Mr. Sumer Singh, Regional Director,

SA & Gulf Region

Volume 1, Issue 1

Dear All, First of all my congratulations to Amar on this first issue of our Regional Newsletter. There is a world wide interest in Round Square like never seen before. Whatever the reasons, we must be doing something right! When I became the Head of a Round Square school in 1988 there were 17 members; now there are 83. in our Region, then called the Indian Region, there were 6 and now there are 17 Global members and 10 Regional members. The other significant change I see is that more students in each school are now aware of the organisation and what it stands for. This is important and we must build on this further by offering even more opportunities through more conferences, exchanges and service options. Apart from this I would like to see us aim for two clear targets:

Transform the Katapathar project which already has the involvement of multiple schools, into a model RS development project with a school, then a health centre and then a resource centre and so on and so forth. Bring in schools from unrepresented countries like Pakistan and Georgia.

Thank you for inviting me to share some of my thoughts. Good wishes, Sumer Singh

February September 2010 S o u t h A s i a & G u l f R e g i o n

RS News Letter

enable young people to effect what they have recognized to be right, despite hard-ships, despite dangers, despite inner skepti-cism, despite boredom, and despite mockery from the world.

2009 was a landmark year for The Punjab Public School Nabha. The school joined the league of prestigious schools on October 11, 2009 when Prince Andrew, the Duke of York solemnized the investiture ceremony at Mayo College, Ajmer (The school had become the regional member of Round Square in 2006). PPS became the rightful claimant to the Round Square flag and its philosophy of internationalism, democracy, environment, adventure and leadership and ser-

Punjab which is already replete with examples of true de-mocratic values, leadership of an unparalleled magnitude which involves facing the challenges upfront and taking the underprivileged along, adventure and service which is the very breath and life-force of this most happening state of India. Besides, internationalism and environment assume more importance today than they ever did. In a highly global-ized world of today any head of state giving any statement or making any move affects all nation states directly. We can-not remain truncated. Likewise, climate change and other environment related issues have worldwide ramifications. So

the stage was set, the timing was golden perfect and the Nabhaites more than keen to grab the opportunity to be a part of the German educa-tion's initiative to be truly global in thought and action.

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Punjab Public School, Nabha

Democracy .

RS N E W S LE TTE R

In addition to this, hosting the Senior Regional Round Square Conference was another milestone in the history of the school. The corridors of PPS were abuzz with baraza thought waves and brainstorming pulsations. It provided the most accurate and poised impetus for the eclectic aspirations at Mayo. Mr. B. S. Bhatnagar, the former regional director of Round Square, and an eminent educationist, who started his teaching career at The Punjab Public School, Nabha inaugu-rated the Conference and also delivered the first keynote ad-dress on the theme Democracy Empowering the Under-

. The delegates visited the famous Pushpa Gujral Science City at Kapurthala on the penultimate day and thor-oughly enjoyed their outing to the renowned place.

The 2nd keynote address was delivered by Mrs. Gun-meet Bindra, Principal, VJDS, Hissar. She explored the leadership aspect of a democratic country like India and stressed on the urgent need of visionary leaders to rid the nation of various ills. Mrs. Daman Duggal, Principal, Vivek High School, Chandigarh was the guest of honour at the closing ceremony. Mrs. Duggal had earlier inspected the school for its regional and global membership of Round Square, and her report was instrumental in PPS becoming a global member of Round Square.

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VViiddyyaa DDeevvii JJiinnddaall SScchhooooll,, HHiissaarr

VDJS was privileged to host the Round Square Pre Conference tour in October 2009. 26 students and 6 teachers in all from St. Clement, Toronto, Tiger Kloof, South Africa, Louiselend, Germany and Gordonstoun, UK were the part of this tour. Apart from visiting Delhi, Amritsar, Kurukshetra, Jaipur etc, the delegates visited VDJS to experience the rich culture not only of India but par-ticularly of VDJS. One of our students also visited Stanford Lake College, South Africa for an exchange program.

