thought Leadership

Society cricket league evokes good response, Hindustan Times- 30th Apr 2012 - Download here

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50 Resident Groups bond over cricket, Hindustan Times- 22nd Apr 2012 - Download here

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NDD- The newest disorder affecting our children Click here

“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”
- William Wordsworth

These lines sum up our childhood memories when gardens or open fields were an integral part of our growing up years. We would play in the mud, stare at a vibrant-hued butterfly fluttering around,or just gaze at the bountiful night sky with its myriad stars. We could actually touch, smell, see and hear everything that our teachers taught us in class. I sometimes reminisce about our picnic jaunts with loaded snack baskets, eatingwhile perched in the lap of nature after a satiating round ofsimple team games.This is what entertainment meant for us where a connect with nature was a daily dose without which life seemed unsustainable. Cut to the present young generation- children have a compelling screen fixation. They sit for hours with their eyes riveted to television sets, gaming consoles, computer screens, ipads, etc, oblivious to the mysteries of nature surrounding them. According to Richard Louv,author of Last Child in the Woods: Our Children are suffering from Nature Deficit Disorder; theyare under “virtual house arrest”, for hours at a time, “hooked into an electronic umbilical cord of today’s contemporary lifestyle”- yes, it is true and shocking!

What exactly is Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD)?
It is a term postulated by Richard Louv, “A lack of routine contact with nature may result in stunted academic and developmental growth in this“plugged-in generation” of today. Nature Deficit Disorder is however not a medical condition. But it signifies the consequences of alienation from nature which is affecting our children in a big way in today’s electronic age.

Run-up to this disorder
The causesleading to NDD are:
1. Lure of the Screen: There is a very strong urge amongst children to spend sedentary hours in front of some kind of a screen or the other. The call of the screeneither it isof a television, computer, tablet, smart-
phoneor video game console, is so strong that it has turned many kids into screen-addicts who seem to be in need of serious psychological intervention.

2. Stranger Danger: In thesehazardous times, when safety is a serious issue and unnerving incidents are splashed all over thesensationalist media every single day, most parents are vary of taking their eyes off their children,keeping them indoors in the safety of closed doors. This growing stranger dangerbrings the kids closer to the screens and further alienates them from exploring nature.

3. Vanishing Greens:The green belt is fast receding, giving way to boundless concrete jungles, ringing in a death knell for child-nature connect. The cities that once boasted of lush greenbelts, have suffered drastic environmental erosion due to rapid urbanization. So, even if parents want their children to play outdoors, they may be restricted by lack of choice in their vicinity.

Consequences of disconnect with nature
1. Indifference towards nature: Since the children don’t step outdoors as often as they should, they become apathetic towards their natural surroundings. They’re unable to evoke respect for nature and lose out big time on exploring the wonders of nature.They can more easily identify a whole slew of cartoon characters than the native plants and animals that live outside their front door.

2. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD),depressionand distraction: Theseare the most plausible outcomes of NDD. Kids who don't get enough nature-time seem more prone to anxiety and depression. There is lack of concentration in academics with fleeting attention spans and falling grades.When we step out to inhale fresh air, endorphins (the feel-good hormones) are released in our body, helping us feel happy and refreshed. The lack of fresh air leads to depression, stress and lethargy.

3. Childhood Obesity- on excessive weight is yet another outcome of staying glued to the screen. Once they’re addicted to these techno-toys,they refuse to budge from the couch for hours at a stretch. This physical inactivity and mindless eating while staring at the screen, leads to weight gain.

4. Vitamin D Deficiency-This deficiency due to lack of exposure to sunshine is yet another unwanted side effect of Nature Deficit Disorder
(NDD).It can lead to serious medical issues besides bone pain and muscle weakness if not addressed in time.

5. RecluseRisk and Creative deficit:A risk ofturning intoloners is a reality when a child does not interact with other children primarily because friendships are forgedin early years.There are a number of studies suggesting that connecting with nature enhances creativity as children are bound to be more curious by feeling the innate urge to unravel the innumerable big and small mysteries of nature.

