17.09.2009

250 Diyas and Counting... The Interns have started decorating some porcelain plates which hopefully, would sell too. I-Shiner Asfaaq came with a colleague to scout the St. Martha's premises for locations to shoot his documentary on the history of Martha's . The documentary would help in profiling the hospital to help generate some funds to maintain and upgrade the hospital that does so much for the poor.

I've re-vamped the Logo to be more appropriate to the posters we are designing.

J.

SHINE in Progress !! 12.09.2009

It started with a spark.. an Idea of a 'SMART Celebration of Diwali' , now its turing out to be a crusade. It alwasy amazes me how one spark is enough to create flames of inspiration. People who never knew art for miles were coming together to work for a noble cause. This time, gearing up for the sale organized by youth for seva at various colleges and IT companies. The Ishine project , with its mission of a SMART DIWALI of Illuminating, NOT Irritating with Crackers, is hand making designer diyas for sale .
I-Shiners Lakshmi, Ashfaaq, Nitasha, Sneha & Janaki were joined by the interns working at the STROKE REHAB CENTRE on the saturday afternoon. They were given the afternoon off, but decided to stay and help out. God bless them !!

Onam 2009

Although, not a keralite , myself, It gave me great pride to celebrate Onam as a festival of harvest. A time of joy that brings people of this great nation together. And where there is oil lamps and cheer the i-shiners, can not be far behind ! So the I-Shiners and the staff of the Rehab department decked up the place to cheer the patients up, blessing them with joy, happiness and prosperity.

The flow carpet was designed and decorated by Ishiners Nitasha and Sneha with I-shiner Ashfaaq documenting and going in. It was also a great chance for a photo opportunity of the Rehab team and the patients, who normally shy away from the camera.

11.09.2009

110 diyas done. He good thing about it was that we got many different interns to paint them , so we arrived at a wide range of designs. I-Shiner Sneha was all illuminated with pride and joy !! We even joked about her starting a Designer label !!

The Seminar hall was booked for Tejeswini of the Youth for Seva group to conduct their znal meeting here at our seminar hall. It would be held on Saturday 12.09.09 between 10am to 11am. I have asked I-shiner- Ashfaaq & Lakshmi to be there . Nitasha and Myself were suppose to go to avenue road to get some wax and moulds for candle-making, but after calculation I found that the cost of wax and the moulds would be more compared to the sale price.

I-shiner Vyjayanthi came in to get the proof of the book marks I sent her approved for printing. 500 bookmarks per piece were chosen.

I-Shiner Jesse updated me that he had emailed the quotation for the vests and would get to know the quotation by next week .

J

09/09/09

Finally, I managed to get the logo of the vest done . What do you think ?? Decided on a RED background so that the volunteers would be spottable wherever they were. Yellow would have been a tad more flashy, not to mention, a nasty thing to clean !!

I feel the over all colour gave the sense of pride and purpose as well. I emailed the Logo to Mr. Jesse would would forward it to the printers. Considering the cost factor, I'm just ordering 4-5 pieces for the immediate volunteers. Depending on how it turns out, I would order more in time.

We have completed about 50 diyas !! yesterday , it was a power house of creativity with Sneha leading the designing. I must admit, she surprised me with her creativity.. What I little encouragement can do !! Perhaps that is what makes us all SHINE !!
The Sister Superior dropped in and shared an update about the landscaping project which included our Little heart Project. I'm so grateful that the hospital is investing their money ( amounting to almost 3 lakhs!! ) to do up the little heart as well. The I-Shiners would maintain it . Negotiations with the Landscapers are on the way. Please pray for its success.

Yesterday, I was told of a patient who had shoulder dislocation because her mother in law and sis in law hammered her badly. Im looking into her case and will give you more updates.

8th Sept 2009

It was a great joy to see enthusiasm in the eyes of the staff as they began painting the 'diyas' for the fund raising event. The enthusiasm was contagious as I-Shiners Mrs. Madhukar, Ashfaaq ( who had brought three of his interested college mates) , Nitasha & Sneha. Pretty soon there were laughing and bonding going on among the huddled group as they painted dried and decorated each of the twenty diyas that were brought by our ward boy , Anand.

I touched my heart to see how good deeds always find a way of happening and becoming a success. We also got new volunteers who were interested to come and see the group activities on Saturday as they wanted to interact with the patients more.

The Diyas have now landed on my desk for the final touches. We are still debating on the pricing and packaging of them i.e. if to seel them individually or in pairs. Lets see.

The speech therapy interns lent their hands in fixing the yellow ribbons to the book marks that Vyjayanthi had made . They are coming out great !!

I am personally trying my hand out on making some paper weights out of M-seal. Plan to make roses , which would be later painted in gold. Will post a picture is I can..

All-in-all, it was a productive day .. A day started with a quote.. ' Lets SHINE !!!

MM September 5th 2009

5th September 2009 :

Orientation Program for NSS (St. Josephs) & Youth for Seva group.

