Gem Kids Eco Clubs

1. KIDS ECO CLUBS
INFANT JESUS CHURCH, JOGESHWARI-EAST

2. WHEN WAS ECO KIDS CLUBS STARTED
FUNCTIONING AT YOUR CHURCH?
Ans: From October 2015

3. WHICH IS THE BASE FOR ECO
KIDS CLUBS?
SCC is the base of
ECO KIDS CLUBS.
Every SCC unit of
the parish was
encouraged to
start the KIDS ECO
CLUBS.

4. WHO GUIDES/ANIMATES THESE
GROUPS?
Each SCC Unit
has appointed
1 or 2 animators
to be in-charge,
a guide of KIDS
ECO CLUBS.

5. WHAT ABOUT ECO KIDS OFFICE BEARERS?
To train the future leaders, each ECO KIDS CLUB
has appointed three senior kids (9th to 11th std)
as office bearers - President, Secretary and
Treasurer. SCC in-charge animators guide the
KIDS CLUB
office bearers
to learn to take
responsibility of
the group.

6. HOW MANY SCC UNITS ARE THERE IN YOUR PARISH,
AND HOW MANY SCCs SUCCEEDED IN STARTING THE
ECO KIDS CLUBS?
We have 18 SCC units in our parish. Depending on
the charism of the coordinator and response by the
people, 10 SCCs could able to start the ECO KIDS
CLUBS so far.

7. WHO CAN JOIN THE ECO KIDS
CLUBS?
All kids from 5th to 11th std residing
within the geographical area of that
SCC can join the ECO KIDS CLUB.

8. CAN KIDS OF OTHER FAITHS JOIN ECO
KIDS?
Of course. We encourage all kids
irrespective of caste and creed to join the
ECO KIDS CLUB. The problem of
environment is a very
secular issue. Hence, it is
very important to involve
all faith people in facing
the challenges of
environmental degradation.

9. HOW MANY MEMBERS EACH ECO KIDS
GROUP CAN HAVE?
For the sake of
effective functioning,
the number of
members in each
ECO KIDS Group is
restricted to 20 kids.

10. WHAT HAPPENS IF MORE KIDS WANT
TO JOIN?
In a particular SCC if more kids want to
join, that SCC is encouraged to start a
second, third… group and so on.

11. WHAT ABOUT FUNDS FOR EXPENSES
FOR RUNNING THE ECO KIDS GROUPS?
A commitment fee
of Rs 10/- per month is
charged for each kid.
If paid for the full year
in advance, 2 months
discount is given.

12. IS THE PARISH CONTRIBUTES FOR THE ECO
KIDS MOVEMENT FINANCIALLY?
Yes, for each kid Rs 20/- per month (double
the member’s share) is contributed by the
parish. This means, the group has a budget
of Rs 30/- per kid each month.

13. HOW THIS MONEY Rs 30/- PER ECO KID
IS SPENT?
This amount is used for refreshments
during meeting or other ECO KIDS
projects , prizes for
various contests,
stationary and
other miscellaneous
expenses.

14. IS THERE ANY OTHER WAY PARISH INVESTS
ON ECO KIDS?
Yes, whenever
there are major
programmes like
ANNUAL
ENVIRONMENT
RALLY, CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR PARTY,
TRAINING SESSIONS etc parish invests a
good amount on ECO KIDS movement.

15. HAS ECO KIDS
CLUBS HAVE TO
GIVE ANY
ACCOUNTS TO
THE CHURCH?
Yes, there is an accounts statement section
in the monthly feedback, (see later). Each
month, the animators in-charge are
expected to submit the income and
expenses statement to the parish.

16. DOES ECO KIDS MEET FOR ANY MEETING?
Yes, the ECO KIDS
meet every month
along with their
animator in-charge
on next Sunday after
the PPC meeting.
During this meeting,
the kids plan out a
project for the month.

17. WHAT ARE THE VARIOUS PROJECTS CONDUCTED
BY ECO KIDS?
As kids, it is understandable that they are not
expected to conduct big projects. However, the
ECO KIDS organise small projects, especially to
bring awareness on various environmental issues
affecting the present and future generations

18. ANY EXAMPLES OF THE PROJECTS CONDUCTED BY
THE ECO KIDS?
During this academic year
(2015-16), the ECO KIDS have
conducted the projects like
Elocution contest on Green
Diwali, Campaign against bursting
of crackers, Best out of Waste contest, poster
drawing contest on the theme of environment,
collection of newspaper, e-waste and other scrape
items, cleanliness drive in the area, training on
composting/potted plants etc.

19. HOW DO YOU FOLLOW UP ON THE
FUNCTIONING OF THE ECO CLUBS?
To facilitate a close follow up on the KIDS ECO
CLUB project, the coordinators are expected to
submit a monthly feedback form. This feedback
form contains the names of kids attended for
the meeting, a
brief report on the
project conducted,
and the accounts
details for the month.

20. HOW DO YOU ASSESS THE PERFORMANCE?
To motivate the
group to do their
best, and to create
a healthy
competition, the
following pointing
system is followed:
1] Early bird reporting (i.e. submission of feedback
report) – 10 points
2] Monthly meeting attendance – 5 points per kid
3] Monthly project – 20 points
4] Neatness in report writing – 5 points

21. HOW DO YOU REWARD THE BEST PERFORMERS?
Once a year, at the end of academic year, we have an
ENVIRONMENT RALLY. This rally consists of 2 parts.
The first part is WALK FOR ENVIRONMENT and the
second part is a
STAGE PROGRAMME.
During the stage
programme
individual and group
performers of the
year are given prizes
and certificates.

