Cape Town

On Monday the 28th of September 2015 Taj Cape Town celebrated World Tourism Day. A few of the Taj associates went on an educational walk around the city centre where they were informed on some of Cape Town’s historic buildings. Hidden restaurants, cafes and boutique shops were uncovered. Taj associates were able to gain an understanding of what guests would like to do when visiting Cape Town and would be able to provide assistance to them or knowledge about places to see during their stay at the Taj. The places visited included Avoova which creates luxury gifts and accessories handcrafted from ostrich eggshell from the heart of the Karoo, a music shop which provides infinite options to authentic African music as well as various restaurants and cafes to satisfy any guest’s needs. Sam (South African Market) was also pointed out which stocks items specifically made by up and coming designers in Cape Town. Overall the outing was beneficial to associates and will definitely be used when recommending guests on where to go. In addition all the places stopped at were walking distance from the Hotel.

Chennai

CSR Volunteers from Taj Club House initiated a cleaning drive as part of the Tata Volunteering Week on September 24th. The team was formed comprising a cross-section of associates from different departments. During the one hour long clean-up drive, the team cleaned up the accumulated debris from the sidewalks and drains and filled approximately 10 garbage bags of waste in the Club House Road and Wood Road. Several passers-by thanked the hotel team for taking up the initiative around the area. Cleanliness and orderliness of the public area is a matter of pride and considered next to godliness.

Lote

On 26th September, a Rangoli Competition was organized for the Ladies of Ghanekunt village. Seven volunteers from Rallis India Lote Unit participated in the event to help them and also to judge the best one. The volunteers provided all the necessary materials to them. 10 female members participated in the competition. Many villagers visited to see the Rangoli Competition and appreciated the initiative. All the participants made beautiful rangolis and it was very difficult to the judge who will win. All the participants and volunteers enjoyed the event and expressed their thanks to Rallis and Tata Group.

On 28th September, eight Volunteers from Rallis India Lote Unit went to Z P School, Lotemal and arranged an English Speech Competition for the students of 6th & 7th standard. 22 students participated in the competition on ‘Important Festivals’. All the students took 5 minutes to deliver their speech on the given topic. The volunteers prepared the students for the competition before starting the session. The school management and teachers were very happy with this initiative.

Mumbai

While the chants for the Gods subsided, what remained was the dirt and muck at beaches. It was left to 8 volunteers from Infinity to wake up at 4.30am, land up at Juhu Beach by 5.30am, with the broom, garbage bags, masks and gloves. They cleaned the leftover flowers, plastic cups, plastic bags and thermocol from the sand. Some volunteers also moved towards the sea to move the mutilated idols in one place to aid the BMC officials to collect the plaster of paris idols. Overall the team worked for an hour and half on the beach towards cleaning the beach joined by volunteers from other NGO’s.

The volunteers, on EID went to a school in a slum at Kandivali on 25th September and from 10am to 4 pm worked tirelessly using 20 litres of distemper and oil paint to paint 2 classrooms nice and bright. Before the painting was the cleaning of the walls of cobwebs and dirt. Their hard work and beautiful minds was appreciated by the NGO who helped organize the activity. One happy mother of a child studying in the school brought some lovely sheer kurma for the volunteers to celebrate Eid with the real heroes of the day.

Mithapur

Volunteering activities at Mithapur continued through the week with focus on “Climate Change – Think Global, Act Local” drive. This did help “Trigger a Change Reaction” with contractors, teachers, community volunteers and Forest Dept. personnel joining the program activities which focused on local issues and problems likely to arise due to Climate Change effect. Snake control audits were conducted in residential colonies at Mithapur to create awareness on snake menace which is perceived to arise due to the rising temperatures; Mangrove nursery development and mangrove plantation programs were organised to help make coastal areas resilient to sea level rise. International Coastal Clean-up Day beach cleaning programs were organised at Dwarka and Mithapur in partnership with the State Forest Dept. A survey of indigenous flora species was organised at Mithapur for status update on the depleting indigenous flora biodiversity; and an exercise to assess the health status of live corals at Mithapur reef was also taken-up. Employees, retired employees and family members too participated enthusiastically in these activities.

Telangana

During the Tata volunteering week-4, the volunteers from Tata Coffee Limited ICD-Toopran organized a De-addiction awareness program in community village Brahmanpally on 28th September. The event was organized with the support of CURDS - NGO ( Chethana Urban and rural Development Society ) led by the Sr. Manager. People from the Brahmanpally village shared their individual experiences on alcoholism and its effects in their personal lives. Program includes folk songs, street plays & advisory speeches were impressive and appreciated by village heads.

