The thought behind ‘Khoj – Ek Utsav’ is to kindle a spark in the child
Are you ready to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children in Maharashtra? Here is Kartavya Charitable Trust – a Mumbai based NGO for child education. We are on a mission to ‘Motivate – Inspire – Support’ these children through this innovative program ‘Khoj – Ek Utsav’.
Since July 2014, our NGO is organizing events with underprivileged children in different parts of Maharashtra. Khoj is an event which is designed to spark the joy of learning and seeking knowledge among these children.
But we can not do this alone. Kartavya is calling able individuals from all walks of life and corporate sponsors to come forward and support this transformative program.
We all contribute to religious festivals every year. Now is the time to prioritize education, the true religion of these children who are mostly first-generation learners. With your support we can give them a bright future.
Join us in making a difference with ‘Khoj – Ek Utsav’.
A Colour Play
A colourful and exciting competition exclusively for kindergarten children! It’s time to unleash the creativity in the little ones. They are simply asked to colour a given piece of art. No specific instructions or restrictions, just pure imagination and expression!
This competition is not just about winning, but more about having fun and enjoying the process. You’ll see the kids giggling, chatting, and fully engrossed in their colourful masterpieces. It’s a wonderful way to encourage their artistic skills and nurture their love for art.
It’s a great opportunity to boost their confidence, enhance their creativity, and encourage them to express themselves freely. Who knows, we might just have a budding Picasso!
Sit & Draw
This competition is held to bring out the creative side of every child. To encourage the unveil of potential artists in the children as they get an opportunity to showcase their talent in front of their fellow friends. The main motive behind this competition is that the children pour their thoughts on a paper without limitations or specifications. It is also an attempt to make the children better at time management as they are expected to complete the given task in a time span. The participants are selected on the basis of their sense of innate creativity, fluency to express their thoughts, expertise in sketching and colour mixing. A sense of better co-operation is created between the children as they come across diverse thoughts and mindsets. The prize distribution gives them a feeling of acceptance and pride for the things they excel in. Better Time management skills that they are achieving in their sub conscious will help them grow in their succeeding years.
Test Your Brain
This friendly competition is designed to challenge the academic skills of the participants. The competition has three stages – Aptitude Test, Memory Retention Test, and Solve the Puzzle. These activities are carefully crafted to assess the participants’ capacity in three different aspects – general knowledge, brain power, and spontaneous execution. It’s not just about theory – this competition is all about putting knowledge into practice.
The prize is conferred to those who demonstrate exceptional presence of mind and fluency in applying their skills to the challenges at hand.
Express Yourself
This competition is all about empowering young girls to stand up for their rights. Girls are invited to participate and share their thoughts with confidence and clarity. The aim is to raise awareness and create a sense of belongingness, so that girls can recognize when they are facing a crisis and know how to respond..
Girls are free to speak in the language they are most comfortable with. Topics such as child marriage, discriminations against women are just a few of the issues that need our attention. Unfortunately, many people turn a blind eye to the struggles that girls face when they become victims.
Through this competition, girls gain the opportunity to express their views on various taboo topics and inspire other girls to be aware of their rights.
The prize for this competition is awarded to those who express themselves fluently and stand firm in conveying their message.
Dress To Aware
This is a competition is all about making a statement with your outfit. Children can let their creativity fly and dress up as their role models or individuals who have made a significant impact on society. They can also use their outfits to send important messages about various social issues. By representing such topics, they can truly embody the qualities that matter most to them.
This competition is all about making things easier and more fun, while still addressing the important issues that need our attention.
The prize goes to those who excel in not just showcasing their views but doing so with ease and style.
Rhyme & Rhythm
Rhyme and Rhythm is a Recitation competition where the participants are expected to recite the popular poems of English language. The participants are expected to step out of their comfort zone as they speak in another language that is not their mother tongue or vernacular language. The main aim of conducting this competition is that the children achieve fluency in the speaking the language, confidence while presenting the poem. The competition helps in breaking the fear barriers and helps in achieving excellence in English language. The competition when conducted in the primary sections helps the children to achieve clarity in speaking the language. While the competition when conducted in secondary sections helps the participants to be more jolly or having fun when while presenting things.
Best Out Of Waste
The main aim of this activity is to create Best out of waste. Presenting something that is made out of total waste and making it more useful urges the children to think out of the box. The children are expected to give importance to the ‘reuse’ aspect and convert useless things into a beautiful art piece. Making things that are more presentable and useful than before is also given importance while conferring the competition. In the event venue a space is especially reserved to exhibit the art and craft created by the participants, to further allow them to take pride in their handiwork and win appreciation from others. The competition also subconsciously helps the children in finding different or hidden meaning of things around them.
Impact of Khoj - Ek Utsav
Encouragement
Participating in Khoj provides students with a unique opportunity to showcase their skills and talents in a competitive environment. By stepping out of their comfort zones, they learn to overcome their shyness and blossom into confident individuals who can express themselves effectively in front of others.
Confidence
Students who participate in Khoj get a big exposure to a big competitive event; this unfailingly builds their confidence and the way they project themselves in front of others. Striving for extra ordinary competitions requires them to step out of their shyness and speak in front of an audience - these are competitions that make them blossom from their shells.
A Scope for Creative Expression
Competitions like Best out of waste and Dress to aware encourage the children to look at their surroundings with new eyes- even if humdrum- and challenge themselves to find new beauty there in.
Leadership Skill
Those who win from Test your brain competition in Khoj and go on to participate in the higher level competitions of Memory Retention and block Solve the puzzle, naturally start taking initiative and develop leadership skills to prove themselves further.
Increased Eagerness to Learn
Whether the children win prizes or not, the fact of participation in friendly competitions makes their eagerness towards learning and self-development grow by leaps and bounds.
Development of a Competitive Attitude
The best kind of competition is that with our own selves, between who we were yesterday vs who we are today. Khoj ignites a spark in the children to constantly better themselves, in relation to others, but most crucially, in relation to self.
The Creation of a Healthy Atmosphere
We have observed with gladness in our hearts that during Khoj, even when close to 2000 to 4000 kids compete together, they are so happily engrossed in unearthing hidden treasures in themselves that they do not have the mindset to fight with each other. On the other hand, they are found to clap and cheer each other. This is a valuable learning for all of us, that groups do not necessarily have to fight with each other, they can co-habit and co-learn peacefully and harmoniously.
Rediscovery of the Joy of Learning
Khoj to be a sustainable, replicable and extremely effective process. As its name denotes, has repeatedly and undoubtedly proven itself Khoj is an Utsav, or celebration, that injects a generous dose of enthusiasm into the lives of underprivileged children and young, encourages them to find joy in learning. All the other benefits are happy side-effects. Having conducted the programme in over 180 schools, we feel humbled by the joy it brings to the children and young, and the upward learning curve it sparks off.
Taste of Satisfaction
A big achievement of the programme is that, even after a gruelling 6 hours of competition, the children go home with a smile on their faces and fresh enthusiasm in their hearts. This beyond anything proves the joyful spirit of Khoj.