The foundation of a good adult personality is laid in childhood. To be a responsible adult he/she has to undergo normal developmental phases of physical, mental and social life. Self concepts, self-confidence, motivation, moral values, relationships, aspiration, anxiety level, stress response and coping strategies are all characteristics of adult personality and are shaped by the childhood experiences. These aspects mature at different stages. For proper maturity the child requires adequate stimuli and support. Failure at any stage leads to abnormal reaction in the person. John Desrochers enumerates six things that children need: significance, security, acceptance, love, praise and discipline. These needs can be met only in the family.
Yuva Jyothi, the day care centre of ICID is an effort towards fulfilling these needs of the children and giving right stimuli and support they require. ICID has been true to its focus on child rights in the past year through summer camps for children, providing educational support and skill development to children from slum communities, organizing children’s groups in communities and collaborating and networking with child centered Organizations.
While thanking God for constant companionship I wish to express my gratitude to Fr. Dominic Mendonca O.P, the Provincial Prior, the Dominican family, St. Charles Seminary, the Arch Bishop and the Arch Diocese of Nagpur, donors and well wishers, team members, Network partners, volunteers and friends.

Fr. Herald D’ Souza O.P
Director

MESSAGE

Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation, once said, “If we are to attain real peace in the world, and if we are to carry on a war against war, we will have to begin with the children”. Yes who among us is not aware of the importance of caring the children?

They are our future, they are our prosperity. Yet it is heartbreaking to see them abandoned and misused at the railway stations and on the streets of our country. They often become the victims of lust and selfishness of the wealthy adults, easily misused by the anti social elements and soft targets of the system. Let us not forget the words of the famous German theologian and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer who said, “the test of morality of a society is what it does for its children”. I have a great appreciation for what the Indian Centre for Integrated Development (ICID) has undertaken for the children in need of care and protection in the city of Nagpur. In spite of all the hurdles and difficulties it is moving on. I thank those who selflessly labour for it. I wish God’s blessings on all of you and all the children whom you serve.

Fr. Dominic Mendonca, O.P.
Prior Provincial, Indian Province

VISION, MISSION & OBJECTIVES OF ICID

ACTIVITIES AND PROGRAMMES OF ICID

Yuva Jyothi: Centre for Children in Difficult Circumstances
Street children are the casualties of economic growth, war, poverty, loss of traditional values, domestic violence, physical and mental abuse. Every street child has a reason for being on the streets. While some children are lured by the promise of excitement and freedom, the majorities are pushed onto the street by desperation and a realization that they have nowhere else to go. Street children live a transitory life style and are vulnerable to inadequate nutrition, physical injuries, substance use, and health problems including sexual and reproductive health problems.
The Yuva Jyothi care and support centre is a home away from home for the children on the street. The centre provides basic facilities and mainstreams them through constant care, acceptance and special supportive environment.. The centre is unique in its nature as it is located in a community which enables the children to interact with their peers as well as the elders in the community and be positively influenced.

Non Formal Education
The Day in the centre begins with prayer and meditation and cleanliness of the living area and surroundings. children are provided non-formal education for two hours in the morning by the caretaker of the centre. The children are taught basics of language, mathematics, good manners and encouraged to participate and carry out creative activities like drawing, simulation games and action songs. A weekly session on life skills and values are organized in the centre for the children to bring about behavior change and motivate them towards disciplined and dignified living.

