July 2012

Going Home to Make a Difference Ting Sun is a Manufacturing Engineer at WesternGeco Oslo Technology Center in Norway. She wanted to volunteer at a SEED school. There weren’t any in Norway, but Ting didn’t let that stop her.  On a recent vacation to her native country of China, she gave a Fruit Power SEEDKIT workshop to 50 students and 3 teachers at Linji Middle School in Chengdu. “It was great fun!” she says.   Ting’s experience demonstrates the flexibility of SEEDKITS, which can be used at connected schools in the 43 SEED countries, or at any school around the world. Read more about Ting’s experience in her blog on PlanetSEED. Volunteer Ting Sun helps students demonstrate the lemon battery as part of her SEEDKIT workshop in China.   Teaching math =  fun 4 brazil volunteers For some SEED volunteers, math is more than puzzles on the Web site or the new math puzzle book. A volunteer group in Brazil has partnered with General Electric volunteers to provide math tutoring at SEED school Escola Municipal Tenente Antonio João, in Rio de Janiero.  “We mix classes and students, and have quite a lot of fun!” exclaims Alexandre Pépin, Stimulation Research Engineer with Oilfield Services in Rio. The group provides extra help, exercises, and older tests to practice with, for topics incluing geometry and algebra. It’s hard to say who’s having more fun: the students or the volunteers! Follow Alexandre and his team of volunteers on his blog as they help students advance their math skills.

india takes the lead

In the sport of cricket, a pinch hitter is the term for a batsman who is called up earlier than usual in the batting order to score quick runs. SEED in India has found its pinch hitter in Arindam Dutta. Since coming to bat as coordinator in July 2011, India has scored with a number of initiatives, inspiring the entire SEED community with its winning programs. With Dutta in charge and a team of dedicated volunteers behind him, India has opened three new schools, held three road safety workshops, honored a winner in the 2012 art competition, and attracted a partner to help with all these activities. A quarterly newsletter keeps everyone on top of all the goings-on. “Success lies in doing what we believe in,” says Dutta. He believes in giving back, and he believes in SEED.

Dutta joined SEED as a volunteer in May 2010. His first project was in June, establishing a library for a girls’ school in Assam. In 2011 he became the coordinator for India. Within one year, three new schools were connected in Nazira, Kakinada, and Barmer. The Nazira school was among those that participated in the 2012 SEED art competition. The winner from India, Rajashree, went on to place as a runner-up in the worldwide competition.

But the activities don’t stop there. Road safety is a serious issue in India, so Dutta has made road safety workshops a regular part of each school’s inauguration. At Bortola Higher Secondary School in Nazira, the road safety event included students and local traffic police, as well as drivers from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), and of course, Schlumberger volunteers. “We followed the workshop with a quiz,” Dutta adds, “to verify that we got our message through to everyone.”

There’s still more. In Barmer, a true partnership has developed with oil and gas exploration company Cairn Energy. Volunteers from both organizations held an interschool art competition, which included three SEED schools and two adopted by Cairn. SEED volunteer and Schlumberger Driving Champion Alageshan Lourdeswamy led two road safety workshops—one at a SEED school and one at a Cairn school.
Volunteers in India are very enthusiastic about all these developments. Says Accountant Sudipta Kumar Mazinder Baruah: “SEED lets us focus on the underserved students. Motivating them with technology, quizzes, art competitions, and road safety awareness projects will lead them to become responsible citizens in the future.”

At the recent inauguration of MBC Senior Secondary School in Barmer, WireLine Location Manager Sikander Siraj led an informal health and safety quiz and then distributed the art competition prizes for participants in last year’s program. Cairn provided a Science on Wheels van, which contained hundreds of experiments to further whet the students’ appetite for science.

Dutta is positive about the collaboration between SEED and Cairn, noting, “With this event, we have opened a chapter on social responsibility with our valued client Cairn. We hope to continue on this way.” For the teachers and students in India, this is a winning combination.

REACH OUT! SEEDLINK is published monthly. To learn more about SEED, visit www.planetseed.com. We invite your suggestions, feedback, news and questions at seed@planetseed.com.

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ABOUT SEED The Schlumberger Excellence in Educational Development (SEED) program is a global non-profit education program focused on students aged 10 to 18 in communities where Schlumberger people live and work. SEED offers a range of specialized learning tools delivered through a multilingual Web site, through face-to-face, experiential education workshops and through collaborative international projects. At the heart of SEED are our volunteers, who generously share their time, inspiration, knowledge and passion for science and learning.