Doon Youth Centre » Ken

The last stretch- Gangotri

Ken — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:36:41 +0000

Yesterday my son left early morning to take on the last stretch of his “crossing India” bike ride. Asher, on a modified Trek 3900, has already done the major ride from Kanyakumari which took him 5 weeks and has 600 Kms yet to do as he goes up and back to Gangotri. No news till now but he is probably around Bhatwari with still 100Kms to go , all up!
It is getting cold but with the plan for taking just needed stops, he expects to be home in a few days. Thanks Mohit and Asher for raising the bar!

Growing pains? Not for Doon’s youngsters

Ken — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:25:27 +0000

This article was published in the Times of India Date: Aug 24, 2008 . Original post can be found here . Just in case you missed it

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Growing pains? Not for Doon’s youngsters

Youth centre set up by Canadian in Dehradun has become a place where teens can give expression to their angst Atul Sethi |TNN

Should one have expectations from friends? This is the subject of an animated group discussion among a bunch of teenagers, at the Doon Youth Centre, located in the heart of Dehradun, off Rajpur Road. The discussion is being moderated by Ken McRae — a tall bright-eyed Canadian, who has made India his home since the last three decades. Incidentally, the centre — a place where youngsters can come, share their problems and try to arrive at solutions — is the latest among a series of projects that McRae has been involved in, since he came to India.

But, to begin his story from the beginning, McRae was a restaurant manager working in Toronto when he decided to take a break and travel the world. It was the 1970s — the time of the backpacking hippies — a young McRae soon joined their ranks and backpacked around the world for three years. In 1974, while he was in India, he had, as he puts it, a major life-changing moment. A missionary doctor — who was planning to go to inaccessible villages near Dehradun to provide medical aid to villagers — wanted volunteers. McRae joined him. As he started working with the doctor, he realized that there was great joy in doing something for other people. “All my life, I had been a self-centred person. I now found that there was greater satisfaction in giving,” he recollects.

Soon, McRae relocated to India and began working with orphans. For many years, he ran a school near Mussoorie for orphan village kids. In the late ’90s however, another incident happened that changed the direction of his work. The incident was the suicide of four youngsters – aged between 16 to 20 — all of whom belonged to upper middle class families and lived in an affluent locality in Dehradun. “These suicides made me realise the kind of apathy our society showed towards the problems faced by kids, irrespective of their socio-economic background,” says McRae. This incident also became an impetus for him to probe the problems that made youngsters take the extreme step of ending their lives and resulted in the formation of the Doon Youth Centre.

“The centre has been positioned not just as a counselling centre, but as a place where the youth can hang out,” says McRae. Accordingly, it has a variety of indoor games like table tennis, chess, carrom etc as well as a small library. “The objective is to create an informal and friendly atmosphere, where youngsters can work out problems through discussions with their peers as well as mentors,” says McRae.

Incidentally, all the services in the centre are free, with the rent for the premises as well as overheads being paid for by McRae and his family through the workshops that they conduct at various schools. McRae has an interesting explanation on why they have kept no charges at the centre. “The feedback that most kids gave us was that if services were not free, their parents wouldn’t allow them to come. Instead, they’ll ask them – why go to a centre to talk; why not talk to us?”

What most parents don’t realise, says Mc Rae, is that today’s youngsters grapple with a lot of issues — moral, psychological as well as academic. “The core problem in our society is that the value of a child is seen in accordance with the marks that he or she gets,” he says. “When a kid is not stressed about peer pressure or other growing up issues, academics fall into place. But all we do is expect results from them.”

Although McRae and his family have been keeping alive their work with youngsters with their own resources for many years now, they are beginning to feel a funds crunch. “I would like to open more youth centres where there are multiple activities since there is currently a huge shortage of places where kids can go. But right now, I find it difficult to even pay rent for this centre,” he says.

Perhaps it’s time our society realises the need to support the work of individuals like McRae. For, as the saying goes: ‘Only if we understand youth today, can we hope to empower them tomorrow’.

NEW WAY: Canadian McRae feels marks shouldn’t be the yardstick for success

The unknown benefactor

Ken — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:06:44 +0000

Yesterday I spent the morning running back and forth to the bloodbank. No, I am well and yes, very well. The morning was not about me, but about Kishan, one of my boys at Sailakui. He just got diagnosed with Thalassemia. Unknown to you? Well it was to me except that I had seen the word before.

Thalassemia, “an abnormality causing anemia.” It means that a person just runs himself down with no inert ability to restore himself naturally through diet and good care. Blood transfusion becomes the only solution and that, a regularly needed solution! So, coming back to yesterday morning, running back and forth to the bloodbank, opened up a whole new understanding of where blood comes from. Okay, so I do know that it is produced in our bone marrow and that our body is constantly producing more all the time! But the BANK! is what amazed me. IMA BloodBank of Uttarakhand, is a service provided by the Indian Medical Association, the largest N.G.O. of our country.

I am there, in this huge big shiny new building feeling somewhat overwhelmed and insignificant. Have I brought enough money and would they have A+? I am very conscious of a desperate need of blood for one who is so close to me. I am in need of something which I can’t just buy in a shop. It is a precious commodity, one that is specific in it’s details and one that is not always available. The doctor reads the slip from the hospital and informs me that as Kishan is diagnosed with Thalassemia, his organisation would provide his needed supply free of cost! I feel tears welling up inside of me. Appreciation, surprise, disbeleif! Why would they do that for us? Who are the ones who gave it freely so that we can get it freely?

I used to donate often when I lived in Israel, especially during the war in 73. But, having had hepatitis many years ago bloodbanks refuse my donation making me dependent on their generousity and goodness. That I find difficult not wanting to be in someones debt, yet feeling incredibly in debt and thankful!

So I expect that I will become a regular vistor to the IMA, and I trust that I keep being thankful for every month that Kishan is able to leave his bed and go back to the football field because some unknown benefactor has given 30 minutes of their time to donate their life giving gift. Kishan gets blood and strength, I lose a morning but gain a new perspective on life and the value of another month.

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