Delhi

Tata communications volunteers supported the children suffering from cancer by preparing and donating 100 dental kits to the terminally ill cancer kids of NGO Cankids Kidscan at Delhi. Nicely compiled dental kits by volunteers comprised of Tooth brush, toothpaste, mouth wash and sanitizer. The NGO was extremely happy to receive the 100 dental kits which they will be giving to the terminally ill cancer kids who come to them for their treatment to the dental department of Cankids Kidscan

Hyderabad

On 18th September, 44 volunteers from Tata Communications office premises in Hyderabad came forward to paint the money pots for under privileged and orphan kids. All the material was assembled in the foyer where all the volunteers came and registered and painted the pots. These painted pots were later distributed at Aashrayam children's homes were 60 kids who come from various backgrounds get shelter and education. The caretaker of these children expressed happiness and thanked the volunteers for sowing a seed in the child's mind on the importance of saving money. The children were very happy to receive cash pots from the volunteers and promised to save every penny they receive from families and friends and use it wisely when required.

Team of Hyderabad volunteers succeeded in creating the awareness of clean and pollution free lakes in Hyderabad. The cleanliness drive conducted by Tata communications volunteers inspired the municipal authorities towards the importance of cleanliness on regular basis and contributing towards clean and green environment.

Chennai

From labour statue to light house, Chennai marina beach got divided into four zones when 125 enthusiastic volunteers took the pledge to clean the beach from debris and unwanted material on 19th September. Volunteers were divided into four groups with one team lead for each group. Laced with face Mask, Hand Gloves, Garbage Bags, First Aid kit, sanitizer and water bottle the groups enthusiastically headed towards their respective cleaning zones and collected all the trash from the beach. The volunteers ensured that the beach was cleared of any unwanted materials. The volunteers then handed over the collected filled garbage bags to the Chennai corporation employees.

41 Tata communications Chennai Marina employee volunteers used their creativity and painted 100 Diyas for a cause. The colorful diyas were sold to the employees and the sale amount will be contributed to Suyam Children for Diwali Celebration. Suyam Trust Support street children, Slum dwellers for their betterment and work with communities in poverty and improve their lives.

Mumbai

During Tata Volunteering week- 4, Volunteers from Tata Communication took part in a Health and Nutrition Awareness program organized by Niramaya Health Foundation. There were 95 beneficiaries, who were adolescents from Dyaneshwar Nagar slum area of Bandra East. Most of them were drop outs and hence unaware about healthy practices and various nutritionals factors. Both the volunteers and beneficiaries took part together on collage and poster making. Role plays on various topics to encourage healthy living was most exciting part of the whole event which indeed left a lasting impact on everybody. Slum children were greatly benefitted by this initiative as they got very useful information on healthy habits and nutritional foods through close interaction with Tata communication volunteers.

Tata Communications Volunteers took part in a Beach clean-up drive at Juhu Beach on 28th September post Ganapati visarjan. Beaches like Juhu chowpaty are filled up with debris of idol particles, solid wastes etc. The clean-up drive continued for almost 3 hours, where the volunteers had literally collected the wastes, i.e particles, bio degradable things from the beach and left no stone unturned to make the beach look clean, neat and tidy. The clean-up drive make other people sensitive and aware about their responsibility towards their surroundings and environment too. The BMC workers present on the beach were very impressed with our committed volunteering and told us that you guys helped a lot and made our work easy.

Pune

Volunteers from Tata Communication set foot in the Bophkel school premises for a cleanliness drive to clean and beautify the school. Volunteers armed with brooms, detergent and mop to sweep and sob the school floor and provide a clean learning atmosphere to the students.

All the volunteers sprang into action and within a span of 2 hours cleaned two corridors of the school. The volunteers not only swept the floors but also scrubbed it to rid the floor of any visible mark of dirt. They also went out of their way to ferry water from the water tank which is located outside the school building. The end result was a visibly clean floor and a pleasant atmosphere for students to learn.

All the volunteers were delighted to participate in the activity because they understood the impact they were having on the students and staff of the school. In keeping with the spirit of the popular “Swaach Bharat Abhiyaan” started by PM Narendra Modi the Tata communications volunteers contributed their bit by contributing to the larger mission of cleaning the nation

Bangalore

On September 24th Tata communications volunteers took up the job of painting and de-weeding of Pattundur Agarahara Government Primary School at Bangalore to brighten the environment for the school children. First group of volunteers taken up the painting job of one room which included one blackboard, three windows and one door. The second group volunteers brightened the play equipment’s and the two pairs of railings along with painting of classroom. The final group of three volunteers engaged in de-weeding the areas near the play equipment and the annex room of the school. Volunteers interacted with the school children (6-8 years) present during the event and conducted an art activity followed by a small prize distribution to appreciate their art work.

