The highly anticipated ‘Nawal
Griha’ under the ‘Project Nawal’ was finally launched by Juana
Foundation on the 29th January 2020 on the holy occasion of Saraswati
Puja. Juana Foundation aims to establish safe spaces aimed at
providing safety, nourishment and enrichment for children between 3 and 14
years of age. This safe space named, ‘Nawal Griha’ is the epicentre of our work
– where our team shall establish direct contact with the lives of these
children – helping them grow and develop through our various approaches.
Project Nawal aims at bringing
novelty in ideas and initiatives to pass on and spread the ‘Juana’ (meaning,
‘gift from God’) – of love, care, strength and growth. Focused on education
for empowerment (in the form of Life Skill education and mainstreaming
children to formal education) and health against hazards (in the form of
nutrition and general healthcare), the project aims at taking initiatives to
transform the lives of children between 3 and 14 years of age, residing in the
urban slums of Delhi NCR and neighbouring states.
This was team JF’s dream project and the first of its kind for the
organisation aimed at helping the community gain exposure and chase development.
This auspicious occasion was graced by the presence of the MLA (Tughlakabad) Shri
Sahi Ram Pahalwan, local (community) leader Mr. Ramchandra Rai along
with the management and team of Juana Foundation – including Ms. Swati
Ganguly (Director, JF) and Mr. Bibhuti B. Sinha (Head of Operations,
JF) amongst many others.
“When you find a dream inside your heart, don’t ever let it go because dreams are the tiny seeds from which the beautiful tomorrow grows.”
The ceremony was initiated with the Director’s and COO’s
motivating and inspiring speech – passing on the lead to the community’s beloved
(pandit ji). As it is rightly said that all good deeds should start with
the blessings of lord almighty, pandit ji begun the ‘puja’ to
bestow the blessings of Goddess Saraswati (who is also known as the Goddess of
education) upon everyone. In the process, the Goddess’ figurine was placed at
the centre by Director Ma’am Ms. Swati Ganguly and pandit ji. The puja was
followed by aarti after which prasad was distributed amongst
everyone present there. There was an air of positivity after the puja.
A wave of freshness and positivity swirled through the air. To top
it all off, some children had prepared a few acts to celebrate the occasion.
They sang, danced and acted with great zeal and enthusiasm which left all of us
with full hearts and almost-teary eyes! The children were presented with
refreshments soon after all performances had ended. The ceremony was culminated
with ounces of positive energy spread across.
“I feel what we are doing is bigger than us, all of us and will go beyond us too. This energy that these little children have around them and the sparkle they have in their eyes comes to me as a gift! I feel privileged to be able to make even the tiniest positive change in the lives of these munchkins. Congratulations to all of us for witnessing this day!”
– Ms. Swati Ganguly, Director, Juana Foundation.