Care and Support Activities

The prevalence of various health problems among street children refers to the importance of dealing with health issues among them. Targeting the health aspects among street children the centre provides services in the following areas:
Malnutrition and disorders of diet
Preventive health issues
Personal hygiene and sanitation
Mental health
Reproductive health
Children utilize recreational facilities such as indoor games, outdoor games, viewing television programmes and thematic movies. children are taken for a weekly outing to the nearby park and provided an outlet through various games and action songs. The children along with the staff of the Yuva Jyothi go for an annual picnic. In this financial year the children were taken for a picnic to Borkhed dam.
The centre is managed on the principles of participation and responsible living. The monthly review and planning meetings held with the children are opportunities for evaluation of services, children’s performance in various responsibilities and setting the stage for the ensuing month with an agreed upon plan and individual and collective roles and responsibilities. This encourages a sense of belonging among the children.
Yuva Jyothi family infuses a sense of self worth and importance of life by celebrating the birthdays of all the children accessing facilities at the centre and promotes the values of harmonious co-existence by celebrating all the major religious festivals. The centre instills a sense of national pride and patriotism by observing all the national days.
A team comprising of Social workers and volunteers make regular visits to the railway station and other pockets where street children are found and they establish rapport with them and encourage them to access the facilities available at the center.

Field Work Students and Volunteers

Eight students from the Matru Sewa Sangh College of Social work, Nagpur, were placed with ICID for their field work practicum. Four of them were placed at Yuva Jyothi and the other four at the Hazaripahad community. Apart from these four volunteers from the St.Charles Seminary, Nagpur and a volunteer from Germany rendered services at Yuva Jyoti centre for children in difficult circumstances. The field work students and volunteers under the guidance of the social workers participated in various activities of the centre and community. They engaged the children in learning and recreational activities, provided assistance to the instructor of coaching class, visited children in the railway station as part of the child contact programme team and built rapport with the community.

An Initiative by a School Student
With the aim of reaching out to the children in difficult situation and infuse in them a sense of self worth and dignity, Sandeep, a Seventh Standard Student of Modern School, Nagpur, initiated a project titled ’ Khushi Ke deep jalayen’ for the children of Yuva Jyothi under the ‘India I care Horlicks Wiz Kids’ contest. Sandeep interacted with the children in the evening hours and initiated various activities with them. The activities he carried out were: creative arts, indoor games, basic conversation in English and greetings, personal hygiene, basic number recognition, party games and Diwali celebration. He also visited the remand home and the childline office along with the social worker and the field work students.

Intervention at Observation Home
A Social Worker along with four field work students made weekly visits to the observation Home, Nagpur, and interacted with the inmates. The social workers visited the observation home on Tuesday afternoons and carried out various activities with the children. Apart from providing personal counselling to the children, they organised group sessions, simulation games and creative arts. The family members or the guardians of those children who wished to go home were contacted and were counselled to visit the child and do the needful in interest of the child. On the final day the social workers organised entertainment programmes and competitions and encouraged them to utilise their energy and talents in a positive manner .

Balwadi

Kindergartens lie at the heart of the ICID activities at Ganganagar and Hazaripahad Slum communities in Nagpur. The centers named Samvad Bhavan and Asha Balwadi aim to provide values and educational support for young children whose parents had to leave them while they go for their work. It functions with the principle that a local kindergarten with dedicated teachers who understood the children's background can make a big difference to their developmental process and education. 80 children benefited from the Kindergarten in the academic year 2005 to 2006. Two teachers taught the children through play and learn methods and the activities were supervised regularly by the coordinator of the programme.

Skill Training
School drop out rate especially among girls in urban slums is very high. Skill development centre at Hazaripahad slum community aims at building capacities of the drop out adolescent girls and empower them with livelihood based knowledge and skills. The drop out girls from economically poor background are provided training in tailoring, embroidery and craft. In the reporting financial year thirty adolescent girls from the slum community were trained under the guidance of a full time lady trainer. The trained adolescent girls were also given a certificate after the completion of the six months course.

Children’s Day Celebration
ICID in collaboration with the CHILDLINE, Nagpur, organized a programme to commemorate Children’s Day on 14th November 2005. The programme was held at the vicinity of Yuva Jyothi centre, Martin Nagar, Nagpur. About 75 children from slum communities participated in the programme. The team members and volunteers of ICID and Childline organized games and other entertainment activities for the children. The guests present at the occasion gave messages to the children on various themes like importance of education, values, the relevance of the day etc. The children were given snacks and refreshments.

