by Royal D'Souza
PALGHAR, FEB 5, 2018: Fifty six National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers and four staff members from Don Bosco Institute of Technology (DBIT) attended a six-day NSS camp entitled 'Technology for Social Change' at Bosco Samajik Vikas Sanstha (BSVS), Walwanda, Palghar district from January 25 to 30.
The volunteers were divided into groups of five and each group shared lunch, breakfast and dinner at the houses of the villagers, in a bid to experience the life and culture in the villages. On the first day, the group was welcomed at the BSVS campus in the traditional way of putting a tilak on the forehead and wearing a Gandhi topi on the head.
The volunteers were then divided into groups, named: Survey team, Teaching team, Painting team and Compost team. Father Rixon Nigrel gave them a brief orientation about the campus and shared a message on unity, willingness and family life. The students were then assigned duties of survey, teaching, painting and compost. The day ended with the cultural activity organised by the painting group.
On the second day, January 26 - Republic Day, all volunteers went to a school for the flag hoisting programme. Father Leon Cruz, Don Bosco Centre for Learning administrator, visited the camp and brought sweets for the students. The volunteers then started their activities for the day.
The Survey team was tasked with conducting a survey in Walwanda, Sadakpada and Fanaspada from Walwanda village, asking villagers about their daily problems and living conditions. In the survey questionnaire, villagers were asked on sanitation, chulla and mobile connectivity.
The Teaching group was tasked with teaching school children, ITI students and class 10 students. The main task of the Painting group was to spread awareness in the campus by depicting various messages like 'Knowledge is Power', 'Do not Drink and Drive' , 'Save water, Save the World'. The Compost team went about collecting material for making compost.
On the third day, volunteers were asked to stay for two days and a night with the college students and their families of Jawahar, to understand their life and the various struggles faced by them. The primary aim of the activity was not just to understand their problems, but also to find solutions for the same. The DBIT students have invited the Jawhar college students to stay with their families on February 27 and 28 on the occasion of DBIT Technical Festival.
All volunteers headed back to the campus in Walwanda on the fourth day. They shared their experience with the group at large. The day ended with the cultural activity organised by the compost group.
On the fifth day, Dr Prasanna Nambiar, Principal of DBIT and Dr Krishnamoorthi, Principal Advisor, DBIT, visited the camp site and interacted with the students. At noon, all volunteers had a session on 'Social problems and role of youth' which was conducted by Prakash Wagh and Pradeep.
The evening was lit up by the camp fire barbecue party and cultural activities. There were three groups formed, namely a cooking team, camp fire setup team and cultural team. Each group did their part in making the programme a success. On the final day, a survey of the villages was taken and other groups completed their tasks.