Hygiene Awareness - In the Spotlight!

Hygiene Care - A Way of Life for Children!

Hand Washing - A Way of Life for Children!

Special Needs Children Adoption - Heartwarming!

Adoptions - Life Transforming!

What’s New - CSA Happenings!

CSA Activities - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words!

CSA Charity Dinner - The Story Unfolds

Lend Us a Helping Hand!

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AFFECXN (Read: AFFECTION), is a Newsletter published by Catalyst for Social Action (CSA). Established in September 2002, Catalyst for Social Action (CSA) is a Not-For-Profit organisation dedicated to the cause of child welfare and adoption. CSA works as a “catalyst” focusing on a holistic approach to child welfare and rehabilitation in the following domains -

Transforming lives of orphan children via initiatives ranging from providing education and training, health and hygiene plans, nutritious meals and overall well beingPromoting and facilitating adoptions wherever possible

In the area of enabling holistic care of children, we support a number of child care organisations in the areas of Nutrition, Hygiene, & Health, Education & Vocational skills, Infrastructural support and Recreation activities. We have made and continue to make a valuable difference to 1600+ children across 48 homes in 4 states that we support.As part of our Adoption Facilitation process, we work with existing rural institutions to facilitate adoptions. We have successfully facilitated over 200 adoptions so far since inception.

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* Hygiene Awareness Sessions were conducted across the board based on outcomes from health check up camps that were conducted earlier. Many children had dental issues and skin problems which the doctors narrowed down to hygiene issues. Based on this feedback, CSA conducted awareness sessions on good overall hygiene and dental care practices by giving the children a hygiene presentation and showing them a video on dental care. More than 1600+ children have benefitted from this exercise

* In addition, besides educating children on overall hygiene and oral care, CSA also provided Hygiene Kits to all children [comprising of tooth paste, tooth brush, bathing soap,washing soap]. Provision of hygiene kits will ensure that children are equipped to follow through on the awareness trainings they have received & can make a permanent lifestyle change. At most locations, Children's Committee members distributed articles to children and the Health minister will monitor the supplies along with the caretaker of the institution on a regular basis

* Global Handwashing Day (GHD) is a campaign to motivate and mobilize millions around the world to wash their hands with soap. It takes place on 15th October each year. The campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of handwashing with soap as a key approach to disease prevention.

The campaign was initiated to reduce childhood mortality rates related to respiratory and diarrheal diseases by introducing simple behavioral changes - hand washing with soap. This simple, accessible action can, according to research, reduce the rate of mortality from these diseases by almost 50 percent.

Handwashing with soap is the most effective and inexpensive way to prevent diarrheal and acute respiratory infections, which take the lives of millions of children in developing countries every year. Together, they are responsible for majority of all child deaths. Yet, despite its lifesaving potential, handwashing with soap is seldom practiced and difficult to promote.Turning handwashing with soap before eating and after using the toilet into an ingrained habit could save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention.

Each year, over 200 million people are involved in celebrations in over 100 countries around the world. Global Handwashing is endorsed by a wide array of governments, international institutions, civil society organizations, NGOs, private companies, and individuals.

CSA too celebrated Hand Washing Day in all orphanages that we partner with and over 1600+ children were shown an audio video clipping & demonstration on how and when to wash hands with soap, with an aim to inculcating a behavioral change and improving overall health & hygiene.

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Why Handwashing with Soap?

HYGIENE AWARENESS - In The Spotlight!

* Effect of washing hands with soap on diarrhea risk in the community: a systematic review. The Lancet Infectious Diseases , Volume 3 , Issue 5 , Pages 275 - 281 V . Curtis , S . Cairncross

HYGIENE CARE - A Way of Life for Children!

Hygiene & Oral Awareness Sessions / Hygiene Kits distribution

across Goa, Maharashtra , Madhya Pradesh & Odisha. Kids are all

smiles!!

Hand Washing Audio Visual film screened and hand washing demonstrations conducted at all agencies

in Goa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh & Odisha

HAND WASHING - A Way of Life for Children!

