Posts

Showing posts from 2016

Here's to Spreading More Christmas Cheer!

Image
A big shout out to everyone who bought our products from  CGH Earth  &  Skyline Topaz , all proceeds from these sales have gone back to the beautiful ladies who made them. And you, you've spread more smiles! There's no better way to spread more cheer this season! The art of gifting has suddenly taken on a whole new meaning! You have been awesome!

Why We Don't Need to Talk About Ourselves & What We Do

Image
Is because others do it for us. Deccan Chronicle, Kochi - October 18, 2016

It's the Thought That Counts

Image
Thank You  Thought Factory Design  for the next five months of rations for daily meals at Father Tezza's Special School - You've helped fill more stomachs - You've Spread More Smiles !

Take Time to Care Today

Image
October 1 - International Day for the Elderly. "Take a Stand Against Ageism, challenges everyone to consider ageism – the negative attitudes and discrimination based on age - and the detrimental impact it has on older people." Take time to help somebody cross the road, carry her heavy grocery bags. Take time to listen to a story an older person has to tell (no matter that you've probably heard it before), take time to hold her hand. Take time to care. The Ashoka Tree is proud to be associated with the elder folk of Gandhinagar. We've spent a lovely day with you this year and look forward to having lunch with you again next year, if not sooner.

The Ashoka Tree Happy Dance

Image
And This is How we Do It! Our first sale - and boy, was it big!! A big thank you to the OAOA - Orchard Apartments Owners Association at Mather Orchard, Panampilly Nagar - and everybody who bought our #RunTheWorld products at the #AnnualOrchardCarnival last weekend. Timed perfectly just before the Onam festivities begin here in Kerala, the income generated from the sale has sure spread a whole load of smiles!   Every rupee you spent has gone to the lovely ladies at our Anganwadis and Mahila Mandiram - and this is now our official 'happy dance'!

Onam and the Power of Generosity

Image
The fascinating legend behind Kerala's Onam festival tells of the generosity and goodness of a King who ruled the area. What better way to begin the festive season than with a perfect example of sharing, from our young. The charming kindergarten children of Stepping Stones, Global Public School, Cochin, began their holidays this year with a visit to four anganwadis in the Chottanikara district.  Handing out goody bags and singing songs with children there.   At The Ashoka Tree, we'd like to think this is the beginning of something new in these little minds.  The ability to open up and see the world differently, to actually be aware of those less fortunate, and to be able to do something about it. There is, after all, no greater joy than giving! 

Learning When We're Young

Image
It's easy share when we're older, and sometimes wiser, but teaching young children to share important things like bicycles is not as simple as it sounds. Try a play-date for instance with six children and one bicycle.  This, when each of those children probably has a cycle of his own to ride at his own home.  The arguments and tantrums that ensue can turn epic sometimes. Here's to more parents like Manav and Raghav's who have managed to get these young boys to give their cycle to someone who needs it more - someone who doesn't have one of his own - someone who   has to share this with 15 other children like this little boy at Father Tezza's Special School here in Wynad. The world needs more people like you!

Running The World

Image
Ms. Leela, a retired Anganwadi Teacher based in Ernakulam, Kerala, helped make these.  Check out the video & get in touch with us if you'd like one of our custom-made up-cycled bottles. Thank You CGH Earth & Anand Narayan at Kingfisher Kerala for your generous contribution of empty bottles for The Ashoka Tree’s #RunTheWorld Project.   Let’s #RunTheWorld

A Little Time Spent for Someone Else's Need - Is Time Well Spent Indeed!

Image
Nothing in life ever comes easy, and every once in a while, life throws up something that reminds you of how much you need to work to get things done. Our visit to Father Tezza's Special School in Wynad, back in April 2016, showed us just that.  Everyone was super excited about showing us the new computer classes that were being held (after an IT company in Bangalore decided to train teachers from this school).  We found over 30 children seated, and not a single computer in sight.  What we went on to find was that they did have a computer in school - it just happened to be the only one they owned, but that didn't work either and they hadn't been able to switch it on in months.  Needless to say, when asked how many they would need - we were told - "a couple would suffice, maybe even two!"  This got us thinking that if they did have 40 students - at least 20 would make things comfortable enough that all our very special children here got to learn how to use them.

Shades of Happiness!

Image
Spreading More  Smiles  with The BlackBoard Project - Priya Thomas  (*Priya Thomas, Intern at The Ashoka Tree,  was volunteer-in-charge for an anganwadi on the BlackBoard Project) On the 16 th of July, 2016, The Ashoka Tree with the little Picassos & DaVincis of Global Public School set out on a mission to paint blackboards on the walls of six Anganwadis that The Ashoka Tree works with.  Now, that’s a date we’ll never forget - for the impact it had on each one of us! T his bright sunny day began with two cans of yellow and a can black paint, with eager GPS students all set with aprons and old T-shirts, ready to get started on The  Ashoka  Tree's BlackBoard Project - a fun way to paint the walls of play schools, and a lot on themselves, to look like genuine painters.  The scene was soon filled with laughter and paint, lots of it on old newspaper lining the floor and much more all over us!   The BlackBoard Project - The Ashoka Tree We spent time with the child

Run The World!

