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Celebrating 175th Adoption at BSSSK, Aurangabad:
Bharatiya Samaj Seva Kendra, Aurangabad celebrated its 175th adoption on April 22, 2008. BSSK Aurangabad got its In-country Adoption Licence in January 2002. Since then we could place 174 children throughout India. Recently we placed our 175th child. Mr. Makrand Orpe and Mrs. Supriya Orpe from
Vishakhapattnam adopted baby Vidisha from BSSK Aurangabad. They have their son Vinayak who is now 6 years old. They adopted Vidisha out of choice.
Mr. Makrand Orpe is working as Lt. Commander in Indian Navy. Vidisha was placed with them in an informal function at
Aurangabad in BSSK’s premises. Chaitanya Mhaiskar, Priyam Bhalerao and Sayali Kulkarni were the Chief Guests for the
function. These are the children who were adopted by their parents long back. Our local committee members and many
adoptive parents were present on this occasion. Orpe’s family members and relatives were also present for the function.
Celebrating 3001st Adoption:
BSSK has completed 3001 placements of children with adoptive families in India and abroad.
To commemorate this happy occasion on January 23, 2008 Mrs. Rati Forbes, Director, Forbes Marshall Pvt. Ltd., kindly
consented to be the Chief Guest and formally handed over child Aman to the happy family. Mr. Yamaji Malkar,
Editor, Daily Sakal and Mrs. Anjali Malkar were Guests of Honour. Mr. Indraneel from Principal Global Services
was also present on the occasion. Principal Global Services sponsored the event.
Sports Day January 2008:
On January 17, 2008 children at BSSK celebrated Sports Day with lot of fun and frolic! Principle Global Services sponsored this event.
"Masti Mela" for the kids was organized by BSSK on November 14, 2007 on the premises on the occassion of "Bal Din".
Post Adoption Services:
BSSK is organizing one day Workshop for Adoptive parents and their children in the age group of 9 to 13 years (pre-teens group).
This is a novel idea and you may want to join us as parents if your children cannot attend. For detailed schedule please keep checking our Upcoming Events tab on the website.
Pre-Adoptive Foster Care:
In April 2007, High Court passed an Order allowing pre-adoptive foster care for domestic families residing outside Maharashtra.
For NRI/OCIs we need to further appeal to High Court for allowing them to permit foster care out of State of Maharashtra.
Parent Preparation Workshop:
Since January 2007, it is mandatory for every family to attend the workshop before the family will be called for Adoption Study and to proceed thereafter in their adoption process. After Registration the families will be informed regarding the suitable dates for the Workshop. Since we can accommodate only 12 families for each workshop, families are requested to give their date of preference at the earliest, to avoid disappointment. For the detailed Workshop schedule please see Upcoming Events tab on our website.
The Therapy Room for the children at BSSK was formally inaugurated on December 5, 2006 by eminent Psychiatrist and Actor, Dr. Mohan Agashe. This facility has been made possible because of a generous donation by Damini Glenanne in the loving memory of the Swan family, Australia.
A workshop on U. N. convention on the "Rights of the Child" was held in November and December 2005 for the staff of BSSK.
The workshop on the U. N. convention on the Rights of the child covered the following aspects.
a) History.
b) Principles of the Convention.
c) Broad framework of the convention.
d) Different group of rights.
e) Some important articles.
This workshop was conducted by Mrs. Amita Godbole & Ms. Audrey Ferriera.
In September 2005 BSSK organized a two day workshop on teamwork – “Enjoying The Challenges together” for the staff of BSSK (Pune & the branches).
The purpose of this workshop was to bring the team together after they moved into the new office and look at ways in which they could together face the new challenges and also bond as a team. A
pre-programme assessment was conducted through questionnaires, interviews and focus groups.
The workshops were held at BSSK, Pune on 20th & 21st of Sept, 26th & 27th Sept and 3rd & 4th Oct’05. Approximately sixty five staff across all levels, functions and locations participated in the workshops. The workshops for the care givers are planned for Nov/Dec. The workshops in Marathi were done in collaboration with the WCCL Foundation, Pune.
Silver Jubilee News:
On 28th October 2004, BSSK celebrated it’s Silver Jubilee. Mr. Deepak Jadhav, who had received sponsorship aid in the mid 80’s spoke on how BSSK’s support gave him the motivation and support to achieve something in his life. Mr. Anirudh Bhate, a young adoptee spoke on how adoption changed his life, and Mr. K Ananthanarayan, a single adoptive father caught the attention of the audience, by the uniqueness of the fact that a single father could also adopt and bring up a child.
Mr. Gary Gamer and Mr. Young Kuk Kim, President and CEO and Executive Director of Holt International Children’s Services and Children of the World, Norway, respectively congratulated BSSK, for 25 years of professional and dedicated service to homeless children in India. The Commissioner of the PMC, Dr. Nitin Kareer was the Chief Guest. He released the BSSK Silver Jubilee issue and spoke about how BSSK’s work had restored his faith in NGO’s working sincerely for destitute children.
Through these 25 years BSSK has seen many ups and downs and has had success in several areas of its work. In this Jubilee Year, an adoptive parents gathering was held in Pune on 29th and 30th of May 2005, where 105 adoptive families attended.
On 27th October 2004, BSSK’s new center ‘Bertha Varada’ was inaugurated by Dr. Jayashree Firodia. On this auspicious occasion the Chairman, CEO, Board Members and staff of Holt International Children’s Services and Children of the World, Norway were also present. As the curtain was being unveiled, flower petals were thrown by the children from the window upstairs and the ringing bells signified the inauguration of the new center. There were many touching moments that evening, especially when Chaitra Patki, a young adoptee spoke about her own experiences and further handed over baby Siddhant to his adoptive parents Mr. Suresh R. Kulkarni and Dr. Swati S. Kulkarni. For many of us, this was an evening which touched our hearts and made us proud at the growth of this organization.
BSSK received the Punyshloke Ahilyabai Holkar award from the Maharashtra State Government, for excellence in services to women and children. The award was handed over by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 10th August 2004.
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