Prelude:
Adreno, an adventurer’s club organized a camp for 25 autistic children and their parents. These children study in Bubbles Centre for Autism, run by Sarbani Mallick. We[Pravs, Sid, Shekhar and me] were part of the volunteer team on this outing!!
Photos/Videos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nair.praveena/BubblesAdichunchunagri?authkey=Gv1sRgCPG588-3t46ToQE&feat=email#
This blog starts from the end!!
Reach home last Saturday, all content and happy. .the events over the last couple of days rewinding ....bringing back oodles of fond memories!
Sarbani tells me the kids havent stop talking about the campfire!!
On our bus journey back home from Adichunchanagiri mutt, amidst the dumb charades and the singing …there was a sense of accomplishment in each one of us!!
After a morning trek with 25 kids and their parents to a hilltop and yummy breakfast ….this is what the parents had to say about our trip!!...I found it extremely moving….
I never thought my child cud do all those adventure activities..many of them their 1sts:).....like d campfire.....d rope sliding activity.....d trek.....this is the 1st time my child is seeing a place beyond home, getting to interact with other kids with absolutely no pressures of having to perform well!!
My system had decided to let the world know that it was allergic to something around[I still think it was Sid :)]….so amidst a whole lot of sneezing …comes the report from Day-1 at the camp…
V set out at around 2:30 to the campsite, which had the kids colouring on sheets with rocks and tree barks as bases….tyre tunnels…obstacle courses, log crossing, rope ladder climbing, rope sliding ….all these arrangements were done in the wild… with Neel and Hedher[ Bubbles volunteers] working with Dilip from Adreno and chalking out tailor made programmes for the autistic kids ....at the same time making the most of the facilities that Adreno had to offer. Neel and Hedher even made personal visits to the camp to overlook the facilities and to ensure that Aaal waazz well:)
That the kids had fun..there is no doubt at all…But that they wanted more and more of it….Im sure of it…….. Let me also add that it is extremely difficult to actually think that these children have a problem....Can never forget the kids who kept coming back to try out the rope sliding activity as many as 3 times each!!
Mannan was the 1st kid to try the rope sliding activity, something which looked scary even to us!!
All the kids tried out the rope-sliding activity all thanks to Praveena and Siddharth who not only motivated them, but did all that they cud to put the kids to ease!!...I must also mention that when it was my turn...Pravs n Sid stepped back...n let me handle the situation at hand myself...Friends...anthe..Hmmmmph!!
The amazement on the kid's faces when they literally went flying like apnaa sooooperman or bahar ka Krisshhh....will not leave me!!
Back to the cottages, the children were made to collect twigs and start the fire ....thats when little Gokul got a big branch and a big fire out:)
There were kids who were so happy to be with other kids their age...that all they did was to keep running around ....chasing frogs n insects:)
It was extremely cute to c the mothers give their little ones a wash late in the evening after an entire day of trekking....they had these hose pipes which were spraying water on these kids...much to their joy n our envy:)
Rewind to the pre-preparations ….n dunno what I would have done without Shilpa’s help.
Now, I was working out of a different office the whole of last week, so I could hardly do any of the co-ordination thing... Ppal who r regular readers of my blog[If there are any:)]...wud have heard this a million times before .....that whenever u set out to do something good...things fall in place... out of nowhere!!
So our dear old Shilpa steps in...working out the transport details with Moses and Dilip and also in collecting funds.
I am really sorry ... Indu, Rindy and Krathika….for not getting back to you regarding the trip details in time….I remember calling Krathika the night before the trip, urging her to come:)
All due to limited channels of communication , I kept thinking that we were still off to Savanadurga, but an elephant had run amok and so we had to shift our plans to Adichunchanagiri mutt.
Sarbani and team spent nearly a week in advance preparing the kids for the trip and familiarizing them with the sequence of events at the camp, simply coz autistic kids find it very difficult, when expected to react to anything out of the ordinary!
And now the start!!
Starts out with an email to Sarbani, who runs Bubbles Centre for Autism. Now, we have known her for 4 long years. Bubbles does amazingly creative and structured programmes for children with special needs so effortlessly, that I have always been in awe of the place n the ambience it has!!
Sarbani replies back telling me ... they are looking at organizing a nature camp for the kids with an overnight stay in a village...n wanted to know if I knew of any places....Now turns out..that I did know of one person who is a "know-all" when it comes to treks, trips, adventure, etc...
So I call him n he gives me multiple options...n then refers my case to a colleague from office...
I am then introduced to Adreno, an adventurer's club and tats when v took a hiatus n Sarbani n the Bubbles team took over!!
I wont thank the volunteers....but I must tell this....Be it all that karab singing...especially Pravs....or the standing out there in the hot sun helping 30 kids get onto that rope sliding activity, giving them instructions...making them feel comfortable....Siddharth and Pravs did an amazing job motivating the kids and giving them all the support they needed...Sid has carried around 30 kids that day....telling them to feel that they r on a sofa...or to fly like soooperman....in the rope sliding activity!!
Whether it was Neel's b'day celebs or Pravs haunted story narration n Prajwal's n my sighting of a "ghostly figure" at 4:30am...who was doing Yoga....this was 1 soooooooper trip....
Who can forget Daisy Aunty's shayari and her fondness for old Hindi songs that existed even before my parents were born....
Our intention was to provide an opportunity to autistic kids and their parents to enjoy a fun-filled day!!.. V set out to make a difference....n V did!!
Some ppal can write so well...Helloo...Not me...But Neel....Do read her write-up..Its just excellent!!
http://www.bubbles-bangalore.blogspot.com/search/label/Blog?max-results=100
5 comments:
I am so emotional sob sob .. I finally made a debut on a blog .I would like to thank Cma for this wonderful oppurtunity... blah blah blah
Was there really a ghost doing yoga ????.. why din u guys wake me up
:) the images said it all for me :).. I remembered my days while camping and
traveling
Hey kutty cma,
looks like a fun trip for the kids as well as for the volunteers :)
Have I ever told you that I think you are one hell of an awesome girl?? Keep up the Great work.
Big Cma
To Sid:
Yeah right....remember Praveena's story about a ghost that was watching TV...well ...I tried scaring Prajwal that the ghost from her story was back at 4:30am when I saw Neel do yoga..
Ur blah blahs accepted:)
To Manju:
Thanks Manju...the writing on the blog didnt tell u anything right:)
To Biiig Cma:
Thanks so much:)
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