The delegates appreciated the warmth and excitement with which the guests were received into the folds of the VDJS family for a short stay on the campus. The visit rein-forced the process of develop-ing an international outlook, strengthening cross-cultural understanding and giving a

mission for paving the way for

VDJS was also happy to have the delegates from The Millen-nium School, Dubai who were visiting on an exchange program.

The activities that were organised during the visit included interactive work-shops on Dance, Creative Arts and Indian Cuisines. The natural variety and unique diversity that these activities offered helped foster learning and sharing amongst the peer group. The delegates learnt the creative art of telling stories through the concept of

and students from Lancaster Girls Grammar School, UK who were with us for an academic exchange program. Apart from being good hosts, VDJS students attended Regional Round Square Conferences held at The Sanskaar Valley School, Bhopal, Punjab Public School, Nabha, Pathways World School, Gurgaon and The Daly College, Indore.

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Chittagaong Grammar School

Walkathon

awareness about nature among our

city dwellers.

RS N E W S LE TTE R

Charity Iftar Party for the orphans is held every year in CGS

Bengali New Year Carnival,

amount collected from the carnival (over US$ 4,000

every year) is donated to

charity organizations.

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Vivek High school, Chandigarh

Vivek 90.4 FM is Chandigarh's First Commu-nity Radio Station which serves to bring the community together and focus on the com-mon man's day to day concerns and help to realize local aspirations. The Vivek High FM is an initiative of the school to provide service to the community through the radio which is now enjoying renewed interest and relevance and has great potential for communication, information, awareness and entertainment. It addresses issues relating to health, educa-tion, environment, agriculture, social devel-opment, community development etc.

PUSTAK School Pustak is a school adopted by Vivek High, for under privileged children. The stu-dents regularly interact with these children by orga-nizing their sports day, picnics, celebration of festi-vals like Raksha Bandhan, Diwali, Dusshera, Christ-mas etc. In addition, one class visits Pustak every Tuesday (One section of a class per week through out the academic session). Vivek students also hold craft workshops, Power point programmes on health issues, Child security, Story telling sessions etc.

Fund raising projects are taken up for the Chandi-garh Society for rehabilitation of mentally handicapped people, Sahatya ( Sahyog society for cancer patients ) and other local organizations.

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The Daly College, Indore

RS N E W S LE TTE R

Environmental education is our way to the future. While empowering individuals to restore and main-

wellbeing of future generations by promoting sus-tainable life styles. The Daly College Students started the green Club after the initiative taken at the Round Square International conference Can-ada in 2008.The motivational efforts of Dheeya Somayia , Nishant Makhijani, Suryadev Singh, Rhea Sanghi, Nikhil kela and Hirni Desai the Green Club took the immediate task of reduction in Vehicular Pollution, Water Management, Generation of Bio Gas and reduction in power Consumption. The pro-ject of Bio Gas generator was appreciated at the Young Round square Conference of Americas. Vir-gin Unite has funded the project by offering 675$ .

The Daly College hosted Junior Regional Round Square Conference on Environment from July 16, 2009 to July 20, 2009. Fourteen schools including the Daly College participated in this conference in which The Environ-mental Audit of the Daly College was presented along with Carbon Footprint calculations. The conference was a success and played a pivotal role spreading aware-ness about the environment. The Daly College also con-ducted a Pre-Conference tour named the Golden Trian-gle that covered Delhi-Agra-Jaipur for Round Square International Conference 2009. There were 63 dele-gates who opted for the tour and were taken around places of historical interest.

A group of seven students of grade 7 and 8 and three staff members of Fern Hill School, Canada visited Daly College on a cultural tour from January 8 to January 28, 2010. A group of 5 students and one teacher visited NASA, UN and Florida. A group of 21 students and 2 teachers visited The Brauer College, Australia. The stu-dent delegates th In-ternational Community Development & Leadership

tional Wellbeing" organized by Modern School, New Delhi from November 7, 2009 to November 15, 2009. A delegation of six students from the Senior School at-tended a conference titled DAIMUN which is Dhirubhai Ambani International Mock United Nations from De-cember 19 to December 22, 2009

Two successful Eye camps were conducted in Feb-ruary 2008 and February 2009. It was a joint ven-ture of Daly Col-l e g e a n d

School , France. In February 2009 it was organised in Tillore village, 25 Kms from In-dore .

