by anouradha bakshi | Nov 14, 2024 | Anou's Blog
It is children’s day today but actually every day is children’s day at Project Why! In all centres children are busy celebrating with games and competitions. 10 children from every centre have been invited to lunch by Azure hospitality at their famous Dhaba restaurant and you can imagine how excited the chosen few are.
As always, the onset of winter has got the pollution levels rise to unimaginable levels and Delhi is a real gas chamber. You can barely breathe. The privileged can shut themselves in their homes with air purifiers running 24/7. But the poor have no such luxury. They just continue surviving as they always do with a smile. My heart goes out to them.
With all my health issues, I have not option but to remain indoors.
This forced incarceration has a silver lining I guess as I decided to write a blog after many moons. My once prolific creative juices ran dry for years and in spite of many attempts I have not been able to resume my ‘one blog a day’ routine of yore years, But somehow I have the feeling that time has come to at least try and bring back the lost practice.
So much as happened since the terrible day in 2020 when I got diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a death sentence of sort as this cancer it is said is not curable. But here I am 4 years later ready to take on what life still has in store for me.
One of the let us say ‘elephant in the room’ is undoubtedly what happens to Project Why after me. A succession plan has to be put in place and that is what we have been busy with lately. Project Why 3.0, the one without Anou, is being conceived, albeit gently.
The true successors of Project Why can only be those who have been associated with it since its inception. New roles are being defined and a transition plan set in place. It is felt by one and all that I should still be the one to see the transition through. I am honoured and humbled by this decision and will find the strength to abide by it in spite of my advanced age.
The levels of anxiety and even fear are high but they are accompanied by dollops of excitement and enthusiasm. The next weeks and even months are not going to be easy as getting out of comfort zones is a challenge. The new leaders will have to work hard to be accepted by the team but they are willing to accept the challenge. I am confident that they will be able to succeed though there will be hiccups along the way.
So challenging and exhilarating days await us at Project Why but this all behind the scenes. On stage Project Why will continue its mission of creating spaces for children to be children!
Happy Children’s Day!
by anouradha bakshi | Nov 8, 2024 | Whats new
Meet KIKO the clown! He travels around the world and brings a smile on the faces of children by entertaining them with his magic skills, juggling talent and art of drama. Project WHY has been lucky to enjoy his talent, at his initiative and with the support of Enfances Indiennes. After few weeks of intense volunteering, Kiko put up a little show for the kids with lots of fun and laughter, where he did a magic show. The kids had a great time.
We do hope that he returns soon and wish him all the best as he carries on bringing joy to children across the world
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by anouradha bakshi | Nov 2, 2024 | Uncategorized, Whats new
In January of this year, we opened a beauty skills centre for the women of the community. This is to teach the ladies new skills and make them more independent.
In this centre, we have employed the mother of one of our ex students.
In the first 6 months, the ladies learnt the basic and now many of them are doing well and have started earning after learning this new skill.
In the month of September, the first batch completed level one ( basic of beauty course)
by anouradha bakshi | Oct 30, 2024 | Whats new
At all our Project WHY centres, the children are happily getting ready to welcome the festival by making decorations and painting diyas for their classrooms.
Every year, all our children make it a very serious activity in class. They also have fun and laughs and get a chance to be very creative.
Also, our Special Needs children, like every year have been seriously working in their vocational class, preparing diyas and other decorative items for their sales in CSKM and Azure Hospitality. This is a small way to make them learn independent job skills.
by anouradha bakshi | Feb 3, 2024 | Anou's Blog
Many years ago I added a tag line to my email signature. It was : “I am busy being grateful”. This was because of the miracles big and small that came my way as Project Why and I embarked on am incredible journey that is still enfolding. The tag line sat quietly on my screen as we travelled on.
Last week I was reminded of these words written so long ago and realised that subconsciously they had remained as new and pertinent as when I first wrote them. Project Why could not be without the deep gratitude I felt at every instant.
So who am I grateful to? First and foremost to all those who have reached out and helped me, from the big donors who reach out and adopt a centre to the tiniest donation of a child’s pocket money to help the surgery of another child.
This year I feel blessed as we welcome all our major donors.
Last week Mr Trivedi and his daughter Shelly and son-in-law Andres celebrated Republic Day with us at the Yamuna centre. The Trivedi Family Foundation sponsors our Yamuna and Khader centres. Thanks to their generous support we are able to help over 400 children dream big! My heartfelt gratitude to this wonderful and compassionate family.
In February we welcome Adish and Asha Jain of the Asha and Adish Jain Foundation. They sponsor the Okhla centre; another 350 children. And that is not all. Adish Jain has committed to support Okhla as long as it exists. How can I not be eternally grateful.
And there is more. In February we welcome Kiran Frey and Pradeep Sethi and their daughter Nina from Chess without Borders. Thanks to them Meher who had suffered terrible burn injuries when only a few months old underwent restorative plastic surgery to enable her to get back the use of her hands and then went to boarding school to complete her education. Today she is preparing for entrance to medical school. More gratitude.
In March we await the visit of Hans Emde and his family from Project Why Germany. They have supported our work for more than a decade now. We are deeply grateful again. Few months ago we had the visit of Xavier Ray from Enfances Indiennes who have been with us for more than two decades and stood by us unwaveringly. Chapeau Bas!
We feel blessed that all our main funders visited or are visiting us this year.
My gratitude also goes to a very special being that I call the God of Small Beings. She/he has walked with me every step of this journey and never left my side. It is she who has ensured that we do not falter or miss a step and always guided us in the right direction. It is also this very special God who has woven one miracle after the other. I would like to share one.
In February 2003 a toddler fell into a boiling pan and sustained third degree burns. He would then go and to lose his dysfunctional family and be left all alone. It is this very special God who crafter a future for him. Little Utpal was healed, went on to complete his school and then college and is now in Mumbai living his dream: making serials.
This is only one of the many Project Why miracles.
So you now understand why I AM BUSY BEING GRATEFUL!
I feel blessed.
