17th July 2021 – Handing over iPhone 6plus to Mr Amaranth Sarmah, SOS Children’s Village, Faridabad ( with Jit Banerjee – aspiring SoS volunteer) & Priscilla (not in picture)!
I returned to SOS village, Faridabad on Saturday – and handed over the iPhone (in photo) to Mr A Sarmah, Village Director. Not shown in the photograph are the home-made sweets for the children.
In my last visit, I had realized that the children were facing access issues for their online classes in the pandemic era. They simply did not have enough clients. Each SoS family had 8-12 children- and they were sharing one desktop, mother’s smartphone and maybe a tablet or two for their sessions.
As I look forward to a larger movement in enabling the clients for the SoS children, I made the first move. My last iPhone was underutilized as a backup – and I had forgotten its password!
With some help from AMIND IT group (Benny – thanks!) and a local mobile shop we reset the unit, cleaned it, made it as good as new – and gave it to the Village for appropriate use. A single unit in a world full of needs – but at least it will complete the need in somebody’s world!
About the iphone -this is a fully working piece, I got it touched up and is as good as new with the charger and charging cable (which is not in the photograph). Hopefully, it will take care of one more student from the point of being able to access online classes.
About the children- I found them absolutely amazing. Full of positivity and vibrant energy when we called on SOS Mother Poornima’s family! They were surprised that I remembered everyone’s name and Poornima ji served us a glass of lemonade and I passed around the box of home-made chocolates.
Jit Banerjee ( also in the photo) is an aspiring SoS volunteer who responded to my last blog post on SOS, called me – and volunteered to join me in the next visit.
As more good people join the cause- we can collectively solve the children’s need.
Would be great if you can find more clients ( smartphones/ laptops etc) which can be shared with SOS Village so that their children can access online classes…you can drop me your thoughts in the comments below – email me at aggarwal.ashwini@gmail.com -or -like Jit Banerjee- just call +91 9910 555 970!
Vivek V Kumar
Every contribution matters. SOS Children’s Villages is truly an amazing organisation. Their childcare model is the best that I am aware of.
Ashwini Aggarwal
Yes – the concept of family based care that Dr Hermann Gmeiner conceived is simple – the scale that he achieved across the world is amazing and tribute to his vision and the founding team’s dedication. The flame is carried forward even today by the SOS children village leadership and mothers…in India they have 32 villages across India and the work and the commitment they show is mind blowing. The SOS mothers commit their lives to the children – they cannot have a ‘normal’ married life and this is one of the criteria for their selection! Vivek ji – we need people like you to join in making a difference. They need help for letting the children take online classes – any old smartphone, laptop that can give an internet access will be appreciated. Just contact me at 9910 555 970…