Bangalore

As part of TVW-4, Tata global Beverages volunteers trained the students of Unnati in Bangalore on Monday, 28th September 2015. The training involved sharing experiences and teaching the youth various facets of life skills. Unnati was started in 2003 with the purpose of enabling underprivileged, unemployed youth to become employable.

Dharwad

On 21st September, five employees volunteered their time with differently abled students at Samarthnam Trust Gandhi Nagar Dharwad. Employees conducted a session on career opportunities for the students. During the interaction guidance was provided on opportunities with various government agencies and preparation for facing the examinations. They also provided information sources for getting the information about job openings. Inputs were shared for preparing competitive exams.

On 21st September, the Head P&SC volunteered his time with management students at Global Business School Hubballi. Parichaya, an induction program for new batch of MBA students was organised by the collage. While addressing the students he elaborated what industries are looking from management students, importance of taking project with industries and doing internship, and how it helps them to shape up their career. While interacting with students he explained how he transformed from being a fresh collage pass out to his current role as heading a department.

On 24th September, two employees volunteered their time with mechanical engineering students of 2nd and 3rd year at BVB Collage Hubballi. The Divisional Manager - Mfg Operations conducted session on Engines and its Applications. As a subject master expert he covered various topics like types of engines, recent developments, engine simulations and their applications. The input has helped students to relate the theory with practical knowledge. While interacting with students he also explained the importance of carrying out projects work in industries during the internship for better understating the industrial environment.

Jamshedpur

Thirty volunteers from Foundry Division Interacted with women SHGs’ members at Byangbil village. They saw the village women preparing incense sticks as part of their entrepreneurship and understood various other activities driven by them with respect to decision making in their families and village, thrift, education and health of children and other developmental activities. The volunteers took great interest in the interaction and appreciated the positive human development happening. Not only they bought all the incense stick packets prepared by the SHGs, so much so that the women fell short of supplying the demand of packets placed by the volunteers. They were told that they could place orders for such village products at ‘Vikas Show Room’, a sale outlet created by CSR the Telco Colony for helping rural artisans and SHGs sell their products at premium prices. The volunteers suggested in adding some punchlines in the packaging of their products that would attract emotional bondage of the buyers. The volunteers were also apprised of the ongoing programmes on education like school enrolment drives, pre-matric coaching, adult literacy classes and scholarship distribution to SC/ST students being carried out by CSR.

Twelve volunteers from Foundry Division had a first time exposure of PKS where they could have an understanding of the range of CSR initiatives carried out by the company at Jamshedpur. They were moved to see the condition of malnourished children undergoing treatment at the Malnutrition Treatment Centre. They pledged to come along with families next time to help the mothers and children through contribution in kinds.

The day also marked a friendly football match between the rural football team coached by GVK and the International Interns who are undergoing MMV training at Tata Motors, Jamshedpur. Volunteers were from Service and Administration who organized the event. It marked an opportunity for the interns and the local youth to know the cultures of different countries and have fun together.

'Sab Ki Jeet', a sporting event that aimed to spread awareness about the need for inclusion of socially excluded children from various pockets of Jamshedpur, including those who are visually impaired and differently abled in society through sports, was organized on 27th September at the Sumant Moolgaokar Stadium, Telco Colony, Jamshedpur. The event was conceived and organized by HR & PS (Jamshedpur) in partnership with a NGO ‘People for Change’, with Team CSR supporting the programme.

The event aimed to use sports as a medium to promote social inclusion, solidarity between generations, gender equality and discouragement of racism, avoid discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, physically and mentally challenged people, promote youth volunteering and increase Affirmative Action.

The event saw participation from different groups of children, young people and senior citizens of the community including retired employees of Tata Motors.

Songs, drill, performances, copy races, lemon race, sack races, and a host of other fun games were organized which aimed to create a platform where everybody emerges a winner with better appreciation for diversity and an understanding on the need for inclusion. Volunteers from Tata Motors, TML Drivelines and the partnering NGO conducted the programme with exemplary enthusiasm and had fun games amongst themselves. What was most inspiring was the confidence of the participating children and the happiness exuding in their faces, adorning medals with pride which they will preserve as treasure troves for life. Around 175 children participated in the event.

