Tanu Shree Singh sent us this lovely note about how her students shared a story with the kids from nearby slums.
Champions: Rashmi Azad, Bhawna Singla, Jyoti Sharma, Shivani Verma, Ritu Rai
Venue : Women Cell, Govt. College, Sector 14, Gurgaon
In Charge : Dr.Tanu Shree Singh
Session 10.30 to 12.00 : 20 children came for the session-Some were school going children of the college employees and some were street children from the nearby slums. The session started with Rashmi telling them the story of Paplu the Giant. The children were mesmerized by her story telling and enjoyed a lot. The story was interrupted by loud giggles and participation from the children. The colourful pictures of the book from the projector added to the wonderful story.
After the story session, the children shared what they liked the most about the story. Most of them found the idea of Paplu hiding in the forest after regaining his size, funny!
Then al children were given a pack of crayons and a sheet of paper to draw out their version of monsters. Most children drew everything but the giant! From flowers to icecreams to fruits - we saw them all. Jyoti, Shivani and Ritu helped the children figure out how to hold the crayons.
After that we asked the street children if they would like to study and most of them showed enthusiasm. It is sad that despite the facilities provided we still have children who want to study and parents who do not want to send them to school.
Through this session, we saw the power of stories in igniting the willingness to read and go to school. The twinkle in their eyes on seeing their art on the display-board was unmatched. We hope that this would ignite the dream of education in at least some of them.
Raveena, an 8 year old slum dweller usually spends her day begging and night getting beaten up by her mother. Today, she says, is the first time she has had fun and seen a pack of crayons. Every five minutes all she asked was, "Didi, will you take me to school?'
They went away after extracting a promise from us to teach them in the coming days. The session ended with refreshments for the children.
Now we are collaborating with the NSS arm of the college to rope in students to take classes for the school going children to help them with homework and have similar story sessions regularly. The street children, who showed up today again at the college gate, will be enrolled in the government school and will get to spend an hour at college after school to have similar story telling sessions and help with the school work. The art work still adorns our soft- board and brings smiles to our faces and also reminds of our promise that I will ensure is kept.
Thank you Tanu Shree, Rashmi Azad, Bhawna Singla, Jyoti Sharma, Shivani Verma, Ritu Rai for spreading the joy of reading!
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This International Literacy Day, Pratham Books has taken a 1000 steps towards a 'Reading India'What started as a small step by Pratham Books to spread the joy of reading has become a movement. Last year Pratham Books initiated the One Day-One Story initiative on the occasion of International Literacy Day and we conducted over 250 storytelling sessions. This year we are delighted that over a 1000 sessions are happening across the length and breadth of the country.We will be sharing the stories of all our champions through our blog.
This blog contains stories sent in by all our champions. Browse through the blog for more stories. You can also go through the tags on the right side of the blog to find stories happening in your own city.
Note : If any of you want to be a Pratham Books Champion and join us on our journey of getting 'a book in every child's hand', write to us at web(at)prathambooks(dot)org.
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