NGO- Voice Of World
At one of the girl’s homes supported by the NGO ( above)
Performance for us when we first arrived ( below)
Our time spent at Voice of World was a humbling experience as it was reciprocal- we were given the opportunity to teach the differently-abled children dance whilst we got to learn dance and arts/craft from them. We also needed to interview different stakeholders in VOW to compile it together. This involved a high degree of self-management in having to choreograph the dance ahead of time, be prepared to improvise in case of any changes and prepare appropriate interview questions in advance. (LO1) I demonstrated engagement in an issue of global significance- there is often a stigma associated with the differently-abled and thus on a local scale basis, I was able to approach my participation in the NGO with a mindset that there is no difference between us and them. (LO6) Our opportunity to learn BRAIL stands out distinctively as we were given a hands-on exposure on how those with visual disabilities acquire literacy and mathematical skills.
However, it could have been more effective if our BRAIL learning was split into several days with shorter sessions as we would be have been able to hone our skills day by day and at the same time not be overwhelmed by it( since it was completely new to us). The teacher guidance was especially helpful when we were able to receive more individualised help since at first, it was quite difficult to understand. ( LO2) Perhaps an improvement for next time is that our group of six could have split up with some of us teaching the dance/ interacting with the children, and the others learning BRAIL. This way we could have received more individual help from the BRAIL instructors.
We were grateful to be able to install the appropriate software to the technological devices donated by us. I was touched by the warm hospitality by everyone at VOW- be it staff, teachers or the children. Ms Gargi Gupta, the founder of VOW, is a recipient of the Nari Shakti Puruskar( highest civilian award for females in India) by the President of India. She is an inspiration to me for all of my social service endeavours to come. This is a factor which has enabled me to show perseverance and commitment in catering to those in VOW, despite the hardships I faced at first in developing a relationship with them.
Tanusree Dance Academy
My involvement in the Tanusree Dance Academy in Kolkata was met with major anxiety at the start. I have had minimal experience in dance during the past few years. Many of the other students had a background or past experience in dance which made me reluctant to participate in the creative activity and made me doubtful of how much I would be able to get out of the sessions. The dance in itself was unique as it was a fusion of Indian traditional dance and dances from other countries. Irrespective of the insecurity and challenge I felt when participating in this dance activity, I tried to look at it positively as the two teacher assistants played a huge role in lowering the challenge and anxiety I felt. (LO2) They came to me individually and taught me the dance steps I was finding challenging and relentlessly tried to encourage me.