Love Trust Special Needs Home in Buldana district, MH was started by CSA in collaboration with the Love Trust institute in 2009 with a special focus on

providing care to children with special needs. During the regular course of working on adoption projects, CSA identified the need of a Special Home for

mentally and physically challenged children languishing in regular adoption agencies. Providing quality care and treatment to such children was the

need of the hour. The Love Trust institute readily responded & provided us with the Infrastructure and thus, Love Trust Special Needs Home was

instituted and CSA spear heads expenses related to providing all necessary facilities to take care of these children. We have appointed caretakers

specially trained to look after these children along with a Physiotherapist with a hope to improve their health conditions and through physiotherapy,

improve their ability to carry out their day to day tasks; and also, someday to help facilitate their movement into a lovely family.

Little did we know that this Diwali, our efforts would bear fruit! Nehal came to the home around 3 years go with extensive physical and mental

impairment and she would tilt her head to one side often. With the help of the physio exercises & special care provided by caretakers, her overall health

showed a remarkable degree of improvement. Sometime this year, we were successful in finding adoptive parents in the US & very soon Nehal, who is 4

years old now, will be united with a wonderful family and can look forward to a quality life and better healthcare facilities! This is indeed heartwarming

& encouraging for the team at Love Trust home. 3 more children are in the process of being adopted by NRI parents & CSA hopes to continue the good

work and have many more special needs children find loving and nurturing families!

Neha

CSA provided children with toys &

special needs equipment

SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN ADOPTION - Heartwarming!

Caretakers appointed by CSA

Adoption is a beautiful, life transforming experience. It is a blessing for the child and parents and unfolds joys which know no bounds!

Each adoption story is special, memorable, full of hope and anticipation and a triumphant moment for the entire family! We are committed to our

Vision 'Every Child Matters!' and are constantly working towards finding a loving and nurturing home for every orphaned child.

Presenting successful adoption cases facilitated by CSA in the past few months...

ADOPTIONS - Life Transforming!

Manoj and Divya Shanbhag adopted

10 months old girl child Ishita - Sept

2013

Mahin 4 months old male child

adopted - June 2013

Mr. and Mrs. Ashish Trivedi

adopted 6 months old male child

Daivik - Aug 2013

Ananthalakshmi V (Single Mom)

adopted a 3 years old girl child

Sonu - Feb 2013

Mr. And Mrs. Sathya adopted 4

months old baby girl Sai Haritha -

May 2013

�Support to Children in Orphanages:-

Children's Committee -

�Children's Committees have been set up at each orphanage to ensure involvement of children in running of the institution. The committee is

constituted of children. Roles and responsibilities have been explained & children have been actively participating in meetings, putting forth

suggestions & conducting cultural / recreational activities periodically

Health Support -

�Health check ups done for 400 additional children from BVJSS, Pune [Bhatkya Vimukta Jati and Shikshan Sanstha] a new orphanage we've partnered

with supported by D.Y.Patil hospital

Nutrition Support -

�Nutritional support being given to 10 children from GASVS [Gramin Adivashi Samaj Vikas Sansthan] institute in MP

Education & Vocational Skills Support -

�8 children from Nirankar Balgram, Pune being provided with Education support [school fees, stationary items, school uniform, shoes and

transportation]. In addition, tuition teacher appointed after school hours

�Education support in Madhya Pradesh to 36 children from KSSS [Krupa Sadan Seva Samiti] by sponsoring school fees, stationery supplies, uniforms

and transportation

Infrastructure Support -

�Infrastructure support in Madhya Pradesh to KSSS in the form of finances for kitchen renovation and roofing of kitchen

�CSA MP provided financial assistance to GASVS to construct one toilet and bathroom, to provide better sanitation facilities for 10 children

�CSA donated various play equipment for infants and younger children to 2 adoption agencies in Nanded district and 1 adoption agency in Latur

district of Maharashtra

Fun and Recreational Activities -

�Friendship Day celebrations held on 7th August with 85 children in Sr. Valenteena's Little Heaven orphanage, Goa. Children made friendship cards

and also exchanged friendship bands with each other

� Independence day celebrated on 15th Aug. at Observation home for Girls in Pune. 15 employees from EagleBurgmann India Pvt. Ltd. visited the

orphanage. Mr. George Easo [Vice President - HR & ADMN] conducted flag hoisting ceremony and employees distributed eatables . They also

donated generously towards sponsoring of tailoring classes for the girls

�Banana distribution as the 'fruit of the season' was done in Maharashtra & Goa in the month of August 2013

WHAT’S NEW - CSA Happenings!

