Ritinjali

Just like that, it's almost the dawn of another year! Time does seem to fly by when you're having fun and working hard; what an incredible year it was on both counts at Ritinjali! We hope you enjoy looking back at the stories and moments in the year that made it all worthwhile.

May the coming year bring you joy, success, and all that you wish for. Thank you, for being such an integral part of our journey over 24 years. Your love and support keep us going!

The Ritinjali Newsletter: December 2018

Anyone who has met Noor Alam - one of our boys at the Second Chance School- will tell you that he is a fantastic cake artist. They will also speak of his gentle and generous heart. Noor visited an Old Age Home called Saathi Vridhashram a few months ago, located not too far from Ritinjali’s Second Chance Hostel in Mahipalpur. Deeply moved by what he saw, he wanted to do something special for the residents at the home. He roped in a few friends from the hostel and our long-time volunteer Patrick, to go and prepare lunch for the residents and staff one day!
- Last Tuesday, Noor, Patrick, Arvind, Rakesh, Kishan, Javed, and the hostel warden began the day early with grocery shopping and initial meal prep at the hostel. A nice menu was planned consisting of rice, puris, dal fry, matter paneer, salad, and Phirni for dessert – which happens to be one of Noor’s specialities! They reached the Ashram at 11 am and began cooking!
- The Ashram is under renovation to accommodate more elderly people and the new dining room area was under construction still. Arrangements were made to serve food on a table in the lawns. After having finished eating, the elderly came back to thank the group and complimented the meal. Noor’s dessert was particularly appreciated by most and received top marks!

Moments such as this remind us why we do what we do, everyday.To witness our boys become capable of providing not only for themselves, but contribute actively to their communities; nothing could be quite as special!

Arun Kapur, Dilreen Kaur, Janusa Sangma, Shouman Jawed, Patrick Desvaux de Marigny, Noor Alam, Rakesh Raj, Javed Alam, Ravi Kishan, Arvind Merotha

For those of you who were there on 10 November, here's something that will take you back to all that joy! And in case you missed out, we hope to see you next year!

A show scripted, developed, and directed by our children. The little ones not only knew their Alphabet, but insisted on singing it to us. They choreographed dance numbers by themselves, rehearsing to and improving YouTube tutorials. The "Kyun-Kyun Ladki" (Why Why Girl) delighted us with her curiousity and questions. Each performance, a reminder to stay happy and how things are better when you're dancing. Thanks to everyone who attended and making it such a memorable evening!

Ritinjali Utsav 2018 - Children's performances Each performance better than the other, our children from all 4 Learning Centres soar on stage at the Ritinjali Utsav 2018!

For over 18 lakh people who are homeless in India, a warm blanket is a luxury they simply cannot afford. As winter makes an early onset in the capital, Ritinjali is once again committed to bringing warmth to those most in need through our annual Winter Drive.

We have been successfully collecting blankets each year for distribution to people living across various slum clusters, night shelters, street pavements, and flyovers in the National Capital Region. Come be a part of this annual initiative and donate generously!

Details of collection points and contact persons are in the poster below. For anything else, please feel free to reach out to Janusa at [email protected]

It was a pleasure collaborating on the creation of this video, to generate awareness on Pneumonia and what can be done to treat the disease. Our chatty, camera-ready children from the Nathupur Pahari Learning Centre in Gurgaon feature in different parts of the video. Pneumonia is rampant in the slum cluster they live in. It has been the cause of immense grief to many families in the community, as well as other slum clusters across Delhi and Gurgaon where our programmes are located. One of our biggest challenges has been convincing parents to seek proper medical care for their children. Many parents have an innate fear of doctors, hospitals, and immunizations. They often prefer quick-fixes by unqualified medicine men or women in the community.
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The process sparked renewed conversation with the children and their families on Pneumonia prevention. We're glad to have played a small part in this initiative. Watch and share!

Dilreen Kaur, Janusa Sangma, Shouman Jawed, For Child Health, Global Health Strategies, Mike Talk Pictures

What do you want to be when you grow up? | World Pneumonia Day and Children's Day 2018 Doctor, Teacher, Pilot, Superhero - kids start dreaming of what they want to be by the time they turn 5. But many don't get to see their 5th birthdays due to...