22. WHAT IS THIS WALK FOR ENVIRONMENT?
People from different SCCs,
walk in procession from all
the corners of the parish
holding banners and
placards with various
slogans on environmental
protection. On the way, they
distribute pamphlets on COMMANDMENTS ON ECO-
FRIENDLY LIVING to the shops and other pedestrians
(English and Hindi version- see at the end) . Finally, all
the groups congregate in the church premises at a
particular time and get ready for the second part - the
STAGE PROGRAMME.

23. HOW LONG THE ROUTE OF THE WALK FOR
ENVIRONMENT? HOW DO YOU TIME IT?
It is possible that, some SCCs are closer to the church
some SCCs may be far from the church. Keeping this in
mind, a tentative time is given for the walk. The
animators of each SCC
are expected to plan
the route in such
a way that they
should walk at
least for 30 minutes
to one hour so that
as many people on
the way get the message.

24. HOW MANY PEOPLE SHOULD JOIN IN THE WALK?
To make sure, there is a decent number of people join
for the walk, an incentive is announced in advance.
Whichever SCC group enlists at least 50 members are
awarded a cash prize. This strategy motivates the
members to enlist the
minimum members.
When the procession
reaches the church
premises, a head count is
done to see that the
enlisted nos are present. If each SCC gets 50 people,
and 10 SCCS participate, the total crowd will be 500!!

25. WHAT STAGE PROGRAMME DO YOU HAVE?
Each ECO kids group puts
up an awareness item on
environment like a skit,
street play, role play,
debate, PowerPoint
Presentation, Action song,
musical etc. Each group
has been allotted about 10/12 minutes. As there will
be a big number of audience, to ensure items put up
are of good quality, a rehearsal is taken few days
beforehand, and only the best items are chosen for
the rally day performance.

26. FOR WHICH ACTIVITY PRIZES AND CERIFICATES ARE
AWARDED?
The ECO KIDS group which
scores highest in overall points
is awarded with the
ROTATING TROPHY for the
BEST ECO KIDS CLUB of the year. Besides, as a
gesture of appreciation, a cash prize is given to the
top three ECO KIDS CLUBS. Also, the individual ECO
KIDS who stand top on various contests held
during the year are given the prizes and MERIT
AND APPRECIATION certificates.

27. WHAT IS THE APPRECIATION CERTIFICATE?
As an encouragement for ECO KIDS to attend the
monthly meetings regularly, and actively participate in
the activities, the ECO KIDS who get 100% attendance
for the monthly meetings
are given the GEM
APPRECIATION
CERTIFCATE. Also as a
gesture of appreciation,
the ECO KIDS fro 11th std
is also given an
Appreciation certificate
and a farewell gift.
For continuing as a member in the JOGESHWARI
ECO KIDS CLUB till 11th Std and actively
participating in various activities and programmes
connected with the environmental protection.

28. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF GIVING AN APPRECIATION
CERTIFICATE AND FAREWEL GIFT TO THE 11TH STD KIDS?
Normally ECO KIDS are expected to join in their 5th std
and serve as ECO KIDS for the
next 6 years. After 11th std
they have to leave the group
as now they are well groomed
to join other youth groups or
NGOs. Therefore, as an
appreciation for continuing in
the group for so many years the certificate and a gift is
given. This will also motivates younger ECO KIDS to
remain in the group till they finish 11th std.

29. A FINAL QUESTION – WHY DO YOU THINK ECO KIDS
MOVEMENT IS SO IMPORTANT?
Pope Francis in his recent
encyclical on environment
‘Laudato Si’ exhorts the
importance of caring for
the Mother Earth. If we
have to put into practice the
teachings of Pope, we need the help of kids. Kids are
more open to change than adults. Moreover the kids will
be the direct beneficiaries of a CLEAN AND GREEN EARTH
as they will live for many more years than the elders. This
is a good reason why all kids must be trained as the
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS !

30. WHAT ARE THE COMMANDMENTS FOR ECO-FRIENDLY LIVING
YOU SPOKE EARLIER:
YES THEY ARE:
1] Carry reusable bag (jute, cloth, thick
plastic) when you go for bazaar. Refuse to
take thin plastic bags.
2] Avoid using vehicles for short distance.
Instead walk.
3] Carry your own water bottle wherever
you go, and avoid buying mineral water.
4] Try to save cooking gas by avoiding heating food repeatedly.
Family can eat together and avoid heating food at different
times.
5] Avoid compulsive shopping. While shopping question yourself
– do I really need this item (cloth, utensil, gadget, furniture etc)

31. 6] Try to use the household items, gadgets etc till it becomes
completely useless (use it as long as possible).
7] Reduce, reuse, recycle – Reduce
means buy things only if it is really
needed. Reuse means, use things
which can be used repeatedly
(example - plates, glasses, spoons),
recycle means, instead of sending certain
items to the dumping grounds, sell them to the scrape dealers
who use the items for recycling purposes.
8] Segregate garbage into wet and dry. Dry waste can be sold to
scrape dealers. Wet waste can be used for composting.
9] Save water creatively – if possible avoid using washing machine
which takes lot of water, avoid big size toilet flushes or pour water
in the mug instead of pressing flush after each time you use the
toilet, recycle the water – example, after washing clothes, cleaner
water left out can be used for plants, washing floor/toilets etc.

32. 10] Save electricity by using energy saving bulbs.
Wherever possible make use of the natural light.
11] Do not discard papers without making full use of
the blank space. Example use both sides of the pages,
reuse envelopes for internal correspondence etc.
12] From time to time take the inventory of the things
lying at your home. Question
‘do I need these things’? Things
which are not used by you for
long can be donated to charitable
NGOs or needy families.
Courtesy: GEM E-NEWSLETTER

33. A QUESTION TO PONDER!