SEA (Society for Education and Action) was founded in the year 2000 by a motivated individual: Mr. Desingu, whose family has been in the fishing profession for 6 generations. The organization is located in Mahabalipuram, about an hour’s drive from Chennai.

SEA is a community based organization that works with children of fishermen and salt-pan workers. Often in these fishing communities, children begin fishing or salt panning from the tender age of 10 years. Dropping out of school and entering the family tradition is a way of life. However, many find it a difficult occupation since traditional fishing is a job of high risks, where few reap the benefits of a good catch. As a result, many of these fishermen and their families suffer socially and economically. Young children working in these hazardous environments are often inflicted with severe wounds while working at salt panning sites or encounter fatal accidents while fishing at sea.

SEA has been remarkably creative in adopting a multi faceted strategy in their mission to help children. To begin with, they organize enrollment rallies that seek to enlist children of school going age in the local government schools. Once the kids are enrolled, they provide support though their mentoring centers and parent teacher associations. The objective of these centers is to foster an environment that supports and sustains their academic activities. In addition to this they also have a bridge program that identifies school dropouts and prepares them for vocational training. The beneficiaries of this program obtain career counseling and are equipped to learn industrial and nursing programs. Finally, with a motive of improving the quality of education, SEA conducts a number of teacher training programs that discuss alternative teaching methodologies and attitudes towards children.

Recent project monitoring reports indicate that SEA has performed favorably well over a number of performance metrics. One of their major challenges is finding self-motivated teachers who can effectively adopt educational aids and impart quality education. These problems are not unique to this organization and Vibha volunteers are working closely with SEA to implement strategies to mitigate this issue.

MOTIVATION CENTERS: SEA runs six motivation centers for the children of this community. These centers are located in different villages and are housed in the backyards of the teacher’s dwellings. Classes start at 6:00.p.m and go on until 9:00.p.m at night. As many as twenty five children benefit from each motivation centre. Each centre is also provided with teaching aids such as charts and posters on science, math, and languages.

Our project monitor Ms. Patel, indicated that the centers are able to meet their primary objective of providing extra help to school going children. However, some centers were ahead of others in being able to engage the children and using the teaching material.

Ms. Patel expresses her pleasant surprise at how the children are able show so much progress in learning despite the very humble settings. She recalls that in one of the better performing centers, children are able to demonstrate their reading skills and are able to recite math tables when randomly asked. She also observes that the teaching aids were quite effective and the children were able to talk about sensory organs and herbivorous vs. carnivorous animals based on their original government school syllabus. All of this learning, she says, is being performed in a thatched hut with no more than a few electric lamps for lighting.

BRIDGE CENTRE: With an objective towards supporting high school dropouts, the bridge centers currently support as many as 21 children in the 10 grade. All of these children have either dropped-out or are in considerable risk of dropping out of mainstream government schools. A primary reason behind dropping out of schools is not being able to progress to the subsequent grades. The centers provide a structured learning environment along with additional academic support.

Supplemental help is provided via special classes in Math, English and Science. Although the classes are held at specific times, the centre is designed such that the teaching resources are always available from 9.a.m to 5.p.m. Interestingly, Ms.Patel observes that some children practically spend the whole day as they find the environment very encouraging. She also says that the availability of the teacher for the whole day is very advantageous to the children.

On account of the interest shown by the children, SEA along with another NGO called Vidyanagaram is planning on offering a program that will provide vocational training. The program will provide short duration courses on areas such as nursing, tailoring, automobile repair and electrification and wiring. The intent is to enable them to become self-sustaining either by taking a job or allowing them to start a small business.

SEA along with the fishermen community is unified in expressing their profound gratitude to Vibha patrons like you. Through our project monitors, they have expressed that their progress is fragile and needs sufficient incubation to mature and reach out to impoverished children. As they weather the effects of the tough economic conditions, they wish to underscore the importance your continued trust and support.

As Vibha volunteers discuss and strategize effective methods to confront these challenges, we are constantly amazed by the tenacity and the zeal with which the children apply themselves to the learning process. From our own little glimpse into their world, we are able to observe this inspiring process at work. Vibha patrons like you are the true pillars on which this change is founded. SEA along with the Vibha family truly appreciates your benevolence and is looking forward to sustaining this relationship in the years to come.

In the past few years, various Vibha action centers have been organizing cricket tournaments with great success. For an action center like Atlanta, it has been an amazing avenue for raising funds as well as increasing awareness. Following Atlanta’s lead, several other action centers have replicated this event successfully.

Just like we unified the different Run/Walks around the country under The Dream Mile umbrella, we want to create an unique brand for the cricket tournament as well. Having a unified brand will allow us to present a cohesive image for the event across the nation. We feel it is a necessary step in elevating this highly successful event to the next level.

As part of this effort we are organizing a "Tag the Tournament" contest. We hope we will receive active participation from all the volunteers.
Below are the rules and regulations for the "Tag the Tournament" contest.

1. Each entry MUST consist of the following,
   
   1. A name for the cricket tournament.
   2. A tagline for cricket tournament.
   3. Reason for picking the name and how the name fits in with Vibha’s vision/mission.
2. Contestants can optionally provide the following also,
   1. A logo for the cricket tournament.
   2. A name for a pledge drive associated with the cricket tournament.
   3. A tagline for the pledge drive.
   4. Fundraising ideas built into the matches.
      For e.g. A sponsor puts up a sign at the midwicket boundary. For every six that hits that sign, the sponsor donates $6 to Vibha.
   5. Awareness ideas built into the matches For e.g. Teams can be named after our projects.
3. Contestants can submit as many entries as they want.
4. Do not use match/team format specifics in the name. For e.g. – 20-20, 6-a-side etc.
5. Do not use venue/city specifics in the name.
6. Name and taglines should be in English, brevity is encouraged.
7. Each submission must be the original work of the contestant. Please check the suggested name against existing trademarks. A website that can help: http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm.
8. All entries must be received by Sunday March 15th, 2009 11:59 PM PST.Entries must be submitted to marketing@vibha.org.
9. There will be one winner picked by a panel of judges appointed by the Vibha marketing team. Decisions made by this panel cannot be appealed. The winner will receive a surprise gift from Vibha volunteers.

