“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.” ~Charles W. Eliot
I hitched a ride with Sanjana and Blesson was already waiting for us when we reached Crescent, all set to carry out his first task as the new President successfully, and I can safely say that he did it. J We walked inside to be greeted by the eagerly waiting children and after the usual “hello’s” and “hi’s” the children settled down into the room where the cupboard full of books were kept. The room was neater than usual according to Sanjana and that made it evident that they were all as excited as we were about the new library!!!
Sanjana briefed the children about the library and how the Choice school has helped us out by getting old books from the students there and as a token of appreciation we invited the Vice Principal of the school, Anjana ma’am and some of the students to come along today as well to inaugurate the brand new library! Niha, Azmeen and Ayesha, volunteers who teach at Crescent also dropped in to help. Soon enough, Blesson signalled that the group from Choice has reached. There were six students from classes 8, 9 and 11 along with the vice principal. They seemed a little shy but happy to be there nonetheless.
Everyone welcomed them in with a warm “good evening” and Sanjana introduced each of them to the children. Anjana ma’am talked to the children about how important books are to them and how much reading English books can help them develop their language and vocabulary. She told how eager everyone was to help out by giving their old books and the children must make the most use of them. One of the students who came also talked to the crescent children about how books can become your friends and how much you can enjoy reading them. However, Reading was not the only focus here. Anjana ma’am made the children showcase their singing talents and two of the girls, Sulfath and Ramseela, with no hesitation, came forward and sang beautifully!
After the joyous singing we moved onto the most important part of the day – the inauguration of the library! It was rather a very pretty sight; interestingly colourful books stacked very neatly into a light brown, very attractive glass cupboard. It would tempt anyone to read at least one book from there I am sure. As if those books weren’t already enough, there were some fun board games as well. Blesson invited one of the crescent girls and one student from Choice to inaugurate the library by taking out the first book and reading it loud to everyone. Aysha, who was proudly appointed as the new librarian, along with a student from Choice happily chose “Three little Bears” as the first book. Sanjana was standing right next to them with so much eagerness on her face that I am sure she secretly wanted to inaugurate it herself! ;) Aysha started reading out the story to everyone and she did it so well that it would’ve made any MAD volunteer proud!!!
Once the most important task was over and a loud round of applause, we moved onto the vote of thanks by one of the Crescent kids who showed a little hesitation at first but after some soothing words from Sanjana she was happy to do it. As a token of appreciation for all help provided by the Choice school, Sanjana thanked them as well. Before leaving they walked around and interacted with the children and as a perfect ending to the wonderful event, Crescent provided all of us with yummy treats. Once that was done and the library in its place, we all left the place with a content heart as well as a content stomach. ;)
Special thanks to Nikhila, Jake, Justin, Niha and Azmeen for all the help!! :)
Some interesting facts about our brand new Library :P —
Total number of books – 411
Books from Choice – 341
Books from our donors – 34
Books from our volunteers – 36
GO MAD!!! =D
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Blesson
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http://www.makeadiff.in/ Sanjana
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Blesson
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Blesson
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Ravinarayananr