1. A Presentation was held for the new recruits by the founder and various creative heads.
   
2. A clear description of our future projects and the qualities required by the team heads were explain.
   
3. After the presentation, the group had an interactive session in the Rehab department where refreshments were served.
   
4. The future Mission of ' SMART Diwali' was introduced.
   
5. The first copy of the newsletter ' BrainStorm@ishine' was introduced.
   
6. Book marks prepared by I-Shiner-Vyjayanthi were introduced.
   
7. Installation art modes prepared by Jason were introduced.
   
8. We were informed of an upcoming sale drive by Youth 4 Seva of various products by different NGOs that they are attached with. I-Shine was decided to contribute art4Sale to help fund raise for the cause. Any I-shiner who wishes to help out in making Art & crafts for sale ( with the theme SMART DIWALI, STROKE & HEALTH ISSUES) are welcome to help out. Contact Jason for further details.
9. I-Shiner LAKSHMI would be the co-ordinator of this Art4Sale Fund Raiser Project.
10. We have decided to get some 'diyas' and decorate them for sale. Posters and Book marks are also going to be made. Any more ideas are welcome. Hand made products are welcome.
    
11. I-Shiners Ashfaaq & Vyjayanthi had a meeting with Mr. Nagraj of yashaswi.com for his help in Street play networking and functioning.
12. The Creative team met with the NSS group of St. Josephs to outline some themes for Street plays. Any I-Shiner that is interested in doing Street plays can contact Mr. Ashfaaq for details.
13. We have to have all Sale items ready by the 19th of September.
    
14. We plan to work of sale items these two coming weeks. all who want to help are welcome to join in .

CHANGE.. is about to begin !!

BE THE CHANGE that your would like to see in the world !! ( Mahatma Gandhi ) One man need not necessarily change the world, but he can surely make it LISTEN. Medical science has gone so further in CURING Man, that it is almost forgetting the art of CARING ! Compassion for one's fellow Man seems to be lost in this world of money making, 'commisions', and technology. Simple human interaction is rare to find these days, with people continuesly interacting with heartless, computers, i-pods, mobiles, and what not !

Its time for a CHANGE. A renewal of the Human Spirit and a revival of COMPASSION . Being in the rehabilitation profession from 1995, Ive been witnessed to many miracles and tragedies, simpley because someone did or didn't care. We are in the Profession of Healing. Healing the Mind and Spirit,as much as the physical being. We see patients , not as mere hospital numbers, but as SURVIVORS. We treat patients as persons and not as a' disease' to be cured... We treat with Compassion.. an not JUST with Passion.

It is time for a CHANGE to BEGIN..

A new Revolution to bridge the medical with the real world. Just as the Internet, to make the medical wonder be available, accountable & responsible for all, and ALL for it !!

It is time that we, as citizen be responsible of our RIGHT TO GOOD HEALTH, and more importantly, our RIGHT to REHABILITATE into Society as Survivors of Sickness, Disability and Pain.

The I-Shine Project is an extension of the work going on at the Dept of Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation at St. Martha's Hospital, Bengaluru, INDIA, where we administer Physio, Occupational, Speech & Counseling to patients & their care givers. Caring for them, curing them , Educating them.. and most importantly.. Empowering them.

The Beauty of the I-Shine Project is that it re-enforces that Humanity is still alive in today's materialistic world. Nothing inspires me more than to see young and old come contribute their precious time , selflessly, for others. The I-Shine- Project is not about gimmicks, or advertizement or business. Its is about what it is founded on .. Love. And Love is Selfless.. It gives , without expectation. And the more you give.. the more it increases..

The I-Shine Project is a family of volunteers from different walks of life that come together to work for STROKE, Disabilities & Health Empowerment of Public.

Our Mission Statement is to ' Enlighten Minds & Empower Lives' through selfless , innovative & Pro-active Services so that People of all abilities KNOW and ACT responsibly towards their Health.

Volunteers share their time with Patients admitted, helping them out with their Rehab, Motivating them , counseling and educating them and their families. We profile each patients and see how we can be most helpfull to ease them through their rehab experience. We try to understand the difficulties of the family members and support and help them in every way we can, like assisting in transporting patients to rehab, providing appropriate financial assistance , providing assistive devices and home aids to patients. We also offer spiritual, and emotional Counseling.

We Fund raise by our Creative Skills to share medic0-relevant Knowledge to empower health and disability survivors. We strive to encourage businesses to re-employ Disability Survivors and re-institute them to be productive members of Society again.

We Spread awareness through various Missions like STROKE SMART INDIA and Little Heart Mission which is dedicated to heal, not only the public, but also the environment. STROKE SMART INDIA Mission is a nation wide support campaign for STROKE SURVIVORS and their Caregivers (www.strokesmartindia.wetpaint.com). The Little Heart Project is an Land adoption and maintenance Mission that re-enforces our co-symbiotic relationship with the environment. these areas are developed are healthy oasis for the body mind and spirit . Patient are brought to these places for open Group therapy sessions, counseling, educational programs, pet-therapy or just simple fun !!

There is a world to Heal out there, and we seek your heat and help in this labor of Love .

COME..

Wear the ' Yellow Heart' to show your support for the I-Shine Project..
Make the 'Yellow Heart' a Symbol of happiness, Hope.. Love and the Human Spirit.

Lets Heal the world.. one Tear drop at a time..

Lets SHINE !!

Jason Furtado ( Founder - The I-Shine Project )