Youth visit community projects in Chandigarh

On Thursday 16 December, young people from across the Commonwealth spent the day in Chandigarh, India, participating in community projects in and around the city.

The Commonwealth Youth Programme Asia Centre co-ordinated the visits on day four of the Commonwealth Youth Leaders’ Conference which ends on Friday 17 December. The programme was arranged in collaboration with various city-based NGOs, and a local education institute whose students engage in community service.

Youth delegates help out at lunchtime at the Mother Teresa Missionary of Charity in Chandigarh

One group spent time at the Mother Teresa Missionary of Charity in Chandigarh, which is home to a range of people with special needs: abandoned babies; mentally and physically challenged children and adults; and old people, who have no family to look after them. Delegates helped the kitchen staff serve the mid-day meal to the 155 residents and helped feed those who needed special assistance. Sister Anneliese showed them around the mission, introducing them to residents and talking about the work they do.

Later in the day, delegates joined volunteer students from the local Samaj College of Education on an HIV/AIDS awareness march through Butrela village, adjoining the slums. During the march, the students and delegates distributed pamphlets about HIV/AIDS.

Another group interacted with special needs children at the Sadhana Vocational Training Institute, which creates awareness among parents and the public to provide training for the children. Sadhana is an NGO established in 2001, working with handicapped children in and around Chandigarh.

Later, at the Institute for the Blind, they joined students learning Braille. K R Sood, Principal of the Institute, showed delegates around the school where they heard about the sensing techniques of blind people.

Delegates spent time observing vocational training programmes run by the Youth Technical Training Services in the slum and rural areas of Chandigarh. They interacted with trainees and entrepreneurs in the slums of Maloya. The projects provide day care and education facilities to the families of the rag pickers and pot makers.

Participants described their experiences in the community as “life changing” and “inspiring”. Some of the groups have already started collecting funds for the charities. Dalbir Singh, from Malaysia, who is chair of the Regional Youth Caucus (Asia), has decided to sponsor a three-year-old girl he met at Prayas, a rehabilitation centre for handicapped children set up by the Indian Council for Child Welfare. “There was one special child there who would not let go of my hand. She had no balance and poor motor skills. I spent all my time with her and missed out on seeing the rest of the Centre, but I am glad I stayed back,” he said.

Crystal Alexander, 25, from The Bahamas said: “I realised during yesterday’s community visits, that I was not just a young person attending a conference in a strange country. I was an ambassador for The Bahamas. My experience yesterday was life-changing. To see the excitement on the faces of the people we met meant a lot. At the school for the blind, I saw a group of girls sitting on a bed. My heart went out to them. My way of communicating with them was through touch. I told the little girls that they were so pretty and stroked their heads. They spoke among each other letting each other know what was happening. They were so bonded. They followed my voice and I started playing a game, with them. They ran away from me, laughing - but they were blind. I was so scared that they would fall!”

Batsho Nthoi, 29, from Botswana said he was struck by how, in many countries including his own, there is a tendency to hide people with disabilities. “I was so encouraged to see that parents - without government support - had taken the initiative to pool resources and set up a school to help their children cope. As youth leaders, we have the responsibility to increase the profile of young people with disabilities. Let’s campaign to see if we cannot have people with disabilities among us youth leaders.”

Shareen Tilottoma, 22, from Bangladesh visited a training centre for differently-abled people. “I saw a sign there which read: ‘Lord, help me to do with a smile those things I have to do anyway’. That sentence really touched me. We saw the difficulties of little kids who are trying very hard to do these things anyway. They were playing with us. We were trying to communicate with a very young girl. The trainer said she feels good when people communicate with her directly. This was a memorable day for us. We realised that they are just like us.”

Jameel Lee, 26, from Antigua and Barbuda said that the community participation programme made him realise that all people across the Commonwealth have different needs. “We call ourselves youth development workers and at meetings, we spend a lot of time talking and at the end of this process, we should ask ourselves: ‘How are we meeting the needs of young people who have expectations from us? Are we really doing what is important?’”

Layne Robinson, Programme Officer for Youth at the Commonwealth Secretariat, told delegates that as young leaders, they had the benefit of perspective and access. “You have the ability to influence others through networks. And influence can bring change. It may be a small thing, but when all hands are connected, all of you are working together, that influence grows bigger and a change process can happen.”

Key Links:

• Commonwealth Youth Programme