Sports Day at Mambakkam Primary School

On 18 October, the Annual Sports Day of Mambakkam Primary was celebrated. Being a Steria supported school, this annual event was organized by Steria staff volunteers, the Chennai CSR team and most importantly the Chennai Steria scholars, some of them being old students of this school. 

Apart from serious sporting competition between the kids, this annual event is also lots of fun and frolic which all the students, teachers and the headmistress of the school look forward with eager anticipation. This year was no less. All the events, including the running races, frog races, balancing races, cricket matches etc were conducted, the highlight being an exhibition  cricket match between the kids and a team led by Gayathri Mohan. This match remained unfinished and the kids have been assured that it will resume at the next available opportunity. 

Prizes were distributed to the winners, three from each class, after which the childen were treated to refreshing milk and biscuits. The teachers were also presented with a small gift as a token of appreciation for the good effort put in by them to organize this event.

Help for Bihar Flood Victims 

During the month of August, the Kosi river in Bihar went on a rampage, flooding hundreds of downstream villages, resulting in death and devastation of unimaginable proportions. Hundreds lost all they had and were homeless and destitute. Special efforts were organized to provide relief to the victims of this disaster.

Steria CSR Team, staff volunteers across all the 3 locations, along with Goonj an NGO partner organized a collection drive for clothes, groceries, foodstuff, cooking oils etc. This drive was on for 10 days from 01 October to 10 October. Boxes were kept in the offices in which employees could drop whatever they wish to donate for the flood victims. The CFS team in Chennai, organized a fundraiser and collected about Rs.5000. The Experian team along with the other accounts collected about Rs.15000, bought provisions and handed over to Goonj. Pune staff did a similar exercise and the money along with all the other materials collected during the campaign was handed over to the Goonj representatives in Noida, Pune and Chennai for onward distribution in Bihar.

Mehendi Workshop at Padma Adarsh

From 22 Sept to 24 Sept’08, for two hours everyday, 20 children from Padma Adarsh were exposed to the intricacies of the fine art of ‘mehendi’. Mehendi is an age old tradition in India, where skilled artists use a paste made from ‘henna’ leaves to make intricately beautiful patterns mainly on the palms and forearms of women during religious festivals and wedding functions. Infact it may be safely said, that no Indian wedding can be complete without ‘mehendi’.

The children were taught about henna leaves, how the paste is ground, how the cone dispensers are made and filled with the paste, and finally how the exotic patterns are drawn. It is a fine skill, which requires both an artistic hand as well as lots of creativity and a sense of beauty. The Padma Adarsh girls were thrilled beyond words at the opportunity to enjoy this unique experience.