SBI bank a/c

Perseverance pays. Second major milestone reached – we have successfully created our bank a/c in SBI. Today, we deposited Rs 10,000 in the account

It's a current account (we will not be able to get ATM card but we have flexibility with online transactions). There is a book let given by bank manager, shall share the information once I go through it

Wanted to share this good news with all

Minutes of Board Meeting held on 05/10/2008

Attendees: Ananth, Aneesh, Prakash, Venkat, Vinay

Points discussed and finalized:

* Registration of new members - There will be no fees charged as registration fees.

* Format of Application form for Registration of new members - this is as mentioned in the attached document file.

* Registration Process - Check PPT

* Invitation mail option will be available on portal once everything has been standardized (bank account creation and website completely up with all other details).

* There should be a link on website to send invitation letter.

* There should be a link on website for Registration form.

* Hard copy of reg form is not required. If anyone wants to join Saktyavesh and they dont have internet access, then we can take a print out of the registration form from the website.

* The link for "ideas" on the website will redirect to the the "Ideas" topic on Saktyavesh blogsite.

* Guiding principle for all Board members - Set realistic deadlines for each activity and make sure they are met.

* Only after verification of email, Saktyavesh mailbox will get a mail that a new member has joined Saktyavesh.

* How do we choose a Project?

a) The shcool/institute should be related to education.

b) Visit atleast 3 schools in an area and check if they are lacking in basic facilities like seating (atleast mats) , pure drinking water, facilities like good teaching aids and other materials.

c) if another NGO is playing an active role and they already have plans to improve facilites, then we wouldnt choose such a school.

d) preferably, the school should be conducting classes until 10 standard.

e) School should have proper/clean toilets.

* We will not be providing uniforms, shoes, socks and school bags.

* What we should do better?

a) Make sure that there is pure drinking water at school. Installation of water purifier if necessary.

b) Donate indoor games and sports items to school. Meet with pricincipal of school and emphasize on having sports related activities for children,

c) Donate Notebooks, Cursive writing books, activities books, story books.

d) Distribute 1Re. Cabury's chocolates to all children during the first visit to school every month.

e) Conduct moral science, spoken english classes.

f) Make sure to visit school atleast once every month.

g) Peronsality development classes for high school students.

h) Plan and conduct competitions and distribute prizes.

i) If school doesnt have a toilet, we will have to build toilets if space is available. Check with localites of that area to collect funds for construction. If not able to collect sufficient money, then we will have to check if Saktyavesh can contribute money towards building toilet.

j) Keep check on attendance and ensure that there is less dropouts.

k) Further education plans/counselling for High school students.

l) Arrange medical inspection

m) Active participation during parents-teachers meetings.

* If feedback mail is sent to board members, they should ensure to reply within 3 business days. All feedback requests to board members to be handled by Vinay

* Award children who have good attendance

* Blogsport ownership will be taken up by Prakash

* Continue adding ideas to roadmap for Saktyavesh. The roadmap of each board member can be discussed in next Board meeting.

* Ownership of editing photos and uploading them to website to be taken up by Anant.

* Aneesh to regularly update the milestong PPT.

* Ownership of Conf call to be distributed amongs board members in a round robin manner.

ACTION ITEMS:

Action Item	Owner	Deadline
Bank account creation	Aneesh, Vinay	17-Oct-08
Create registration form	Anant	12-Nov-08
Content for welcome mail	Aneesh, Anant	10-Nov-08
Content for invitation mail	Aneesh, Anant	10-Nov-08
Content for Information mail	Aneesh, Anant	10-Nov-08
Check for db structure, query option, modification, job for Saktyavesh database	Aneesh	2-Nov-08
Identify school to help in Chennai	Prakash, Pandimurugan, Senthil	31-Dec-08
Identify school to help in Hyderabad	Anant	31-Dec-08
Photos and quotes for website	Aneesh	21-Oct-08

Pandimurugan, Senthil, Nandhini: Please let us know your thoughts on the points which have been discussed and finalized.

