Model Village : Demonstration of Experiments

Model Village: Demonstration of Experiments

 With an intention of continuing its success in rural areas of Roorkee, the volunteers of Model Village cell of NSS, IIT ROORKEE organized free tuition classes in Bhangedi village on 29^th September, 2013 between 2:00 pm-4:00 pm.  The cell volunteers have been working rigorously in the areas of health, education, employment and awareness to ensure a healthy and progressive society. As a follow-up to the tremendous response received by the children in the last year, the cell has moved on to other areas of the village, thus stretching its reach over the entire village.

The teaching session was organized in a nearby temple. Students from all classes participated in the session with most of them being from the pre-primary and primary level. Around 80 students attended the session which was just double the number of their last turnout, thus depicting their great zeal and enthusiasm in shaping the future. They were divided into 20 groups each comprising of four members and mentored by one of our volunteers. The teaching session was followed by demonstration of some simple science experiments to the children. This not only increased the level of interaction between the volunteers and children but also brought about a better understanding of the subject. Later, assignments were distributed among the children to bring continuity in their studies.

The most remarkable feature of the session was that the number of girls was more than the boys. This shows the importance of education among the villagers who motivate their children irrationally towards studies, be it a boy or a girl. In a country such as India having poor literacy rate, what else could we expect from the villagers, having limited resources to their use. “I want to become a doctor”, said Vanshika, a student of fifth standard, with dreams in her glittering eyes. The journey which started last year from a small section of the village has now moved on to the entire village, thus creating more awareness and involving even greater participation. The feathers of Model Village are spreading day by day which are quite instrumental in making Bhangedi self-reliant and thereby achieving overall development.

Gender Sensitization Workshop

A workshop was organized by NSS, IIT Roorkee in co-ordination with ‘People For Parity’, an

 NGO, on 22nd  September 2013, with the noble aim of educating the “educated” mass of the society on the burning national issue of ‘Gender Discrimination and Female Empowerment’. Around 250 students registered for the workshop out of which 200 were able to attend it. Two sessions of the workshop were organized, first in morning from 9:30am to 12:30 in noon and the second in afternoon from 2:00pm to 5:00pm at the Yoga Hall, Saraswati Mandir in the campus. The event started with a formal introduction of “People For Parity” and then the attendees were divided in groups, each headed by two volunteers from the organization. In order to make students understand the message organizers wanted to convey, they divided

the entire time slot into various events which included group discussions, debates and fun games like Bomb-and-Shield, Bang!, Netaji-Swamiji-Gandhiji. Workshop started with Cross Introduction, where students were to introduce their partners after few minutes of private discussion followed by funny, interesting yet meaningful games. Thereafter, they showed evocative clips that displayed the gender disparity and female dilemmas prevalent in the contemporary society. Participants were encouraged to reflect upon these issues and to share instances from their life that linked to the issue closely. Next in the series were group discussions on various real-life situations that are faced by a typical woman of the Indian society. The students actively participated in these discussions and put forward their opinions which had sharp contrasts. In the end Dr. Smita Jha, Chief Program Coordinator NSS, delivered a vote of thanks and offered a memento to the coordinator of the NGO. The participants were full of zeal and enthusiasm and were looking forward for more such active workshops to be held from time to time. Best way to uplift the society is to make the society go through the various situations and let themselves decide what should be the remedial steps, and that was the driving force behind this organization that works for the cause of parity, for the humanity.

PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP

The NSS team of IIT Roorkee organized a guest lecture on personality development by Sri Sainath on 18th September in the New Lecture Hall Complex. Sri Sainath is a member of the Sri Sathya Sai Baba Trust that works for the welfare of the poor and the needy. The programme commenced with the welcome address by Animesh Sinha, Joint Secretary, NSS (Off Campus ). The event was graced by the presence of Mrs. Smita Jha, NSS Program Officer.
Sri Sainath addressed a packed audience on the leadership qualities required to develop one’s personality. Character, commitment, courage and humility are some important qualities a leader should possess. He said that the best leaders in the world were also excellent followers and understood the importance of listening. Also, good leaders are humble enough to seek help when needed. Sri Sainath emphasized on the difference between a good leader and a great leader. In his opinion, “A great leader is for himself while a good leader is for others.”He suggested the following steps to become a good leader-To be. To see. To do. To tell.

              In the course of the lecture, Sri Sainath informed the students about the Sri Sathya Sai Super Specialty Hospital. The hospital is a tertiary health care center

created to provide high quality medical care free of charge to all irrespective of caste, creed, religion, and financial status in an atmosphere of love and care.
               During the programme, Sri Sainath quizzed the students on their views on the presentation. The students participated enthusiastically in the question and answer session. Their thoughtful replies were appreciated by Sri Sainath. At the end, Sri Sainath tickled our minds with an interesting riddle. The take home message of the tale was –“What is visible to the eyes, may not be truth always. So we should not judge people according to what we see because there may be more to a situation than that meets the eye."
               Sri Sainath promised to grace the students again with his presence soon. Then the vote of thanks was given by Mrs. Smita Jha. She asked the students to try and inculcate the qualities of a leader in them because, indeed, they are the future leaders of the country. The personality development workshop turned out to be an enriching experience for all present.

Food Wastage Posters

FOOD WASTAGE POSTERS

An initiative against food wastage was taken by students of the Environment Cell, under National Service Scheme, IIT Roorkee. Students from all the cells made a noble contribution by making posters for the aforementioned. The sole objective was to make people realize on how much food gets thrown unused every year and how much do we deprive the underprivileged of their basic rights to food by wasting it.  

Malnutrition is a serious challenge for our country and avoiding wastage of food is the least we can do as fellow citizens. The posters were put up on the notice-boards of all Bhawans and several Departments. They served as an impetus to spread this noble message. The initiative under NSS was indeed a commendable attempt on part of our socio-ecological responsibility.