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Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai

A rally was organised by the students of class IX to cre-ate awareness about female foeticide among the peo-ple of Sonipat from Civil Hospital to Railway Station. The rally was flagged off by the Civil Surgeon of Sonipat, Dr. Punia.

The students of Class X organised a Star Gazing programme on 02 October ,2009 at Rai village in which locals participated enthusiastically.

The students of Naval Wing of NCC of MNSS, Rai organised tree plantation drive, planting around 300 trees in the school campus.

The students of Classes XI & XII serving the students and villagers at Community dinner on 18th Dec., 2009.

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Indian School, Al Ghubra, Oman

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The Round Square Carnival is a most popular fun filled charity event at ISG. The RS Student Committee organise it every year very successfully. It includes various g a m e stalls like S p o n g e the Clown, Roadshot, PS2, Hit the Bottle, Curly Soc-cer, Paint G a m e etc. Other co unt er s include Henna, Face Painting, Hair Spray, Food stalls , Baked goods which are very popular with visitors. The footfalls are very high and a lot of funds are raised by the students.

Two successful Eye camps were conducted in Feb-ruary 2008 and February 2009. It was a joint ven-ture of Daly Col-l e g e a n d

School , France. In February 2009 it was organised in Tillore village, 25 Kms from In-dore .

The Round Square Day was celebrated with full vigour and enthusiasm starting with the presentation at the School Assembly followed by fund raising events like Bake Sale etc. ISG Staff also contributed generously on this occasion.

Under the drive "My Dream Oman Green", the Principal and the members of the Staff planted sap-lings on the campus to protect the environment.

Community Ser-vice is a vital component of RS at ISG and our students collected and supplied innu-merable bottles of water and tetra packs of juices to the people seeking amnesty at the Indian Embassy in Muscat.

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Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Gwalior

Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya provides an enriching experience to the students through interaction and sharing, which helps in the development of an individual in all spheres of life. S.K.V. is actively involved with Atma Jyoti Awasiya Drishtiheen Vidyalaya. It is an ashram and home for blind girls. The students of our school regularly visit and contribute by helping the less fortunate ones with not only cash and in k ind but a lso by collaborating our activities with them.

Our school is also working with a Non-profit organisation ROSHNI (Rehabilitation Opportunities, Service and Health for the Neurologically Impaired). Games and sports are organized for the mentally challenged students of ROSHNI

The school helps in selling products made by the children of ROSHNI. S.K.V. encourages the students to perform a substantial number of service hours in school sponsored service projects as we believe that a child is like a sapling, waiting to stretch out like the mighty oak.

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DDhhiirruubbhhaaii AAmmbbaannii IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall SScchhooooll

RS N E W S LE TTE R

The school timetable takes care of a significant number of hours dedicated to encouraging children to explore a wide range of Creative Pursuits and take part in Community Service. Every Wednesday, students dedicate quality time to community service projects, associated with different NGOs in Mumbai.

Akanksha is an NGO that educates underprivileged children from the ages of 3 to 17. At the DAIS Akanksha Learning and Train-ing centre our students teach the children in school from Mondays to Fridays between 3.00 and 5.30 pm.

They help them with their reading, writing, and Mathematical skills, by preparing worksheets, teaching them hands-on science in the laboratories, having fun learning games for simple Math etc. They also help improve their social skills such as how to greet people, and how to communicate clearly. In between their academic lessons, they also teach them the skills of Chess.

Pratham is an organization dedicated to the abolition of child labour and the rehabilitation of those affected. Our students work alongside volunteer teach-ers at Pratham, helping the children with their English,

Math, and encouraging their sense of creativity through art, drama and music. In the year 2006, in support of Pratham, our children conceived and produced a music video, exemplifying their contribution to the crusade to abolish child labor. The film was telecast nationally, on TV channels.

