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#117 Helping Brainz Green VEINS at GBM, Dwarka

On the occasion of World Environment Day (though a week before the actual date), Helping Brainz, in association with GBM Public School, Dwarka conducted the 4th series of “Green Information Literacy Drive” as part of the Helping Brainz Green VEINS (Valuable and Ecofriendly Initiatives for Nature’s Sustainability). After Aster Public School, Noida Extension, Government School, Sec128, Noida, Government School, Sec66, Gurugram, GBM Public School became the 4th school to implement Green VEINS.
Green VEINS, consists of “education and literacy programmes, talk shows, workshops, debates, and quiz competitions” which mainly focuses on environmental literacy and educational programmes among the younger generation, making them feel the need of greenery and motivating them to be green volunteers.

As per the day-1 schedule, Helping Brainz focused mainly on the Green Talk-show, which was conducted by Dr.Kiran Pandey, Program Director, Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi focusing mainly on the practical and daily use techniques for nature conservation and Aditi Roy (an independent researcher and project coordinator from Centre for Studies Science Polices, School of Social Sciences, JNU Delhi); followed by spot-quiz, green slogan writing competition and tree plantations.

Winners were awarded with Green Pen (a pen with a seed on its tail-end). 40+ students and teachers from senior secondary sections of GBM Public School attended the event coordinated by Kirti Tikyani, Vikas Jain, Ashish Kumar, Parul Singh and Yedhu Krishna  Menon from Helping Brainz. Priya Francis and Swati.B (Interns for a Social Impact from Delhi University) shall be working closely with GBM Public School for the implementations of Green VEINS projects in July’19.

 

Helping Brainz formed a green science club and also selected a team of 10 green volunteers from the school, who shall work towards the Green VEINS implementation.

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#107 Green and Blue VEINS (GILDS) Gurugram Day 1 events

#107 Green and Blue VEINS (GILDS) Gurugram

In our mission to empower the rural Gurugram and to make them sustainable, HelpingBrainz choose first to educate the young population of Gurugram on ‘environmental sustainability and nature conservation’. As a step-1, we spent a day with the senior secondary students of Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 67, Badshahpur, Gurugram. The 3+ hours event named ‘Green and Blue VEINS’ (VEINS stands for Valuable and EcoFriendly Initiatives for Nature’s Sustainability) were mainly spent on various aspects for Green Information Literacy drives.

Events included: talk-shows were led by Aditi Roy (an independent researcher and project coordinator from Centre for Studies Science Polices, School of Social Sciences, JNU Delhi) and Kopal Verma, (a Research Scholar from School of Environmental Sciences, JNU, Delhi) and Workshop on how to use re-usable plastic flower-pots by Fatima (M.Sc Final Year, Amity University )and Arun John (Working professional), and Green Quiz by Abin Sharma (Working professional), all Helping Brainz Green VEINS team members. Others who supported and volunteered the successful happening of the event were Surbhi Dhingra, Vivek Vaid and Yedhu Krishna Menon. Event was orchestrated by Kirti Kumari Tikyani. All prize winners were awarded with saplings.

Event focused on making students responsible for environment. In the coming week(s), we plan for Green Parliament and Debates, Street plays on event focused on making students responsible for ‘water depletion and general population’, and water walks. The school has agreed to make Helping Brainz activities a part of internal assessments and environmental projects.

Green VEINS at Bhaktavarpur Government School, Noida

#BeingGreen
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In our efforts to educate about greenery and environment to the young students of Noida, Helping Brainz conducted “The Day2 Green VEINS” among the 70+ underprivileged children from Noida’s sector 127. The event was hosted at Government School in Bhaktavarpur, Noida. VEINS stands for Valuble and Eco-friendly Initiatives for Nature’s Sustainability.

[On our Day1, we conducted Green VEINS at Aster Public School, Noida Extension where we were able to motivate 30+ higher secondary students for being green-change makers thereby helping brainz team mates educate the underprivileged children from Noida].

Having that said, we had two Nukkad Nataks on environment (street plays) by the students of Aster Public School Noida Extension played at Government School in Bhaktavarpur which motivated the students from Bhaktavarpur, which was infact a student teaching student programme.

Also to add green-feathers, we also held a competition on “making beautiful saplings using re-usable materials” among the students.

We were blessed to have Dr.Samarpita Ghosh Nath, an experienced Psychotherapist inaugurate the event and talk about “children’s contribution to the environment”.

The entire event was orchestrated and led by Kirti Tikyani supported by Dr.Sanjay Kumar Deb, Monica Ghosh, Fatima Jabeen, Arun John, Sandeep Kumar Gujjar, Virender Singh, Roshni Nipane and Yedhu Krishna Menon.

