Recent Achievements

Matsakanya

With lights on her face and springs on her feet, one little mermaid danced her way into a thousand hearts on July 29th, at Chowdiah Hall.

The entire hall was electrified by the little fairy, who played the part of ‘Matsakanya’.

This was a dance drama with a huge cast. It was a spectacular show, hosted by SIB and presented by the globally acclaimed dancer, Dr. Sanjay Shantaram and The Shivapriya Ensemble.

SIB organised the show as a huge fundraiser in order to support areas that explore educating, enabling and empowering women and children.

The dance-drama gave beautiful glimpses of a fairytale that also indicated miraculous offerings of hope and love. ‘Matsakanya’ lured almost a 1,000 visitors and opened the gates for new avenues that can encourage fundraising through team effort and sustained efforts.

It was a truly magic evening.

Fistful of grains

In the final week of July, SIB visited a privileged school to share some messages of goodwill and lessons on caring, sharing and loving.

SIB distributed its eco-friendly bags to a 100 children, who took the bags home for a month. Their project was to fill each bag with a particular grain everyday before supper. At the end of the month, SIB collected and transported the bags to underprivileged sections.

This ongoing project, which is an SIB idea, has received national acclaim and goodwill from all the clubs in India.

Distributing Biodegradable Sanitary Napkins

Rani Shetty, SIB’s Honarary Member, who runs Parihar, a social initiative at the campus of the Police Commissioner’s

Office, identified the shelter homes.

It was a programme that also drew in the partnership of Gallagher employees, who contribute Rs 50 every month to produce them in a machine set up by Soroptimist International Pune Metro East.

President Anuradha Pradeep spoke about the benefits of the napkins and distributed them with the SIB team to the women beneficiaries, at the Parikrama School as well as the Police Commissioner’s office.

This was a dance drama with a huge cast. It was a spectacular show, hosted by SIB and presented by the globally acclaimed dancer, Dr. Sanjay Shantaram and The Shivapriya Ensemble.

SIB organised the show as a huge fundraiser in order to support areas that explore educating, enabling and empowering women and children.

It was a truly magic evening.

Plan B for Beautiful Bengaluru

Can one Plan make for a Green, Clean Bengaluru?

It can. Plan B is an exciting eco-social initiative has been designed to bring planners, green activists and concerned citizens together. It is a creative policy draft that visualises that trees would be blazing and a heady air would waft through the city …. someday!

The initiative was deeply debated on Environment Day, June 12, with panel discussions on urban landscaping, vertical gardens and their benefits, citizens’ issues and better eco-friendly environments, sewer water treatment and re-use of grey water and climate change. All these and more issues are important to usher in the Garden City of our Dreams.

SI’s illustrious botanist, Dr.Prathibha Vinay, was one of the panelists who spoke on Medicinal plants and herbs, while Program Action Chairperson Rema Ramachandran moderated the event.

EVERGREEN PROJECTS

Theatre of the Oppressed: Live action and expressions through fluid movements…Theatre is creating some revolutionary communication in various parts of the city. Read about it in Recent Achievements, The Hindu and Deccan Herald.

Fistful of Grains: Bags bursting with rice and lentils and branded with SIB’s logo….These are rich collections of rice and lentils at many elite schools. They are the distributed to needy children by SI. Read more about it in Recent Achievements and in Deccan Herald.

Scholarships for needy children: SI locates meritorious but underprivileged students who need a generous supporting hand in order to complete their education.

Recordings for the visually challenged: SI members enable recordings of books for inmates of Mithra Jyothi, a special school for visually challenged students.

Garima: Customised cotton and eco-friendly, reusable bags are printed with the SIB and Centenary logos. Through orders, SIB supports women tailors under its empowerment and vocational training programme. Read about it in Recent Achievements.

Soham: Counselling Centre for the Mental Well-Being of Women. With experienced Consultants and Psychologists, the non-profit centre is operating with volunteers and a lot of goodwill. Read about it in Recent Achievements.