06th October 2008

On 2^nd October, Mahatma Gandhi Jayanthi, we were invited to the school for celebration. At the school, a few elders from the surrounding area, a few volunteers who were involved in helping the school and the city municipal councilor had gathered. It was a books free day for the students J . One elderly person from the area gave a talk on the life of The Mahatma to the students, and also sang a song – inspiring the children to emulate The Father of the Nation. Later, interested students also sang. The staff members, elderly people and the councilor thanked us for our contribution towards the betterment of the school. The books, which we had donated on our last visit (cursive writing books) were then distributed to the children. We also distributed chocolates to all the children (thanks to Shilpa)

Thank you all for the support; it was a truly humble and happy feeling that day

Bank Account

We have got the seal from the vendor. We shall proceed with our efforts at the bank this week

On 5^th, we had a meeting. Discussing on topics ranging from selecting a school, to making the process of our involvement easier, and a lot more. We shall share this information shortly

If there are anything's that can be shared or any comments/suggestions, kindly put them forward

Feel free to spread the message of Saktyavesh in letter and in spirit with interested individuals and organizations

29th September 2008

The last Saturday (27^th September 2008) we were following on the bank account creation. Unfortunately we couldn't complete it as the vendor from whom we ordered seal (which is a must for the process) was not able to deliver on Saturday. The shop was closed. Vinay went to the seal shop today (29^th September 2008) also but the shop was not open. So more time here

That's the activity over last week. If there are anything's that can be shared or any comments/suggestions, kindly put them forward

Feel free to spread the message of Saktyavesh in letter and in spirit with interested individuals and organizations

22nd September 2008

On Saturday, Vinay and I went to the bank to create the bank account. We were ready with the seal and other documents. We met the manager of the bank who further suggested a few more requirements. We need to make three 'for' seals – For President, For Managing Trustee and For Joint Managing Trustee. Also there is a suggestions to slightly modify the resolution.

We shall have the seal's ready, do the changes by this week and shall try again

Meet

It will be a good opportunity if we all meet each other and it's important that we do so. One approach would be that all friends in Chennai can meet among themselves. Similarly all friends in Bangalore can meet among themselves and all friends in Hyderabad can meet among themselves. This will be a wonderful opportunity for all to interact and discuss on our initiative, put forward ideas, suggest practices and processes which can be followed and much more

Awaiting comments/inputs here

A Success story

Would like to share a success story (below) shared by a compatriot from HOPE foundation

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From: Ian_Correa@hopeww.org [mailto:Ian_Correa@hopeww.org]
Sent: Saturday, 20 September 2008 11:45 PM
To: Kumar R, Aneesh
Subject: Virtual tour - HOPE foundation school, Bhuj

Dear Aneesh,

Thanks for the emails that you've been sending.

Please take a look at the link.

It offers a tour, of a school, HOPE built in Bhuj, Gujarat (with help from SAP Labs) after the earthquake.

It now has 350 students.

http://www.mailonmap.com/imt_file/virtual_tur/india/gujarat/bhuj_school/

Regards,

Ian.

If there are comments/feedbacks/suggestions regarding anything related to our work, do communicate the same

More importantly, keep pouring out ideas J

Feel free to spread the message of Saktyavesh in letter and in spirit with interested individuals and organizations

15th September 2008

Dear All,

Last week day, Vinay got our Saktyavesh seal ready which is a must for bank account creation. We are now working on further processes

On Saturday (13th September 2008), Ananth, Sankar, Nandhini, Shilpa and I went to the school. We had got some books – Cursive writing in English (140 in number) and ruled books (51 in number) – worth Rs 5204.25. Once at the school, we interacted with the children, watching them play snake and ladders (which we donated on our last visit) and talking to them and getting to know their talents

After, the children left for the day, we had a detailed discussion with the Teachers. Discussing with them on bring more children to the school from adjoining areas and also retaining the interest of the children who are already coming to school and many more topics. Thanks to Shilpa who knew Kannada, interacting with the Teachers in detail was not a problem

There were suggestions on how to get books and conduct activities which are mentally refreshing and leave the children with a happy and learning experience

The Teachers also invited us to teach/interact with the children when possible

Attached are a few snaps. Nandhini was the photographer for the day :-)

If there are any other suggestion, do feel free to write back

Website feedbacks

On Sunday, Ananth and I got down to analyzing feedbacks received. The attached word file has the consolidated data from many of us. Kindly let know if there are any suggestions/comments or questions

We have a Admirer

On our blog we have got an appreciation from one Mr. Deepesh. Scroll to the bottom of the link -> http://saktyavesh.blogspot.com/2008/09/21st-april-2008.html

This should surely motivate us to work better

That's the update on the activities last week. If there are comments/feedbacks or suggestions regarding anything related to our work, do communicate the same

Feel free to spread the message of Saktyavesh in letter and in spirit with interested individuals and organizations