Guwahati – A group of university students in northeast India are lending their time and talent by organizing Community Self Help Week during which they raise funds to help educate poor neighbourhood children.
The Vice-Chancellor of Assam Don Bosco University (ADBU) Dr Stephen Mavely and Prof. D.K. Bhattacharjee of Computer Science Department Tezpur University inaugurated Community Self Help Week, 25th January at ADBU Azara campus.
Organized by faculty, staff and students of ADBU Social Work Department, the fund raising week will end on 29th January with a gala cultural evening honouring Don Bosco the patron saint of the university.
Speaking at the inaugural function Dr Mavely highlighted the sense of “students getting involved with the people of the neighbourhood and help them to help themselves.”
“The second annual Community Self Help Week event is organized to support Swastyayan – the outreach program of the ADBU School of Social Sciences and School of Technology to educate neighbourhood children,” says Director of School of Technology Dr Riju Sharma.
Swastyayan project started in 2013 has today some 130 students studying in classes 8, 9 and 10. They receive free tuition from some 50 plus volunteer university students who teach in batches every evening Monday to Friday basic subjects like English, Maths and Science.
The ADBU social commitment project Swastyayan “is a fight to eradicate the ills of our society by all members of the university community, namely, faculty, staff and students,” says Coordinator of the programme MSW Assistant Professor Mr Victor Nazary.
“Besides free tuition classes we hold leadership and personality development skills as well as training in personal grooming and talent development,” says student coordinator of the event Mr Ramachan from Manipur.
The children are encouraged to participate in the literary events like essay and poetry writing competitions and talent hunt events held regularly. They are also taken for exposure programme to leading higher educational institutions in the city.
During Self Help Week, after the regular morning classes, each day the programme begins with different fund raising activities such as challenging fun and chance games like car race, fishing, tailing the donkey, lighting candles, car wash, share-a-pakoda, momo, Karaoke, lottery, and ethnic food fest.
More than one hundred students and some 10 faculty members are involved in the fund raising events.
Among the dignitaries who graced the inaugural function were Pro-Vice-Chancellor Fr. Joseph Nellanttu, Registrar Dr Basil Koikara, Controller of Examinations Dr. Francis Fernandez, Administrator Dr Dr. Peter Paul, and heads of departments Dr Riju Sharma and Dr Jayanta Singh and HR Director Ms Juhi Baruah.