PABAM magazine

The MCF’s Quarterly magazine, PABAM, has now been publishing continuously for 20 years. It serves as the MCF’s most powerful tool for connecting, inspiring and staying in touch with thousands of young people spread across far flung villages throughout Uttarakhand.

For example, when the MCF team started talking about sanitation in the slum areas of Dehradun and in Pithoragarh and Udham Singh Nagar districts, they used the stories in PABAM as examples for both children and adults. Because these were printed, they carried more weight in the community.

Seeing their experiences in print has also proved to be a powerful motivating and community-building force: after the panchayat elections, the children of the 16 village bal sangathans in the MCF CRY program officially welcomed the newly elected pradhans (heads of the village panchayat) with cards and flowers. This was written up in PABAM and established a strong bond between the children and the pradhans.

We have been able to continue publication of PABAM over the last year, thanks to the generous support of a donor who has asked to remain anonymous. Because of his continued support, we should be able to publish the magazine through the coming year. But because it is a magazine, it can only be funded with monies from India, so it is essential that we continue to find stable sources of revenue within India to support this important work.

 The magazine is the heart and voice of the MCF, documenting the journey of this organization and the thousands of mountain children—some now adults—who comprise it. Each issue also includes a quiz at the end. It is generally focuses on Uttarakhand and has proven to be very popular both with children and adults.

Over the past year, PABAM has been a great too helping us reach out to the new communities in Vikas Nagar Dehradu, Maldevta Deharadun and Chamoli Ghat . When Children in different villages read and see what their contemporaries are doing, the idea soon catches on.