The Ashoka Tree Blog

As a part of the Christmas Charity drive, Global Public School collected goodie bags from their primary school children. They then gifted them to kindergarten children at anganwadis in the near by areas of Udhayamperoor and Maradu. The Global Public School Children personally handed some of those gifts to children as well. Every bag had  a hand drawn card and santa caps with colouring books and crayons the children could take home. These students were the best Santa the tiny tots would have ever met.

Children living in red light areas lead dim and tough lives. A normal childhood is often denied to them. For Christmas, The Ashoka Tree decided to brighten up the lives of these children by making them each a Christmas gift. A group of ladies were kind enough to put together a gift box packed with toys and books - each hand picked and wrapped up with love.  It might have taken a few days to reach Pune, but the joy we felt when those children received those boxes made our Christmas a lot brighter.                 Each gift box was thoughtfully packed with toys and books children would enjoy. 

A five year old might not know what Children's Day is about, but as adults we wanted them to feel what childhood is all about  -fun and magical! And what better way than to have them enjoy a magic show? For Children's Day, 6 anganwadis from the Tripunitura area got together in the morning. After tucking in hot pazhamporis and butter cookies, the children watched magician Kutty in awe as he pulled flowers out of an empty hat and made a table float. For most of them, it was their first magic show and they cheered on the whole time. After an hour of being entertained, happy children went back to their schools with many stories to tell their families when they got back home.

The Ashoka Tree decided to redo a patchy wall in an anganwadi so it could light up the room. We also decided that we would paint numbers, shapes and colours instead of random pictures so it can turn into an educational wall. After three days of scrapping, plastering, painting and drying, we had a lovely yellow wall. With the help of young volunteers, we painted numbers and shapes as well. The teacher can now teach children without having to point them out in a book.  The Ashoka Tree team believes that such innovative ideas can help change the way we teach and children learn. 

A small mistake could have life-threatening consequences. A lot of the unaided play-schools, that The Ashoka Tree works with, don't have designated cooking areas.   Most have not just utensils, but stoves as well, balanced on a bench that just about reaches your knee. This is the average height of any of our 3-year-olds who spend their days playing beside it. # Think   # Help   # Care If you have a table that could help, do get in touch. Text/Call +919633020993.

Down came the heavy rains and along with it came swarms of mosquitoes. Dengue became rampant in the state and children were paying the price. The Ashoka Tree realised that many anganwadis were infested with mosquitoes as they were situated near stagnant ponds or canals. This called for the urgent need to mosquito proof anaganwadis. To raise funds, we invited Ms. Sanaa Ayesha, creator of KIDCHEN, a children's cooking program. More than 20 children whipped up healthy yogurt cupcakes and made cucumber cups with garlic dip. They learnt the importance of prevention of dengue and how garlic and citrus fruits helped ward off those pests. With the money raised, we have mosquito proofed 4 anganwadis. This means more than 50 children are safe from falling sick from mosquito related diseases. This is an ongoing project and welcome funds/ ideas to help combat mosquito problems in play schools. Workshop in progress: Mosquito netting that keeps children safe from diseases lik

There is a malyalam saying "Thanalekiyavark thanalakaam" which translates to "Shelter the ones who sheltered us" We kicked off our "Joy of Giving" week this October, by honouring the elders and senior citizens of a community in Tripunithura. The occasion was attended by the local councillor who addressed them and distributed a towel and toiletries organised by The Ashoka Tree. They also enjoyed listening to their friends sing old songs while sipping on hot chai.  It was humbling to see them have so much spirit and passion in them even as their bodies are getting old and frail.

The Ashoka Tree has always reached out to anganwadis beyond Kochi. So when we got a request for toys from Shoranur, we were lucky to have donors who were children themselves at the same time. Toys and stationery were collected and donated by the students of  The Choice School  as a part of their leadership program. We are very thankful to Section B students, grade 5 to grade 10 and their mentor Mrs Nalini Subramaniam who made this possible. Their support and faith in us encourages us to do bigger and better things.   Around 180 children in 15 anganwadis benefited from these donations. It was not only lovely to see how the children enjoyed receiving gifts in Shoranur, but also how the Choice School children ran such a good donation drive to make this happen.                                  The toys and books packed and ready to be sent to Shoranur

Today we sent off these toys and stationery kits to Shoranur. Around 180 children in 15 anganwadis will benefit from these. The toys and stationery were collected and donated by the students of  The Choice School  . We are very thankful to Section B students, grade 5 to grade 10 and their mentor Mrs Nalini Subramaniam who made this possible. Their support and faith in us encourages us to do bigger and better things.

International Day of the Girl Child. Get her to read, get her to play - get her to giggle, get her to laugh! Get her to Smile! What can you do today to get her to smile?  # InternationalDayoftheGirlChild   # Girls   # WhoRunTheWorld   # Smile  #TheAshokaTree #Volunteer

India's 'Joy of Giving' Week has so much more than mithai boxes for Diwali this year. At The Ashoka Tree, we are privileged to have worked with Philips India, Chennai, spreading smiles across the faces of nearly 100 children in the Thousand Lights District of Chennai. It's the little things that count.  And face it, one more child with a pencil - is one more child in school. Stay blessed.

