Mafoi Foundation and Disha Youth Movement Day

Winners of Young Achiever Awards 2013

Cultural performance by the students

Acrobatic Dance by the students

The seventh anniversary of the Ma Foi Foundation day was celebrated on 21^st Dec 2013 at Sir Thyagaraya Auditorium, T.Nagar along with Disha Youth Movement day. The programme was managed entirely by the DYM team including the cultural performances. The chief guests for the event were Mr.Murugavel, Founder, Bharat Matrimony and Mr.Rajeev Mecheri, MD, Mecheri Smart Capital Pvt. Ltd. During the event top performers of Disha in the tenth and twelfth board exams were felicitated with the Academic Excellence Award while Young Achievers Award went to those who have excelled in one of the disciplines of Academics, Sports, Arts or Community Services.

This event was made possible by the support of our sponsors Suraj Cars, Winners Bakery & Confectionery, Maharaja Constructions, Velammal Engineering College & Jaya Engineering College and we thank them heartily. We also thank all our donors and well-wishers who graced the occasion. We would like make a special mention of Mr.Sarath Babu, Entrepreneur, Food King, for his motivational testimony. 

CHANGING LIVES PERMANENTLY

‘Give a man a fish he eats for a day, teach a man to fish he eats for a lifetime’          
                                                                                            - Ancient Chinese proverb.

In this context it means changing someone’s life for the better with the objective of making them self-reliant. One of the ways to do this is to provide education or teach useful skills that makes one employable. At the Ma Foi Foundation we believe that it is such empowerment that will enable disadvantaged children and youth break the shackles of poverty and overcome income disparity to realize their true potential.

The DISHA initiative is aimed at holistic development of children and has already had a huge impact on the children who are part of this initiative. From children who participated and won gold medals in National level sports competitions to school students who scored outstanding marks in tenth and twelfth board exams to college graduates who have landed jobs in big companies like Infosys, HP, HCL the impact is spread across different age groups.

Foundation Herald-June 2012

Sports Camp

Champions Development camp.

  Disha sports academy, initiative of The Ma Foi Foundation, trains promising players from lower economic strata in football, boxing and athletics. It has identified 125 such students and training them professionally for the past 4 years. During the summer a special camp is organized to improve their fitness and skill in a hill station. Last year 60 students were selected and trained.

This year 60 promising future National champions are selected and will be given intense training.  The selected 60 students are part of the Disha Sports Academy for the past 3 years.

Outcome:

After 12 days of intense training we expect Disha Sports Academy students to participate and win

a.      District championship in athletics especially 400 mts and throws

b.      State championships in Boxing

c.       National gold in Boxing

d.      Minimum 2 football players from disha to represent Tamil Nadu.

Target Group: 13 to 17 yrs

Days: 12

No of participants: 60

And from 12^th to 24^th of  May, sports camp

Theme: Win, Responsibility and Respect.

Venue: Elagiri.

Highlights of last year camp:

1. 51 students attended the camp
2. 35 boys and 16 girls
3. Discipline: Boxing, football, and athletics
4. The routine begins at 5:00am, with running for about 6 kms uphill every day
5. Afternoon, special training in boxing, football and athletics.
6. 35 students climbed Swamimalai hill 5 times in 5 hrs. Shakthivel and Nethaji, completed 2:30 mins.

The Request:

The residential camps always improve the fitness and the skills of the players. These are essential part of the producing sports champions. We request you to kindly support such initiative and be part of sports history in India.

The estimated budget is Rs 1.5 lakhs. The budget is given below.

I request you to consider sponsoring some part of the budget.

Budget
Transport from Chennai to Elagiri (Two Way)	30000
Food for 60 people for `12 days(120*60*12)	86400
Resource materials	15000
T-shirts and Prizes	20000
Total	151400

Sir Ramanujam Science and Math Camp.

About the Camp:

Disha supports more than 3000 children’s education by offering them scholarship till they finish college. We believe financial assistance alone is not enough for a successful career. Continuous knowledge and skill building is required.  In pursuit of this we organize 100 hr skill development programme for the Disha scholars year (60 hrs residential, 40hrs class room). As part of this we have been organizing annual summer camp every year since 2007. Each year with different themes like arts, dance, craft etc. camps builds not only skills but also character.  

This year to commemorate 125^th anniversary of Ramanujam we are organizing Science and Maths camps.

At the end of the camp the students will know.

a.       Basic concepts in electrical, electronics and Vedic Maths.

b.      Do team project based on concepts.

c.       Create interest in science as career.

d.      Know the lives of eminent scientist and Mathematician from India and world.

e.      Know and appreciate india contribution to the world of science and Maths.

Target Group: 13 to 17 yrs

i)        No of camps: 2

ii)      Days: 4 per camp

iii)    Venue: Chennai and Madurai

iv)    Participants: 200

Budget
Transport	15000
Food for 100 people for  8 days(150*100*8)	120000
Accomodation	10000
Resource materials	50000
T-shirts and Prizes	20000
Total	2,15,000

Thanks and seeking your support for education

Message from the Ms Latha Rajan, Trustee, The Ma Foi Foundation

Let me first thank you for all the support we have received and it has been valuable. 

The Disha family is growing steadily and we are very happy to share that we have been able to touch the lives of more than 8000 children in various ways in Chennai and Madurai districts in the last academic year and all this has been possible only with the support of our well-wishers. It has been so very satisfying to see the children grow with confidence.  We have been in touch with each of our children and that has been one of the most important aspects of this program.

As we enter the next academic year, we seek your help in continuing your support to the existing Disha community and also add to it. As the number of scholars entering college has been increasing, around 650 this year, there has been an increase in the requirement of funds. We have been consistently increasing the skill building programs for our children as we feel that it is critical for these kids to train them on various skills to empower them and make them confident to face the challenges in life.

Please find some of the important events and achievements of our Disha children in the link below.

http://www.themafoifoundation.org/TMF-%20Annual%20Report%20-%202011-12.pdf 

An amount of Rs.2500/- per year will help a school child and an amount of Rs.7000/- will help a college student realise his/her dream. 

We also run Disha sports academy to train poor children in sports and an amount of Rs.10000/- per year will help a child in training him/her for a sport.  

Cheques can be made in the name of The Ma Foi Foundation and sent to the below given address. 

We have a dedicated team working at the grass-roots to make this happen. We will also be more than happy if you can visit our children and see their spirit. 

With your valuable support we can touch the lives of many more children. 

Looking forward to your support.

Thanks and Warm Regards,

Latha

Volunteering activities of Disha students

Disha Youth Movement is a volunteering force of the foundation. The boys and girls of the movement actively volunteer in all programmes we do, be it from organizing internal event or cleaning class rooms.
Active volunteering group call them-selves Soldiers of Society.
Some of the key volunteering activities:

A. Organised all the Disha internal events like Foundation Day, Graduation day, All the best gathering

B. Organised blood camp and raised about 200 units of blood

C. Volunteered cleaning activity in an NGO in Sathiammangalam.

Disha Sports Academy participated in tree plantation drive during Joy Of Giving week and planted nearly 210 saplings

The scholars who attended leadership camp continued volunteering activities in their villages.