RUBAROO CAMP
Education is the foundation of the country and every child has a right to quality education. Yet a huge disparity exists between a rich child and a poor child.
The recent Right to Education Act has opened up the doors of privileged schools to underprivileged children around the country, with 25% reservation for them. But the social barrier between the privileged and the underprivileged children will always be a concern during implementation of the reservation.
It has been observed that children from affluent families, going to privileged schools do not know what their counterparts in slums, going to Govt. schools are like. They see these children as maids, vehicle repairmen and cleaning guys, tea servers, etc. But little do
they know that these children form an indispensable segment of society, on which the affluent section of our society depends heavily.
In order to bridge this gap, and imbibe social sensitivity among privileged children, SWANS organized a joint camp in collaboration with Vasundhara, Aadhar, Eklavya and Prayas, for kids of prominent schools and children from slums and orphanages, called RUBAROO, the 2-day residential camp on 16th & 17th of April, in order to sensitize the privileged children and give them an opportunity to understand the underprivileged children while also giving the underprivileged children inspiration and confidence. This was the first residential camp held in Bhopal where both the privileged and the under-privileged children participated. The basic idea behind the camp was 'Interaction with 2 sections of the children' (as the name RUBAROO suggests.)
Camp Report-
RUBAROO camp was held by SWANS (SOCIAL WELFARE ASSOCIATION OF NEO- SOCIALITES) in association with Vasundhara, Eklavya, Aadhar and Prayas.at Vasundhara gardens, Hoshangabad Road, Bhopal
40 children from 5 prominent schools and 40 children from slums and orphanages through 3 NGOs participated in the camp. 30 Swans acted as facilitators.Participating schools were Delhi Public School, St. Joseph Co-ed School, St. Xaviers School, Campion School, St. Theresa School and St. Thomas School. Participating NGO’s were Parvarish The Museum School {OASiS},Nitya Seva and Ek Joot.
The children were divided into groups of 8, with 2 privileged boys, 2 under privileged boys, 2 privileged girls, and 2 under privileged girls. Each group was headed by 2 Swans - a boy and a girl. The Swans were there only to ensure that there is enough participation of the under-privileged and introvert children in all the group activities.
The venue, accommodation and lodging were very comfortable and welcoming for the children, facilitators and volunteers. The open lawns, surrounding greenery and calm environs, gave the participants a fresh breath of air, away from the maddening rush of the city. The calmness of the venue started vanishing with the arrival of the chirping children in the evening of 15th April, and by night, the entire place was buzzing with children running around everywhere, making new friends, and throwing playful challenges at each other.
Eklavya conducted fun-science and origami workshops at the camp to make the camp interesting and fun filled. Swans conducted group activities to break the social barriers between the privileged and under-privileged children.
The activities in the camp were closely monitored by a team of Psychologists from Aadhar Centre for Child Development and Psychological counselling to measure the impact of the camp.
.
15th APRIL (FRIDAY)
The children from the Schools and NGO's started arriving at the venue i.e at Vasundhara Gardens from 6pm onwards. There were total 80 children out of which 40 were privileged and the other 40 were under-privileged. They all gathered at the venue near about 7 pm. In order to collect relevant information a form was given to all the participants which was duly filled by all the participants with the help of their team members
The camp started with a round of introduction of the students and the volunteers and the division of the groups which was followed by the dinner. The students were then allotted their rooms. The room allotment was an interesting one. There were 10 rooms out if which 7 were completely allotted to the girls comprising both sections of girls that is privileged as well as the under-privileged. The boys were left over with three rooms in which about 15 of them were accommodated. The rest of the children were adjusted in the dormitory having leaning beds over the floor. The best part about it was that the boys from privileged schools were unexpectedly wanting to sleep in the dormitory so that the other section of the children could enjoy a fully facilitated room and a good sleep on cozy beds for at least a couple of days of their life which they rarely get to do. This was something which was really moving and which made the organizers feel like they have achieved some part of their motive within the first few hours of the camp.
16th APRIL (SATURDAY)
The next day started with a loud and unpleasing wakeup call by the volunteers. The children got fresh and were ready for the activities. It was a visual treat to see the children running to the ground for an exercise session in dazzling white t-shirts which were given to them the day before. The day started with a match of dodge ball between the boys and cricket match between the girls. It was then followed by the breakfast.