Basically the lack of connection with the natural world can have a profound adverse impact on children’smental and physical health, and general well being. Perks of Being Nature’s Buddy

Regular run-ins with nature may help children in following ways:
1. Unplugging and De-stressing: Nature is the best rehab centre for children who are addicted tothe new age gadget. Nature is a great balm that can calm down an anxious mind and body. Children can de-stress by listening to the chirping birds, by smelling the flowers, by feeling the wind and the heat of the sun. It is because nature fills us up with a lot of positivity by seeping through every cell of our bodies.

2. Engendering Mental, Physical health and creativity:Soaking up on sun will provide the much-needed vitamin D that is needed to synthesize calcium in our bodies and the outdoors help honecreativity in the children too.The keen power of observation that the children have activates the creative impulses.

3. Physical health improvement – When we stare at a screen constantly, there is a strain on eyes, whereas, when you step out into nature, our pupils contract the way muscles contract when we exercise. Our eyes can both focus on the ground in front of us and on the landscape around us, which is great exercise for TV and monitor over-stimulated eyes while on the other hand breathing fresh airoutdoors is very therapeutic for the body.

4. Augmenting memory and attention span:It’s an accepted fact that if children spent an hour a day interacting with nature, memory performance and attention spans improved considerably. By being amidst various hues of nature, kids can steer clear of depression as nature’s beauty is therapeutic. So, spending time amidst nature enhances cognitive development.

5. Making new connections and learning about responsibility: – When your child steps out the likelihood of making new friends is more. The child is bound to interact with a whole lot of other children with varied interests and different personalities. This healthy interaction helps boost confidence and communication skills that come in handy at every stage in their lives. The bond the nature happens naturally and more often than not these children turn into adults who make their contribution towards saving the earth from degenerating.

Combating Nature-Deficit Disorder
1. Thesolution to the woes of NDD lies right in our own backyards.There’s a lot of wisdom contained in that simple phrase, “go out and play”. So, encourage children to step out on a regular basis to play in natural surroundings rather than entertaining themselves at home.

2. Encouraging children to go camping during school vacations or participate in school-organized excursions is a great idea.
In India, it’s perhaps a crucial time for NDD interventions with the rapid urbanization. Of the rare few,we found Youreka befitting, which organizes adventure camps for kids called Youreka Nature Campouts. They assure the little campers apowerful, invigorating and enduring learning experience that is designed in completely safe environment in natural settings. If you go by parents’ testimonials, these experiences have often been life changing for kids.

3. Nature-walks-
You could either involve all the family members or have your child’s friends accompany him/her with you as their guide.Encourage your child to maintain a nature journal where he could describe the animals and plants that he sees, through words and pictures.

The Last Word
Going outdoors is not only fun, but also a liberating experience. It can change your child’s entire perspective to life.If you allow themto learn from nature, it is one of the best ways to imbibe many lessons about life, as nature is the most selfless teacher in the world. It offers its awe-inspiring bounty to all alike free of cost and without expecting anything in return. The most valuable lessons in science and humility are learnt in the lap of nature.

So, here’s to an NDD-free childhood!

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A Summer Adventure, click here to read more

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More and more children today have less and less contact with the natural world. And this is having a huge impact on their health and development.

Cows hibernate in winter, grey squirrels are native to this country, conkers come from oak (or maybe beech, or is it fir?) trees, and of course there's no such thing as a leaf that can soothe a nettle sting. Or so, according to a new survey, believe between a quarter and a half of all British children. You can't really blame them: if, like 64% of kids today, you played outside less than once a week, or were one of the 28% who haven't been on a country walk in the last year, the 21% who've never been to a farm and the 20% who have never once climbed a tree, you wouldn't know much about nature either.

