Volunteering at an NGO | SERVICE


I always wanted to help people and contribute to society. Unfortunately I was never able to do it alone. Recently a student of our school started an NGO called Unitree. From the beginning I had decided that I would contribute to the NGO by volunteering for the activities which they had planned for the children affected by down syndrome. The motto of this NGO was to make the children feel normal and connected to the normal world. However I could not volunteer when I was in Grade 10 because I was struggling with subjects and they were my top priority.

CAS in grade 11 gave me the opportunity to volunteer for the NGO and contribute to the society. The NGO had planned to celebrate the festival of navratri, it was open for everybody. I decided to volunteer for it as navratri was a festival I enjoyed, every year I celebrated it the same way. This year I thought of celebrating it with children affected with down syndrome. We also had our exams in a few days so many people backed out. But I convinced some of my friends and others to volunteer for this event too.

This event was a success, there were a lot of volunteers present that day. That day the smiles on everybody’s face made my day. The children who were affected by the down syndrome were also so happy. The kids even tried to do garba, they had a great spirit. The aim of this event was to make the children feel normal and welcome to the society. A festival is somewhere where everybody no matter their age, gender, race, physical or mental condition, all of them come together and celebrate.

The challenges I faced while volunteering was to explain the children and teach them how to perform this form of dance. This was an entirely new thing for them. Teaching them was necessary so that they could also enjoy the festival.

The learner profile I developed are open minded and communicators. I was open minded to understand that humans with difficulties are also normal. The fact that they are no different from other children of human beings. I also developed the learner profile communicator while communicating with the children and teaching them garba. This festival was new for them so teaching them the steps required a lot of communication.

I learned a lot through this CAS experience about how such small things contribute to society. The inner happiness you feel after doing an act of kindness is immense. I understood that there are multiple ways of contributing to society.

LO3- initiate and plan a CAS experience

• For this experience we started planning the garba event. I started gathering voulenteers for this event. As more and more people would join this event it would become a success. I got 5 voulenteers for the event. Also deciding the venue for this event was part of the plan. And to inittiate it we went to decorate the hall and started doing the arrangements.

LO6-engagement with issues of global significance

This experience connects with the global issue of equality. As children with down syndrome are not treated equally such as other children. So this event wanted to bring more equality in the society. This caters to global issues as inequality is a big issue and this is a small step twards catering it.

LO7-Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

This was one of the best events hosted by unitree hosted for children affected by down syndrome. This event was organized to reduce the inequaity and provide a platform for those children to enjoy an Indian festival. I’m so glad we did it. I’ll always treasure this day and recall the feeling of success it gave me.