The launch of TVW4 triggered colleagues from Administration with spouse, Construction and TML Drivelines to visit Nirmal Hridalaya run by the Sisters of Charity which houses children, adults and the elderly who are abandoned by their families. Many of the residents are differently abled with whom the volunteers had one to one interaction for encouragement. The volunteers also visited the Day Care Centre where they played with the tiny tots and helped serve lunch. These children belong to parents who are daily wage earners in the unorganized sector. They were moved by the yeomen services extended by the dedicated and committed Sisters of the Centre for the cause and committed all help that they could possibly extend to touch their lives.

Pune

A team of 31 volunteers from RM & Casting (Purchase) of P & SC volunteered at Mouli Krupa Dnanadan Annadan Sanstha , Alandi. The team set up full-fledged computer lab by providing three new latest desktop computers with licensed software of Office 365 & Antivirus.

Computer lab was inaugurated by the VP – Purchasing on 24th September. Children were very excited to use these new computers. It was observed that though the institute had built provision of computer lab in school since 2008, there were no computers available since they could not afford the same nor were provided by anybody.

The team interacted with the children/staff and spent a few hours of quality time with them. The team also distributed fruits and sweets which the children relished. Tata Motors team enjoyed this event thoroughly and preserves the life long memories of experience from the volunteering with these children. Team has decided to spend time with children periodically to impart computer education to the children.

Team of 90 volunteers from J-vehicle factory (Manufacturing) visited the SCHOOL FOR BLIND at Induri village on 26th September near Talegaon led by the Factory Manager- J block. Two team members are working with this organisation on regular basis. They urged the entire team to sustain this association. Team interacted with children. Some of the children exhibited their art of singing, playing the musical instruments which was appreciated by one and all. Especially the braille writing & reading was a learning experience for all. Team thanked the school management for doing such great work. Team donated Grocery items, Eatables, fruits and other household items to the school. The team later planted saplings in the premises of the Blind school and also donated some potted plants to the children. The school management assured of taking care and regularly watering of all the plants given to them.

Team Medical department from CVBU and PVBU (Pune) volunteered at Annapoorna Mata Balakashram, Alandi. Team conducted the Medical check-up of the children and distributed medicines. A First Aid kit was handed over to the Superintendent and Training on doing dressing was imparted to the staff. The team donated CFL bulbs, Ceiling fans, LED rechargeable lanterns, notebooks and Grocery supply to the institute as per the need of the Ashram. Students and teachers expressed gratitude for the help extended by the Medical team.

A team of 21 volunteers from SCM and Launch Team from Car Plant Pune, volunteered at Apang Vidyalaya at Nigdi on September 24th. Team was engaged into cleaning of ground and painting of pavement blocks in the premises of the organisation. Team interacted with inmates and played some games. Team donated cereals.

Team of 55 volunteers from MPL & P, A0 Stores, Oil & Paint Stores, Scrap Cell & Central Materials stores visited “ Bal Vikas Ashram” Chikhali on 24th September.Team interacted with inmates and had some recreational activities with the group.

Team of 25 volunteers from 207 frame line volunteered on 5th and 7th day during Ganesh Visarjan at Shahunagar under the Leadership of senior colleagues. Team organized “Nirmalya Dan and Swachata Abhiyan” to clean the Lake & to increase the awareness about cleaning of Water bodies. Union Leader attended and contributed in this. Conservancy instruments were provided by PCMC for Swachata Abhiyan. Extensive efforts took place to clean the Lake, lot of people moving from the road stopped & appreciated the activity.

A team from J-vehicle factory (Manufacturing) took up second activity in the same village on Bhandara Hill where the Temple of Sant Tukaram Maharaj is situated. All the team members cleaned the entire surrounding of the temple. Team interacted with some of the visitors and the spread awareness about keeping the environment clean.

Team of 51 volunteers from ERC – Prototype Planning & Manufacturing was engaged in Tree Plantation and cleaning drive at Khadakwasla. The Head- ER, Skill Development & CSR) accompanied the group in this activity. Green Thumb is an organisation working for increasing water storing capacity of dams. Silt is removed from dam and it is put on the banks. Tree plantation is done around the bank so that the silt/mud doesn’t go back into the dam. Team CSR Pune has entered into a MoU by which Green thumb will be taking care of all these trees.

Andhra Pradesh

As a part of TATA-Engage, employees of Tata Projects Limited, organized “Students & Parents Meet" and "Awareness Generation Camp" 20th September at Skill Development Centre in Tribal community-Kothada Rajhmundry-East Godavari district Andhra Pradesh.