Social Analysis and Planning Workshop

The Indian Centre for Integrated Development organized a Social Analysis and planning workshop for the second year theology students of St.Charles Seminary, Nagpur, as per their curriculum requirement, from 20 November to 6 December 2005. The leading resource person was Fr.Herald D’ Souza, Director, ICID. Other contributors to the workshop were Mr.Rajan Singh, Dr.John Menacherry and Manish.

The social analysis and planning workshop comprised of Introduction to Social analysis, Society, Social Stratification and Social systems, The nature and role of social analysis in planning, A profile of India, Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Project Formulation, Social research and Methods of Social Analysis and Participatory Rural Appraisal. The students were taken for an exposure visit to Anandvan at the end of the workshop. The workshop used participatory methodology. The sessions consisted of lectures, brainstorming, group discussions, group study, group work and presentations.

The workshop enabled the students to understand the basic tenets of social analysis and planning, understand the dynamics in society, multidimensional aspects of social problems and issues, and difficulties encountered in executing plans. The workshop also provided opportunity for the students to identify various indicators of development and understand their importance in measuring the progress of development and apply the acquired knowledge on the existing development organizations through interaction and observations.

Network with other Organizations
The Indian Centre for Integrated Development (ICID), networks with the likeminded organizations working towards protecting the child rights and enabling the children in difficult circumstances to access basic facilities of food, shelter, health care and education. ICID networks with Childline, Nagpur, and its partner NGOs in the city of Nagpur.

ICID also closely networks with YMCA, Nagpur, and actively participates in developmental campaigns. It is also a member of the Inter faith network on HIV/AIDS in the city and promotes compassionate and humane approach to HIV/AIDS prevention and care and protection in the city.

Summer Camps

Life Skill Summer Camps for children in slum communities were organized from 19 April to 5 June by the Indian Centre for Integrated Development (ICID) for the children aged 8-16 years from the slum communities of Faras, Mankapur, Geetha Nagar and Rajnagar. 214 children participated in the camps which were held from 8 to 11 A.M. The camps were organized in three batches: From 19 April to 1 May, 3 to 15 May and 24 May to 5 June. The camp was inaugurated on 19th April by Prakash Lohale, the director of Dominican Training Centre, Goa.

The camps were organized with the objectives of providing opportunity to children to identify talents and encourage them to grow in self confidence; enabling children to imbibe life promotive values; motivating them to internalize appropriate civic sense, attitude and responsible behaviour; and create awareness on health, hygiene and relationships and promote educational interest.

The camp included many activities for children such as: Talent search (Drawing, painting, singing, dancing, elocution, extempore, essay writing, story telling, poem writing, poster making etc.); Value education through simulation games; Life skill education (health, hygiene and relationships); Classes on dramatics, art and artifact; Media education; Skills in study and stress-free exams; Entertainment and treasure hunt. On the last day of the camp of each batch a valedictory function was held in which prizes were distributed to outstanding children.

The camp was held free of cost under the guidance of Herald D’ Souza, the director of Yuva Jyothi. It was coordinated by Ms. Preethi Sarode and assisted by a team of 20 talented youth and professionals. The camp provided avenues for the children to know themselves, their strengths and skills and tread in the right perspective to certain extent of a dignified life. It was a learning experience for those involved with children that they were no less than any child in the society.

The Organization has thanked the authorities of St. Charles Education Society and Shanti Bhavan for providing the place for the camps and all the donors, friends and well wishers of Yuva Jyothi for their support and encouragement in all its endeavours for the empowerment of children.

Debasish: God’s Abundant Blessing...

