No, this is not a hostile takeover of syllabus content-writing rights from EZVidya!! Neither is this a lecture on the tenses to be taught in next week’s classes. Instead, the four words above are an effort at closed-captioning the journey of Make A Difference Dilli (MADD) in the last few months….
Confused?? So were we…well, at least in the beginning…
The month was August of 2009, and the volunteer base of MADD had shrunk to worrying levels….. Something had to be done and fast! We were aware of the enormous potential that lay untapped in the city and were eager to uncover the identities of all future MADDsters…
Thus began our search at various colleges across the city. Presentations were made at the institutions and the reception was overwhelmingly positive!! MADD was appreciated for its professional and organized attitude in conducting the entire event and before we knew it, we were interviewing quite a large number of enthusiastic young people raring to make a difference in the lives of the thousands of underprivileged kids in the city…
By September, MADD was 52-member strong and ready to take on the world!! We organized our first training session mid-month with all the volunteers to familiarize them with various aspects of our MAD world. Starting with the nuances of dealing with children, we covered various aspects of the syllabus structure and discussed ways to make classes more fun!! The training session (or Rendezvous as we like to call it !) was very enjoyable and proved to be an excellent medium through which several creative ideas were exchanged! The old and new volunteers were given a chance to interact, share their thoughts and resolve their queries…
Now, just in case you were wondering where all the fun was, take a look at the pictures below!!
The dust began to settle after all and classes resumed in full swing…The volunteers and the kids found in each other the source of a new beginning…the inspiration to change the ways things were done in the past and to make a difference in their lives and the lives of those they touched…
The last Sunday of October was MADD’s first monthly meet!! The objective was to gain valuable feedback and share new views and thoughts with the MADD family. The event was, among other things, a whole lot of fun!! Constructive feedback was shared by the volunteers as they discussed the ups and downs of their experiences. It was a delight to see the old volunteers helping out the new volunteers with teaching methods and tip on handling particularly naughty kids!!
For me, that was the highlight of the day, in fact it was the highlight of the months that we had left behind….because I knew, right there, that we stopped being a team and had merged into a family….
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