By Anshu Gupta | Founder-Director
Goonj’s School-to-school initiative addresses the crucial gaps in resource for thousands of children in remote villages and urban slums in India. The initiative seeks to achieve a holistic child development by channelizing urban underutilized materials from urban schools, by engaging them in different activities and implementing activities to enhance self-confidence and to sensitize the urban children towards their counterpart. The process not only teaches empathy and social consciousness to the urban school children, but also fulfills the basic needs of rural school children and instills a sense of dignity and confidence in them. Each of the school material is treated as a reward for the children’s participation in learning activities rather than an object of charity, to recognize and encourage their efforts in learning and behaviour like hygiene, attendance, discipline etc. Goonj’s recycled school kit (comprising bag, belt, water bottle, pouches, cap, scarf, ball, mat, etc.) to students as a reward for their participation. We also build libraries, computer centres, sports facilities and support other education institutions.
The initiative also recognizes the importance of parents and school engagement in children’s growth and wellbeing. It motivated the parents and children in Kadugupattu Primary School in Kancheepuram, (Tamil Nadu) to work on a waste land and convert it into a kitchen garden, which would add nutritious ingredients to their children’s lunch at the school. 32 children joyously joined in assisting their parents in the activity and were rewarded with carefully designed Goonj ‘School Kits’.
Another inspiring story came from Kongal village in Tamil Nadu, where students actively worked and came up with creative models for rain water harvesting, wind energy, and even went beyond text book contents to explore handicrafts and how to follow the traffic rules and regulations. This has made the whole activity all the more exciting as it created the platform to practically engage in interesting topics. The children’s active participation is recognized for their efforts with ‘School kits’ under the initiative. The activities resonates Goonj’s belief that every kid should be learn about dignity and confidence through hard work and sincerity.
This year we are planning to reach over 1 lakh children with school kits and other educational material.. We look forward to a commited group of individuals to take this initiative forward
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By Anshu Gupta | Founder director
By Anshu Gupta | Founder - Director
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