Putting the 'fest' in festive! Come join our students for an evening of celebration!

When: Saturday, 10 November | Where: Auditorium at Vishwa Yuvak Kendra, Diplomatic Enclave, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. RSVP Janusa: [email protected]

3 pm to 3:45 pm: Witness limitless joy, energy, and talent - as children from all our Learning Centres take the stage
3:45 pm to 4 pm: Conversations over tea and coffee
4 pm onwards: So What? - A play by students from the Second Chance School, Mahipalpur

Dilreen Kaur, Arun Kapur, Janusa Sangma, Shouman Jawed, Priyanuj Choudhury

A lovely story on the women at our centre in Nathupur Pahari, Gurgaon! Eight women came together to perform on stage for the first time. The joy, trials, tribulations, overcoming battles and inhibitions - read on to find out more!

Dance for happiness! As the nation sways in the song of festivals, this remote village of Nathupur celebrate fest by dancing their heart out. It was a special occasion for the inhabitants of Nathupur, a village near...

We'd like to thank everyone for the overwhelming response the campaign has received over the weekend. Every donation has brought us closer to our goal and we're not about to stop!

Please do take a look at the campaign to raise funds for the meal programme in Kusumpur Pahari and Nathupur Pahari, and consider donating a small amount!
The funds raised will help us provide a nutritious meal to every student, 6 days a week. This could potentially stem malnutrition in the community and give all children the opportunity to a healthy and happy childhood.
The cost to cover a child's meals for a month is less than the amount we spend on one evening outing!



Ketto.org/mealcampaign

Help us feed children in urban slums by Ritinjali

A nutritious and wholesome meal is an intrinsic part of our lives. An aspect so commonplace that we don’t usually give it much thought. For the children who study at Ritinjali’s Learning Centres, a healthy and delicious meal is the highlight of their day and tremendously impacts their lives and well-being. Our children are in the 3-14 year age group, who go hungry on most days since their families can't afford a healthy meal.

Ritinjali has been running a Meal Programme across all our Learning Centres for the last 2 years. It is a Programme which has positively impacted our children’s weight and height, energy levels, attention span in class, and enrolment in school.

We've initiated a fundraising campaign on Ketto to reach out to people like you who might be able to help to sustain this programme! The link below contains all the information you will need about the campaign – our children, where they live, and details of what the money will be used for.

There are 135 children who are banking on your support for a daily meal in the next 6 months! All donations, small and large are welcome! Please do consider donating and sharing this widely! Thank you, as always for your love and support.

Dilreen Kaur, Shruti Patil, Janusa Sangma, Priyanuj Choudhury, Rajni Joshi

Help us feed children in urban slums by Ritinjali Ritinjali wants to raise funds for Help us feed children in urban slums. Your donation has the power to help them move closer to their goal amount. Please contribute.

Our wonderful, precocious children from the Dalil Ekta learning centre - ringing in World Environment Day through art and colour, with the incredible team at The Oberoi, Gurgaon.

All smiles at the Dental checkup organised by ORALH for our students in Nathupur Pahari, Gurgaon. We've never seen a group of children so happy and patiently waiting for a dental check. Thank you for coming by and being so fantastic with the children yesterday!

Seeking admissions into schools is always a stressful affair. But what would this situation look like for children who wish to attend school, but have never had the opportunity? It takes months of dogged effort..
- with various schools on Open Schooling exam dates
- with banks and courts, to get children's Aadhar cards and bank accounts opened
- with parents, to skip their daily wage for a day and show up for a thumbprint on school documents
- with schools, to verify children's age and learning levels. Many don't have birth certificates. Most are much older. Their learning levels usually don't align with the classes they should ideally be in
- with the children themselves, where our teachers strive for months - sometimes even years - to make up for lost time and bring them up to speed on their learning

We're so incredibly pleased to share that 69 children from our Learning Centres have joined formal schooling in the month gone by! So proud of them and their amazing teachers who made it all possible.

Dilreen Kaur, Janusa Sangma, Shruti Patil, Priyanuj Choudhury, Rajni Joshi, Arun Kapur