The event was attended by the parents and family members of the trainees, the trainees who had successfully completed the training, village elders, community leaders, sarpanch, mandal praja parishad leaders, Tribal leaders etc

During the event, the volunteers motivated the youth in the region that had assembled regarding- goal setting, time management, work ethics, discipline, responsibilities, building self-confidence etc and encouraged them to join the employability skills training program at Kothada training center.

Post the event the volunteers met the parents of the trainees at the event and also in the nearby villages. Explained about the benefits of the training program, clarified the doubts and updated about their children performance and also briefed them about the career progression path in Construction skills.

Jamshedpur

Under Tata Volunteering Week IV celebrations, a team of employees from NRD department of Tata Steel visited primary school, Dushra Patamda 15 km away from the steel city on 27th September.

The idea was to spend one whole day with these children, share some lighter moments, and try and help the children through Volunteerism

At the start of program the primary school children welcomed all volunteers with their gleaming smiles and warm heart, Volunteers actively interacted with the children and played football with the children. The volunteers collectively brought gifts items like Water filter, Durry, LED bulbs, Bucket & Jugsbags and also distributed fruits.

As part of Volunteering week 4 Urban Services organised rally with placard on Non-Use of Plastic at Tuildeungri Bustee.

Under Tata Engage Week 4 Urban Services organised door to door awareness talk on Malaria at Sitaramdera Bustee.

Kolkata

TSPDL organised a day filled with fun and frolic for the orphans of the SOS Children’s Village, at Salt Lake, Kolkata on 26th September. The day began with a walk around at the village. There were four clusters each consisting of four houses. The superintendent introduced us all the families in the village. A woman is made responsible for a house consisting of 10 children who live with them and form a part of their family. We were touched by the way the mothers took care of their children as small as 1 year old. After the introduction and a walk around we interacted with the orphaned children, played with them for a while flying the kites. When some of the children returned from their schools, we started our gaming activities in the noon. This was followed by a football match between 4 teams formed by the boys of the campus. There were 3 matches all knockouts. We also organised a biscuit race amongst little angels. The girls were also not forgotten in the whole activity as we organised Musical Chair and Memory games for them. Finally all the activities came to an end with the prize distribution ceremony which was followed up by distribution of individual prizes and also gifts for all children of the campus.

Delhi

In continuation to the Skill development program at Shri Ram Shiksha Peeth, Madanpur Khadar, the volunteers conducted the 6th Session today. Six Volunteers visited the school and presented the program, on positive thinking.

The spouse of a colleague provided his voluntary services for this program. He is a well renowned speaker on this subject and he presented a spell bound session on power of positive thinking, this was attended by 30 Students and 10 staff members of the school. His extra ordinary skills to connect to each and every participant has made the session very interactive and though the subject was little heavy for the age group, everybody felt very light after the session and realized the importance of positive thinking. The next session in the school will be on Behavioural English (Creative Writing abilities).

Delhi

‘Rangeela’ Cultural Club, ‘Pratham’ Cultural Club and ‘Sparsh’ Cultural Club of Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited organised a Walkathon in order to generate awareness among the common public on the issues of Energy Conservation and Climate change. It was a delight for the onlookers to see a huge group of enthusiastic volunteers walking on the roads chanting slogans in a chorus to save climate and energy. “Bijli Bachao” and “Paryavaran Bachao” were the only voice that could be heard all-around. A total of 600 volunteers came together for this event.

Volunteers under TATA Volunteering Week-4 took a step forward to disseminate mass awareness on the grave issues of Climate Change and Safety. 15 volunteers conducted an Energy Conservation sensitization session for 700 students of Govt. Boys Sr. Sec School at Pitampura (SU Block), Sultanpuri, 150 students from Sarvodya Co-Ed. Vidyalay Mangolpuri, (A-Block), 400 students of Govt. Boys Sr. Sec School, Ashok Vihar (Ph-2) and 500 students of Govt. Boys Sr. Sec School-1, at Model Town-3.

All the students along with the teachers were sensitized on a number of issues, like- Electricity Safety, Climate Change, Energy Conservation etc. The session was followed by a quick round of quiz & for every right answer students were given a token of appreciation. Students in turn kept forward their queries which were addressed by the volunteers.

A group of 4 volunteers under TATA Volunteering Week-4 came forward to make the students aware of their surroundings. Volunteers undertook an Energy Conservation sensitization session for more than. All the students along with the teachers were sensitized on a number of issues, like- Electricity Safety, Climate Change, Energy Conservation etc. Students were motivated to adopt climate and energy friendly habits. A quiz was organized for the students on the topics covered and for every right answer they were given a token of appreciation.