Cry mailer

Dear Friend,

For so many of us, Tapas and Rina’s lives are so far removed from ours, that they seem to be fiction. But they aren’t. Both Tapas and Rina grew up in Bowbazar, a red light area in Kolkata, West Bengal. Their destiny seemed to be sealed. Yet one did her Masters and became a teacher, while the other dreams of becoming a police officer. They have been able to rise above their circumstances with the help of Jabala, a CRY-supported organisation that rehabilitates commercial sex workers and their children. At CRY, we consider them to be milestones- underprivileged children who have been mainstreamed, 2 children out of the 90,000 that CRY is able to support each year, with your help.

With Christmas and New Year coming up, an easy way to support CRY is to buy our beautiful cards, calendars and diaries. You can order these online.

Your response to the first issue of CRY Connect has been most encouraging. We look forward to your continued support. As always, we welcome your participation, whether it is by way of contributions or feedback.

In faith and goodwill,
The CRY Team




		People often ask us if it is really possible for underprivileged children to escape the system. The answer to that is it’s difficult but not impossible. CRY has always felt that the only way to permanently improve the lives of underprivileged children is to mobilise their communities to help themselves. This philosophy has been implemented very successfully by Jabala, (a CRY-supported initiative), in Bowbazar, a red-light area in North Kolkata.




Individuals and organisations all support CRY in the way each one of them best can. Here are some of them: Children of the members of the Friends of India Association (Canada) raised funds for CRY by screening Hindi movies Qayamat and Hungama.They brought in snacks, which were sold in the interval to collect Canadian dollars 1000 (about Rs. 24,000/-). CRY Cubs, 30 students from Calcutta International School, Kolkata, spent a day at a CRY-supported non-formal education centre in Jagaddalpur, West Bengal. They painted the center, taught the kids, played with them, shared their snacks and also interacted with members of the community, leaving behind memories and a delightfully painted classroom.		CRY Cubs at Jagaddalpur


In Hong Kong, Vishal Tourani organised a Five a Side Charity Football Tournament, for the benefit of CRY and the Hong Kong Cancer Fund. CRY received $6743.46. Mumbai based consultancy Ideas-RS conducts training programmes on creativity and problem solving for professionals. Recently, twelve professionals deliberated on issues faced by CRY in resource mobilisation, and suggested solutions. In the UK, Ashok Kallupram participated in The Great North Run, the biggest half-marathon event in the world, raising nearly 3000 pounds for CRY from individual and company sponsorships. Great going Ashok. The Mumbai marathon's coming up in Jan 2004! Friends of CRY, a volunteer group in Bangalore, launched a drive to collect new notebooks. These were donated to children in Government schools in Karnataka. Read more… Tata Chemicals is continuing with its Desh ko Arpan Programme in 2003-04. Read more…

Hansa Padhar's parents are marginal farmers from the village of Devalthal, in Ahmedabad district, Gujarat. Since the area is drought-prone, they are forced to migrate from their village every year in search of work. 12 year old Hansa would migrate with them - after all, someone had to take care of the household chores and little ones. In the process, though, attending school became a problem. Soon, Hansa dropped out. Until Ganatar, a CRY-supported project started operating in her village.


	This is to convey my appreciation of the very convenient on-line forum for donations that you have created on your web-site. It is fast and efficient. Rupa Bhattacharya, Bareilly, First donation, Feb 2003

In October 2003, we launched our new corporate campaign, CRY Milestones, through press, radio and outdoor, across key cities in India. View campaign…


Two young students, Avanti (Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai, Std 12) and Sudeep (St. Paul's School, London, Std 11), have invited celebrities, industrialists and sportspersons to send their favourite poem to CRY, along with a personal note. Penguin India has agreed to publish the anthology as A Poem for CRY, and donate the royalties to CRY. Poems have already been received from over 40 people including President APJ Kalam and Writer Vikram Seth. Friends of CRY, a volunteer group in Bangalore, have initiated the Dream Schools programme in their city. The programme, developed in association with Sikshana, an organisation working in the field of education for the past 2 years, seeks to improve the quality of education in public schools. Read more… Ken Blades, renowned photographer and CRY supporter, donated proceeds from the sale of prints at his 'Fleeting Glances - Informal Portraits from the Western Ghats' exhibition to CRY. Read more…			A Poem For CRY

			This year too, to celebrate Children's Day, CRY ran its annual Pencil Campaign in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore between Nov 3 and Nov 14. Volunteers sold the bright yellow “sunshine pencils”, raising more than Rs 2 lakhs for CRY.


		CRYbuddies, our site for children

		CRY in Action, Volume VIII. No 5 2003, Community Mobilisation

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Photographs courtesy CRY photobank