Team
Udayan continues to expand as we have welcomed new members to strengthen our
work.
· Ms. Subha
Banerjee, has joined Udayan as Head Human Resource. She is an MBA in HR from
reputed institution, having overall 20+ years working experience at various
organizations.
· Partha Sanyal,
Bachelors in Commerce and having diploma in Finance Accounting from NIIT,
Kolkata, joined Udayan as Accountant. He is having 17 years of working
experience in accounts & finance, at reputed organisations.
On 1st week of November a crew of Professionals landed Udayan, supported by SBI Life to shoot a short film with a theme ‘Bade ho ke kya Banoge’ on our children. The film got released on 14th November 2022 at social media platforms. The short film reflects Udayan’s endeavor for a holistic development in children’s life. Our children enjoyed their participation in the film and with their smiling faces they won the hearts of our visitors. Udayan is thankful to SBI Life Insurance for taking the initiative of the project. sharing the link- https://youtu.be/0cCM2sjoQGM
October was
a month full of festivities in West Bengal! Children enjoyed their short stay at
home with their parents during Durga Puja vacation, which is celebrated with
great gusto across the state and country.
After their
return to Udayan, all Children along with core residential staff celebrated
Diwali (the festivals of lights) with pomp & grandeur. Children decorated
Udayan with colourful rangolis, led lights and earthen lamps (diyas). There was
an arrangement of music, dance and plates full of delicious diwali sweets like
gujiya, mithai, ladoo for children. The atmosphere at Udayan was filled with
happiness and glory. The smiling faces reflected the ardent hopes of children.
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Udayan’s
leadership team, Director Dipak Sahu and Assistant Director, Adrija Mitra,
attended two consecutive programmes, facilitated by Wipro Foundation.
The on-campus training in Wipro, Bangalore held from 15th – 18th September 2022 focussing on key strategies to promote a healthy, vibrant and thriving team environment among NGOs, along with techniques to optimize the overall well-being of the organization through micro shift strategy planning. The training helped to strengthen Udayan’s approaches in promoting optimal work environment for staff members and the collaboration further strengthened the long term ties between Udayan and Wipro.
An another 3-day program at Pune, Maharashtra for 20th Wipro Foundation Partners’ Forum. The program ran from 5th December to 7th December 2022 with an aim to Strengthen Indian Education. More than 150 Partner organizations have attended the program to share their valuable knowledge on the same.
Wipro
Foundation supported our Udayan Vidyalaya teachers to avail four-days training
workshop in August 2022. The training was based on Foundational literacy and
Numeracy training at Indian Institute of Training & Development, Thakurpukur,
Kolkata.
The major
learning purpose is to provide multigrade education to children at their early
age. Teachers updated themselves with new and advanced methods to make class
rooms rich in child &activity centric. Concepts on ways to develop oral
& writing language skills, mathematics and calculation through toys &
play pedagogy were trained there.
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The KPMG
team and SBI team reviewed our programmatic as well as financial progress. Their
valuable suggestions and pieces of advice strengthen the path to achieve our
goal.
During
the visit they interacted with the children and staff members.
We feel proud to have the continued
support of the Vijay Amritraj Foundation, founded by Padmashri Vijay Amritraj,
the former tennis superstar from India.
Having been connected to Udayan via Shamlu
Dudeja and The Calcutta Foundation, the Vijay Amritaj Foundation continued
their support of Udayan children this year with a donation of Rupees 7lakhs
ninety thousand. The organisation supported us for Humanitarian Assistance for children with leprosy or belonging to leprosy affected families.
Founded in 2006, the
Foundation brings hope, help and healing to the defence less and innocent victims
of disease, tragedy and circumstance in India. Driven by their firm belief that 'in giving we receive', the Foundation pledges to make a real difference for
those who are most in need of the helping hand of humanity.
Going into Financial Year 2022-2023, India
based organisation, Mukul Madhav Foundation has renewed its corporate
sponsorship to Udayan by doubling its financial support to 10 children.
Mukul Madhav Foundation has committed to support 6 more children this year for their entire holistic
development, providing a key boost to help Udayan children complete their education
in the safe and supportive environment of Udayan.
