‘It blesseth him that gives and him that receives’ so said Shakespeare. How true it is of a good deed done to the society!
Udgam School celebrated the ‘Joy of Giving’ week with visits to an orphanage, blind girls’ school and an old age home.
One group of students visited the Mother Teresa Orphanage at Vadaj. The sisters who looked after the children narrated how they take care of them, look after their schooling and even prepare them for examination. Our students played with the children there and also had a look at the days-old and months-old babies. Soon the children got so attached to our girls that they wanted to come out with them! Our school donated milk powder and winter cream for the children. But our students came back with much more – they realized the value of their homes and families.
Another group went to the ‘Swarna Mandir’ Old Age Home at Bopal. The main motive was to sensitize the youngsters towards the issues that senior citizens face in the society. The inmates of the old age home shared their experiences with the students and offered invaluable lessons of life. The wizened old faces broke into smiles of sheer delight when the young ones offered them fruits and clothes and spent time talking with them. It was indeed a moving experience. The visit enabled the students to emerge from the cocoon of familiar territories and their own needs to reach out to the needs of others.
A third group consisting of girls went to the blind girl’ school at Memnagar. The school has about 200 girls studying from class 1 to 7. Firstly, our students and teachers took a round of the school. Then they joined them in their prayer. After that they did ‘garba’ with the girls while some of them sang and played the drums. Our students were amazed at the manner in which the girls went about doing their work, walking around the campus, going to their classrooms and even matching them step by step in their dance! Finally our students distributed chocolates to them.
By the end of the week, the students and staff were enriched with the ‘joy of giving’ experience.
