As AIESEC Chennai ushered in the second week of their five-week-long project, they had a lot of new learning experiences and we are happy to say the second week was successfully completed as well. The two NGOs that they worked with in this week were Home for Poor Children and Sacred Heart’s Convent. A total of 133 girls participated in Project Footprints this week. Around 20 volunteers and worked with the children this week. However, for AIESEC Chennai, this was a task which was a little difficult because the girls from Sacred Heart’s Convent were an energetic and restless bunch. The volunteers gave it their all to deal with them in a patient manner. In contrast to this, the girls from Home for Poor Children were extremely docile, a little reserved and very obedient. This definitely was a great learning experience for the organizing team.
Here’s how the week progressed:
Day 1: Cultural exposure
The volunteers had planned a lot of activities themselves which involved material like dough, paper and so on. Seeing the girls from Sacred Hearts Convent being in a hurry to do a lot of things, the volunteers realized that they would need different methods to calm these children down and engage them in all the activities. The day was a little difficult but the volunteers managed to complete their tasks successfully. The first day’s experience helped in making the other days easier to handle.
Day 2: Free eye check-up at Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, Chennai
This was a day which involved a lot of procedural activities at the above-mentioned hospital. All the children were given individual care and attention, remedies were mentioned and the hospital will even provide treatment to the girls who were diagnosed with ailments.
Day 3: Health and hygiene
For this day, the volunteers made the children sit down and with the use of a projector (which fancied a lot of the children), showed them a lot of pictures and relevant videos pertaining to health and hygiene. Concerns about the environment were also discussed with interactive sessions pertaining to natural resources and their conservation.
Day 4: Resource person visit
The girls from Home for Poor Children were paid a visit by Dr.Venkatraman, a senior neurologist and renowned doctor who spoke to them about various issues which they needed to speak about. The girls enhanced their knowledge about a lot of health concerns. A mime artist spoke to the children at Sacred Heart’s Convent about his work, various plays and so on. In an animated manner, he spoke to the children and got them engaged through various videos and photos as well.
Day 5: Arts and crafts
The children were asked to draw their dream. We think this is a beautiful concept. A lot of children drew wonderfully and showcased their dreams and ambitions through this medium. A big thumbs-up to the organizing team for thinking of a theme such as this. This day was also a prep for the upcoming Balakalakaar event which will see the culmination of this project.
The mix of children that the team worked with in this week truly gave them a wonderful experience. The environment at Home for Poor Children made room for the intimate conversations and interactive sessions that the children had with the volunteers. This NGO also thanked AIESEC Chennai for their initiative since the girls were all Urdu-speaking, reserved in their behaviour and not exposed to the activities they were a part of in this week. Well, we congratulate the organizing team again and look forward to a successful third week of this project as well.
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AIESEC Chennai is looking for volunteers through their M.A.D. Campaign. For the main event, Balakalakaar, the organizing team will require a lot of help. Register here to volunteer in any capacity that you can. Do support this project through Facebook and Twitter as well.
