Pankhudi Foundation Blog

On 8-8-09 we had our first interaction session with the students in Light House School for Blind The students, as expected were not really in to attend another class after their hectic schedule in the first half. Obviously, who has ever liked extra classes?

There were 12 students from the 9th std initially, who were later joined by the 11th std girls making it a class of 18 students in all. There were 15 girls, out of which 4-5 were shy and did not open up while the rest were easy to strike a conversation with. There were only three boys, who were willing to open up but only when approached personally.

We started off by asking each of the students to introduce themselves while mentioning their name, where they come from and their favorite subject(preferably in English) While a few were shying out from speaking those few words of English, there were others who spoke quite confidently.

The class got me nostalgic as I thought of myr own school days. What struck me then was, I realized that there is absolutely nothing that made these kids different or not normal. There were the girls in the back benches who were giggling and making jokes. The front benchers talked but only in whispers and their self made sign language of nudging followed by giggling. The 11th std girls on the left were sitting comfortably and making their own judgments and remarks on what was going on then. The boys quietly sat and were probably thinking when will somebody talk something that actually makes some sense

The students had their own ambitions and had absolutely no problem sharing with us outsiders. Few of them wanted to become subject teachers, one of them a music teacher, one of them an air hostess and one of them even wanted to be a cricketer.

We discussed about what they wanted from us and how we could help them with it. One of the boys placed his concern about how he can improve his efficiency if he could use computers. He remarked that ideally he takes 3-4 minutes to write a sentence on paper. But, using a computer, he could write a sentence in around two minutes. Everyone really wanted to learn computers and were actually looking forward to it which is quite understandable. How do you any of us can survive if we are not allowed to access our lappy or desktop huh?

By the end of almost two hours, we were discussing about how we could adjust our sessions according to their convenience as they had their regular classes, their hobby class and their private tutions that needed their attention. We were relieved that almost everyone wanted to attend our teaching sessions We were thankful for they had very discreetly allowed us to enter their territory and help them meet their goals and ambitions. Now this feeling that we had….that of an accomplishment…was extraordinary

~Contributed by Anjita

Our volunteer base has expanded. Anjita (from Hyd Chapter), Sujit, Sumit Bhagat, D K Sahu and Sayantan (another bengali speaking member… ) joined us ever since we had the first meeting.

We tasted partial success at Lighthouse for the Blind, Kalighat. Amol, Anjita, Sumit, Sahu and Sayantan visited the school on 12th July. A positive response from the principal encouraged us more to probe into the situation. As we sensed scope for contribution, we decided to prepare a proposal for kind of activities we can perform there. We observed a lacking infrastructure and level of English and Computers teaching at the school. Even the kids we interacted with were highly enthusiastic and eager to learn.

Neeraj, Shashank, Devendra and Anjita visited the school again on 15th July to understand the detailed state of Computer and English facilities. Some snaps to give an idea.

Lab has only two computers but with braille printers

A glimpse of class room

Books printed on in-house printer

We found that the school has only two computers (good thing is that they ave braille printers). So we need to get more computers for the activity (Action Item!). Also kids can’t converse in English although they understand some of it. At present we have only two Bengali speaking volunteers so we need more local volunteers (Action Item!). There is enough space for conducting classes. A new building is also comping up and principal sir said the computer lab expansion plans can be carried out there.

We finished off the detailed proposal document in time on Saturday, 18th July and presented it to Principal sir at school who looked pleased at it.

Next!!! We wait for the approval due coming Friday and start the action. In the mean time we need to start working on other action items.

~Contributed by Neeraj

A new dawn is waiting for the first rays of sunlight to break.

Pankhudi Kolkata chapter is awaiting its first major initiative in the city of joy. And this is the beginning of reports about the action that has been happening in the background. Although the efforts to put together a chapter started some time back, the first major breakthrough happened when 6 of us (Neeraj, Anurag, Amol, Shashank, Devendra and Gaurav ) met on June 28th at Anurag’s place in Balleygunge. The agenda was to discuss the possibilities of initiatives in Kolkata. We discussed on various possibilities:

• Trying out a slum initiative like Pune, Mumbai and Delhi chapters
• Tying up with NGOs for Slum Initiative
• Divya Drishti initiative

Due to the lack of Bengali Speaking members (only Shashank knew Bengali), we shelved the slum initiative for the time being. Amol shared some valuable insights from his experiences at Pune chapter. Neeraj shared his experiences of Bangalore Chapter with Divya Drishti Initiative.

We decided to act on the list of schools for visually impaired that can be looked upon for starting Divya Drishti initiative in Kolkata.

It was time for action. What followed was continuous exchange of ideas, a welcoming inflow of volunteers, a failed visit and a series of visits that proved to be a silver lining for us as it stands today.

~Contributed by Neeraj

first meeting!!!

July 28th, 2006 at 10:59 am (Uncategorized)

the first meeting took place on the 24th of july…. comprised of 3ppl– soma, saikat & myself….

being the 1st meeting, we discussed abt wat we cud do here in calcutta…. there are loads of ngo-s which are doing good work for the betterment of the underpriviledged ppl….. i had got in touch with this lady, Mrs. Tapati Gupta, who’s part of this organisation called “Behala Naba Prayas”…. this is basically a school for the mentally & physically challenged children….. the children are taught to make handicrafts, which are then sold outside…… the proceeds are utilised for the betterment of the organisation….. however, these ppl are in dire need of funds….. they are also looking for proper outlets for channelling of the handicrafts………

we have decided to visit the school sometime next weekend….. we need to have a proper talk with the ppl out there before we take any action….. so, more updates after that meeting….

roopsha…