Image
A certain Ms. Knowles got there ahead of us, but she sure knew what she was talking about!   Running the world is not left up to a Teresa May or Angela Merkel today.   Running the world begins at home.   She is the first person to wake up, hours ahead of the rest of the family to get the day started, packing lunch boxes and organizing the home before she heads out to work.   Her job runs 24 hours, on call for the family, on conference calls with her boss, taking her sick child to the pediatrician, calling her aged parents - the last person to go to sleep every night. The Ashoka Tree, in collaboration with Wasted Dubai, now looks to empower some of these ladies who’ve worked tirelessly to get to where they are today. Here’s the beginning of a huge partnership with women on an upcycling project to generate more income for people who need it the most.   Working with used paper, bottles, cloth and plastic, we’re on the path to sustainable lifestyle products from generally unused mate

Change Those Stats!

How lucky were you to attend preschool - how lucky are our children that we can choose from numerous preschools in the neighborhood? The UNICEF report out on Tuesday says "In India, out of the 74 million children between 3-6 years, about 20 million were not attending any preschool education in 2014, and it is the children from the poorest families and marginalised communities who are often left behind."  THINK. If your child had been one of the 20 million, what would you h ave done? What could you have done? What CAN you do about it now? There are preschools across the country, but not all of them have toys, not all of them have blackboards, and not all of them have books. Help make a change.   Get in touch - help change those statistics! Spread More Smiles! http://data.unicef.org/ecd/early-childhood-education.html

Furniture Where We Need it Most

Image
There are times when a table means so much more than just a place where you pile books and papers up.  When a chair is so much more than just another seat. Thank you Sridhar & Shanthi Sreenivasan, for giving us furniture that has so much emotional value, for giving us things that mean so much to you personally - for a greater cause. The children and teachers at these three anganwadis are so much happier today for this.  Thank You!

Spreading More Smiles!

Image
It's the beginning of the school year for most children here in India, and every child has the lovely anticipation that comes with the onset of a new year - new books, new bags, new shoes, new everything! Anganwadis, however, tell a different story.  There is no concept of a new school year - anganwadis run throughout the year, with no breaks except for weekends and public holidays.  Anganwadi children don't have the opportunity of beginning a term with new notebooks and new crayons, forget about new coloring books. A big huge shout out to the dentists at the Indian Dental Association, Kochi, who got together and collected not just notebooks and coloring books, but crayons, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, and even CFL bulbs! The 30 teachers who have gotten classroom supplies this month are overjoyed, and their smiles speak more than a thousand words.  Thank You! You have helped spread more smiles!

Small Partitions for a Larger Purpose

Image
Every so often comes a new addition to every family.  A little child in the family means a house is no longer one that has sharp-edged tables or openable drawers.  Houses become homes with expensive curious put away and replaced with soft cushions,  electrical outlets are covered and safety gates installed.  Child proofing exists in every home and play school - in the ideal world. The stark reality in India today, however, is that there are innumerable play schools that cannot afford decent child-proofing equipment. With the youngest children in an Anganwadi just about turning  2 years old, ensuring basic safety measures is a necessity none of these teachers can afford.  Here's where we come in.  In collaboration with the ICDS secretary for the region, The Ashoka Tree short-listed six anganwadis - places where gas stoves were literally balanced on bricks & gas cylinders out where children sit. Thank you Indway  for helping out in a big way.  We asked for small partitions

If Wishes Do Come True, These are Ours

Image
The Ashoka Tree Wish-List   We Need Volunteers/Interns For: Our Up-cycling project - preferably with basic interest in design and craft work - to work with our mothers and retired teachers who need an income Project Smile - reading with our anganwadi children or working on small art/craft/singing/dancing projects Blackboard project - chalkboard painting walls in anganwadis  Anganwadi Infrastructure Maintenance Project - funding or organizing these projects which run from plastering walls to building toilets for little children Anganwadi Book&Toy Box Project Donation collection, sorting and distribution projects  For Anganwadis with a total of 300 children aged 2-6 yrs Activity Books Activity Blocks Crayons Colour pencils Pencils Erasers & Sharpners Drawing Notebooks Toys (for 2-6 year olds only) Tricycles – 15 (new/used in working condition) Baby Chairs – 50 (new/used in working condition) Mixies – 25 (new/used in good working condition)   Dono