The first activity which was held in the camp was natural painting and logo making and also the naming of the groups. This activity was then followed by the second activity namely FUN SCIENCE which was held by the ‘EKLAVYA’ group. In this activity the students were shown different magic tricks and were explained how science played a role in these magic tricks. They were also made to do these tricks which the children relished and enjoyed a lot. The lunch break was interesting as the duties were divided to different groups to serve the food & take care of the kitchen part. They were made to sit on the floor and relish the food, which the students did with a lot of enthusiasm. The post lunch activity was the audio- visual round in which students were made to judge different films by their mute visuals and were made to sing the song which was shown in the visuals. After this activity there was a small break during which the students were served with glucose and other snacks to boost up their energies after the hectic sessions. After this, the students had a very interesting session of drama workshop and acting under the guidance of expert Sh Manoj Nayar. Then came the most interesting part of the camp ie. CULTURAL EVENING in which the children performed & showed their skills in different roles. Then we had the dinner. After that towards the end of the day there was a complete entertaining DJ night, where the students enjoyed to the fullest. After a tiring day all went to sleep to their respective places sorrowing that it was the last night of the camp and that the next night they would not be together.
17th APRIL (SUNDAY)
The last day started with fresh faces heading towards the ground. There was a cricket match followed by a soccer match which brought a unity among the children. Then after the breakfast there was a super interesting session of KITE MAKING by the different groups followed by the ORIGAMI session which was really awesome. This origami session was organized by EKLAVYA group again, which was followed by the recitation of the poem by one of the members of the group. This was followed by lunch. After that, the last round of activity i.e anthem making by the groups was held. They were given about 1 hour for preparation. Group Anthem presentation was the last activity of the day.
Then, the much awaited prize distribution was held. The list of awards given were: Best Smile, Most Creative, Most Interactive, Best Disciplined & Most Active child.
Then came the time of departure where the children bid bye to their fellows with the tears in their eyes. That was the time when the children requested the organizers to arrange such camps again as soon as possible. The children wanted the camp days to be extended more. That opened the eyes of many such parents who never thought that their children would enjoy such a camp where facilities were minimal the & only motto was a social responsibility among the children to share more & more with those who are deprived of all this.
Report by psychologists from Aadhar
Rubaroo was the 2 day residential camp on 16th and 17th of April organized by SWANS to sensitize the privileged children and give them opportunity to understand the under privileged children, while giving the underprivileged the inspiration and confidence. Total 80 children participated in the camp.
The analysis of entry form suggests that both the group of privileged and under privileged were very confused about the motive of the camp. Privileged children came to the camp to understand their counterparts, to know how they are different from each other and some of them wanted to step forward for social work; whereas Under privileged children were more interested in learning new things like dance, computer , painting etc. The list of all the motives is registered below.
At the very beginning all the children wanted to be in their own group in order to be more comfortable. But, as decided the children were divided into groups of 8, with 2-2 privileged /under privileged boys, 2-2 privileged /under privileged girls respectively. Each group was headed by 2 Swans - a boy and a girl. The Swans were there only to ensure that there is enough participation of the under-privileged and introvert children in all the group activities. They also recorded the behaviour patterns of each and every child of their own group.
It was observed that in the very beginning there was some gap between the groups. when rooms were allotted. It seemed very good at first instance that the boys from privileged schools were unexpectedly wanting to sleep in the dormitory so that the other section of the children could enjoy a fully facilitated room and a good sleep on cozy beds for at least a couple of days of their life which they rarely get to do. But when there behavior in other days were analyzed then it came into the light that their actual motive was to spend night with their friends and they were really hesitant in sleeping with the group which does not belong to them. Concern about hygiene was also a prominent factor which was observed. It has been observed that children from affluent families, going to privileged schools, do not know, what their counterparts in slums, going to Govt. schools are like. They see these children as maids, vehicle repair and cleaning guys, tea servers, etc. But little do they know that these children form an indispensable segment of society, on which the affluent section of our society depends heavily. ALTHOUGH ALL THE PARTICIPANTS WERE VERY MUCH KEEN TO KNOW EACH OTHER.
