Vol 5, No.3 | March 2009       »www.vibha.org » info@vibha.org  

-Preethi Chandrasekhar

IT was a scorchingly hot summer day. Sweat was pouring down my neck and I could feel the sun persistently beating down on my helpless scalp. To add to the annoying heat, the loud incessant hammering to my right was not helping. Amidst the construction of this building on the outskirts of Western Pune, little kids ran around chasing each other while their parents worked at the construction site. As I started to feel the first stings of yet another mosquito, I woefully wondered what I was doing here, far away from the comforts of home.

THE lady whom I had come with, sensing my discomfort, gently took my arm and steered me toward two tin shacks that I had not previously seen. Picture a tin roof, 3 walls, a rectangular cement floor, a big blackboard, and one slim determined teacher. Most importantly, the 30 odd children clustered together on the floor with their heads bowed down over their books was an uplifting sight.

Sensing the presence of visitors, the teacher decided to give the kids a chance to show off the poem they had just learnt. Watching the children recite the poem with innocent eagerness, my discomfort melted away as the realization of what I was witnessing dawned on me. I was looking at an NFE (non formal education) class conducted by an organization known as Doorstep School.

IT suddenly struck me – this was the real value of Vibha’s HelpThemGrow program! HelpThemGrow (HTG) patrons who contribute a monthly amount of their choice to the program are helping Vibha fund projects such as Doorstep school that focus on providing education to underprivileged children, which is Vibha’s vision. Door Step School identifies communities like migrant worker’s children, street children, fishermen’s children etc, and tries to establish Non Formal Education (NFE) classes for them. The objective is to get these children to a level where they can eventually be enrolled in a regular school. The Doorstep School project not only takes education to the very doorstep of these poor and marginalized communities but also helps develop a supporting infrastructure that would prevent children from falling out of the formal education system once they enroll there.

I left Pune finally understanding the impact of a program such as HelpThemGrow (HTG). Many of us, hampered by time or distance, struggle to find a way to make a difference. HelpThemGrow (HTG) offers us that opportunity to still be involved in helping the cause of underprivileged children. A recurring $20 monthly donation funds education, healthcare and shelter for a child. A $100 monthly donation funds a teacher’s salary. This model of recurring support ensures the teacher will stick around and provide the needed education and in turn ensures the child will continue to receive that sustained support. IN the words of Mahatma Gandhi, "If we wish to create a lasting peace, we must begin with the children." Did you know there are over 350 million illiterate people in India? More than 25 million children who should be attending primary school, do not. You can help break this cycle of illiteracy through your HTG contributions.

TO learn more about the many projects Vibha supports please visit www.vibha.org/projects. If you want to make an impact, simply enroll in HelpThemGrow (HTG) at www.helpthemgrow.org. Dream a little. Do a little. Help them grow.

March is HTG awareness month

Vibha Milwaukee Action Center held its first major cultural fundraiser – Vibha Vibe on Feb 28th 2009. The event was a multi-cultural dance and music extravaganza. A variety of performers representing diverse dance and music traditions from around the world were the key attraction of the event.

The event kicked off with a sumptuous Indian dinner featuring traditional Indian delicacies and desserts. The masters of the ceremony were Vibha volunteers: Meenal Atre and Vishal Rohilla, who did a fabulous job in keeping the audience on their toes, raring for more. A myriad of performances were lined up for the evening. It began with a vibrant Punjabi folk dance, followed by a professional Latin American dance performance ranging from Cha-Cha, Rumba, to Mambo and Bolero, all tightly choreographed into an exciting performance. These professional performers performed for free and certainly sent the audience into raptures with their smooth and elegant pair dancing showcasing a range of Latino dance traditions.

The dance odyssey further waltzed on to the Middle East, with performances from a belly dancing school troupe at Milwaukee and enthralled us with a moderately paced Arabic-flamenco fusion dancing. They were a visual treat totally, with the lilting music, colorful costumes and the skillful dancers, lapped up equally enthusiastically by a ravenous audience. The journey then zoomed right back to the subcontinent with a Bollywood dance treating the audience to an eclectic mélange of popular Indian numbers. The Hmong-American Friendship Association also presented traditional dancing presented by little kids from the association, all brightly attired and fabulously talented – another surefire treat to the eye.

The Indian Graduate Student Association at the University of Wisconsin-Madison also joined us for a range of performances, replete with perfect break dance moves and an energetic group fusion dance.

A mime act was performed by Vibha Volunteers – Srikanth, Karthik and Balaji, which was a funny situation involving fishermen and their daily lives, and they literally infused life into the situation they were enacting and the audience caught on and enjoyed it all thoroughly.

Colorful, sensuous and very graceful Egyptian belly dancing was another visual treat, which colored the evening's mood even vividly. The highlight of the event was the Indian classical dance (Bharatanatyam) recital by Kripa Bhaskaran and her students. The evening ended on a high note with an energetic Bhangra performance by two different troupes coming together for a closing sequence of highly peppy and energetic numbers that sure left the crowd energized and wide awake, a fitting finale to a great evening of international dance and music, all for a great cause - Vibha.

Vibha Vibe couldn’t have been a success without the constant lead of Leena, Marie and Ujala, and the great help from over 25 volunteers on the day of the event. The event took over 3 months of planning, and over 600 people attended the show. All in all, a great cultural feast for the Milwaukee residents.

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

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Vibha is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit, non-religious, non-political organization that seeks to restore; underprivileged children, their basic rights to food, shelter, health and education - in short, a future. All donations to Vibha are tax exempt in the US.