Bridging barriers

Speaking more about the camp,Pratap Gaikwad,chairperson of the trust says,“One of the main things that we wanted to do when we started out was that to ensure that we worked towards the development of these children from the rural part of the state. We used to have camps like these for the children in Dhanu earlier on but this is the first time that these children will be coming to Pune and having a camp here.”

“The camp,which began on May 3 will go on till May 10. It is being conducted at Seth Dagdu Ram Kataria High School,in Gultekdi. Instead of making it a normal summer camp,we have experts on various fields coming in here to teach these children. In addition to the 300 children we will also have 50 teachers and other volunteers from our trust accompanying them. In addition to this members from other NGO’s will also be helping us. Another notable fact of the camp is that since most of the children are very poor and cannot afford to pay much the camp is conducted free every year for them,” he adds.

Children are being trained in drawing,music,craft,computer,rangoli,yoga,Barchi-Lazim,Zaanj,aerobics,pottery mehendi and also gardening. Explaining more about the activities Gaikwad says,“When we were doing a comparison study about children in the rural and urban areas,we realised that some of the problems children there face is the unavailability of such facilities,or someone to teach them such art. With such summer camps,the tribal children can also experience the simple joys associated with being a child and following their heart. In addition to these activities they will also have various sports competitions and sightseeing sessions wherein they will be taken to various historic landmarks in the city and told about their cultural and historical importance.”

About holding the camp in Pune he says,“The reason why we chose the city of Pune was because we want the urban and the rural population to interact with each other so that this feeling of inferiority that the children in the rural areas develop goes away and they become more confident. Also we want the urban people to understand the problems and the simplicity of the rural folk and help them come up and at the same time appreciate their simplicity and respect them for it. The only way this will happen is when the two cultures interact with each other to exchange their ideas and thoughts.”

On future plans “Yes we definitely plan to hold more such camps in Pune and other cities in the state. But more than organising these camps what we really want is the participation of the urban population to help their rural counterparts to become confident in life. If we can succeed in boosting the confidence and nursing the simple virtues that these children possess with help from the city folks then I think we will truly be on the road to progress. Camps like these might be just a small effort,but it’s an effort nevertheless and that’s more important,” he says.