Summer Camp - Chennai Primary Schools

This year's summer camp season began with 'Summer Camp 2009' for the children of three primary schools supported by Steria in Chennai. This was a nine day camp from 01 April to 17 April and 90 children from three different schools participated in the camp. These camps were organised in partnership with Chrysalis Events and Crafts and included children from - Sholinganallur Middle School, Padma Adarsh Primary School and Mambakkam Primary School. The theme of this years' summer camps was 'Learning through Creative Expression'. And during the three days at each school, Leeza and her volunteers from Chrysalis focussed on art and craft, drawing, music and dance to keep little hands and minds busy, constructive and creative.
The kids were taught to make a number of craft items such as bookmarks, masks, paper boxes, puppets etc using chart paper, ribbons, paper cups and fabric. This exercise was a fun way to learn about different shapes, measurements, colours and also give creative expression to their artistic skills. Above all it instilled in them the importance of doing everything with diligence and dedication. The joy and pride with which the children exhibited their creations spoke volumes about their sense of satisfaction and achievement which more than imparted a great degree of self confidence and the feeling that 'we can'. It was fun and learning of a different kind altogether. The children enjoyed every bit of this event.

Environment Awareness at Rajender Ashram

On 30 March'09, a short environment education program has been initiated for the boys of Rajender Ashram, an orphanage supported by Steria. This program is in partnership with Environment Education Promoters (EEP), a well known organization in this field. The theme for this session was - How to grow common herbs and how to benefit from them?
The inaugural session was conducted by Cmdr & Mrs Veena Nagpal, the founders of EEP, with a presentation on environmental degradation and its harmful effects, so that the boys understand the seriousness of the problem and how important it is to take suitable corrective action. Ten different varieties of herbs were distributed to the kids and their medicinal properties were explained to them. They were asked to plant these in pots, take good care of them and ensure that they grow and mature. Going forward, the children, will be organizing an exhibition of these plants, and presenting their beneficial effects with charts and pictures. It is proposed to extend this program to other Steria CSR projects as well.

Padma Adarsh School - Steria Sales Team visit

On 18 March 2009, 120 members of the Steria Sales team, who were in India for a workshop with the Steria Academy, took time off to visit Padma Adarsh School, a Steria India CSR supported school. The children of the school and their teachers were all eager anticipation for this event, as it involved a visit by such a large contingent from Steria. They, therefore spared no effort in showcasing their best performances to the utter delight of the visitors.