Sessions on Android based Flag Recognition App

In this increasingly technology driven world it is highly imperative that the kids today get an equal and comfortable opportunity to acquaint themselves to the present day Science scene and are able to make the best of it. Many scientific innovations, in the form of engineered systems and soft-applications, are aimed at providing a better learning experience to the kids. Their use not only promotes a more practical and sturdy education, but also helps the kids develop a sub-conscious ownership of technological ideas. These experiences help them overcome their inhibitions and gain substantial technological exposure so as not to be intimidated by it. Additionally, it helps to nurture their interest in the field by showing them how interesting, fun and accomplishing an outlet Science can be.

Saumya with students 

Our demonstration session on the Android based Flag Recognition Application for 5^th grade students of Ambedkar Memorial High School was an attempt towards achieving the above said. We started with the thing that 5^th graders love the most i.e. drawing. They were each given a drawing sheet and a set of pencil colours/crayons/sketch pens. Next, they were to pick their favourite colour flag and draw it on the sheet. They excitedly drew around 2 to 3 different flags each and were eager to pose with their creations. Once the drawings were done, I got out the android phone with its flag recognition application. We clicked pictures of the flags, cropped them, gave them to the application and got the recognition results as a list of top-10 best matched countries. The students would look at the top-10 options and pick out the country that their flag belonged to.

Students engrossed in drawing the maps

This exercise not only helped them learn about the different countries and flags in a fun way, but also gave them a taste of how a machine can be trained to perform such an activity. The idea is to tickle these young minds and set them thinking. After all, good things start when you begin to think!!  

Saumya Jetley

Make a Difference… @ Colorss Foundation

Make a Difference…

LIFE is a prism, with colors permeated

prismatic is our world, with everything satiated.

fortunate are we with a life complete,

different from those who are incomplete.

They survive with everything limited,

having no land and shelter.

starving are they for a nibble,

surmising a miracle, that shall alter.

Tits and bits and shattered within,

are the kids with nothing to behold.

school bag is what we get,

"pick rags" is what they are told.

Taking a plunge is in our hands,

making their lives prismatic.

colors and happiness everywhere,

with a mere initiative and a stand.

Make a difference, and see what you feel,

giving a hand and making them smile.

contentment shall surround you,

blissful you will be,

Fortunate is what now they can be,

for the completeness can be shared.

no one is incomplete now,

no one is bared.

Akshita Makin 

The Colorss Foundation invites people to take initiative and volunteer and work for the organisation. Because making their lives COLORFUL is in our hands..

Follow the links below to know more about the organization!!

Colorss website

Colorss on Facebook

Colorss on Twitter

Child Poverty: A major concern

The human life is a combination of happiness and sorrows. It is impossible to know when we might face a big difficulties and emotional troubles in life. We all have to go through a bad phase at some time in our life which leads to stress in our lives.

Child Poverty has been an ongoing issue throughout the world for decades. The children in society today living in poverty is increasing daily. The majority of these children are from single-parent homes where sometimes parents are not working or have become disabled and therefore cannot work.   Children who are raised in foster care and leave as adults do not have strong relationship ties most of the time and are at an increased risk for experiencing poverty, early parenthood and homelessness . The reason for most of the poverty in the India is due to low family incomes.   

Poverty is a disease.   A disease that clogs our government system as it is something there is no cure for, at least not yet.   Poverty is declining, but the reasons for families still living in poverty continue to grow.   When there are no jobs or no opportunities, or losing one's job due to illness or debilitating injury, a family can find themselves in the lap of poverty without realizing how they got into the situation.

What is poverty?   Poverty can be explained to be lacking the resources to meet the basic needs for healthy living. By not having insufficient income to provide food, shelter and clothing needed to preserve health for oneself or one's family.   What is meant by income here, besides the wage of a job, are food stamps, school lunches and public housing?   Poverty is visible to most of us when we see a homeless person on the street asking for money or food. Or on television when we see the poor countries and the plight of the children among the communities where there is a shortage of food.

Poverty has many faces; it changes from place and place and can be described in many ways.   Poverty is not having freedom and leaves one feeling powerless. People want to escape poverty and most cannot.

We've seen poverty and healthcare become a problem dating back the great depression, World War I and World War II. Also the problem of child poverty is a huge concern in other ends of the world. In this paper I will talk to you about child poverty at a glance fallowed by poverty levels in different places

We all have an idea of what poverty is, but too many it's just a topic that is put off that is not strongly talked about. According to UNICEF they have defined Child Poverty as “environment that is damaging to their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual development." They touch on the facts. Kids who don't start off with a nutritious meal or partake in hazardous work already affect a child's state of mind. UNICEF best describes the variables. "Living in an environment that provides little stimulation or emotional support to children, on the other hand can remove many of the positive effects of growing up in a materially rich household." Children are supposed to shape the future. A parent who gives their child the idea they can become whatever they wish as long as they truly apply themselves is great words of encouragement, but there's always the what if’s of the world. It starts off by social class. Today everything is covered by media whether we look at it or not. Media outlets all over the world cover some form of poverty, but not much on kids. Who's to blame? Is there anyone to blame? How we define poverty can be different based on government standards of living. Some people think that you choose to live below the standard level and "choose" poverty based on being lazy, and only relying on welfare or just being weak and there are also who are less fortunate. Child poverty is looked from the perspective that it has to have a beginning, but what is the beginning? Whereas the rising cost of healthcare in today’s economy is in desperate need of reform. The cost of healthcare has affected the number of people able to receive medical care. Individuals are suffering more than ever because of the inability to receive medical attention when it’s needed.

The rising cost of healthcare is going to continue to rise year after year. This is making it harder and harder on working class to receive medical care. It is even harder on the unemployed. There are many aspects that play a role in improving our health system, but the three major factors are preventive care, accessibility and health care reform. Studies show that preventive medicine can decrease cost and have a better treatment outcome. Better access presumably improves health outcomes. Each community should have some form of health clinic that patients can go for care. Health care reform is greatly needed in India in order to be up to standard with the other countries that are leading the world in health care and life expectancy. With mandatory health insurance all citizens will be able to have access to a doctor without an excuse before a minor problem becomes a major or long term expense.

Health is related deeply to life-style. Ideal health will however, always remains a mirage, because everything in our life is subject to change. Health may be described as a potentiality—the ability of an individual or a social group to modify himself or itself continually, in the face of changing conditions of life not only, in order to function better in the present but also to prepare for the future.

Signing off

Vibhor Verma.

Underprivileged children from slums take tour of nature park - Times Of India | Colorss Foundation

Media coverage in 'Times of India'

The Colorss Foundation had recently organized an event for 25 underprivileged children and 5 women, from Sanjaynagar slums at the nature park in Sindhrot, on the outskirts of the city. The event was organized by Nielsen, Vadodara to celebrate its global day celebrations. The activities included cartoon strip competition, trekking and the launch of E-zine. E-zine is the output of a Colorss Foundation project - Colors of Life

click the link below to read more about it on Times of India
Underprivileged children from slums take tour of nature park - Times Of India