Sponsorship
Giving children the opportunity to discover their talents (extracurricular) and enable them to develop, sometimes to a very high level, is very important for self-discipline and for adding value to education. Often, the experience enables them to have a life they would never have thought possible.
So Volontariat has developed, according to its opportunities and resources, various activities for boys and girls in the fields of sport, dance and arts. These extracurricular activities are scheduled out of school hours: evenings, Saturdays and Sundays. They are taught by qualified teachers and are in South Indian classical dance (Bharata Natyam) and music, North Indian rhythm (tabla), Western classical flute lessons, guitar, electric keyboard, and sculpture, drawing and painting, various crafts, yoga, karate, taekwondo, as well as beginning and advanced classes in computer science. Details on these activities follow.
Yoga: The practice of this art began in 1991 and many children who have started this discipline have reached a high level.
They have participated in State and national competitions. For instance, a boy won a first prize at the International Yoga Festival held in January 2000. One of boys sponsored by us became an expert in Yoga, although he was physically handicapped, and has set up a school of yoga at Pondicherry. Another one got the post of professor of yoga in Singapore in 2005 and later was appointed in Hong Kong, where he has a good job. Courses are given regularly to Nila Illam children who often win medals at regional competitions. The practice of this discipline requires a mastery of both body and mind and the discipline has a positive influence on the person’s entire life.
Classical dance of the South, Bharata Natyam also began in 1991. Nearly 30 girls train regularly and participate in cultural programs organized by Volontariat on the occasion of events and celebrations. Every year, many of them are presented at the traditional arangetram, the first public appearance as an artiste. This is an indication of the quality and application of both the students and their teachers.
Flutists: From 1998, a group of sponsored children have had the rare opportunity of studying Western music. After a little research, the recorder was found to be the most suitable instrument, easy to learn and inexpensive. Several children started to play, first with joy and, very quickly, with passion, under the kind guidance of a retired Concert musician, Madame P.. Today they are grouped as a quartet of recorders (from one to four of the entire family: descant, treble, tenor and bass), playing baroque music (including French) and giving concerts. They have all passed the competitive examinations of Trinity College of London. Since 2006, two of them are giving flute lessons to children of the sponsored group. One flute player opened his own school of music. This is a success story that Volontariat owes to Madam P., her passion for music and her constant concern for the young men she initiated and now leads to greater heights!
Computer training and practice: see in this website, chapter on Crafts.
Karate and Taekwondo: For years, boys and girls were trained in karate, the sport of self defense that girls found too rough and quickly abandoned. So when Volontariat met a woman coach of taekwondo, this was a good opportunity for many girls to engage in it. After only one year of starting the course, there were over 120 girls learning it in 2009. In the current academic year, a course for boys has been opened.
