Crafting dreams

I want to become a journalist when I grow up and I want to cover the plight of Dalits in our State and country,” says Myathari Archana, a Class IX student from Medak district, who participated in the summer camps organised by the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutes Society (TSWREIS) at Mahindra Hills in Secunderabad.

“My objective is to help the people hailing from the downtrodden communities and break the evil practice of casteism in our country. And, journalism will help me in achieving my goals,” adds Archana, whose eyes are filled dreams and determination. Archana hails from a poor background and her parents are agriculture labours in Medak district. She says that this camp has instilled confidence in her and she is hopeful for a better tomorrow.

“I want to become first Grand Master from Telangana,” says a beaming Praveen Kumar, a Class X student from Nizamabad district. Praveen, who has a keen interest in chess, and participated in the chess camp, says, “I am taking the chess camp for two years now and this camp has really helped my game and I am hopeful that I will bring accolades to TSWREIS and our State.”

Music, art, theatre, dance, sports - 21 different camps were conducted across Telangana as a part of TSWREIS’ summer welfare activities for underprivileged students. In addition to giving these children a first-hand exposure in niche areas of their interest, the endeavour also shaped their dreams for a better future

The Society provides education to children belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes hailing from the remotest parts of Telangana districts, where there is little to no access to quality education. During the summer vacation, it conducts special camps in various areas of interest at Social Welfare Schools.

A total of 21 camps were organised this year in which more than 15,000 students participated for 15 days. The camp concluded on a grand note on May 10 with selected students showcasing their talent at Lalitha Kala Thoranam. Several of the students from these camps went on to excel in their fields and compete at the national level, be it sports, yoga, mountaineering – talented students from society have an opportunity to hone their skills at the camp and showcase their talent at larger platforms.

“We started these camps three years ago with an objective to give children more exposure in their areas of interest across our institutes in Telangana. At our Mahindra Hills campus, we have ‘Music’, ‘Young Journalist’ and ‘Sports’ camps. Similarly, other institutes have different camps at their campuses. We send a circular to the other schools of Society and children opt for the one which sparks interest. And, the Society takes the student to the selected camp,” informs Vijayalakshmi Girirajan, principal, Mahindra Hills campus.

“These children are very enthusiastic and they have so much determination that they can scale mountains to achieve their dreams. Their zeal to usher a change in the society in immense and we are shaping them to realise their goals,” shares Prabhakar Choutia, a PhD research scholar from Osmania University who is happy conducting classes for journalism at the camp along with his colleagues.

“These children usually go back to villages during vacation and as they come from very poor families they either go to work with their parents or while away their time. We designed the camps in a way that it will tap their talent and mould them for the future,” informs Geetha Lakshmi, District Coordinator, TSWREIS.

The camps are segregated into four categories - Academic, Sports, Art & Craft and Personality Development. These again have sub-categories. “We have seen that these camps have helped children a lot in their academics also,” adds Geetha.“We have three levels at the camp – advanced, basic and beginners.

The students are trained by experts according to their level in order to increase their potential. After the sessions we conduct a competition for children in their respective level and distribute the prizes to the winners to boost their confidence,” informs Ram Lakshman, chess camp in-charge.

The TSWREIS camps are over for the year, but the waves of thought have touched these children and its ripples will reverberate in their lives in years to come; hopefully, lead them on to a life closer to what they dream it to be.

By:Navin Pivhal