OUTREACH

Under the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, students were caught in a tug-of-war between their safety and their growth. Six months into the pandemic, our gradual march back to normalcy was nowhere near, unlike everyone else's. I felt a responsibility to help improve students' educational experience in weaker communities. The social and logistical challenges of Covid-19, such as online learning, lack of interaction etc., were immense. With just a few tools at my disposal, I thought I could spread my love for writing and help others initiate an endless self-exploratory operation of expression. Hence, I approached Vidya School to initiate student group activities towards this effort.

We started interacting over video calls in small groups where we discussed each other's interests and opinions. After a slow start, everyone's guard came down, and our sessions became more engaging - we began to select themes and topics to match the choices and curiosities of the group. With this small effort, I initiated a non-academic, peer-led, extracurricular student group activity to create a holistic learning experience. The language and communication training reflected in their school work and the tangible outcomes, i.e., the newsletters, dramatically increased their confidence.

​

Over the course of our interactions, I also wanted to express my resonance with Vidya School's educational ideology by supporting their growth since I come from a family of educators myself. Hence, under Meri Awaaz, I have raised funds to procure furniture for the school's senior library. Moreover, with a greater lump sum saved in Vidya school's student fund, I aim to expand the school's potential to include more students into their future batches. In the long run, I envision this will exponentially increase India's contribution towards achieving SDG 4 by 2030.

Encouraged by the fundraiser's success, I also orchestrated a book-a-thon through which I collected 175 new to gently used fiction books for the Vidya School's senior school library. This book donation drive has contributed towards building a healthy environment for the present and the future where students can get lost in the magic of words.