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HIGHLIGHTS: JUNE – OCTOBER, 2019

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY CELEBRATIONS

SI WHITEFIELD: SI Whitefield observed World Environment Day by planting saplings at Institutions on Bannerghatta Road, Bengaluru, which had lost a lot of good old trees to road widening for the Metro work. The Club got about 100 saplings of Mango, Jackfruit, Jamun, Honge, Peepul and a few other native trees, from the Taj West End Hotel, during the week, and, these were planted at a Home for Destitute Women, a Church and a Cemetry. The members of the Club are planning to procure more saplings from an NGO and plant those in the area, to replenish the green cover.

SI BOMBAY CHEMBUR: On 27th June, 2019, SI Bombay Chembur in association with Stree Mukti Sangathan observed ‘World Environment Day’ by conducting an awareness session and poster exhibition on the topic ‘ Waste Management: Waste to Resource’ for Architecture students. The resource person Ms. Mhapsekar emphasised the need for architecture students to come up with designs to include this aspect in their future planning of urban development. Compost baskets were sold at the end of the program for household composting.

On 28th June, 2019, SI Bombay Chembur also conducted an awareness session on the occasion of World Environment Day with students of Chembur English High School. A film on global warming was showcased to the students to make them aware about the effects of greenhouse gases and its impact on global warming. This was followed by provoking speeches, a dance-drama on conservation of trees and poster making competition for the students. This program serving SDG 13 was attended by 180 students studying in senior school.

SI CHENNAI: CITY SHANDY PROJECT

The City Shandy, an award Winning project of Soroptimist Chennai, is held twice a year. It provides a platform for women of the weaker sections of society to showcase their craft / skill / enterprise. Soroptimist Chennai provides a common venue – The lady Andal School – along with furniture .
The exhibition cum sale ( shandai in Tamil is market place) runs through the day .
Members pitch in to see the smooth running of the project .
Every City Shandy has over 90 SHG’s participating.
This ongoing project is in its 14th year
On 6th July, 2019, SI Chennai once again had houseful and brisk sales.

SI CHENNAI: JUVENOMIST INSTALLATION

The installation of Juvenoptimist for 2019-2020 was held on 17th July, 2019.
This youth wing of Soroptimist Chennai, a great vision of Late Past President Prema Kumar, has truly grown from strength to strength from its inception in 2006 & done us all really proud. Some of the projects done in 2018-2019 by the Juvenoptimists:
1) Providing food packets to Government School of Sholavaram, orphanage, and home of the destitute and mentally challenged people.
2) Smile Programme:- 66 children of Madras Seva Sadan took part in the program on oral hygiene and set a Guinness World Record.
3) Fistful of Grains
4) Paper Drive
5) Rally for the conservation of Rivers.
6) Providing shoes and socks for students of Madras Seva Sadan School, Tambaram.
7) Money raised for the Blind.
8) Money raised for Little Drops (5.6 lakhs)
9) Money raised for Dean Foundation to provide palliative care for those suffering from incurable illnesses.( Rs 4,13,178).
We are indeed very proud of this thriving club which has rendered such selfless and noble service for the past 12 yrs.
10)Juvenoptimist Chennai participated in a walk with visually impaired people from the National Association for the Blind, on 14th October 2018 to celebrate “The World White Cane Day”.
The walk was in the afternoon from Besant Nagar Beach to Olcott Memorial School. This project is to create awareness about the challenges face by the visually impaired.  S.I.Chennai President, Jyothi Sethupathi participated in this event , organised by NAB CEO Dipti Batia.
11) The juvenoptimists brought cheer and colour to the children’s waiting room at the High Court. This they did by raising funds themselves, then purchasing toys and other playthings from Saravana stores and setting it up at the waiting room. This was initiated by Vidhya reddy of Tulir and was the brainchild of a judge who felt that the children need not be present in the court while the parents are fighting over their custody.

SI CALCUTTA: PROJECT DIGNITY

SI Calcutta celebrated the completion of five years of their on-going project DIGNITY by handing over two toilets for girls in T.S.Sanatan High School at Gocharan , a village in South 24 Parganas , West Bengal. A Sanitary Awareness Workshop was also held for the girls, to educate them about proper sanitation for maintaining good health and hygiene.