Little drops of water, little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land,
Little deeds of kindness, little words of love
Help to make earth happy like the heaven above
Julia A.F. Carney

Debashish came in contact with the Yuva Jyothi family in the first week of January 2006. In the new year his association with ICID was one of greatest gifts of God to the children of Yuva Jyothi. The beginning of the association was itself a coincidence but that later grew into a close knit relationship of inspiring and encouraging the children at Yuva Jyothi centre towards facing challenges of life and motivating them to build life anew with the facilities available at the centre. An engineer by profession and an enterprising executive he had lots to achieve. But all his dreams and aspirations came crashing one day with an accidental fall from the Swing at home. He fell backward from the Swing and broke his vertebral bone thus paralyzing him totally.
Bedridden after quite a few unsuccessful surgeries, his spirit wasn't damped. He wouldn't allow himself to be pitied and hence he decided to lead life with dignity. By now he was moving around with the wheel chair and some assistance from others. In the course of his look out for someone to take him out daily for an hour or so that ICID chanced upon this unique young man who was full of enthusiasm and smiled away his physical and mental pain. Once he came in contact with Yuva Jyothi and the children in difficult situation he had a new mission. He visited the centre and interacted with the children. His presence was a source of inspiration to the children who had been demoralized with the family problems, lack of familial affection, love and support, and often victims of abuse. The children often visited him at his home and he would spent time with them listening and encouraging them to look at life positively.
A sudden bout of fever and chest infection brought him back to the bed completely. From then on he started sinking slowly. His body was not in line with his indomitable spirit. His health deteriorated day by day and when the message reached ICID, the Director, caretaker counselor and children went to visit him at the Hospital. He couldn't speak but would smile and acknowledge the presence. That was the last contact that Yuva Jyothi had with him before he passed away on 16 April night. We salute this extraordinary young man who even in his pain and suffering made every effort to spread love and joy in his small ways. May God grant him eternal reward.

Our Thanks to...

Donors and Well Wishers
Archbishop and Arch Diocese of Nagpur
Provincial and Friars, Dominican Province of India
St. Charles Seminary, Nagpur
Prior and Community, St. Dominic’s Ashram, Nagpur
Fr. Joe Quadroes, Parish Priest, St.Martin’s Church, Nagpur
Fr. Glen Mascrenhas, Parsih Priest, St.Francis D’sales cathedral Church, Nagpur
Fr. Claudius Corda, Parish Priest, Rosary Parish, Nagpur
Shanti Bhavan, Nagpur
Mr. S. Machado & Family, Nagpur
Mr. Keshav Walke & Family
Mr. Errol D’ Souza & Family
Mr. Bonaventure Castelino & Family
Mr. Mahesh Ramraoji Pawar
Mr. Ashton & Family
Human Resource Support
Dominican Brothers, Nagpur
Second Year Theology Students, St. Charles Seminary, Nagpur
M/s L. D’ Souza & Co, Chartered Accountants, Nagpur
Good Shephered Sisters & Candidates, Mankapur, Nagpur
Jesus Youth, Nagpur
JMJ Sisters, Jaripatka, Nagpur
Shanti Bhavan, Nagpur.
Dr. Rizwan Haq, Dermatologist, Sadar, Nagpur
Mr. J.P. Fernandes & YMCA Members, Nagpur
Peter Borges, YMCA, Nagpur

WHAT YOU CAN DO?

Jesus said ‘Let the children come to me’, and he lovingly and protectively beheld them. There are numerous children on the streets who need the warmth, care and support that they are entitled to and haven’t received for no faults of theirs. ICID is the response to the prophetic call for appropriate intervention in the lives of these children. The project is at an initial stage. It is a small plant. It has to grow. And therefore it needs prayer and support. This would be a best way to contribute for the mission of Christ and the welfare of the country.

You can become partners in the mission of Christ by contributing towards building a bright future for the children in difficult situation. Your contributions will help the centre provide basic services to the child and guide the child towards a meaningful living.

Please send in your contributions in DD or Cheques drawn in the name of the following address: C/o Fr. Herald D'Souza, OP

ICID, Yuva Jyothi

Plot No. 145, Martin Nagpur, Jaripatka

Nagpur - 440014, Maharashtra, INDIA