Mountain Children’s Foundation
Changing the way the world perceives and works with children

Rudraprayag |Workshops

Strengthening of baal panchayats

Partner Organisation : Mandakini Ki Awaz Kalyan Sewa Samiti
               District: Rudraprayag

          Supported by : Give2Asia

Workshop Report

May 8th - 9th, 2010

MCF supported by Give2Asia, conducted a 2 day workshop on strengthening the baal panchayat in the village  of Bhanaj with their partner organization Mandakini Ki Awaz Kalyan Sewa Samiti. 32 children attended the workshop which commenced with a few games so that the children could introduce and familiarize themselves with each other.
Day 1:
The workshop commenced with a fun filled creative activity to help familiarize all the participants with each other. This informal approach was adopted to make all the children feel at ease.
            Each child was handed a blank sheet of paper and was asked to write there name in a fancy, attractive manner. After which all the sheets were collected and spread in the center; then one by one each one of them had to come and choose a sheet. They were asked to use there imagination and draw on that sheet, associating it directly or indirectly to the name written.  Along with the drawing they also had to write one good quality about that person.
This mainly helped them appreciate each other.

from the MCF facilitator then asked the children about their Baal Panchayats :

1. What work/activities they had been involved in?
2. Who all are included in the Panchayat ?
3. What is discussed during the sessions?
4. Whether children of Baal Sangathan talk to or interact with their  grand parents or other elders of the village?  

This was followed by a discussion on the following topics

1. What are Children's Groups (Bal Sangathan) ?
2. What are the rules of the group (Sangathan) which keeps them united?
3. What are the strengths of the group ( Sangathan ) ?
4. What are the weakness of a group. How can they over come it ?

After the lunch break the participants were divided into small groups and were asked to make presentation about the elders of their family. The main purpose of the presentation was to gauge the involvement of the children with their elders.
 
This was followed by a discussion regarding :
a) The importance of Birth Certificates.
b) Importance of Child rights and other awareness program introduced by the government.
c) Right to Information Act
 PABAM - the magazine printed by MCF ; which includes articles by children from all region of Uttrakhand. Was distributed to the children.

The guests who spoke on the occasion were :
Vice President of the State Kabaddi Federation Mr Narendra Singh Rathore
Former District education Officer Mr. Pushkar Singh Kandari.
Former Zila Panchayat member and children's academy president, Mrs. Shailarani Rawat suggested that the children's group should maintain a diary which would help them organise the events . She also appreciated the workshop and appealed for more of these type in other schools as well.

Day 2:
The morning session commenced with presentations that were based on the discussion that they had in their groups on the previous day about the elders in their family. Two members of the team were selected from each group, by the children themselves, to present their work plan.

All the participants got a chance to point out atleast one good and one point of criticism in each others presentation. A discussion then took place on how to cope with the gaps .

The workshop concluded with a brief discussion on the right to information with  the participants. Focusing on how children could use it for there benefit.  

• Support the elders , help them with their work. Find out about the traditional way of living, about the types of houses they lived in, what was grown and how much was produced in a year.
• Find out about of education provided to them also how far did they have to travel from their village to go to school.
• What was the style of dressing? What was the kind of cloth used and where did it came from.
• What were the medical facilities available to them. What was the distance of the nearest hospital. What help did they have in case of emergency and who helped in the treatment.
• What were the custom, culture and tradition followed in the village in their time?
• What was the mode of communication? How did they send letters, as traveling between remote villages was not easy. 
• How far were the roads built? Where they accessible? If not then how did they travel?

Group 2 (Baldev, Rachna , Vijendra, Anup)

• We must talk to our elders like our friends share jokes and make them feel happy.
• We should talk to them about the past. This would help us learn a lot.
• We should include our elders in taking any big decision like we did earlier.
• We should take note of the folk stories narrated by them and learn from them.

Group 3 ( Soni Negi , Mohit Bhatt, Sonam Rawat )

• We must respect our elders.
• We should serve our elders.
• We should follow the rules of childrens group.

Group 4 ( Ankit, Arti, Pramod, Mamta)

• Should look after our elders and ask about their well being.
• First we make casual conversation and then ask them various stories.
• Through these stories we get an opportunity to learn about the customs of their time. Also get purview of their lifestyle through these stories.
• By talking to our elder we get to know how the wild animals attack.
• We feel happy talking to our elders and this feeling is reciprocated. We also get to learn a lot from them.
• At times when they dont want to share their experience or stories they divert the  conversation by asking about our life.

Group 5 (Dharmendra Singh Negi, Manish Nautiyal, Santosh Kumar, Neelam Rawat, Sandhya Bhatt )

• We should love our elders.
• We can take help of our elders in case any problem occurs. Since they are much more experienced.
• We should learn good things from our elders and help them when they are in need.
• We should respect and listen to our elders.
• We must stop those who misbehave with our elders.
• We should ask our elders about the  various festivals they celebrated also narratives/ stories which can help us gain some information about the past.
• We must seek permission of our elders before starting any work . We must respect their views.
• We must support our elders.
• We should talk to our elders about the traditional style of dressing.
• Our elders would help us only if we live in harmony with them.
• We should be kind and helpful to those who are visually challenged. 

The Mountain Children's Foundation,63-A Vyom Prasth, G.M.S Road,Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, India
Phone: 91-135-6532937 Email: mcfglobal @ mymountains.org