2010 Deepam Fellows

Deepam Fellow is an award to honour the volunteers who have gone an extra mile to support the cause of education at Deepam. Our earlier fellows – 2009 Deepam Fellows , 2008 Deepam Fellows

Deepam aims to honour 2 types of people through this award
  • People involved in direct teaching & mentorship : Teachers are the people who have an immense opportunity to change the future of the world – by positively influencing the people who will inhabit the world in the future. The best among them will be honoured through the Deepam Fellowaward
  • People involved in design & implementation of programs enabling teaching : By designing / implementing a program that enables teachers / children to meet their education goals, people who design / implementation work in tandem with teachers to make an impact on the children. The best among these people will be honoured through the Deepam Fellow award
2010 Deepam Fellow


Rajagopalan Sir – Everytime I talk to him, I come away with a light feeling. I would not have been surprised if he was on the stage at the annual day, shaking the legs with the children. Almost twice my age, he has never ‘adviced’ me or saye or the other ‘kids’ 🙂 – he easily connected with all the volunteers and won our respect and admiration, just for this. His flair for writing , wit and energy filled emails / puzzles keeps the Deepam mailing lists alive


He is meticulous in his work, along with Vasanthi mam / Maduravalli Mam, organises a successful library program at the Deepam West Mambalam centre. He visits the centres even during weekdays to run the library program. His enthusiasm to help children read was evident in the way he helped organise the Deepam WM centre trip to the Anna Library. He also prepares ‘interesting lesson plans like this 😉 .



He connects with the children with ease. They adore RR sir 🙂 – no wonder he was called in as a ‘chief guest’ for the West Mambalam school’s annual day.

We are honoured to have RR Sir with us. He is one of our Deepam Fellow 2010

Meera – One of the earliest volunteers, Meera was active at Deepam, despite a 2 year study break in the US. She actively evangelised Deepam in the US and brought in valuable donation dollars.

When she got back, she was keen to make a difference on the ground. This keeness as evident when she encouraged the children to participate in the Google Doodle contest – I was pushed into taking her to the Uroor Kuppam on a sunday afternoon, where we met the children with the painting kits.


She showed equal enthusiasm in building a strong team at the Uroor Kuppam Centre, who have been doing some great work at the centre.

She also pushed us / kept hope / helped in writing an effective proposal that helped Deepam win the 2HP EdTech award.

She is our other Deepam Fellow 2010

3rd Annual Day – Thanks for making this a memorable event!

Hello Friends,

It was a joy to watch the children enjoy the Deepam Annual Day. Almost all of them seemed like natural performers on the stage. Thanks to all the volunteers for making this a memorable experience for the children.
Leeba – First one to show up at the ‘party’ . She got us answers to some difficult questions – Right from the start, she took on the job of helping identify venue / chief guests / making other arrangements, besides helping out the VRS team to put up the show.
Basu – Has always been a solid support at Deepam. This time too, he ran the show behind-the-scenes and ensured things happened.
Archana – Wherever she is, she contributes to Deepam. Despite living in Poland, She co-ordinated – designed / ensured the certificates , medals were available for the event, well in advance !
Priya / Radhika / Other KCG College students – Talented bunch from the KCG College. Their consistent efforts at Deepam is really an example for college children. On the annual day, they entertained all of us with their music. Thanks!
Vandhana – New to deepam – yet got into “action mode” along with Archana to get the medals / certificates were ready, much before the event. Thanks!
Our Guests Murali / Illayaraja from Sevalaya – Thanks for sharing your stories and being with us on this day. The children connected with your speech and was motivating for them.
Orderyourchoice.com – Thanks for supporting the event. Gladly offered to sponsor, on hearing about annual day.
Roopa / Swapnil / Sriram / Mahesh – Thanks for supporting the event with your generous contributions. The best part was all it took was an email about the event and they gladly responded on their own 🙂
Hotbreads – Our ‘food partner’ – they provided snacks for all of us. They were feasted on by all of us, hungry ones!
Yashwant – Took on the role of MC, this year too. Kept everyone engaged . He also brought in a humourist-friend, who kept us light and laughing with his mimicry
Sriram / Noopuran / Pradyot / Anupama – The photographers for the event. Sure made us all feel ‘big’ on stage . Thanks for capturing the moments!
The centre teams and Children ( so many to mention here ) – Going by what we saw on the day, it was clear that every centre had put in a lot of effort to put up the show. Many hours had gone into re-hearsing and getting ‘ready’ for the day. Despite a volunteer effort, it was heartening to see the effort to make the show as professional as possible – the ideas / the ‘props’ / the execution was just awesome. Thanks a lot friends, you deserve the most special thanks !
Thanks
Deepam Team !

Deepam 3rd Annual Day – You are Invited !

Dear Friends,
Deepam turns 3 this April and we are getting together to celebrate the best year we had, till date. As always, this event is focussed on the children – they will perform on the stage for us. We will also felicitate the teachers ( Volunteer – Teachers ) who have been mentoring them through this year.
Venue : Bapalal Bhavan , #15 ,1st Seaward Road, Valmiki Nagar ,Thiruvanmiyur
Date : 19th March, Saturday , 2011
Time : 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM
We request your presence for this event, to be with the children and support Deepam.
All are invited.
Thanks
Deepam Team

HP Grant – Delivered

A small dream we had 3 years ago , is now a reality – ALL Deepam centres will have computers and internet from next academic year !
The shipment from HP arrived a few days ago – The HP grant of 20 laptops , a printer / scanner / copier ( all in one ) , 20+ inch monitor was delivered.


The laptops are some of the latest ones in the market – has an i7 processor, rotating screen with touch sensor and importantly, will last close to 9 hours on full charge ( HP has given heavy duty batteries too !! )

Deepam Annual Day – Contribution / Donation

Hello Friends,

Deepam 3rd Anniversary Celebration is on 19th March ( Saturday ). We will have events / performances by the children , followed by certificate / medal distribution to the children.

We are looking for sponsors / Donors for this event – The donation / sponsorship will be used for
  1. Certificates / Medals for children – 15k
  2. Transportation of children from school to event venue / back – 10k
  3. Food / Snacks -5k
  4. Venue cost – 5k
  5. Misc ( audio / projectors etc ) – 5k
The contributions could be any amount. Please mail [email protected] , if you are interested in contributing for this event.
thanks
kk