Green VEINS by Helping Brainz

#102

..Humbly dedicated to our mother earth.

Though green is the prime colour, being green has become something unachievable because of the self-centric manifestations by the 21st century breeds of homo sapiens. We cut trees to house the growing population, however we never plant them. We compete to burn crackers and effigies, however forgot about our own asthmatic parents and siblings. The social being in us, preach about proper drainage systems and sanitation however in our busy schedules we become the first to throw the garbage on the streets. Our mother advises us to take the jute-bag to buy vegetables and groceries, however we never practice it and still pay for the plastic bag. As we understand, honking creates noise pollution however during our day2day rushy journeys, we forgot about the noise population. Thus, it starts and ends at us.

“Green is the prime colour of the world , and that from which it’s loveliness arises” : Pedro Calderon de la Barca.

 

We require the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, first to be conducted in our mindsets.

Having all that said, Helping Brainz’s Green VEINS (Valuable and Eco-friendly Initiatives for Nature’s Sustainability) team conducted a Green Information Literacy Drive (GILD) to educate and to make aware the young leaders of Aster Public School, Noida Extension about the importance of being green with the help of Green-Talks, Green-Quizzes, Green-Parliaments, Green-Workshops and Green-Plantations. Though this was completely an experiment, we were overwhelmed to see the wholehearted participation from the students from Aster.

In this wonderful green event we had Mrs. Kiran Pandey (Programme Director, Library and Information Management – Centre for Science and Environment) as our Chief Guest, and Mrs. Bindoo Gupta (Teacher, and Senior Educationist at Cambridge School, Delhi) as our Guest of Honour. The programmes were inauguared by Dr.Sharbari Banerjee (Principal, Aster Public School, Noida) and the school’s management officials. The entire event was orchestrated by Kirti Tikyani (Project Head, Helping Brainz Green VEINS).

Around 70 students from class 9th and class 11th participation in the green event. Students were divided into 4 groups, namely ‘Chipko Movement’, ‘Silent Valley’, ‘Jungle Bachao’ and ‘Bishnoi Movement’ wherein Jungle Bachao Andolan and Silent Valley won the Green-Quiz and Green-Parliaments respectively. Sree Lakshmi (our project manager for Information Literacy Drives) and a student from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University spoke about the importance of ‘greenery’ and Mrs. Monika Ghosh (Social Media Manager for the Online Go Green Movement), conducted a green-workshop on “Plastic Bottle Planters”. Event was followed by tree plantations by the students.

We’ve selected a team of 20 Helping Brainz Young Green Volunteers who will be visiting a rural school from Sec137 Noida, to conduct a GILD with a mission to educate the rural children about the importance of being green.

Helping Brainz Leaders who contributed a Saturday for the green happening were Kirti Kumari Tikyani, Monica Ghosh, Surbhi Dhingra, Avin Lakhenpal, Arun JohnNeha BabuVineeth M Sadanandan, Sree Lakshmi and Yedhu Krishna Menon.

 

 

 

To know more about Helping Brainz Green Movement, please write to Kirti@helpingbrainz.org

Cleanliness Drive at Sector 31 Noida – World Environment Day

A Park cleaned by Helping Brainz and the Children of Nithari: This is how we celebrated World Environment Day (though it was yesterday)
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They’re God on earth. Yes in the career of Helping Brainz, we have never surfaced such an energy, which we saw in young KIDS aged between 5 to 12, who shook hands with us in a cleanliness drive orchestrated by Helping Brainz, facilitated by Gram Pradhan Nithari Vimlesh Sharma and SADRAG NGO.

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We together cleaned a land, which can be easily used as a park/garden however which is being used a garbage dump by the local residents, which is indirectly spreading epidemics. Though not complete however a section of the park was cleaned by the kids and volunteers. The activity aimed in creating change-making ideologies among the young ignited minds of Nithari (kids), which exactly synchronized according to the plan. Kids and volunteers cleaned around 22 trolley-vans full of garbage and became instrumental in bringing cleanliness in the park. The caretakers of the park (so called gardeners)/ and the local residents living in the surroundings just ‘gaped’ at the kids and volunteers, after they saw the untapped energy among the kids. Though the gardeners showed initial interest and they stepped back after churning their brooms for few minutes, however the kids and the Helping Brainz volunteers didn’t step back after the completion of the tasks assigned to them by their will.

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This is an activity which the government is supposed to do, Helping Brainz could have approached the government for the same, however Helping Brainz took a U-turn by first involving kids, because they are tomorrow’s change-makers, HelpingBrainz want them to be tomorrow’s environmentalist the messengers of cleanliness , HelpingBrainz dream of a beautiful Nithari through them. In next few days the park would be cleaned using machines under the supervision of Gram Pradhan Nithari on 13th June, the children and volunteers from Helping Brainz would be planting samplings in the park.

