Across the Road

Across the Road is a service program in which children from a neighborhood in Kalina come once a week to our school. The children are from different schools and they are of ages seven to sixteen. Since most of them attend school on a regular basis, we try to teach them important life skills and re-enforce what they learn in school through fun, engaging activities. We spent our initial sessions brainstorming and drafting a detailed plan before commencing the activity. While we all had different idea about what we should teach them, we eventually decided to integrate all of these into new lessons every week. We taught them various subjects through games to make learning fun for them; for example, playing dog and the bone with math equations. We also took them to the chemistry laboratory, which greatly increased their interest in science as they were exposed to a completely different side of it in a real-life setting.

This year, we also choreographed a dance for them on Bollywood songs, which they could perform at the DAIS Fete. The girls especially, really enjoyed dancing and they performed beautifully! The experience that we've had with these children has been truly very humbling. Their families have to work day in and day out and the children themselves have to do various household chores to support them. What we consider a necessity, something as basic as a laboratory, is something they've barely heard of. In spite of everything, the children have always had a big smile on their faces.

They're outspoken, enthusiastic and passionate individuals. Their vibe and energy is truly refreshing. It is not possible to summarize our entire experience here, because we've learnt things that have given us whole new perspectives on every situation we face. I speak for all of us when I say that being a part of this was a fabulous experiences.