RADIUS SCHOOL INITIATIVE

This group focuses on enhancing the education of unprivileged children. The present plan is to adopt an institution of primary & secondary education where, we will carry out our activities on a weekly basis. The institution we have chosen is 'Devikarumari Amman Destitute Home', Anna Salai, Chennai. This home has under its wings around 80 destitute children, who are mainly children of gypsy construction workers. They have a school attached where the children are educated. The School is Government aided which means that the government pays for the salary of the staff while the South Indian Scheduled Tribes Welfare Association, that runs the home, pays for everything else. So, we plan on making fund raising for the children part of our agenda.

The first visit was on August 8th, 2009. A group of 15 Radius members spent around 2 hours with the children. As it was our first visit, the focus was on building a good relationship with the children. We did this by way of ice breaking session, Drawing competition and screening a movie. Prizes were distributed for the winners of the drawing competition and chocolates given to all the children. We also played with the children and took plenty of photos with them, which made them happy. What we noticed was that the children were extremely well behaved and receptive. All in all, the first visit inspired and encouraged us to work further for the children.

The second visit was on August 29th 2009. Due to various constraints, a smaller group of 5 Radius members could only be gathered for the visit which lasted for a duration of 1 ½ hours. The primary focus of this visit was to know the individual goals of the children and also promote general awareness among the children about the great leaders of our country. A game was also conducted to avoid boredom.

In the month of September, we plan to implement a proper system to make the school visits regular and hence, productive.

Herbert Hoover said, “Children are our most valuable natural resource”. We hope to take small yet sustainable steps towards tapping into this resource and making a long lasting impact on their lives.

-Silpa Paul and Mellwyn Joseph, Off campus and On campus Activities, LIBA Radius