Next day started with the exercise session followed by natural painting . These sessions really worked wonderful in gelling them although some hesitation was also observed. Privileged children were passing the ball to their mates only may be with the thought that their counterparts will not be able to play the game with the pace they were playing. In natural painting they both participated actively. These sessions were followed by fun activities by members of Eklavya. They demonstrated some science activities in which children from both group participated .It was observed that some children from privileged group helped their counter parts in understanding the concepts whereas some of the underprivileged children were more interested in model making. During lunch time, each and every member actively participated in serving .
The post lunch activity was the audio- visual round in which students were made to judge different films by their mute visuals and were made to sing the song which was shown in the visuals. In this privileged children dominated the session, but they tried to take help of their counterparts.
After this students had a very interesting session of drama workshop and acting under the guidance of experts like ‘ Sh Manoj Nayar’. He demonstrated various skills used in drama. Then the task was given to each group to plan their own cultural event. In this active participation of privileged children was observed in planning, script writing whereas their counterparts followed instructions given to them and presented a wonderful cultural event, which ended up with complete entertaining DJ night, where the students enjoyed to the fullest.
The last day started with cricket match followed by a soccer match which brought unity among the children, by this time barrier between the two groups started resolving. Physical activities helped gelling better especially for the boys. This was followed by interesting session of KITE MAKING by the different groups followed by the ORIGAMI session which was really awesome. In this, opportunity was given to underprivileged children to show their abilities to their counterparts. They helped them in making beautiful kites. This origami session was organized by ‘EKLAVYA’ group. Group Anthem presentation was the last activity of the camp which showed the unity among the participants. At last also a post test was given to the children.
Feed back was taken at the end of the camp to evaluate the program as well as the camp. Very interesting findings came into light. Both the group enjoyed the camp very much. They felt the objectives of the camp were met at greater extent. The design and content of the entire program was well appreciated by both the groups. All the children felt the duration was short; it should be of 4 days or more.
Children also suggested that we should integrate under priviledged students in the school, but before that opportunity must be given to each and every student to attend such camps so that both the groups must be comfortable with each other and must understand that we all are alike, the only difference is due to our attitude towards this strata. This attitudinal change will occur only when we are rubaroo to each other.
The recent Right to Education Act has opened up the doors of privileged schools to underprivileged children around the country, with 25% reservation for them. But the social barrier between the privileged and the underprivileged children will always be a concern during implementation of the reservation.
It has been observed that children from affluent families, going to privileged schools do not know what their counterparts in slums, going to Govt. schools are like. They see these children as maids, vehicle repairmen and cleaning guys, tea servers, etc. But little do
they know that these children form an indispensable segment of society, on which the affluent section of our society depends heavily.
In order to bridge this gap, and imbibe social sensitivity among privileged children, SWANS organized a joint camp in collaboration with Vasundhara, Aadhar, Eklavya and Prayas, for kids of prominent schools and children from slums and orphanages, called RUBAROO, the 2-day residential camp on 16th & 17th of April, in order to sensitize the privileged children and give them an opportunity to understand the underprivileged children while also giving the underprivileged children inspiration and confidence. This was the first residential camp held in Bhopal where both the privileged and the under-privileged children participated. The basic idea behind the camp was 'Interaction with 2 sections of the children' (as the name RUBAROO suggests.)
Camp Report-
RUBAROO camp was held by SWANS (SOCIAL WELFARE ASSOCIATION OF NEO- SOCIALITES) in association with Vasundhara, Eklavya, Aadhar and Prayas.at Vasundhara gardens, Hoshangabad Road, Bhopal
40 children from 5 prominent schools and 40 children from slums and orphanages through 3 NGOs participated in the camp. 30 Swans acted as facilitators.Participating schools were Delhi Public School, St. Joseph Co-ed School, St. Xaviers School, Campion School, St. Theresa School and St. Thomas School. Participating NGO’s were Parvarish The Museum School {OASiS},Nitya Seva and Ek Joot.
The children were divided into groups of 8, with 2 privileged boys, 2 under privileged boys, 2 privileged girls, and 2 under privileged girls. Each group was headed by 2 Swans - a boy and a girl. The Swans were there only to ensure that there is enough participation of the under-privileged and introvert children in all the group activities.
