By Meera Pathak and Lijimol | Project Coordinator and Project Consultant
Introduction:
Various activities and games were organized for the children at the Balsena point in the area during these months. This year is especially important as it is the 20th anniversary of the Balsena. The annual festival of the Balsena was made possible this year. Various celebrations and programs by the children were held during this period.
Point Activities
During the month of November, we formed kabaddi and Kho -Kho teams of children according to their interests. Separate teams were formed with younger children and older children and it was further divided in gender groups. These teams played during the zonal sports days which were organized in the month of February.
Apart from this there were also activities on the theme of India and her states, where children played a game and learnt about various states of India and their cultures. They also learnt how days and night fall by preparing a model for the same. Children also organized Swayampak- where they planned and brought some food materials from home, cooked and ate together. Children also organized and celebrated Sankranti.
Children also learnt about right to life and provision through a game of puzzles where they learnt that each child has the right to clean air, water and nutritious food, they have the right to have love and warmth of their family and live with their family unless it is not in their best interests. All the children have the right to healthcare and access to the same, children with special needs must be provided required support and assistance, etc.
At the end of each month they also prepared a newsletter containing the activities they have done and some poems, drawings, and stories created by children.
Kishor/Kishori Mandal:
Kishori-Kishor Mandal is organized with adolescent girls and boys in the area . In which issues like asking for help, safety, online safety and bullying, were discussed. 37 Kishor and Kishori Mandals were organized during the past four months where 349 girls and 365 boys participated.
Active and Council Meeting:
Elected members-leaders from each team form the Council which is the main decision making body of Balsena. Active children are those who are Balsena for more than 3 years. Council and active children meet on the first Sunday of each month. During the meeting they discuss what happened in the last month and prepare planning for the next month, and present their newsletter. During the council meetings of the past four months children also discussed Balsena 20 years Annual program and prepared for the same, they also discussed upcoming national consultation and how else they want to celebrate 20 years of Balsena. These meetings develop leadership skills of children and also planning and execution skills along with life skills such as decision making, problem solving and empathy etc.
Balmela:
In December, three Balmelas were organized keeping in mind the celebration of Christmas. Children made Christmas cards and paper crafts. In the month of February three more Balmelas were organized where Addition-subtraction puzzles were introduced and Vedic math methods for multiplication were taught, so that it becomes easy for children to overcome their fear of maths and children can learn maths while playing. 379 children participated in these three Balmelas.
One Day Training :
One Day trainings are organized for older children with themes on life skills of teamwork and leadership. Three one day training sessions were organized on the theme of self awareness and teamwork. 112 children participated in these training. Children learnt about teamwork and the importance of teamwork. Games were played to understand this. They also saw a movie to understand this.
Leadership Camp:
In order to develop leadership qualities in children, children learn to make their own decisions and understand their own collective, a leadership camp was organized on January 29 in Shaishav office itself. This camp was one day. In which 45 boys, 30 girls and 75 children participated. In the camp, there were activities with the children about the collective, in which the qualities of a leader, as well as qualities of a good collective and a bad collective were discussed. This camp was organized keeping in mind that the children learn and understand their collective and what is their role in their collective.
The children participated with enthusiasm. At the end of the camp, the children became more familiar with their collective.
Sports Day:
This time Sports Day was organized around Kho-Kho and Kabaddi games. Zone wise sports week and sports days were organized. Kabaddi and Kho -Kho teams of children according to their interests were formed first at their point/team level. Separate teams were formed with younger children and older children and it was further divided in gender groups.
In the month of November, the teams were formed in the area, while in the month of January, a week was kept for sports. In the month of February, the Teams were decided according to the zone. At present, a total of 11 teams have been formed for kho-kho, both junior and senior kids. And there are a total of 9 teams for Kabaddi. When the final sports day is organized for the children after the examination, there will be a total of 4 teams of Balsena kho-kho boys-girls and small-big children and 4 teams for Kabaddi.
Wenlido:
Wenlido is a personal safety tool for self defense. Two Wenlido training sessions were organized in two schools of Bhavnagar. 42 girls participated in these two trainings, where they learnt different tools for physical, mental and emotional safety and how to make safe decisions and ask for help.
Child Protection Committee Meetings:
A Child Protection Committee meeting is held with the parents of the children, leaders of the community and children representatives in the area. Each month the committees meet and discuss children's rights, various schemes regarding children and issues that children face and how to resolve them. During the past four months 84 meetings in 21 areas were organized. 267 parents, children and community members participated in these meetings each month.
Balsena: 20 years celebration
This year's celebration was memorable for Balsena. The 20th anniversary of Balsena was celebrated on 25th December. Around 1000 children participated in this program. Gujarat Balmanch organizations and their children were also present. A rally was organized for the children in the morning. Later in the day group discussions on what they think of when they remember Balsena, and what they learnt from Balsena were discussed. They also shared their most memorable moment in Balsena and prepared a play out of it.
A human library was organized in which many ex Balsena children participated. They shared their life journey and their memories of Balsena.
Those who were part of Balsena and then became facilitators in Shaishav, those who were elected as presidents and vice presidents and those who represented Balsena at state, national and international level were facilitated in the presence of Prince of Bhavnagar state, Mr. Jayveerrajsinhji and ex member of parliament from Bhavnagar Mr. Rajubhai. He also gave a motivational speech to children.
Challenges:
Exposure visits for children were not possible due to the absence of a bus driver.
Achievements:
By Meera Pathak | Project Coordinator
By Isha Sheth, Meera Pathak | Project consultant
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