SEVAI Women SHGs efforts on organic farming appreicated by AVAL VIKADAN Part 2

SEVAI Women SHGs efforts on organic farming appreicated by AVAL VIKADAN Part 1

Bicycling is wheel for development of women-Dr.K.Govindaraju

SEVAI SHG team on wheels of development

Bicycling has done more to emancipate women than anything else in India. Cycling, computer applications and functional English play a vital in one’s life at the global economy. Gender equity plays a vital role in household economic too. Most women started pursuing job oriented higher education. Communication plays a vital role in development. It is deploring to note that the rate of growth of rural population is getting smaller than the urban population. Equivalency Education, Qulaity of Life Improvement, income generation and personal interest program are the key factors of women development. Self Help Groups emerge as major force for socio-economic development of the rural and slum poor women. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance, the free, untrammeled womanhood. In India a large percentage of women did not have power. They could not take decisions independently not even related to their own life. They have to take permission of male members for each and every issue. They did not have any say in important household matters and not in matter of their own marriage. The current nucleolus family needs women to work and take decisions in Indian context of today economy. By allowing women the feeling of freedom, mobility and independence, the bicycle helped to fundamentally transform social relations between the sexes. Not only did the bicycle play a large role in freeing women from the restraints of constricting fashions, it changed the idea of female beauty by dispelling the myths of women’s fragility and helplessness. The early women’s liberation movement is found in the bicycle a vehicle for change. Amongst the bicycles most important, and perhaps most enduring, legacies are its effect upon women's issues; indeed the mark the bicycle left upon gender relations. Women were gradually making headway into the public sphere, through increased roles in education, social and political organizations. Perhaps as a response to the seemingly increasing potential for equality amongst the sexes, men begin to more and more delineate themselves in terms of physical prowess. The bicycle allowed for movement into new spaces, literally and figuratively. The woman cultivated or expressed her autonomy now had a vessel with which one could not only develop autonomous power, but do so while leaving behind the old reliance upon men for travel. -Govin

Kennedy Shriver’s work continues to transform the lives of millions of people with intellectual disabilities and their families- Paul Devasagayam.

EKS day participants honoured by Area Director SOB

Chennai:25^th Sep,2011:SOB - Tamilnadu celebrated the EKS Day in a grand manner by organizing an unified basket Ball tournament JJ indoor Basket Ball stadium, Chennai. Around 150 special children, along with Chennai District and nearly 60 Unified partners & Volunteers from various colleges participated in the program and it commenced with the prayer and welcomed by Master .Karan Special athlete, Special committee SOB /TN member.. Tamilnadu basket ball Association Joint secretary presided over the function in esteemed presence of Mr.Arumugam, Mr.Prabhakar other committee members. Mr. Paul devasagayam, Area Director lighted the Kuthuvilakku and delivered the key note address on EKS Day. Mr. Paul Devasagayam Said, “Kennedy Shriver’s work continues to transform the lives of millions of people with intellectual disabilities, and their families. The Special Olympics has grown from that day to what it is today — a global movement of 3.5 million athletes in over 170 countries in all regions of the world dedicated to promoting respect, acceptance, inclusion and human dignity for people with intellectual disabilities through sport. Through the common and simple vehicle of sport, Special Olympics is helping to bring about attitudinal change in the way people with intellectual disabilities view themselves and are viewed and treated by others, replacing misunderstanding and fear with respect, acceptance and inclusion. Communities, sponsors, volunteers, coaches, spectators, journalists and all those who have been embraced by Special Olympics athletes find that the experience opens their eyes and minds and changes their lives forever. Eunice Kennedy Shriver leaves this profound and lasting legacy on the world. Not only have Special Olympics changed millions of lives but it has a real impact beyond sport, helping shape public policy and effect social change. This year is an exciting one in June 2011 which celebrated the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Greece. The events provided strong platforms to raise awareness of our movement and showcase the abilities and spirit of our athletes. At Special Olympics we are uniters. Our athlete, family and volunteer stories inspire, entertain, energise, change attitudes and break down barriers to inclusion and friendships. Eunice Kennedy Shriver devoted her life to fighting for the rights of those with intellectual disabilities. Eunice Kennedy Shriver was an outstanding leader in the worldwide struggle to improve and enhance the lives of people with intellectual disability” Elaborate arrangements were made and the organizers provided lunch and snacks for all the participants. Program souvenir and certificates were distributed to all the Unified partners and volunteers. Govin