Scholarships for needy children: SI locates meritorious but underprivileged students who need a generous supporting hand in order to complete their education.

Recordings for the visually challenged: SI members enable recordings of books for inmates of Mithra Jyothi, a special school for visually challenged students.

Cancer Detection Camp

This year’s International Women’s Day on March 8 was quite purposeful, as SI held a Cancer Detection Camp for their sisters at the Primary Health Centre of Kanakapura taluk, Venkatarayanadoddi, just out of the city’s limits.

SIB team, with two other doctors and lab technicians, conducted pap smear tests to detect Cancer of the Cervix in a 100 women, aged between 25 to 40, from nearby villages. About seven women were found to be in need of further tests and care.

The camp ended with a delightful lunch and gifts contributed to the inmates, participants and the team by SIB members Sudha Manandi and Shruthi.

Sharing giggles and goodies with kids at Sneha Care Home

One breezy evening. One beautiful meeting. A riot of teddies. Guttural giggles, shy smiles and raucous laughter. Singing, dancing, yelling and playing.

A heap of soft toys, board games, balloons and goody treats.

Cakes, chocolates, juice and chips …

What an enriching day to share for SIB members with children of Sneha Care Home.

Protest Rally and Panel Discussion

Orange splashes of women and students marked a protest rally on November 25, 2017, to mark the ‘UN Day Against Violence on Women’. There were more than a 100 SI members from all over India, as well as supportive students from St Joseph’s School, who marched from Gandhi Square to St Mark’s Road.

In orange and black clothes, caps, banners and boards, the rallyists held up their placards at the traffic signals to beam their message across. “Wake up the gentleman” “Say No to Violence” and “Women are everywhere” were some of their missives. Silently, all afternoon, they held up the signs to convey what they wanted to say in front of signals, waiting till the lights turned green and made the traffic zoom again.

On the following day, November 26th, SIB conducted ‘Educate to Enable’, an electrifying Panel Discussion (watch it Here). Luminaries Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta, (Principal Secretary, women and child development), Shoma Bakre (Founder of ‘Let’s do some good’ and BEETF), Dr Shailaja Shastry (Director of Training and Research Initiatives) and Dr Florence D’Souza (Principal of Carmel High School) were moderated by Vandana Mehrotra (co-founder of ‘Social Ventures Solutions’.)

It was a thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion that focussed on chalking out plans for enabling, empowering and educating women. They talked about the value of skill-development and the importance of helping underprivileged sections to take their lives forward with effort and drive.

Meru Garden Project

If your back aches, then rub the skin of a fresh lime over it and feel the pain vanishing!

This is one of a simple set of solutions offered by a book on medicinal plants, compiled by Dr Prathibha Vinay.

The priceless collection of books quickly reached a 1,000 eager donors, in order to contribute to the Meru Community Garden Project in Kenya. The focus is on ‘Educate, Enable and Empower Women’.

The set of home remedies can tell you all about the magic of ginger and barley, among other herbs. Currently, they are contributing to the health and life of the Meru Project. Read about it in Deccan Herald.

Lessons of Life

Sunlight and smiles splashed around SIB’s 14th year AGM meet. A visit to an adopted Government School at Kanakapura started the day. After distributing lunch and clothes, President Anuradha shared some wisdom with children in the assembly, giving lessons on the value of reading, learning as well as gender

Members Anita Belogodu and Sudha Manandi took the baton to two different meetings with boys and girls, giving speeches on the importance of self-defence against molestation and the value of hygiene. Five students who did not have toilets at home were identified so that their parents could be counselled.

Sanitary pads were distributed to the girls. Books collected by Past President Sudha Jalan and other members were donated. Earlier gifts of water filters, stone benches, a computer and printer were examined and found to be in good condition. The 14th year AGM meeting at Sudha Manandi’s beautiful farmhouse crowned the day.

