Social Service visit - Lessons in Humanity

On the 22nd of January, 2018, the students of Class 6A & B visited the Jai Vakeel Foundation School in Sewri. The school is a haven for intellectually challenged children and it also has a vocation center for children of between 18 -50 years

 

The visit began with a short presentation about the foundation. It was surprising to learn that the foundation was 73 years old. It looked like it had been newly constructed. The reason was that Mr. and Mrs. Vakeel had a daughter born with Down’s syndrome. They founded the institution to help many children like their daughter, so that everyone could lead a life of dignity and respect. They took in people with an IQ lesser than 70 < 20, while other NGOs only worked with one set of an IQ level. This way they helped many people.

 

 

The students heard stories and saw pictures and videos of some of the children studying in their school. After the briefing was a tour of the campus. It had multiple buildings and a large playing field in the center. It was bright and radiated positive vibes.

 

In August, we held the first edition of ‘Coach to Coach’ where we organized a platform for sporting experts to communicate with over 250 Municipal coaches and help them update their training techniques.

 

Jai Vakeel welcomes all challenged children and treats them with the same respect, something that we and the rest of the world needs to learn to do. Everyone in the school was so happy and positive, that it was a reminder to all to be satisfied with what they have. Despite everything, the children were polite, respectful and really sweet. After the tour, there was time to bond with the students. Some of the girls helped paint the Indian flag, make paper bags and did other craft activities. The inmates were observant and attentive. The school boys played cricket with them and lost very badly. They had great sportsmanship and reminded us that they were no different from the rest of us.

 

 

While parting, everyone was sad and the students left the campus, with a better insight into life.