The venue, accommodation and lodging were very comfortable and welcoming for the children, facilitators and volunteers. The open lawns, surrounding greenery and calm environs, gave the participants a fresh breath of air, away from the maddening rush of the city. The calmness of the venue started vanishing with the arrival of the chirping children in the evening of 15th April, and by night, the entire place was buzzing with children running around everywhere, making new friends, and throwing playful challenges at each other.
Eklavya conducted fun-science and origami workshops at the camp to make the camp interesting and fun filled. Swans conducted group activities to break the social barriers between the privileged and under-privileged children.
The activities in the camp were closely monitored by a team of Psychologists from Aadhar Centre for Child Development and Psychological counselling to measure the impact of the camp.
.
15th APRIL (FRIDAY)
The children from the Schools and NGO's started arriving at the venue i.e at Vasundhara Gardens from 6pm onwards. There were total 80 children out of which 40 were privileged and the other 40 were under-privileged. They all gathered at the venue near about 7 pm. In order to collect relevant information a form was given to all the participants which was duly filled by all the participants with the help of their team members
The camp started with a round of introduction of the students and the volunteers and the division of the groups which was followed by the dinner. The students were then allotted their rooms. The room allotment was an interesting one. There were 10 rooms out if which 7 were completely allotted to the girls comprising both sections of girls that is privileged as well as the under-privileged. The boys were left over with three rooms in which about 15 of them were accommodated. The rest of the children were adjusted in the dormitory having leaning beds over the floor. The best part about it was that the boys from privileged schools were unexpectedly wanting to sleep in the dormitory so that the other section of the children could enjoy a fully facilitated room and a good sleep on cozy beds for at least a couple of days of their life which they rarely get to do. This was something which was really moving and which made the organizers feel like they have achieved some part of their motive within the first few hours of the camp.
16th APRIL (SATURDAY)
The next day started with a loud and unpleasing wakeup call by the volunteers. The children got fresh and were ready for the activities. It was a visual treat to see the children running to the ground for an exercise session in dazzling white t-shirts which were given to them the day before. The day started with a match of dodge ball between the boys and cricket match between the girls. It was then followed by the breakfast.
The first activity which was held in the camp was natural painting and logo making and also the naming of the groups. This activity was then followed by the second activity namely FUN SCIENCE which was held by the ‘EKLAVYA’ group. In this activity the students were shown different magic tricks and were explained how science played a role in these magic tricks. They were also made to do these tricks which the children relished and enjoyed a lot. The lunch break was interesting as the duties were divided to different groups to serve the food & take care of the kitchen part. They were made to sit on the floor and relish the food, which the students did with a lot of enthusiasm. The post lunch activity was the audio- visual round in which students were made to judge different films by their mute visuals and were made to sing the song which was shown in the visuals. After this activity there was a small break during which the students were served with glucose and other snacks to boost up their energies after the hectic sessions. After this, the students had a very interesting session of drama workshop and acting under the guidance of expert Sh Manoj Nayar. Then came the most interesting part of the camp ie. CULTURAL EVENING in which the children performed & showed their skills in different roles. Then we had the dinner. After that towards the end of the day there was a complete entertaining DJ night, where the students enjoyed to the fullest. After a tiring day all went to sleep to their respective places sorrowing that it was the last night of the camp and that the next night they would not be together.
17th APRIL (SUNDAY)
The last day started with fresh faces heading towards the ground. There was a cricket match followed by a soccer match which brought a unity among the children. Then after the breakfast there was a super interesting session of KITE MAKING by the different groups followed by the ORIGAMI session which was really awesome. This origami session was organized by EKLAVYA group again, which was followed by the recitation of the poem by one of the members of the group. This was followed by lunch. After that, the last round of activity i.e anthem making by the groups was held. They were given about 1 hour for preparation. Group Anthem presentation was the last activity of the day.
Then, the much awaited prize distribution was held. The list of awards given were: Best Smile, Most Creative, Most Interactive, Best Disciplined & Most Active child.
Then came the time of departure where the children bid bye to their fellows with the tears in their eyes. That was the time when the children requested the organizers to arrange such camps again as soon as possible. The children wanted the camp days to be extended more. That opened the eyes of many such parents who never thought that their children would enjoy such a camp where facilities were minimal the & only motto was a social responsibility among the children to share more & more with those who are deprived of all this.