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Rose for Pooja' and thereafter, they were treated to a snack of various fruits - apples, grapes, bananas & chocolates with soft drinks. Children's

committee members helped with the arrangements under CSA's guidance

�On the occasion of Ganesh Utsav, CSA Mumbai organised lunch for children at Balmandir; around 100 children were served a sumptuous meal

which they thoroughly enjoyed!

�On the occasion of 'Joy of Giving ' week [Oct 2nd - Oct 8th], CSA organised a drawing competition for 34 children of Jeevan Jyoti orphanage in

Indore, MP. 12 employees from ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd. were present during the event. The theme was 'My School My Future'.

Objective was to understand their aspirations for the future; winners were jointly selected by ICICI Pru employees and management of the

institution. They were then awarded certificates and CSA gifted the children new clothes and distributed sweets

�Adoption Facilitation:-

�25 adoptions have been successfully facilitated since April 2013 by CSA and many in the pipeline [Maharashtra-18, Odisha-5, Madhya Pradesh-2]

�Stakeholder Training & Sensitization:-

�Orphanages have been filing applications to be registered under JJ Act, 2000. Inspections to be conducted of homes has not been done till date.

Hence, CSA formed voluntary advocacy group met WCD Secretary regarding pending inspections and way forward. Now, Government of Goa

has created Special Block Level Inspection teams to visit and inspect children's homes & these teams have started visiting and conducting inspection

of children's homes in Goa

�Goa Government created inspection teams have started conducting inspection of orphanages and CSA's initial observations reveal that many

orphanages are disorganized as far as maintenance of documentation required for inspections go. Hence, CSA Goa has been helping Sr. Valenteena's

Little Heaven staff with systematic documentation & maintenance of folders and files that will be required for the Inspection. A short orientation

session was also conducted with the staff in this respect; this has improved their knowledge on the subject to a large extent

�CSA Pune conducted grass root level workshop at Latur, Maharashtra for ICDS [Integrated Child Development Services] workers, SHG [Self Help

Group] and CWC workers; focus was to create awareness amongst these community workers regarding adoptions

CSA Odisha conducted two fun events at Banabasi Seba Samiti on 15th August. 250 kids watched an award winning regional children's movie 'A

WHAT’S NEW - CSA Happenings!

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�Derogatory TV Commercial targeting Adoption taken off air - Reliance Communications had come out with a TV Commercial for its Mobile ‘All Share

Postpaid Family Plan’ which showed Adoption in bad light.

The advertisement features actor Anushka Sharma making fun of her younger brother stating that he is not in the plan because he is an adopted

child. This did not go down well with Adoptive parents and adopted children / youngsters; CSA filed a complain with the ASCI (Advertising Standards

Council of India) & ASCI upheld our complaint deeming the TV commercial as being offensive. Following ASCI's decision, advert has been taken off

air on most media platforms. This decision will go a long way to help understand relevance of adoption in today's society.

�Facilitate closure of pending court orders for adoptions from Nanded, Maharashtra - Many adoptive parents from different parts of India have

adopted children from rural parts of Maharashtra. However, several families with children under foster care had not received court orders and

subsequently child's birth certificate was pending; some cases date back to 2009. Constant transfer of District Judges had led to these cases pending

indefinitely. Some older children enrolled in schools had no birth certificates & schools were pressurizing parents to submit birth certificates.

Against this backdrop,CSA met District Judge of Nanded-Mr. S. V. Mhaske on 21st July requesting him to look into the matter and clear pending

cases. Following this meeting with CSA, district judge called for a meeting with some parents on 1st October & 9 adoptive parents were able to

secure court orders that day. Out of these, 6 cases pertain to CSA facilitated adoptions, so this is a huge respite to parents & an achievement for

CSA. Balance cases too will be cleared soon.

�CSR Partner Activities with Accelya Kale [Patron Sponsors]:-

� 'Recycle A Bicycle' - During the month of July, 'Recycle-A-Bicycle' campaign ran in Mumbai, Pune and Goa Accelya Kale offices with an aim to

collecting reusable bicycles. Generous contributions in the form of cash was used to purchase bicycles for children in Odisha, Goa & MP. 5 bicycles

received were distributed to different orphanages in Mumbai. Some Accelya Kale employees went along to these homes when the bicycles were

given away and witnessed the joy and smiles on children's faces which was priceless!