The 'Across the Road' service project is a school initiative serving people in the underprivileged areas adjacent to the school. Working with the community of Motila near DAIS, students strengthen English language and numerical skills of young children and local women. Students work with people relocated from local slums, and design and execute programs designed to help them find employment.

Every year the school

fun-filled event of games and cultural shows, with the objec-tive of raising funds for the NGOs our chil-dren work with.

Indo-French Schools, an exchange service project between our school and L'Ermitage School, Paris and The Franco-Indian school of Bombay, organize an Eye-Camp, for over 1500 children, from poor BMC schools. The students visit areas in Malad, Navi Mumbai where all-day camps are set-up, with the examination of eyes, finding remedial solutions for poor eyesight.

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The Lawrence School, Sanawar

The Scindia school, Gwalior

All around the country there are many chil-dren who are bit different to us. They have no home, no food and some are physically challenged. So, in order to help these chil-dren some organizations take initiative to provide better opportunities. We the stu-dents of The Scindia School got an oppor-tunity to meet one such organisation called ROSHNI. A camp for these children was organised in Gwalior and we took part as volunteers. We were all set to meet the children. We saw their creative work which included cards and posters made by them. Some were good at singing and dancing. While they performed we cleaned the camp area and helped the group. After doing all this it gave an immense feeling of satisfaction to all of us. We discovered that these children were more or less like us and some were talented, too. Shivam Agarawal XI

Community Service at the Labour Camp in Jhansi

RS related activities

undertaken by

Sanawarians

The Assam Valley School

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Junior Red Cross The following work has been done by the JRC volunteers in the last semester:

Visit to the orphanage "Naba Prabhaat" : The JRC volunteers regularly visit the orphanage in Tezpur and help the children. They helped in watering the plants, helped the children in their work and also played with them. Sweets and other eatables were distributed.

Visit to the School for Handicapped Children in B. Chariali: The JRC volunteers visited the school for dis-abled children in B. Chariali, The students spent a day with them, playing with them and helped them in their chores. They even participated in a cultural event organised by the children of the orphanage. Our school do-nated a music system which was asked by the school.

Literacy Programme Students participated actively in imparting basic education to the students of the KGMT School in Harchurah. Basic manners like wishing the time of the day was taught. The International Literacy Day is observed on 8th September every year. To mark this occasion, the students of the Literacy Programme along with the teachers-in-charge paid the weekly visit to the Kasturba Gandhi Memo-rial School on the 14th of September, but with a difference. On behalf of The Assam Valley School, a few things were donated to the school to commemorate this special occasion. With the help of two electricians from AVS, two much needed fans were installed in the single- roomed School. Along with the fans, a wall clock, dusters, a globe and also five large floor mats to cover the bare mud floors on which they normally sat, were given. In addition to these, chalks, slates, pencils, erasers and note books were distributed.

SSOCIAL SERVICE LEAGUE On the 31st of May, 2009 the clean up drive at SESSA was conducted. 13 students accompanied by two teach-ers participated in this programme. A plot was selected in SESSA near the stable. The people residing in the neighbouring quarters were involved too. The students cleaned up the plot using the instruments provided to them by the people residing in that area. They appreciated the fact that we came there and helped to clean up a small part of their neighbourhood. Outing for SESSA children: Fifty children from SESSA and the members of the SSL along with the teachers vis-ited the Eco camp. The students also visited the occupants of SESSA and spent an evening with each family talking to them and interacting with them trying to find out their difficulties. HOLY CHILD ORPHANGE: We had three visits to this orphanage: In the first visit we interacted with the children and the staff of the orphanage. During the second visit, as the examinations were being conducted for the children at the orphanage, the mem-bers of SSL helped them to prepare for the next day's exam. Some of the students helped prune the hedges of the orphanage. During the third visit the games department of AVS donated cricket bats, soccer balls and basket balls to the orphanage through the pupils and they spent time playing with the children.