Fistful of grains

Iqra International school supported SIB’s food initiative in August. The project involves collecting bags filled with rice and lentils and branded with the SIB logo. These are rich collections at many elite schools that are distributed to needy institutions.

Impressed with the monthly ‘Fistful of grains’ project, the National Association of Soroptimist International (NASI) has adopted it all over the country. Read more about it in Deccan Herald.

Green, Clean Messages

July bloomed in St Euphratious School, with some healing talks and medicinal plants. The first day of Van Mahotsav Week and the World Environment Day were celebrated with the planting of eight saplings. Members Dr Nalini and Dr Prathibha spoke to 350 schoolchildren on the role of herbal plants in enhancing the quality of life, health and hygiene. They distributed toilet kits with toothpastes, brushes and soaps.

Ornamental Oasis: Just next to a fuming, cluttered road, SI is building a cool, ornamental oasis, where it has planted riotous pink and karunashraya-plantsyellow shrubs. Saunter near Karunashraya, a cancer hospice, to feast your eyes on blooms that hit and soothe the eye and freshen up the air.

SI also plans to take up a plot in another part of the town and grow some medicinal herbs to create awareness about primary health care. Those who would like to learn more can wait for SI’s living, growing, herbal library

Female Front

Self-defence Workshops: What happens when you’re attacked? Do you scream? Run? Faint? Bad idea. Don’t do any of these, but just … defend yourself. Maybe offend and attack. A recent self-defence workshop for the female staff of CSC Technologies was all about putting up hands and responding when attacked.

Women’s Day Programmes: March 8 was the day of fists and voices raised in protest as well as support. SIB joined the chorus of female sloganeers all over the city. Students in support of SI voiced their protest through silence as well as loud placards at some busy centres.

Meanwhile, in another area, an SI member addressed 40 rural women on empowerment, positivity and self-sufficiency. Having trained a number of village immigrants on tassel making and beauty tips, she enabled employment for myriad women. She held one of her regular workshops or counselling centres on Women’s Day. Some strengthening speeches were given at other parts of the city by the President, Anuradha Pradeep.

Theatre of the Oppressed

Live action and expressions through fluid movements… This interesting concept of theatre by SI members has motivated students, elders, women and differently-abled to contact and connect with each other extensively. Theatre is creating real change at apartment complexes and institutes such as Saheli, ACTS Nirmala Vidhyalaya and Parikrma School. Issues as diverse as domestic violence, ageism and environment are debated and defused. Sensitisation makes every Spectator a “Spectactor,” said an SI member.Read more about it in The Hindu and Deccan Herald here and here.

RUN FOR CANCER

A stream of almost 1,000 runners set fire to the dew-dipped parks of Cubbon Park on Sunday morning, November 6. Fresh-faced children, bright oldies, sari-clad women and jean-clad teenagers … they were all part of a fun run from Century Club.

Ashwini Nachappa, national sportswoman, was the first bright spark that flagged off the fiery, feisty morning at 7 a.m. The runners circled the park and returned to the starting point by afternoon. “That was a fantastic event. A super sprint,” cried a participant.

Indeed, it was a Biggie in every way, mobilising special partnership with Business Network International, and support from organisations such as Microlabs and Agadi Hospital. It was flagged off to support Karunashraya, a Cancer hospice. Read more about it in Deccan Herald.

Chief Guest Ashwini Nachappa: “It has been my privilege and honour to have received the Honorary Membership from Soroptimist International Bangalore. The phenomenal work all members of the SIB undertake is commendable and I am happy to be a part of this fraternity. Look forward to working together.“

Karunashraya, the Cancer Hospice that was supported by SI through the Run For Cancer event: “The trouble that your team went to in creating a publicity video was indeed remarkable…The funds will be utilised to buy medicines for our patients, and only eternity will reveal how many suffering patients have been benefited from these medicines and supplies.”