Terms and Conditions:
Vibha is not responsible for computer system, hardware, software, or program malfunctions or other errors, failures, or delayed computer transactions or network connections that are human or technical in nature. Furthermore, Vibha is not responsible for: (i) lost, misdirected, misplaced, illegible, unintelligible, incomplete, or late entries or (ii) any act, failure to act, or delay regarding the transmitting or processing of entries. Vibha reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend all or any portion of this contest, or extend the duration of the contest, without notice if factors beyond Vibha's control, including technical difficulties, disrupt or corrupt the fair or secure administration or operation of the contest. Void where prohibited. Vibha is entitled to interpret these rules as needed and its decisions are final. Vibha reserves the right to disqualify any entrant that Vibha has reason to believe is not the original work of entrant, or does not otherwise meet the contest rules. If a winner is disqualified or determined to be ineligible, an alternate winner will be selected using the same judging process/criteria described above. Alternate winners are subject to all requirements set forth in these Official Rules.
By participating in the contest, you agree to release and hold harmless Vibha and its employees, officers, affiliates and volunteers from any and all damages, injuries, claims, causes of actions, or losses of any kind resulting from your participation in this contest, including infringement of intellectual property rights. Vibha and its employees, officers, affiliates and volunteers assume no responsibility or liability for any damages, injuries, claims, causes of actions, or losses of any kind arising in whole or in part from this contest.

"Sri Vighneswara Vaibhavam", an original production of Srivaani Kuchipudi Academy performed as a fund-raiser for Vibha is yet another landmark in the growing tradition of classical music and dance in Atlanta. When the "Mangalam" was over, the long and thunderous applause from the house-full capacity of audience is a testament to four years of meticulous choreography and planning by Smt. Revathi Komanduri, and months of dedicated practice by her students.

"This is my humble attempt in furthering the art of Kuchipudi in the best way that I can. It is my offering to my Guru Padmabhushan Dr. Vempati China Satyam garu" said Smt. Komanduri. "With the blessings of Lord Vinayaka and my guru, we presented this dance drama. I am particularly proud today because we presented this ballet with an almost all-girls cast, most of whom were born and raised in this country with the best of values, best of academics and most importantly best of parents. It also gives me immense pleasure because the net proceeds from this program will be given to the child development projects of Vibha, which is striving very hard to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children" she added. Highlighting the devotion that Smt. Komanduri has for her guru, the dance drama started with an invocation dance, Gurustuti, in his honor describing "Vempati Vaibhavam".

"The music, choreography, costumes and even the minute details reminded us so much of her guru that it showed how much he became part of the Kuchipudi artist in her" said Dr. Seshu Sarma, who has been familiar with the guru Dr. Chinna Satyam and his work of several decades. She added "Every aspect of the dance drama can only be described in superlatives. In particular, the performances of Vandana Murthy as Gajasura and Archana Dittakavi as Narada are unparalleled. The youngest of all, Shivani at age five showed the nuances in expression of that of a seasoned artist, as baby Vinayaka, and stole the hearts of one and all".

"The biggest contributor to the success of the drama was the original and authentic music" said Radhika Noori, an art-critique from Tallahassee. The script was written by Sri. Dandibhotla Narayana Murthy for this production and the rich and deep voice of Sri Dandibhotla Venkata Srinavasa Sastry from Hyderabad and the melodious voice of Atlanta’s very own Subhashini Krishnamurthy took the audience to a different world.

The song and dance scene with folk dancers and the Nandi, synchronized by two young artists, brought fresh energy into the ballet. The scene when Shiva beheads the little Vinayaka was stunning and emotional. The excellent timing in lighting and stage management by the stage director, Syam Yellamraju, resulted in the magic created in several key moments.

"Sri Vghneswara Vaibhavam" is the original production of the Srivaani Kuchipudi Dance Academy (http://srivaanikuchipudi.org). The academy had earlier re-produced and participated in several dance dramas like "Menaka Vishwamitra" and "Sivoham Sivoham". These productions benefited several non-profit organizations and in the same spirit, the net proceeds from this dance drama, expected to be more than $27,000, are donated to Vibha.

Thanking the academy for their support to Vibha through this fund-raiser, Sri. Vijay Vemulapalli, Secretary of Vibha said "It was a pleasure working with Smt. Revathi and Sri. Raghu Komanduri. Vibha would like to thank all the parents and the sponsors for their support and TAMA for their help in the publicity efforts. We especially thank the Hindu Temple of Atlanta for co-sponsoring the show.".

Your feedback is important to us. Vibha welcomes any comments, suggestions or questions you may have about our projects, programs, products, monitoring etc. If you are particularly interested in a topic and would like to see Vibha showcase it please let us know.

Together, we can do much more!

Dream a Little! Do a Little!

Vibha 1030 E El Camino Real, #424 Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Phone: 408-997-9992 | Fax: 775-593-1061

Vibha Main Page | Newletters Home (Previous editions) | Donate Online