This year, the Jadavpur University-SYLFF Association, broadened the scope of their Social Action Program and networked with Anando, a non-governmental organisation which works with underprivileged children, providing them educational support and facilitates in honing their creative skills. The Sylff fellows intended to motivate these young minds to continue with their process of learning and engaged in a lively conversation with the children to acquire a better understanding of their everyday social realities – their problems, aspirations and dreams.

Anando was built in 2006. The aim is to provide children from disadvantaged backgrounds proper stimulation, care, education and the little joys of growing up. The organisation has created a secure and friendly environment for these kids (which is lacking in their homes) and provides them with a variety of experiences. Anando addresses the holistic development of the child. It provides a helping hand to children who have difficulty in coping with academics, focuses on enhancing their creative potentials and strives towards channelising their energy in a positive direction so as to prevent them from going astray. It organises weekend clubs, holds craft workshops, story-telling sessions and endeavours to provide a platform to these children to voice their concerns and share their dreams.

The fellows visited Anando on 21st December 2011. They spent an evening with the children. Ms. Gitanjali Ghosh, Director of Anando, initiated the discussion for the evening. She spoke briefly about the activities of the NGO and then encouraged the children to introduce themselves. This was followed by an insightful interactive session with the young members of Anando. The fellows shared their experiences as researchers, talked about their areas of interests, their passion for knowledge and how they have been motivated to continue pursuing an academic route. The children listened to the fellows with much eagerness, and had sharp, interesting questions for them. It was an important exchange of perspectives.

The visit was made towards the end of the year to give them something, in however small a scale, to make a new beginning with in the year to come.

The visit was made towards the end of the year to give them something, in however small a scale, to make a new beginning with in the year to come. There was an enormous amount of gratitude in their gestures and, more importantly, a sense of being connected to people who did the same task as theirs, but in a slightly different way. There were ten children at the interactive session. The fellows distributed cakes, biscuits, chocolates, stationery ( which they will use in thier schools) and played a game with them.  

The whole point of the visit was to stress the importance of education and a means was sought to engage the children informally and creatively in the exercise. The game involved responding to questionnaires about issues faced by them in education. A variety of issues ranging from gender, education, health and nutrition, environmental concerns, pedagogy, curricula were covered through these questions. There were questions on hygiene, problems boys and girls face at home about schooling, their likes and dislikes about education (in school or studying altogether), their hobbies and extra-curricular activities, what what kind of a school do they dream of, their views on environment and most importantly, why is Anando a better place for them. The questions were written on small pieces of paper and distributed among the children. The children were divided into five groups and were asked to respond to the questions using both words and visuals. The kids spontaneously and delighfully participated in this excercise. Their responses and the discussions which followed was a reflection on their conditions and their wants. Anando, as they put it, is a place where they come to study, to enjoy, and to be themselves. The children were particularly enthusiastic about the Library Day when they get an opportunity not only to borrow and discuss about their books but also play with toys like Lego, jigsaws, board games and sometimes mess about with colours.

Every child is a promise, and we must reach out to them in order to make them realize that they can very well make it past the hurdles in their individual capacities. A little effort, if channelized in a sustainable manner, can help build a better future. A small step can indeed go a long way. With this end in view, henceforth, the JU-Sylff Association will plan annual visits to Anando to contribute to its resources and facilitate in planning and creating a better tomorrow for the young citizens of India.