� 'Joy of Giving' - During Joy of Giving Week [Oct 2nd - Oct 8th], Accelya Kale volunteers spend time with children at Balikashram, Mumbai and had

great fun with them. Children had McDonald's burgers, smiley potato wedges, ice-creams and chocolates. For many children, this was the first time

that they had burgers & it was a delightful evening of fun, games and snacks!

Advocacy & Research:-

WHAT’S NEW - CSA Happenings!

CSA ACTIVITIES - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words!

Children's Committee members doing hand

washing in Goa

Children's Committee members chart in

Maharashtra

Committee Members in discussion

Health check up camp supported by D.Y.Patil for

BVJSS children - Pune

Education Support - Uniform, School Bags, Shoes, Stationery Books

Independence Day celebrations in Odisha and Pune

Play Equipment & Toys distribution in Nanded, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh

CSA ACTIVITIES - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words!

Sr. Valenteena's Little Heaven staff being trained on maintaining documentation for JJ inspections

Fun activities | Fruits of the season |

'Joy of Giving' celebrations at all CSA

partnered orphanages

Grass root workshop on adoption at Latur, MH

As a follow up to the curtain raiser on CSA's Charity Dinner in our last Newsletter, the story unfolds in this version on our 4th Annual fund raising Charity Dinner event which was

held at Taj Land's End Bandra on 21st September and it was an evening to remember!

We had a full house with over 200 guests present which included High Network Individuals, Professionals from IT , Finance & Banking sectors, Businessmen, Art aficionados etc

and members from the media fraternity were present to cover the event.

Our principal sponsor for the event was ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd. and several other corporate sponsors such as Accelya Kale | Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers | HDFC

Mutual Fund| PN Gadgil Jewellers | Modi Group | ING Vysya Bank | Avendus | DSP Black Rock Fund | IDFC Mutual Fund | Deutsche Mutual Fund | Baaya Designs | ICICI

Lombard | Clover Infotech supported this event. Interior stylist and columnist, Ms. Nisha Jamvwal presided over the evening as chief auctioneer and host.

Everybody witnessed an action packed evening with some beautiful dance performances by adoptive parents who were trained by our cause ambassador Sandip Soparrkar and

several family members, friends and guests pledged their support after each performance. This was followed by the art auction of handcrafted celebrity art creations by well

known artists such as Arzan Khambatta, Bina Aziz, Brinda Miller, Gurcharan Singh, Jaya Lamba, Shola Carletti and other contemporary and folk artists. The art auction received a

whopping response and several guests participated enthusiastically. A delectable spread of mouth watering, delicious snacks & food brought the evening to a closure.

CSA raised over 25 lakhs that evening and we are truly thankful to all our generous sponsors, donors, art buyers, media partners for their whole hearted contributions and

support. We intend to use these funds to reach out to many more orphaned children and increase existing support being provided.

Click on the link below for various media coverage articles on the charity dinner and art auction preview

http://www.csa.org.in/charity-dinner/media.shtml

CSA ANNUAL CHARITY DINNER - The Story Unfolds!

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention”

Donate today and become an active 'catalyst'!

Online Bank Transfer:

Volunteering:

We have a long way to go before we can truly say that sustainable, value based care and support is being provided to children in adoption agencies and orphanages.

CSA believes in the highest standards of governance and transparency and will share project specific information with you.

We invite you to support our cause in the form of individual or corporate donations / sponsorships. We have a host of donation options to choose from and you can select appropriate options that suit your philanthropic needs. Kindly get in touch with us for further information on donation options available.

Cheque: Made payable to “Catalysts for Social Action” and sent to - Address: CSA, C/o Accelya Kale Solutions Ltd, 3rd Floor, Modi House, Eastern Express Highway, Naupada, Thane (W), Mumbai 400 602

To know more, call us or write in

To know more about how you can volunteer, get in touch with us

Landline: Mumbai - 022-67808888 | Pune - 020-24227090Email: | Website:Join our Facebook page:

info@csa.org.in www.csa.org.inhttps://www.facebook.com/CSAadoption

LEND US A HELPING HAND!