The survey, of 2,000 eight-to-12-year-olds for the TV channel Eden, is the latest in a string of similar studies over the last couple of years: more children can identify a Dalek than an owl; a big majority play indoors more often than out. The distance our kids stray from home on their own has shrunk by 90% since the 70s; 43% of adults think a child shouldn't play outdoors unsupervised until the age of 14. More children are now admitted to British hospitals for injuries incurred falling out of bed than falling out of trees.

Does any of this matter? In an age of cable TV, Nintendos, Facebook and YouTube, is it actually important to be able to tell catkins from cow parsley, or jackdaws from jays? Well, it obviously can't do any harm to know a bit about the natural world beyond the screen and the front door. And if, as a result of that, you develop a love for nature, you may care something for its survival, which is probably no bad thing.
But a growing body of evidence is starting to show that it's not so much what children know about nature that's important, as what happens to them when they are in nature (and not just in it, but in it by themselves, without grownups). Respectable scientists – doctors, mental health experts, educationalists, sociologists – are beginning to suggest that when kids stop going out into the natural world to play, it can affect not just their development as individuals, but society as a whole.

"There's a paradox," says Stephen Moss, naturalist, broadcaster and author. "More kids today are interested in the natural world than ever before; they watch it on the telly, they may well visit a nature reserve or a National Trust site with their families. But far fewer are experiencing it directly, on their own or with their friends, and that's what counts: this is about more than nature."

The American writer Richard Louv, author of the bestseller Last Child in the Woods, has defined the phenomenon as "nature deficit disorder". Something "very profound" has happened to children's relationship with nature over the last couple of decades, he says, for a number of reasons. Technology, obviously, is one: a recent report from the KaiserFamily Foundation in the US found that the average eight-to-18-year-old American now spends more than 53 hours a week "using entertainment media".

Then there's the fact that children's time is much more pressured than it once was. Spare time must be spent constructively: after-school activities, coaching, organized sports – no time for kicking your heels outdoors. Except kids never did really kick their heels. "I was out on my own and with my friends all the time, from the age of about eight," says Moss, now 50. "Climbing trees, building dens, collecting birds' eggs and frogspawn. Today, parents don't even want their kids to get dirty."

But the biggest obstacles to today's children being allowed out in this way (or even to the nearest park or patch of wasteground) stem more from anxiety than squeamishness. "Stranger danger", the fear of abduction by an unknown adult, is why most parents won't allow kids out unsupervised. Blanket media coverage of the few such incidents that do occur may have contributed to this; in fact, there is a risk but it's minimal – the chance of a child being killed by a stranger in Britain is, literally, one in a million, and has been since the 70s. "A far more serious issue, a massive issue in fact, is traffic," says Moss. "That has grown exponentially, and it's a very real problem."

It's a problem we need to address, because the consequences of failing to allow our children to play independently outside are beginning to make themselves felt. On the website childrenandnature.org, Louv cites a lengthening list of scientific studies indicating that time spent in free play in the natural world – a free-range childhood, perhaps – has a huge impact on health.

Obesity is perhaps the most visible symptom of the lack of such play, but literally dozens of studies from around the world show regular time outdoors produces significant improvements in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning ability, creativity and mental, psychological and emotional wellbeing.

Just five minutes' "green exercise" can produce rapid improvements in mental wellbeing and self-esteem, with the greatest benefits experienced by the young, according to a study this year at the University of Essex.

Free and unstructured play in the outdoors boosts problem-solving skills, focus and self-discipline. Socially, it improves cooperation, flexibility, and self-awareness. Emotional benefits include reduced aggression and increased happiness. "Children will be smarter, better able to get along with others, healthier and happier when they have regular opportunities for free and unstructured play in the out-of-doors," concluded one authoritative study published by the American Medical Association in 2005.

"Nature is a tool," says Moss, "to get children to experience not just the wider world, but themselves." So climbing a tree, he says, is about "learning how to take responsibility for yourself, and how – crucially – to measure risk for yourself. Falling out of a tree is a very good lesson in risk and reward."