SEVAI School teachers counselors enables parents to Raise Happy Kids-Dr.K.Govindaraju

SEVAI School kids taken care by parents

Like many people, parenting your children is probably one of the most fulfilling feelings in your life. Parents compromise a lot to give their kids what they perceive as happiness, joy and love. Somehow, parenting our children is the most responsible thing most of us do in our life, yet we are doomed to experiment every day of our kids' life, through trial and error, to find the formula for better parenting. Parenting has been going on since the beginning of humanity, but many parents still feel they must reinvent the wheel over and over again and count on some mysterious instincts they are supposed to have. Many parents have difficulties balancing their time between their jobs, their partner and parenting their kids. They also struggle to make whatever resources they have meet their kids' needs. This situation is reflected by their kids' behavior and state of mind, often causing unhappiness, frustration and self doubt. Teenage kids make parenting an even bigger challenge. If you feel like this too, read on, because help is just around the corner..."By implementing what I have learnt, I've seen changes within our family that have really contributed to happier and satisfying relationships”. The Happy Parents Raise Happy Kids parenting workshop is a future-focused coaching course for parents who want to break free from the common belief that parenting is hard. It is the best program for parents who feel their kids are important to them and want to enjoy their time with their kids. In the Happy Parents Raise Happy Kids parenting workshop, you will learn to coach yourself and your family towards positive thinking, self acceptance, appreciation, self confidence, love and caring. You need to integrate them into your life and get the philosophy and the principles behind them in order to be able to use them. A teacher counseling in SEVAI Shanthi Matriculation Higher Secondary school enables the parents, Using positive language and positive focus - Learn how the words you use encourage your kids to do the wrong thing and how you can change that Understanding children with different communication styles - Learn to recognise, accept, interpret and communicate in the styles of your family members, Expressing love for children the way they can feel it - Learn to fill your children's "love tanks", as well as your own, and keep them full, Aligning beliefs - Learn to eliminate limiting beliefs and create empowering beliefs for you and your children, Aligning values - Learn to tell your children what you want for them and to find out what they want for themselves, so you can help them get it, Setting safe and effective rules & boundaries - Learn to handle and prevent typical stressful parenting situations by creating a clearly outlined and safe emotional environment for your children -Govin

In Inclusive Education Children learn together; learn to live together-Dr.K.Govindaraju

SEVAI Inclusive Learning centre

The purpose of education is to ensure that all students gain access to knowledge, skills, and information that will prepare them to contribute to communities and workplaces.  The central purpose becomes more challenging as schools accommodate students with increasingly diverse backgrounds and abilities.  As we strive to meet these challenges, the involvement and cooperation of educators, parents, and community leaders is vital for the creation of better and more inclusive schools. Inclusion is an educational approach and philosophy that provides all students with community membership and greater opportunities for academic and social achievement.  Inclusion is about making sure that each and every student feels welcome and that their unique needs and learning styles are attended to and valued.  Inclusive schools put the values in pluralism, tolerance, and equality into action; they ask teachers to provide appropriate individualized supports and services to all students without the stigmatization that comes with separation Experiences shows that most students learn and perform better when exposed to the richness of the general education curriculum, as long as the appropriate strategies and accommodations are in place. At no time does inclusion require the classroom curriculum, or the academic expectations, to be watered down.  On the contrary, inclusion enhances learning for students, both with and without special needs.  Students learn, and use their learning differently; the goal is to provide all students with the instruction they need to succeed as learners and achieve high standards, alongside their friends and neighbors. Proponents of mainstreaming hold that students with special needs be placed in the general education setting solely when they can meet traditional academic expectations with minimal assistance.  Yet, simply placing students with special needs in the regular classroom is not enough to impact learning.  Teachers in inclusive schools are asked to vary their teaching styles to meet the diverse learning styles of a diverse population of students.  Only then can the individual needs of all our students be met.  Schools of the future need to ensure that each student receives the individual attention, accommodations, and supports that will result in meaningful learning. Many years ago, special classes were created for students with special needs.  Special educators felt that if they could just teach these students separately, in smaller groups, they could help them to catch up.  However, the reality is that students in segregated special education classes have fallen further and further behind. Social Skills Children without special needs often can become more aware of the needs of others in inclusive classrooms.  As they become skilled at understanding and reacting to the behaviors of their friends with special needs, they gain an enhanced acceptance and appreciation of each child’s unique gifts. Personal Principles Students without special needs grow in their commitment to their own moral and ethical principles and become advocates for their friends who have special needs.  The development of strong personal principles will benefit students throughout their lives. As general education classrooms include more and more diverse students, teachers realize the value of accepting each student as unique.  Special educators understand that effective general education practices really are appropriate for students with special needs, and general educators often turn to special educators for additional ways to teach their increasingly diverse groups of students.   Govin 

