A TRUE FRIEND

When trouble strikes a blow

Downwards when my spirits flow

My progress limps on very slow

And I find myself in dumps so low

Suddenly when I am at a dead end

A pat on my back says, be brave my friend

That pat is from my friend in need

A true friend who stands by me in trouble is a friend indeed………..

By: Farida Rizwan

DCS Course - A Brief Introduction

Many people ask me, "What is DCS Course?". I am giving here a brief introduction to the course which changed the course of my life. I have never been the same person after going through the course at Banjara Academy. I love the change....

My thirst for education was not quenched even after I gave up education. I kept looking for opportunities to learn something new. In Banjara Academy I found a course with a practical orientation---to understand, master, and practice the skills of psychological counselling at workplace, community, institutions, and in informal set ups. The course has been designed from many years of experience of people working in the field, and teaching counselling, and is conducted by a broad cross section of counsellors, psychologists, medical professionals, special educators, human resource experts, and wonderful human beings.

Managed by professionals, the course is tutored for even those who have not had prior theoretical knowledge of psychology, and is conducted with the explicit aim of empowering the students in the practical realm. A number of students have successfully completed the course since it was given a formal structure in 1999, and many more have benefitted from short term courses of the Academy.

This course highlights the philosophy that each person is unique in his or her own right; that given the right conditions each one has the ability to grow and develop; that learning is best achieved when the person takes responsibility and is willing to 'experience' a range of different skills.

The course helps those who wish to improve their own relationships and practice counselling in the following areas:

• Offices and factories
• Educational institutions
• Hospitals
• Nursing homes
• Women's or community organizations
• Old age homes
• Hospices
• De-addiction centres

The counsellors work with families, adolescents, youth and children, for marital harmony, or even informally in the community alongside busy medical professionals.

The program simultaneously nurtures personal growth and development by making one understand one's own strengths and weakness.

It has been one of the most amazing experience of my life. Mr. Ali Khwaja , Raja Reddy and other faculty at the Academy are the best people I have come across. 

About Banjara Academy

Aim To improve the quality of individual and family life.

Banjara Academy offers free counselling to individuals and families. It provides emotional support and counselling to children with disability, children in homes, and children in hospitals, along with their parents. It conducts training programmes for teachers and special educators, and workshops on effective parenting. It offers workshops, aptitude testing and career guidance for students. It runs short term counselling courses for lay people, and offers consultancy to educational institutions.

Improve your Parenting Skills

Towards Becoming Better Parents

When children are born, they are like blank slates on which their parents' help to script the beginnings of the stories of their lives. Every child grows up and ultimately charts his own destiny; his parents get to lay only the foundation.

For a job like typists, teacher, clerk or driver, people will train you and check your credentials before appointment. But parenting is always taken for granted and no one is ever checked out whether they are capable of becoming good parents or not. We mostly depend on our instincts when it comes to our children, whereas when we are cooking we would always consult someone who is better knowledgeable about it. It is time for a change now. In today’s world parenting cannot be taken for granted. We as the parents need help for the total development of our children...

The greatest asset and strength you have as a parent is your love for your Children, your concern for their well-being. You already have the skills of being a good parent; all you need to do is re-discover your full potential to help keep your children away from problem behaviours like smoking, addictions etc.

Once your child begins to talk, it’s not long before their questions follow. “Why is the milk white?” “Why is the sky blue? Those simple questions will soon give way to “What’s wrong with that man who is staring at us?” “Why should we not smoke cigarettes?” and “Why does grandmother cough so much?” Take advantage of this initial trust your child has in you.  Try to answer those questions so that someday you will come across serious questions where the guidance is required. Time will fly with kids around and soon the will be learning more and reach a stage where s/he will think you do not know anything much. That phase is not much far of, so build up the trust by making efforts to give honest answers which the child can grasp. Don’t tell things that the child will not be able to understand or handle. Once the child knows that you are taking him seriously and trying hard to answer all his/her questions he/she will sure come to you when something bothers them or they need advice because they know you take them seriously. They are more important than the TV serials, cooking, cleaning, surfing internet etc.

Being a good listener gives you insight into your children’s world– the sights and sounds that influence them every day. God has given clear indication of his intentions with the way he has made us. We have just one mouth which can be shut but two ears that are always open. Don’t hear what your children say; listen to them. Sometimes they may be just checking you out whether it is right for them to tell you something that is troubling them.

 For example: When the child says “This time around math paper was very tough and all kids are worried”. This could be just to see how you are going to respond if he tells you that he has done poorly in his math paper. Don’t put them off by getting over excited or scared when they reveal something to you. Do not ignore their friends or be-little them. Knowing their friends and activities also gives you a look into THEIR world, which is so different from what we are living in. When a child says that I want to wear the jeans like the one my friends have bought – don’t just chide him away saying only bad kids wear jeans. Children are smarter than that to take those silly words seriously. If they are in mood for an argument than you will have one on hand or else you will be written off as an ignorant fool in the subconscious Diary they keep inside them always.

Our children are precious, know them, love them and let them grow into amazing peaceful individuals.