“We are very grateful for Mukul Madhav Foundation and their ongoing support of our work,” said Dipak Sahu, Director of Udayan.
“To have local supporters, who
have a long standing trust and commitment to the children of Udayan, makes a big
difference in our efforts to take leprosy affected youth from childhood to
livelihood.” He said.
Udayan’s Annual General Meeting was held
on Saturday 19th November at 3pm, via Google Meet. The AGM was a great opportunity for all
members to come together and elect their Governing Body, and to hear key updates
on the year.
The AGM also saw the unveiling of Udayan’s
Annual Report – an important document which transparently outlines the key
highlights and successes of the organisation, along with financials.
A meeting of the Governing Body was
directly held afterwards with the GB unanimously electing to retain the positions
of Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer to maintain
consistency and stability at governance level.
Members of Udayan, unanimously elected
members of the Governing Body:
Steve Waugh Foundation, Australia has been
supporting leprosy affected youth at Udayan for many years now, but is now scaling its
reach! In Year 2 of the Steve Waugh Foundation Scholarship Program, supporting youth from the
Leprosy Colonies, 16 youth were enrolled this quarter, in various fields of
Vocational Training as per their eligibility and choice.
5 young adults enrolled in a Diploma in
Medical Laboratory Technology, 4 youths will be enrolled for Hotel Management,
4 youth in General Nursing and Midwifery & 3 youngsters will undergo a
Diploma in Beautician course.
Additionally, 17 Udayan children who passed
Higher Secondary Examination in 2022 took admission in Vocational Training, and
have completed their registration for Nursing at MAKAUT University and the Chattisgarh
Nursing Council under the support of SBI Life Insurance.
Vocational & Professional courses such
act as the bridge between Udayan and a dignified livelihood – enabling leprosy
affected youths to lift their families out of poverty.
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Udayan’s Chair, Director & Secretary – Emily R Menon, Dipak Sahu and Dr Sue John, attended the World Leprosy Congress in Hyderabad held in the month of November, 2022.
The congress, held every 3 years, sees over 1500 delegates from around the world meet on the subject of Leprosy, with the ‘who’s who’ from the Leprosy world present at the event.
It presented a great networking
opportunity for Udayan and a chance to increase the visibility of the
organisation among key agencies within the Leprosy sector.
“It
became very clear, from the many papers presented at the conference, that
children from leprosy affected families are very
vulnerable and ‘overlooked’ in this space, and that the need for education and
vocational training is also a neglected area.” Emily Menon said.
“We hope to champion this cause and the
work we are doing, so that more people see the importance of investing in this
space.” She said.
“The event was very worthwhile, and I feel that we have made some significant connections, both within India and abroad, with key people from the leprosy space. I hope that we can continue attending the congress and promoting the important work that we are doing at Udayan.” said Emily R Menon.
The Governing Body of Udayan, along with
leadership team, attended a 2-day strategic planning retreat on 10th &
11th of October 2022 at the Taj Bengal in Kolkata.
Facilitated by non-profit consultant, Nandita Dalal, the retreat was the culmination of a 4-month strategy planning process to chart the net 5 years of Udayan’s journey.
Post the retreat, a strategy document has been drawn up outlining 3 strategic goals for the coming years, along with detailed action plan to achieve them.
STRATEGIC GOALS FOR 2023-2025
1. Launch of Pilot Community Program - Launch pilot Early Childhood Education Program in Monipur & Kankardanga Leprosy Colonies - Kankardanga by mid 2023 and Monipur by mid 2024.
2. Documentation of Programs & Development of a Monitoring & Evaluation System
3. Expansion of Nivedita Bhavan Girls Wing (to take capacity from 100 to 200 girls) at Udayan Campus by the end of 2025.
In order to capture data on the situation in Leprosy Colonies, Udayan commissioned a Needs Assessment Study by Institute of Development Studies Kolkata which will be used to inform the Udayan strategy going forward.
For the past 6months, professors at the Institute of Development Studies Kolkata have been undertaking the in-depth research study and spent 21 days in the field interviewing leprosy affected families from 7 Leprosy Colonies.
A formal report has been developed which will be used as a baseline to develop in-community
programs going forward, and to underpin the Udayan Strategy which will be
developed over the coming months.
