Transform childhoods of 300 slum children in India

The session started with a friendly introduction among the girls. Each girl introduced herself by her name and a movement with it which the other girls mimicked. It created a lot of laughter among the girls. 

After the introduction the girls where handed out balloons. They were asked to blow it and dance to the music with it using different body parts like hands, legs, hips etc. The motive was to make sure the balloon did not touch the ground. They then did this in groups of 2 and 4. The energy in the room was high during this part of the session.

 After this blood pumping activity the girls were made to sit in a circle and were asked to discuss how they are feeling. Most of them used words like happy, joyful and stress-free to describe it. The topic of stress brought in the discussion of disappointment and the feeling of sadness. The girls went on to describe the various ways and reasons why they feel pain in their daily lives. 

The facilitator then went on to discuss what the program was about and the basic rules and values that will govern the upcoming sessions. The facilitator insisted on a ritual that should be followed at the beginning and end of the session. After an interactive planning among the girls they came up with a few steps to be performed as ritual. 

At the end of the session the girls we asked to meditate and concentrate on the present away from the distractions. There was even soothing music which created a relaxed atmosphere. This brought us to the end of the session which ended with the ritual the girls had decided on. 

Overall the session was a stress reliever and helped give an idea of how the future ones would look like. It was further decided the next session would be held on the following Sunday from 3pm to 5pm.