for the festival was very evident this year , the fifth year, too as they gathered at the workshop to prepare Ganesh idol”.
This year they decided to bring their own “mitti” ( clay) for the idol . They will install the idols in their own homes with great fanfare and goodwill until the time for visarjan and an emotional goodbye to Ganeshji until next year….Ganpati bapa Moriya!

Ask any child - Ganeshji is undoubtly the most loved idol of most children. They look forward to Chaturthi very eagerly every year. …..
The enthusiasm of the children for the festival was very evident this year , the fifth year, too as they gathered at the workshop to prepare Ganesh idol”.
This year they decided to bring their own “mitti” ( clay) for the idol . They will install the idols in their own homes with great fanfare and goodwill until the time for visarjan and an emotional goodbye to Ganeshji until next year….Ganpati bapa Moriya!

🇮🇳 Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav🇮🇳

As the Nation celebrated 75th anniversary of freedom, we asked the children what “ freedom” meant to them. This is what they had to say :

Sumit ( age 18 years) - “When I can speak freely in the family without being ignored “

Devin( age 14) - “ I want to express my thoughts freely in family and be able to ask questions in class”

Bhuri ( age 17) - “ Personal freedom encompasses many things like family, school , society etc. To be able to express myself , exercise my rights equally means freedom. “

Ankita ( age 14) - “ When I am treated the same as a boy in our family and society is freedom “

Nidhi( age 17) - “ I cannot think of my personsal freedom unless each one of us in the country is equal “

The self reflection by children on such an important day was important part of the celebration

“ U - turn bal mela” for special children with mental challenges was held on 7 th April in Surat . The event was conducted by , and , . The main event was a mega health camp - We Care organised by in association with which screened around 2500 children for eye-care, oral health, hearing disability, fitness , disability related to foot and nutrition. The unique health camp was supported by several local NGOs and other organisations setting up stalls to involve these children and their parents/caretakers through creative and fun activities.

and and our child volunteers conducted several fun activities in an attempt to involve the special children and understand their needs.