Ask anyone over 40 to recount their most treasured memories of childhood play, and few will be indoors. Fewer still will involve an adult. Independent play, outdoors and far from grown-up eyes, is what we remember. As things stand, today's children will be unlikely to treasure memories like that: 21% of today's kids regularly play outside, compared with 71% of their parents.

The picture isn't entirely bleak, though. In the US, nature deficit disorder is big news: Louv is delivering the keynote speech at the American Academy of Pediatrics' annual conference; city parks departments are joining with local health services to prescribe "outdoor time" for problem children. Here, organizations such as the RSPB, National Trust and Natural England are "moving mountains" to get families outdoors, Moss says. Often, though, this remains what he calls a "mediated experience" – dictated by adults.

One project, in Somerset, could show the way ahead. Two years ago the Somerset Play and Participation Service, a voluntary sector scheme run by children's charity Barnardo's in collaboration with a local authorities and a number of natural environment agencies, began putting time and money into encouraging children to play independently outdoors. Part of the scheme is a website, somersetoutdoorplay.org.uk, detailing more than 30 sites across the county, from hilltops to forests and headlands to beaches, where kids can play unsupervised.

"We aim for children to experience true free play," says Kristen Lambert, who runs the scheme's PlayRanger service. "Play that's not set up according to an adult agenda – in forests and open spaces, not designated play areas. There are no specific activities, no fixed equipment; there are tree branches and muddy slopes. The spaces themselves are inspiring. Children set their own challenges, assess their own risks, take their own responsibility, have their own adventures, and learn from them. And what they learn can't be taught. You should see them."

 

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10 Reasons Kids Need Fresh Air

Kids who spend time outside have fitter bodies, better eyesight, less stress, and better grades

1. Stronger bones and lower cancer risk: Today's "indoor kids" don't get enough sun and are becoming Vitamin D deficient, causing health risks.
2. Trimmer and healthier kids: An hour of play a day is what doctors say is a basic tool in the effort to ward off childhood obesity and diabetes.
3. Longer attention spans: Children who stare at TV and video games all day have less patience and shorter attention spans.
4. Better at making friends: Children playing together outdoors relate directly with one another, create games together, choose sides and improve their "people" skills.
5. More creative: Outdoor kids are more likely to use their own imaginations, inventions and creativity while playing.
6. Less "acting out" at home and school: Getting kids away from TV violence and video games helps them see that violent behavior does not always solve problems.
7. Measurably better grades in school: The healthy bodies and minds that come with outdoor play are better able to do well in school.
8. A longer lifespan and healthier adult life: Doctors estimate that sedentary and obese children lose three to five years from their life expectancy.
9. Improved eyesight: Recent studies find that kids who get outdoor time have less nearsightedness and need for eye glasses.
10. Less depression and hyperactivity: Outdoor time in natural setting (even tree-lined streets) soothes kids and lowers their need for medications.

 - Kevin Coyle
   National Wildlife Federation

 

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Coffee – A Bond

Black as the devil, Hot as hell, Pure as an angel, Sweet as love ~ Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand

Starbucks, Costa, Java City, Barista, Café Coffee Day, India Coffee House, Lavazza…..serve the most preferred beverage of the world, COFFEE!

On a beautiful September morning as I walked amongst the coffee plantations there were green coffee beans all over the floor, nothing unusual but as I stepped on them the curiosity to feel them made me pick one. While I touched, smelled and tasted it a smile broke my face.

The green coffee bean undergoes a long process of drying, powdering Etc to ultimately come out as one of the aromatic beverages of the world. But initially when I held the bean in my palm it was hard to imagine that the same insignificant bean which hardly anyone of us notice does not even come close to smelling like the coffee yet it churns out the most aromatic beverages of the world. Isn’t Nature wonderful?

