Thursday, September 20, 2007

About Parichay




Parichay is a registered NGO; In 2000, Mr. Vijay Bajpai started Parichay in Tukhmirpur area of East Delhi. Parichay operates in a small basti where people are from very poor socio-economic background. He started this project out of his sheer interest in social work, as he observed that most of the children in the locality do not go to school and the youth are an ignorant mass. The people lacked the sense of hygiene and almost all children suffered from one or the other disease. His journey was tough as he started all on his own, until he collaborated with AID Delhi.

 



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About Parichay



The objective of Parichay is self-sustainability with the broader aim of making the individuals more aware and dignified citizens. Parichay encourages students’ participation in various activities like making of handicrafts, keeping in view the need to impart vocational education to them. Parichay endeavors to inculcate self-respect and high self-esteem to bring out the very best in them.


Parichay’s Road To Self-sustainability

Parichay identified that the best way to improve the lot of the people of the community was to educate the children and women. Parichay teaches all children of the community within its fold. The basic education is provided by volunteers and two teachers hired by Parichay. Keeping an eye on the community’s economic needs, Parichay engages the children in the making of handicrafts. Thus, vocational training is provided to them, which is altogether missing from the curriculum of other schools in and around the locality.

The children at Parichay are an expert hand at making items of daily use like pen stands, photo frames, folders etc. Stalls are then organized in companies like STMicroelectronics and HCL with the help of volunteers to market the products.


Parichay-AID Collaboration

AID Delhi's interaction with Parichay started in May 2004 and since then involvement has increased and Parichay has seen many successes.  AID has supported Parichay in many activities, and has helped improved the general lot of children in numerous ways. Following are some of the activities of which speaks of  Parichay-AID collaboration:


Nutrition program: The Nutrition program has been started to address the problem of malnutrition amongst the children. AID volunteers have been very supportive to fund this endeavor at Parichay.


Education: Basic non-formal education is provided to all the children. Volunteers visit Parichay regularly mostly on weekends. Based on the availability of funds received from volunteers, we try our level best to merge as many students as possible, with the formal education scheme.

A non-formal education center, Bal Vikas Kendra, was the first thing to come up as a part of the project. About 150 children have benefited from this program till date. This apart, Parichay has received enormous acceptance from the community. This has been on the lines of empowering the women, who have recently started a self-help group. This is a major benchmark as it encourages self-sustainability of the project. The funds generated from the Masala Unit, formed by women of the community, are a substantial aid to the running of center and earning a livelihood for themselves.

Students Enrolled in Formal Education Programs: Depending on the availability of the funds, the sponsored students are sent to a nearby public school. A total of nine children have been admitted to the formal schooling, and the future of these children seems bright as they are fast catching up with the formal schooling.


Masala Unit: Masala Unit has been started with the aim of promoting self-reliance as also to provide livelihood to the ladies of the community. Women of the community have shown enormous interest in this micro-credit self-help group. Reciprocating to their enthusiasm we have provided them with mixer, grinder, chakki, and a sealing machine. Ladies of the community are presently involved in the masala making unit. We have formed a small team of volunteers to market the spices made at Parichay.

Parichay Catalogue

parichay sales


Handicrafts: Children at Parichay are involved in making of handicrafts. A crafts teacher visits the center regularly to provide guidance on making various items of daily use like folders, potlis, photo frames, pen stands etc. The crafts work rekindle creativity among students while promoting divergent thinking.

Newsletter of Parichay is available here. [pdf - 2.5MB]