Vatsalya entered the Facebook world. Caroline Poiner, an Australian who has volunteered at Udayan, set up the Vatsalya Udayan Facebook page. This month, an ad was set up aimed at the American audience and pointing them to the NICF website. We had 49 unique hits to our website as a result with some anticipated funding behind those hits. Become a friend of the Vatsalya Udayan Facebook page. Social media; it works!!
Delta and Sarah Davison-Tracy (founder of Seeds of Exchange) presented We Make the Road, a dramatic story-telling event about their journeys to Nepal and India. This presentation creates education awareness and fund-raising opportunities for NICF.
NICF became a blogger! We are now regularly contributing to the Hub section of the Denver Post (Littleton area). You can follow our contributions at http://denver.yourhub.com/~IndiaCallsDeltaAnswers.
We returned to India! Both Dan and Delta has the opportunity to spend a couple of weeks in India. This annual due diligence trip is always such a joy. We had many meetings with the staff of Vatsalya and spent fabulous days with the children of Udayan. Is it time to go back yet?
Delta and Sarah-Davison Tracy (founder - Seeds of Exchange) met up with Jaimala Gupta (co-founder of Vatsalya) in Nepal and attended the global conference on Appreciative Inquiry. The skills acquired at this conference, which they self-funded, will be used to further the mission and vision of NICF, Vatsalya and, our strategic partner, Seeds of Exchange.
NICF and Seeds of Exchange (www.seedsofexchange.org) initiated a year-long service project connecting the children of Udayan with a group of middle school students in Denver. The Udayan children called themselves Sampriti (heart-felt friendliness in Sanskrit) and the Denver children called themselves Ohana (family in Hawaiian). Over the year, the kids had a chance to exchange introductions, holidays, sports and stories. We hope to continue the project next year and ultimately conclude with some of the Ohana kids visiting Udayan and meeting the Sampriti kids face to face in India!
Delta became a contributing editor to Wandering Educators (www.wanderingeducators.com). Her first story recounts her experience as a volunteer at Udayan and also can be found on the NICF Stories page. Delta and Jaimala Gupta, founder of Vatsalya, will be writing monthly for the Voices of India column.
Amanda Koster, author of Can I Come with You, shared a percentage of her profits with Vatsalya on behalf of Udayan. Check out her incredible work on www.amandakoster.com
NICF and Vatsalya received the gift of two incredibly talented , professional photographers: Neil Brander and Jean – Marie Antoine. They volunteered to travel to India, at their own expense, and photograph the many projects of Vatsalya, including, of course, Udayan. They have allowed NICF and Vatsalya to utilize their stunning photographs free of charge. To learn more about their work, please visit www.neilbrander.com.
India, India… Diaries of a Volunteer by Patricia Little
This lovely book was written by an Udayan volunteer. 50% of profits go to Vatsalya’s Udayan. Click here view more info.