The green coffee bean has a message for us J

We meet people in our lives, few of them become friends for life and few remain acquaintances. Sometimes it so happens that we refrain from taking a step forward to know another person or underestimate another person because they are shy, introverts, of our own insecurities Etc. But just like how an initial insignificant looking coffee bean takes time and goes through a process of finally becoming an aromatic beverage a shy, introvert person may take a little more time to open-up. But that doesn’t mean we give-up on them, I guess with a little more patience and love who knows we may end up making a new friend for life, discover a great writer, singer, dancer Etc.

In my life it has happened that people I thought I wouldn’t connect with have ended up becoming friends for life be it from another culture altogether. And when I look back I smile about how going a little out of the way has helped me discover great souls!

So the next time you hesitate or take a step back from knowing someone think about the coffee beanJ.

Is this why they say ‘a lot can happen over coffee’?

- Adios
   Jo

 

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Money

“Waste your money and you’re only out of money, but waste your time and you’ve lost a part of your life.” Michael Leboeuf
I am naturally bad with money.

Actually, I get money. I know how to manage it, and basic math comes easy for me. But, I fight it. I fight letting my life be ruled by money.
There are a few moments that have taught me great things about money. The first and most important was from my dad, who, was about to lose a chunk of money.

My memory is fuzzy, because I was young, the baby of four children. But, I do remember the week before financial stresses came my dad took my siblings and I bicycle shopping. His way of seeing things is quite clear, if you are going under, do so in style. The bottom line was he knew that day he could buy us all nice, new mountain bikes. And, when he could not, we would still have those bikes and the miles we put on them would be miles creating who we are, miles in the bank of life.

My dad is about the most giving person I know. And, he loves his family more than anyone I know. When he gives, he gives in a big way, and it is always to family. Growing up I don’t think my siblings or I ever had the newest gadgets or designer shoes. But we didn’t care. We were busy with horses, dogs, hockey, acting lessons, walks in the river and early morning breakfasts out.

Sometimes people ask me how I travel so much. I travel because I am more interested in experience and the relationships I build while traveling than on money. So when I work, I work and save. I think we all do. But I don’t save for things, I save for plane tickets and perhaps new camera lenses to capture the moments I have yet to see. I feel like if I keep moving in the direction of my dreams, and within the moral code I think is important, enough money will be provided. Thus far, I have not been proven wrong.

The thing about money is it is easy to lose. You can buy a nice, new car, and three days later wreck it. You can work your whole life for a good paying job, and suddenly the economy falls. Or, as it has happened to me while traveling, you can have all of your belongings stolen, including all of your money.

But, experiences and relationships made because of living cannot be taken away.

My goal in life is to always pay attention to living. To not waste moments because, for reasons unbeknownst to me, I was given life. To live each day, the highs and the lows, and to truly feel them, at the core of me.

Working for Youreka, living in India, and staying in the backcountry would not be a sought after job for someone looking to become rich. But, this kind of work, sleeping under the stars, waking up to the noises of the jungle or silence of high alpine, and growing with Indian youth, it is making me wealthy in the bank of life.

- Allison Kwesell

 

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Risk:

  » To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
  » To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
  » To reach for another is to risk involvement.
  » To expose your ideas, your dreams, before a crowd is to risk their loss.
  » To love is to risk not being loved in return.
  » To live is to risk dying.
  » To believe is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.
Chained by their attitudes, they are slaves; they have forfeited their freedom.

Only a person who risks is free. - Anonymous

Today, while writing a ropes course curriculum I came across this poem about "risk" in The Complete Ropes Course Manual by Karl Rohnke, Catherine Tait and Jim Wall.

The first read through made me a little uncomfortable, am I a person who takes risks? I think, at 27-years-old I have taken a lot of these risks, and still there are many that I fear.

Do I laugh? Yes, but, I feel like less as the years go on. I noticed, when a friend of mine, Ajay Veer Singh Malak, and a fellow leader at Youreka, was taking my picture - how many lines of worry I have across my face at such a young age. I laugh, but not as often as I used too, which is way less than I should.