SI MADURAI: GO GREEN

SI Madurai organised a “Go green” exhibition on 19th, 20th and 21st July 2019 at Tamukkam grounds.
An organic fair was organised to provide a platform for environmentally sustainable practices by women entrepreneurs, local farmers, artisans and others dealing in organic, ecofriendly and natural products and to link them and the public to promote new business ideas. This 3 day fair had 125 stalls installed which were given free of cost to the participants. It was an initiative in partnership with the Madurai Corporation and a leading Educational institution. This also raised the profile of SI as the premier organisation in the city. This was a great opportunity for first time home entrepreneurs in Madurai and they were all very happy and satisfied and requested us to hold such a exhibition every year. Wide range of products were available under 1 roof.
Certificates were given to student volunteers by SI Madurai. Almost 6000 people visited the exhibition on all days and this was covered by the electronic media and print media. All India Radio had a live interview with the members, stall keepers as well as the public.Competitions were women were organised in the mornings.
This exhibition was a huge runaway success.

SI HYDERABAD: PERSONAL SAFETY PROGRAMME

Arpan conducted 2 day Personal Safety Programme (PSE) with Soroptimist International Hyderabad organization on Understanding CSA and Personal Safety Education Program.
Ms. Rehea Quadros, the trainer representing the NGO, ARPAN conducted the two day workshop and training on Child sexual abuse and Personal safety education. ARPAN is an NGO that provides direct services to children, adolescents and adults to prevent Child Sexual Abuse and appropriately deal with disclosures of children and adolescents through their flagship programme – Personal Safety Education. The PSE programme caters to children and adolescents in schools, communities, NGOs, and institutions.
PSE training programme is intended to empower the children with the knowledge and skills to prevent instances of CSA as well as to seek support when such an incident occurs.
PSE training programme aims to reduce the risk factors that are likely to increase the chances of sexual abuse both online and offline by strengthening the protective factors. The programme is built on the core life skills of decision-making, problem-solving, critical thinking, interpersonal relationship, self-awareness, gender awareness, resilience, empathy building and de-stigmatization. It supports children with counselling post disclosure and also works with children and adolescents who violate other children’s personal boundaries. The programme also works with adult caregivers, for example, parents, teachers and service staff so that they can create a safe environment for children and respond effectively in case of violations.

Soroptimist International Hyderabad team plans to undertake the training programmes in the various schools based in Hyderabad in coming weeks/months. The aim is to reach out to as many children as possible through the PSE programme and create a safer place for our children in our society.

SI NORTH BOMBAY: WORLD DAY AGAINST TRAFFICKING 

To observe “World Day Against Trafficking”,  SI North Bombay sponsored a program for women/girls sex-workers from Mumbai’s infamous red light district of Kamatipura, and other women and girls who have contracted HIV and are now living in other parts of Mumbai. The programme was held at St. Antony’s Home. SINB connected with Franciscan Missionaries of Mary Social Service Society (FMMSSS). The mission was to “Educate, Empower and Enable Sex Workers, Girls and Children.” Dr. Madhuri covered a wide range of topics on health issues, personal and environmental hygiene, diet, nutritious food, causes and prevention of illnesses and diseases. She also spoke on mental health. She answered different queries ver effectively. President Elect Doris and members of SINB distributed food packets and gifts to the children. SINB also provided them a bagful of healthy provisions. Since they came from distant places, nutritious snacks were served. The sex workers’ children and migrant workers’ children were gifted with large towels, face towels, and toilet bags with toilet items. The children entertained the members with singing and dancing performances. SINB members spent quality time with them, deriving great satisfaction to see the joy and happiness on the faces of children and women. It was a fulfilling and meaningful afternoon for everyone.

SI CHENNAI DOWNTOWN: HUMAN RIGHTS TALK

SI Chennai Downtown recently organised a talk on The Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA). The speaker was Professor Siraj Sait of the University of East London and a member of a UN advisory group on gender issues. This was followed by a study of data on international human rights obligations ratified by each country.