Connecting with the Community - Building bridges!
“Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression”
- Haim Ginott
Shikshantar’s work with children helps us see the divine in each child. We look forward to touching the lives of children from different age groups, cultures, languages and economic backgrounds in every way we can. Our social responsibility programme sees us interact with children from different organisations and schools from time to time.
Recently, we facilitated an interactive session with the children of Nav Abhiyan at our Registered office-28, Jor Bagh, New Delhi 110003, engaging them through songs, art and a story-telling session.
The little ones aged 3 to 5 years old were accompanied by their teachers and were excited to visit a new place. The tone for the morning’s engagement was set by chanting ‘Om’ and singing ‘शांति शांति आ जाओ...’. Action songs like ‘एक एक एक बनते अनेक...’, ‘ मगरमच्छ की आँखों से ...’, ‘रे म मा रे म मा रे...’ sung to the accompaniment of a harmonium and guitar, which drew all of them in. While some children were fascinated by the musical instruments, others showed an interest in singing more songs.
Settling down to a story narration of the book ‘Big red bath’ had the children glued to the spot, especially when the magical bath tub of Ben and Bella with all the animals in it flew across the city and globe. Seeing the animal pictures and their movement brightened the children’s eyes, leading them to enthusiastically engage in making a rocking animal toy for themselves using the art material given to them. “मैंने rabbit बनाया”, “मैंने चिड़िया बनाई ”, “मेरे rabbit का नाम बिल्ली है ”... their thoughts flew freely when they shared their toys with Minoti Didi.
After an immersive and interactive experience, the children themselves suggested singing the song ‘शांति शांति आ जाओ, मेरे हाथों में पैरों में आओ ...’ again, showing their connection with the feeling of calmness that the song evoked in them.
As the morning ended, wish lists of Tamil/Malayalam songs were noted down for future interactions. It was a satisfying day for the Shikshantar team with promises made for future engagements.