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The drive started with a motivational and informative session by Jayanthi Ma’am ( Jayanthi Iyengar ) who addressed the kids and the Helping Brainz team-members about the need of a clean environment. Thereafter we distributed the gloves and masks (children were really overwhelmed after wearing them, as if they became doctors ), then the real game started, 38 children from Nithari and a dozen of Helping Brainz team-members/volunteers began an activity which even the Government weren’t doing for long, though it was their cup of tea.
The team consisted of 38 young ignited minds from SADRAG (NGO), Poonam Ma’am and Santosh Ma’am from SADRAG (NGO), Vikky Sharma (Associate of Gram Pradhan Nithari),Samyak Jain from AIESEC and Suchaya Chaiworn ( AIESEC-HelpingBrainz Intern for Environmental Campaigns from Thailand) and gardeners from Nithari village.

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The entire event was led by Shally Arora ( Project Leader, Environmental and Elderly Care Campaigns ) and Shubhangi Srivastava (Project Leader, Women Empowerment Campaigns), also present were Kumar Madhuraj and Gitanshu Khurana (Project Leader, Rural and Community Development Initiatives), Pratik Bishen (Project Leader, Women Empowerment Campaigns), Shibin Varghese ( Project Leader, Environmental and Elderly Care Campaigns ), Pankaj Jha and Jyoti Mehta ( Helping Brainz Volunteers ) and Yedhu.

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Helping Brainz was happy with a fact that these underpriviledged kids chanted the same slogan throughout that ‘they need their environment clean’, which is a gift by Helping Brainz to the environment.

Swachta Vriksharopan Abhiyan ( Cleanliness Drive) – Nithari – April 11 2015

We cleaned the Government School in Nithari on April 11, 2015

  • FLASHBACK!

On 5th April Sunday afternoon, when I visited to Nithari Village, to supervise an educational counselling, conducted by Somi (Project Head, Internal Learning and Educational Counselling, HelpingBrainz.Org), me and Vimlesh Aunty walked through the silent verandahs of the lonely government school of Nithari,  feeling the naturalism where the underpriviledged children undergo their elementary education, feeling disappointed after seeing the stagnant drainage systems and mosquito generating ponds, uncleansed classrooms/assembly ground/gardens, which the so called government ‘servants’ are not interested to clean upon.

I felt the helplessness of a child to express his right for sanitation, cleanliness and hygiene in the silent school. ‘How can a child study in such an environment’? I witnessed a lady village head’s urge for clean environment, however also understood the lack of cooperation of the government officials.

When I heard Vimlesh Aunty, requesting someone to clean the school, I stopped her and said ‘HelpingBrainz will clean this school for you’, I mentioned to her that, ‘it’s my wish to have my little siblings learn in a clean environment, though their teachers to be honest don’t want’.

  • THE GAMES HERE!

I immediately telephoned, my friend Swati (VP, Environmental & Elderly Care Projects – HelpingBrainz.Org) – to design the programme, Abhinav Vikash (Abhinav works for HCLT Foundations, he’s one whose heart beats for the community equally) and Purnoor (Our designing spearhead) and we fixed the event (Cleanliness Drive) in 10 mins, and gave heartwarming confirmation to the village-head to support her in this mission to clean the school.

CLEANLINESS DRIVE ON 11TH April 2015 at 12:30 PM, at Government School Nithari

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We took brooms, yes we all took brooms, spades etc with a mission to clean the school.

  • The entire school premise was swept and garbage transported to a dumping ground,
  • The school garden was cleaned,
  • The school verandahs was washed,
  • The drainage systems was opened and stagnant mud was removed,
  • The school’s water pumping system was cleaned,
  • After all created an awareness of cleanliness among the children.

Who all joined hands for this noble cause:-

  • A team of wonderful children from Government of School, who will be awarded with “Certificate of Participation” by HelpingBrainz.Org
  • Vimlesh Sharma, Gram Pradhan Nithari
  • Ajit Mahapatra, Swati Saini, Shally Arora, Kumar Madhuraj, Gitanshu Khurana, Pankaj Jha and Yedhu from HelpingBrainz.Org
  • Abhinav Vikash, Arvind Kumar Singh, Safder Wahab from HCL
  • Sohanveer Tyagi from The-Change Team

Our sincere thanks to Vimlesh Aunty, Children of the School, Volunteers, Purnoor for the designs and Vineeth (for masks and gloves)

Some Artifacts

  • A tree-plantation campaign would happen shortly in the school!
  • Org, HCLT Foundations and would be together distributing dustbins to all the residents of the village and making it compulsory for them to throw the garbage in the bins, thereby ensuring cleanliness.