Affordable SEVAI Rainwater Technology-Dr.K.Govindaraju

Rain water Technology centre of SEVAI

Rain water is the ultimate source of fresh water. The activity of collecting rainwater directly or recharging into the ground to improve ground water storage in the quiver is called as Rain Water Harvesting. Rainwater harvesting is one solution to the problems of water shortage in the drier areas of India, but its implementation presents a number of challenges, of which storage is the main one. Conventional stone, brick or fibrocement tanks ARE cheaper alternatives. Rain water is to be harvested to conserve and augment the storage of ground water, to reduce water table depletion, to improve the quality of ground water, and to arrest sea water intrusion in coastal areas. For recharging ground water, rainwater may be harvested by two ways, Rain water that falls on the terrace of the buildings and in the open spaces around the buildings. Till about thirty years back, the areas around our homes and offices used to be unpaved and the rain falling on these areas would percolate into the soil and remain there for being drawn through shallow open wells. With the proliferation of flat complexes, not only have these areas been paved and percolation of rainwater into the soil almost totally stopped, the quantity of water drawn from the soil below has increased manifold. Consequently open wells and not - so - deep bore wells started drying up. The reason is that no sincere attempt is made to replenish the ground water table with rainwater during the monsoon. A rainwater harvesting system consists of three basic elements: a collection area, a conveyance system, and storage facilities. The collection area in most cases is the roof of a house or a building. The effective roof area and the material used in constructing the roof influence the efficiency of collection and the water quality. A conveyance system usually consists of gutters or pipes that deliver rainwater falling on the rooftop to cisterns or other storage vessels. Both drainpipes and roof surfaces should be constructed of chemically inert materials such as wood, plastic, aluminum, or fiberglass, in order to avoid adverse effects on water quality. The water ultimately is stored in a storage tank or cistern, which should also be constructed of an inert material. Reinforced concrete, fiberglass, or stainless steel are suitable materials. Storage tanks may be constructed as part of the building, or may be built as a separate unit located some distance away from the building. This technology is suitable for use in all areas as a means of augmenting the amount of water available. It is most useful in arid and semi-arid areas where other sources of water are scarce. Rainwater harvesting provides a source of water at the point where it is needed. It is owner operated and managed. It provides an essential reserve in times of emergency and/or breakdown of public water supply systems, particularly during natural disasters. The construction of a rooftop rainwater catchment system is simple, and local people can easily be trained to build one, minimizing its cost. The technology is flexible. The systems can be built to meet almost any requirements. Poor households can start with a single small tank and add more when they can afford them. It can improve the engineering of building foundations when cisterns are built as part of the substructure of the buildings, as in the case of mandatory cisterns. The physical and chemical properties of rainwater may be superior to those of groundwater or surface waters that may have been subjected to pollution, sometimes from unknown sources. Running costs are low. Construction, operation, and maintenance are not labor-intensive.-Govin