A simple slate, chalk, a few crayons and a coloring book make all the difference. A huge shout out to  Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Virugambakkam  for their generous donation towards our stationery donation drive. We're proud to be associated with all the children who have contributed to spreading more smiles across the city!  ​ Here is to spreading more smiles across Chennai!

Imagine. Imagine you were in a room with just one window all day. Imagine temperatures indoors kept to a steady average in the mid to late 30 degrees centigrade.   Imagine being indoors without a fan. The reality, in some of the play-schools we work with in Chennai, is that children here spend all day indoors without a single fan. They don't need to imagine what it's like here - they live it.  Every single day. Get in touch with us at The Ashoka Tree if you'd like to contribute just one fan. ​Get in touch with us if you'd like to do more - give The Ashoka Tree Chennai a call at +919176162319.

".. most of us talk one way and live another. There are a few people who truly, truly walk the talk "- Olympia Dukakis. Don't talk. Just Act.  Don't Say. Just Show. Don't Promise. Just Prove. The Ashoka Tree is happy to prove, we walk the talk.   Glimpses from our story-telling & numbers workshop this morning.

Who wouldn't like to get their hands dirty? We sure would! And so did these children, as they created pen and phone stands with ice-cream sticks to take home to their families.  Even more exciting was working as a team to create a lamp made entirely out of these sticks.  The glow on their faces as the light was switched on sure beat the little bulb!  Oh, the bonus? Peeling off dried up glue from our hands together! # theashokatree   # learningcanbefun   # anganwadis   # youcanhelptoo

The Ashoka Tree, over the last couple of weeks, has conducted a small sanitary napkins donation drive for the resident girls of Father Tezzas School for Special Children in Wayanad. It's certainly been heartwarming to see our friends and family contribute so generously. They've made a change in the lives of at least one young girl this month. This is a big and recurring expense for the school, and we continue to try to help them.  Do get in touch with us if you would like to help.

Over 120 people and more than 60 smiling children, Thank you  Indian Dental Association Kochi Branch  Women's wing, Dr Anjana G, Dr Meera and all the other lovely dentists who  conducted the free dental camp for our children and community at anganwadi No 79 in Tripunithura.  Your generosity, taking a whole morning off from work, checking patients for free with promises of free follow-up care has made us believe in the power of humanity.  Watching you work with those little children reminds us why it's the women who do 'run the world' after all! Stay blessed.

Every child deserves to know she is one of kind, she is loved, she is special.  More so on her birthday, if not right through the year.  It was such a treat to celebrate sweet little Aradhya's birthday at one of our anganwadis.  Here's to a wonderful year ahead and lots more smiles through the years!

Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” – O. Fred Donaldson We are ever so grateful to  Sandhya Ershad  who volunteers her time regularly to share the joy of play with the children in our anganwadis. The smiles on their faces are motivation for us all!

Last week we posted about our requirement for shelves for our anganwadi.   In just over a week,  Mr Hashim Basheer donated this lovely cupboard.  The Ashoka Tree and all the children at Elamkulam, Cochin, would like to thank him and his family for their generosity.

A big thank you to Ms. Meera Balakrishnan for providing our children with a number of books and toys. You've helped them dream, you've helped us spread more smiles. P.S. If you have a bookshelf that remains unused which you would like to donate, please contact us on +91 9446915587 or +91 9633020993  :)

Happy feet make happy hearts!   The Abode Dance School  has spread so many more smiles with just an hour and some good music.   Here's a huge shout out to  Vivek Menon  for taking time off to spread some cheer!  Your passion for dance has created a unique expressive experience for our children in what would have otherwise been just another dreary day!

When actions speak louder than words!! How much would it take to spend half an hour with little children who need your company much more than your smart phone or laptop does? How much would it take to get them to smile? Sandhya Ershad - you've spread many more smiles with this one hour you've spent with our children in Thripunithara.  Some smiles are worth more than a million!

- Lisa Susan Abraham,  Intern, The Ashoka Tree The irony lies in the name of two established institutions of Cochin and the work they intend to do. Going through the websites of Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) and Lions Club one can easily get a beautiful image of the ‘ideal city’ work in progress. But the question is, who is the target audience? The city one hopes Cochin will be in a decade or two clearly depends on the children we educate today. Omana Teacher’s Anganwadi in Kadavanthra is fairly big, in comparison to most of the others, and spacious with around 23 children in attendance. Neatly dressed, in uniforms provided by the Lions Club, this anganwadi was built by the Lions club for free on GCDA land. “I can't recall any instance where we were asked to pay any rent as such” says Omana teacher, 54 years old. Having served for over 35 years as an Anganwadi teacher, she is thankful to both the GCDA and Lions Club for those three decades.  However, in th