Leadership work in small groups
Pig breeding project
Project management group work
Project management workshop led by Alex
Showing posts with label volunteering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label volunteering. Show all posts
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Volunteer Spotlight: Neetu Soniya Sharma
At The Great Generation volunteers come from all backgrounds, with different interests & experiences, and with a passion to make change happen! In September 2009, a group of volunteers teamed up with The Great Generation to collaborate on a community development 'Arts' project in India for disadvantaged children. Neetu Soniya Sharma, one of the volunteers, talks about her experience and why she found it so rewarding.
In 2009 I decided I wanted to do charity work in India as part of my CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). I realised that I did not know much about India, nor did I have a contacts base there so I found myself exploring unknown territory.
Then one day as I logged onto Facebook, a thought came to my mind to search for voluntary organisations working in India, and that's when I discovered 'The Great Generation'. I was amazed to find out that they offer a whole range of volunteering opportunities in India and Africa and as I looked more closely I saw that that they had an upcoming arts based project working with disadvantaged children at a day centre in New Delhi, India. I decided to register for the project and was invited to attend regular briefing sessions where I had the opportunity to meet the other volunteers. In our discussions and brainstorming, I suggested the idea of teaching the children about the world map through a range of creative assignments - these were then, along with many other ideas, written up to be implemented in India. Upon arrival at the project in India I was overwhelmed by the innocence of the children - some of whom were orphaned and/or disabled. Every day started at 8:30am and finished at 4pm - just like a regular job. As I was with these children everyday, it became easy to begin to understand their needs, their challenges - as well as their dreams.
One child in particular caught my eye - she was Megha, a little 11 year old girl who had cerebral palsy and so she was not able to easily coordinate her movements. During the first few days - I noticed that when all the children were singing and dancing, Megha had great difficulty and very little support. At that moment, I felt that she was for me to look after and so, everyday I lifted her and gave her support as she tried to get up and walk. I stood behind her as she danced and sang at her pace. Megha's confidence in herself started to become more visible - she started to feel part of the group, felt involved and she was happy.
How do I know this?
One morning that week she began to cry and I got very worried. I asked her what was the matter and she gave me a huge smile with tears rolling down her face and told me she was happy! She then said she wanted to go to the toilet and I said ok, and whilst I was standing in the courtyard she went to the window inside the building and knocked on it to get my attention, I looked at her and she pressed a kiss on the window to me. That is a feeling millions would treasure and I achieved it!
To be touched by a child like Megha is a privilege, an inspiration and an honour.
I am very grateful to the Great Generation for providing me with the opportunity to experience this. It happened to me and it could happen to you, to experience and really understand something like this, you will just have to DO IT!
Friday, 15 May 2009
Volunteer on the Uganda project speaks about her understanding of poverty...
How would you define poverty?
Absolute poverty is a shortage of food, shelter and drinking water. I would also consider the lack of access to education and employment and subsequent social exclusion as poverty.
There is also relative poverty which is defined by social standards and compares people in a particular society in terms of access to goods and services - people excluded from these goods and services for financial reasons can be said to be poor relative to other members of their society. This is not the same as absolute poverty but it is still an issue.
How would you describe your emotions the first time you experience poverty?
I was quite shocked to see images that had previously existed only on television brought to life. The hardest thing was the scale of poverty which you can't grasp until you visit a poverty stricken area in person. Once I had recovered from the shock of seeing how people lived, I was actually amazed at how positive they were - nobody I met was wallowing in self-pity, they were incredibly generous with the little that they had and I was left feeling deeply humbled.
What is the most shocking aspect of poverty you have experienced?
Teaching slum children in the Primary School in Mombasa who do not get regular meals at home was shocking. They were given beans at lunchtime at school, but trying to teach them on a Monday morning was hopeless as many of them hadn't eaten all weekend. One day I threw away the skin from a quarter of a mango that I had eaten, and one of the children picked it up and started eating the tiny bit of flesh still left on the skin. It was deeply shocking that she was so hungry, that I felt I had been quick to throw something away, and ultimately that there was nothing I could do there and then to solve the underlying poverty affecting these children.
What was the most enlightening aspect of poverty you have experienced?
The most enlightening thing on both of my projects in Kenya and Uganda was that the people I met never defined themselves as 'poverty stricken' or 'living in absolute poverty' - this is a label attached to them by the western world. These people are just getting on with their lives, and their dedication, generosity and willingness to help each other is breathtaking. Every one of the children at the primary school I support in Mombasa works incredibly hard in all their lessons, and they all have dreams of being doctors, lawyers, pilots and many other things! To them, education is everything and generally they are happy and positive despite what I perceive to be their challenging circumstances. Likewise in Uganda I met people who had literally given their lives to helping others when from a western perspective they were 'living in poverty' themselves. The most enlightening aspect for me is that these people are not looking for pity or handouts, they are incredibly grateful for my support, but they want to work alongside me and achieve their dreams in their own way with a little help from people like me - that gives me so much more confidence in what we can achieve in the future.
Absolute poverty is a shortage of food, shelter and drinking water. I would also consider the lack of access to education and employment and subsequent social exclusion as poverty.
There is also relative poverty which is defined by social standards and compares people in a particular society in terms of access to goods and services - people excluded from these goods and services for financial reasons can be said to be poor relative to other members of their society. This is not the same as absolute poverty but it is still an issue.
How would you describe your emotions the first time you experience poverty?
I was quite shocked to see images that had previously existed only on television brought to life. The hardest thing was the scale of poverty which you can't grasp until you visit a poverty stricken area in person. Once I had recovered from the shock of seeing how people lived, I was actually amazed at how positive they were - nobody I met was wallowing in self-pity, they were incredibly generous with the little that they had and I was left feeling deeply humbled.
What is the most shocking aspect of poverty you have experienced?
Teaching slum children in the Primary School in Mombasa who do not get regular meals at home was shocking. They were given beans at lunchtime at school, but trying to teach them on a Monday morning was hopeless as many of them hadn't eaten all weekend. One day I threw away the skin from a quarter of a mango that I had eaten, and one of the children picked it up and started eating the tiny bit of flesh still left on the skin. It was deeply shocking that she was so hungry, that I felt I had been quick to throw something away, and ultimately that there was nothing I could do there and then to solve the underlying poverty affecting these children.
What was the most enlightening aspect of poverty you have experienced?
The most enlightening thing on both of my projects in Kenya and Uganda was that the people I met never defined themselves as 'poverty stricken' or 'living in absolute poverty' - this is a label attached to them by the western world. These people are just getting on with their lives, and their dedication, generosity and willingness to help each other is breathtaking. Every one of the children at the primary school I support in Mombasa works incredibly hard in all their lessons, and they all have dreams of being doctors, lawyers, pilots and many other things! To them, education is everything and generally they are happy and positive despite what I perceive to be their challenging circumstances. Likewise in Uganda I met people who had literally given their lives to helping others when from a western perspective they were 'living in poverty' themselves. The most enlightening aspect for me is that these people are not looking for pity or handouts, they are incredibly grateful for my support, but they want to work alongside me and achieve their dreams in their own way with a little help from people like me - that gives me so much more confidence in what we can achieve in the future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)