Class 5 children of Hari Shree Vidyalayam take up the ‘Design for Change’ challenge as their community project for the year

Children are oriented to the project and are encouraged to look around to identify a problem faced by the community which they would want to see solved

Hari Shree Vidyalayam shares a compound wall on the eastern side with a Government School, Sigapi Ramaswamy Primary School. HSV children notice that the children seem to be undernourished and underfed. HSV children want to bring about a change….

Having identified the problem, the 90 children of class 5 come together to brainstorm and find practical solutions. Innumerous ideas and suggestions come up.. They realise that all suggestions are not practical and so they come up with the following guidelines: Look for  Workable simple solutions  Sustainable and practical solutions  Ideas which do not take up too much time and effort

 Host fund raisers  Grow a kitchen garden  Collect old newspapers and sell them  Donation drive  Collect a handful of rice/dal every week from all the students of HSV  Engage in art/craft to create interesting items which can be auctioned  Host carnivals / Fun-fairs  Visit corporates and look for sponsorship  Share food with the children on special days like birthdays  Khari- kamaii or doing odd jobs to earn a few rupees  Creating greeting cards for special occasions and selling them  Making paper bags and selling them

Dear Parent, As part of the community project, the class V children will be participating in an inter school challenge, Design for Change – a movement of change where children are designing solutions for a better future. This challenge is designed to give children opportunity to express their own ideas for a better world and put them into action. Children and adults learn that “I Can” are the two most powerful words a person can believe. The challenge asks students to do four very simple things: Feel Imagine Do Share We have identified a problem in the school nearby. Most children in the neighbouring Govt. primary school come from a meager background. Though most children come under the noon meal scheme, it has been noticed that the children often come to school without a proper breakfast. Most children are sent to school on an empty stomach and the noon meal that is served at pm seems to be the only meal for the day. Some children have to even skip dinner. Hunger pangs in the morning show up as a deterrent to any learning that is expected in school. Hari Shree has been sponsoring breakfast for 51 children for the time being. Since this cannot be sustained for a longer period, we are looking for a long term solution for atleast a year. We are planning to orient the children as soon as they return from their vacation. Looking forward to finding a lasting solution. Warm Regards Class 5 Teachers

Children prepared posters to create awareness on the issue. These posters were displayed around the school.

A sample poster….

HSV children visit Sigappi Primary School and interact with the children. Post-visit discussion in HSV:  Noon meals sponsored by the Govt, cooked and served in school  Breakfast/ lack of breakfast in most children  Presence/ absence of hunger

The noon meal served at Sigappi at 12 noon everyday

 A few children get to eat only the noon meal served at school for the whole day.  Many children looked underfed and undernourished  Almost all children looked contented  Many children said they would be happy if they got to drink gruel in the morning

 Each of them would contribute or collect in their own might/ way…an awareness drive  90 students divided themselves into 20 groups  Each group to identify corporates / business houses, whom they would meet personally and try to get sponsorships.  Host a Christmas carnival and have a yard sale, as a fund raiser

What the children say about their project……

A parent writes…

The sky is the limit when it comes from the heart…..

Hari Shree is the proud winner of the Jury Mention Award for this Design For Change Challenge.