Do I weep? This last year has been challenging for me, and my best friend in the states, Mary Aho, has been there to collect many tears. It is friendship and trust that has allowed me to weep and reminded me that a good friend is worth more than any material item or any amount of success, as defined by society.

Do I reach for others? I am learning. I can remember telling myself that only I can rely on me a long time ago. Today, I am learning that the reach is worth the potential hurt because every now and again we reach out to someone who becomes very meaningful in our lives. And, every now and again, even more importantly, a person who we reach out to really needs a hand. I have been reached out to before by friends and mentors in Florissant, Colorado; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Missoula, Montana; Kathmandu, Nepal; Dharamshala, India; Casablanca, Morocco; Xining, China; Madrid, Spain; Bergen, Norway; Galle, Sri Lanka; Despinos, Haiti, and more, many times, and for this I am forever grateful.

Do I expose my ideas? Tastefully (I hope). The past couple of years I have been publicly speaking about photojournalism ethics as well as ideas about world peace and eradication of endemic diseases. I am a photojournalist by training, and I work in international development and, today, youth development in India. I have been pushed to speak my ideas, even when I'm feeling shy. Do I question my own ideas? Yes. Every day. Have I lost approval of others? Without a doubt. Would I rather be honest with my feelings? Yes.

Have I loved? Yes. And, I hesitate to say it is to "risk not being loved in return", as well as "to risk being loved in return." Sometimes I am not sure which I fear more. This is a lesson I where I could use much growth.

Do I live and therefore risk dying? Yes. I live, from all over the U.S., North Africa, Europe and South and Southeast Asia. I live, and I try my hardest to stay safe, but living is worth dying for. This is one reason I am so excited to be a part of Youreka and why I love working with youth - we all have one life to live (okay, depending on your religion), but we all have one life, here and now, and I love to instill the idea of living it, to the fullest, in our youth.

Do I believe and therefore risk failure? Yes. I believe and sometimes hate myself for such strong beliefs when I fail miserably. But, I continue on, with big dreams...and have trust I will somehow overcome failures.

"But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live."

This, to me, seems to be the very core of Youreka - to risk, to stretch and to grow. We open the doors for creativity by giving a sense of wonder in nature, and gently nudge or sometimes push kids to stretch and grow. We know each child has his or her individual strengths and encourage them to reach their potential, no matter how similar or different it is from their peers.

We embrace emotions, both tears and laughter, anxieties and excitement, and together, we learn, feel, change, grow, love and live each summer.

- Allison Kwesell

 

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Today I was reading an article on The Grass Stain Guru, by Bethe Almeras,

(http://grassstainguru.com) about the importance of taking outdoor education seriously and teaching our children about their grass roots, literally. I grew up riding horses, playing in the dirt and being hosed off by my mother before I was aloud to enter our house. When I was little I couldn't wait to get outside, I can remember leaving my shoes at the door and feeling the coolness of blades of grass between my toes.

Instead of video games and television my mom would send us outside with a few shovels and a plastic bowl. From this we would build castles with dirt, mud, sand and our imagination.

Almeras says,

“When people ask me what I write about — what I do — I often get strange looks. It appears that dedicating oneself to unstructured play and connecting children (and adults) with nature can be perceived as a frivolous thing. I get that. I mean, it is play, after all. People tend to associate play and exploration with fun. In turn, they associate fun with anything but serious.

But here’s the thing: This subject is anything but frivolous. In fact, I propose it is quite serious.
If you think about it, if you take the issue of today’s childhood — the well-documented and increasing gap between children and nature — and look at it in its entirety, it’s really quite an enormous issue. A societal issue requiring a societal response.”

Almeras touches on issues of public health, education, urban planning, social justice, conservation and quality of life.

Her article, well written as it is, speaks with uncanny familiarity to me. It brings me back to my childhood and reminds why, today, I find television boring. It also reminds me why I have a love for teaching children in the outdoors, and why I think it is completely invaluable, both to individuals as well as to societies. - Allison Kwesell

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