It’s that time of year again when summer camps dot every second street of the city. But not every family has the luxury to enrol their children in summer camps.
J V Ratnam, environment enthusiast, is doing his bit to ensure every child in the city can step out of home and do something productive. He is conducting a free workshop to inculcate environmental awareness at Andhra University English Medium School among children, a majority whom are from families below the poverty line.
“Such activities really lift the spirit of the children,” he says and adds: “If we can teach the importance of protecting the environment at a young age, we can change our behaviour towards nature.”
Inclusive format
The participants are between five and 15 years of age. The inclusive format of the workshop welcomes even differently-abled children in the workshop.
Fifteen-year-old S K Sadatali says the workshop also gives a chance to interact with special children. “Here, everyone is equal,” he adds.
The workshop uses songs, dances and games to introduce the challenges that need to be addressed to save the environment.
The workshop is inspired from the Sodhana Charitable Trust’s pre-school teaching model.
It believes pre-school age is the most important stage of a student.
Founder of the trust PDK Rao says, “Some of the brightest students I’ve seen do not carry bags to school and are less than five years old.
The workshop is a great initiative towards providing a open learning environment.”
In groups of 15 and 20, children sing and dance together. Each group is led by a leader.
They receive six hours of training each day from the field experts of Sodhana Charitable Trust. Mr. Ratnam says, “In coming three years, we aim to take this form of education to other parts of Andhra Pradesh.”
Srivani Bhairi, one of the participants, says” “I see banners about separating waste in the city but only one dust-bin can be found in most places. Now I know why I should throw a biscuit wrapper in blue dust-bin.” The aim to teach without books seems to be on right track.
Pre-teen M. Rusomani Venkat, says, “Learning facts through fun activities has improved my memory.”
Rusomani spoke passionately about importance of planting trees and how he makes it a point to save seeds after eating fruits.