Report by psychologists from Aadhar
Rubaroo was the 2 day residential camp on 16th and 17th of April organized by SWANS to sensitize the privileged children and give them opportunity to understand the under privileged children, while giving the underprivileged the inspiration and confidence. Total 80 children participated in the camp.
The analysis of entry form suggests that both the group of privileged and under privileged were very confused about the motive of the camp. Privileged children came to the camp to understand their counterparts, to know how they are different from each other and some of them wanted to step forward for social work; whereas Under privileged children were more interested in learning new things like dance, computer , painting etc. The list of all the motives is registered below.
At the very beginning all the children wanted to be in their own group in order to be more comfortable. But, as decided the children were divided into groups of 8, with 2-2 privileged /under privileged boys, 2-2 privileged /under privileged girls respectively. Each group was headed by 2 Swans - a boy and a girl. The Swans were there only to ensure that there is enough participation of the under-privileged and introvert children in all the group activities. They also recorded the behaviour patterns of each and every child of their own group.
It was observed that in the very beginning there was some gap between the groups. when rooms were allotted. It seemed very good at first instance that the boys from privileged schools were unexpectedly wanting to sleep in the dormitory so that the other section of the children could enjoy a fully facilitated room and a good sleep on cozy beds for at least a couple of days of their life which they rarely get to do. But when there behavior in other days were analyzed then it came into the light that their actual motive was to spend night with their friends and they were really hesitant in sleeping with the group which does not belong to them. Concern about hygiene was also a prominent factor which was observed. It has been observed that children from affluent families, going to privileged schools, do not know, what their counterparts in slums, going to Govt. schools are like. They see these children as maids, vehicle repair and cleaning guys, tea servers, etc. But little do they know that these children form an indispensable segment of society, on which the affluent section of our society depends heavily. ALTHOUGH ALL THE PARTICIPANTS WERE VERY MUCH KEEN TO KNOW EACH OTHER.
Next day started with the exercise session followed by natural painting . These sessions really worked wonderful in gelling them although some hesitation was also observed. Privileged children were passing the ball to their mates only may be with the thought that their counterparts will not be able to play the game with the pace they were playing. In natural painting they both participated actively. These sessions were followed by fun activities by members of Eklavya. They demonstrated some science activities in which children from both group participated .It was observed that some children from privileged group helped their counter parts in understanding the concepts whereas some of the underprivileged children were more interested in model making. During lunch time, each and every member actively participated in serving .
The post lunch activity was the audio- visual round in which students were made to judge different films by their mute visuals and were made to sing the song which was shown in the visuals. In this privileged children dominated the session, but they tried to take help of their counterparts.
After this students had a very interesting session of drama workshop and acting under the guidance of experts like ‘ Sh Manoj Nayar’. He demonstrated various skills used in drama. Then the task was given to each group to plan their own cultural event. In this active participation of privileged children was observed in planning, script writing whereas their counterparts followed instructions given to them and presented a wonderful cultural event, which ended up with complete entertaining DJ night, where the students enjoyed to the fullest.
The last day started with cricket match followed by a soccer match which brought unity among the children, by this time barrier between the two groups started resolving. Physical activities helped gelling better especially for the boys. This was followed by interesting session of KITE MAKING by the different groups followed by the ORIGAMI session which was really awesome. In this, opportunity was given to underprivileged children to show their abilities to their counterparts. They helped them in making beautiful kites. This origami session was organized by ‘EKLAVYA’ group. Group Anthem presentation was the last activity of the camp which showed the unity among the participants. At last also a post test was given to the children.
Feed back was taken at the end of the camp to evaluate the program as well as the camp. Very interesting findings came into light. Both the group enjoyed the camp very much. They felt the objectives of the camp were met at greater extent. The design and content of the entire program was well appreciated by both the groups. All the children felt the duration was short; it should be of 4 days or more.
Children also suggested that we should integrate under priviledged students in the school, but before that opportunity must be given to each and every student to attend such camps so that both the groups must be comfortable with each other and must understand that we all are alike, the only difference is due to our attitude towards this strata. This attitudinal change will occur only when we are rubaroo to each other.