Suggested Gifts for the Children

Elias and Sanjiv suggested bringing items to India for village children that arouse curiosity and create enthusiasm to learn more and study more. As well, items to encourage the children to participate in the National Immunization Day on February 10, 2008.

NEW IDEAS
I spoke with my Club President, Gail Gosse who visited India through work a couple of years ago. She said "Talc" is highly valued as it is very expensive in India.

Another item that might be a good gift is wind up flashlights and radios (dynamo). No batteries are required.

I also spoke with Murali Prabhakar who is originally from India and has children aged 9 and 12. He suggested any computer software that has a learning component such as Typing Tutor or similar job based software. He also cautioned us to be sure any gifts do not interfere with cultural beliefs. Murali thinks Solar Calculators are a good choice.

NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION DAY
Enough cheap give-aways for general distribution to about 1000 pre-school children. About 20 items for each team member.

DAY CARE
We are trying to contribute to the betterment of the children's Day Care Centre by encouraging pre-school children (under 5) to spend more time there. We need about 50 take home gifts for individual children as well as common learning toys and games that are not too dependent on prior knowledge of English.

The Rotary Club of Delhi-West has 50 stuffed toys they will take to the Day Care. As well, Karen Teichman and Walt Lutz of District 7370 have over 100 stuffed animals.

OLDER CHILDREN
About 500 children 12 years of age and above attend the school adjacent to the computer centre. Common educational toys and games as well as computer games for the learning centre will be useful. Anything that arouses their curiosity and enthusiasm to learn more; study more.

This age group does study Englaish as a subject , at which they do very poorly because they have no exposure to the language other than at school! They are familiar with written English but may not be able to understand spoken English because of the unfamiliar accents etc.

Most important are gifts to encourage children to attend school regularly and to arose curiosity in studies. In addition, gifts for individuals for the top 5 scorers in each class at the school (about 50 items in total). These prizes can be announced while we are there and awarded to the students after their scores come in following the next exams.

The suggest the following types of items:

• solar calculators (small) - highly recommended
• educational toys
• educational games
• trinkets like bracelets, rings or earrings
• unusual pencils, pens or erasers
• pins of all sorts are cherished

Obviously we have to carry all these items and our luggage weights are limited to 40 pounds. If each one of us take a few things, we will be able to meet the needs.