Considering that we want sustained interventions for our children, there were slight hesitations in conducting the Summer Camp. For one, it was short term and we assumed that it could not be as powerful as a throughout-the-year programme. We did a lot of intensive thinking around the need for the programme and it's deliverables in terms of the impact it would have on the Life Skills development of the child. Many times during our brainstorming and planning sessions, we wanted to scrap the programme but we stuck with it while keeping a keen eye on Stories of Change that we would possibly come across. As any other program, the Summer Camp hasn't been easy on the wallet but for the impact it has made on the children over the years, no matter if things go wrong or simply not according to the plan we decided on, it has always ended up making such a huge impact that it never ceases to amaze me
I went to do a photoshoot of the children during their rehersals. The children of Round Table were, as always, oozing with energy. I drew some from them and went from class to class talking with the children and trying to record some of the stories.
After a couple of bonding sessions with the children, we went upstairs for a final rehersal. The children were so excited you couldn't help but want to jump around and scream with them. Naveen tugged at my camera cord. I turned around to face him. 'Anju akka, neevu Hombegowda schoolge bandidralla?' (You had come to the Hombegowda school hadn't you?) I smiled. That was two weeks ago and not for that long and I couldn't believe he remembered. 'Yes' I said and patted him on the head. 'Naanu, Summer Camp Performance alli one speech maadbeku. Kelskonthira?' (I have to make a speech during the Summer Camp Performance. Will you listen?') Of course I said as he dragged me near the taps in the corner. My heart filled with overwhelming joy when he went on to talk of how in the Summer his parents would go to work and he would end up in front of the TV, sometimes he would roam the streets in search of games he could join in and play and end up wasting his time. I stopped him at that point and asked him why he thought it was such a waste of time. He smiled patronisingly. "Nimmge gothillva akka?' (Don't you know?). I shook my head and he went on to explain that sometimes he would end up in bad company and go back with a bad feeling that he had wasted time investing in friendships and activities that he knew were bad for him. He felt that the TV numbed his senses and wanted to feel alive and part of something good. He wanted to believe he was meant for so much more. He was just on the verge of realising that he was.
I urged him to go on. He continued talking about how when the school announced that there would be a Summer Camp, he shudderd to think of all the things he would be forced to do. He didn't want another boring lecture but when he heard that it was from Dream a Dream, he came in the hope that it would be different. With Dream a Dream, he said, it had always been a wonderfully surprising new way to learn. In school and at home, the children ended up being forced to learn but here, he had woken up early in the morning in his excitement just to discover what new activity this Dream a Dream had planned for him. I stopped him again and asked him why he spoke so fondly about Dream a Dream. He shook his head as though he was ashamed that I couldn't put my finger on the obvious. He said that they learnt night and day, day and night, inconsequential meaningless things that you write an exam about and then you never have to think of those again. With Dream a Dream, they teach you the most important lesson, how to be a child and how to enjoy yourself while your at it. He told me how Dream a Dream makes him think that each activity was planned specifically for him and each child felt the same way. Usually, he said, they felt like being a child was a bad thing because any abuse that came their way demanded them to be more responsible like an adult, but Dream a Dream made it okay to follow their instinct. I had to stop myself from getting emotional so I cracked some joke to make the mood lighter. Naveen is 12 years old.
He told me not to distract him as he laughed and he continued his experience sharing. He said that he loved the flip book activity a lot. He said that he loved it so much that he made a concious effort to change his pronunciation from 'plip' book to 'flip' which was very hard for him to do because the sound 'f' wasn't in his vocabulary. I smiled at his observations. The flip book, he said, was going to be his take-away treasure from the summer camp, one that he will keep maintaining and lock away when the world tells him he's too old for it and then one day, when he's an adult and no one is around to look, he would take the book out and re-live the beautiful memories that Dream a Dream had given him.
He went on to tell me about how he learnt about emotions. He knew that 'happy' and 'sad' were emotions you felt but never realised that they were observable outside the heart and could be used to give comfort. The clay modelling sessions taught him about body language and facial expressions and since then he has observed any person he could lay his hands on. He said that when he went home, he realised that his mum and dad had a fight and his mother was sad. He knew that because he had just been taught that when you are sad, your eyes and smile are droopy. Usually for his sake, his mother would act happy and walk around as though nothing had happened but when he observed that she was sad, he told her 'Amma, you are sad aren't you?'. He said that after that, somehow, his mum and him shared a special bond that they had previously not been able to share.
I did a mental Life Skills Assessment on him. In my opinion, he aced the test. I was even prouder when I saw him go on stage the next day. Before he went up there he said he was nervous but he was still going to do it. And when he did, I knew that if anyone wanted an impact story, they only need look at him.
Many children, like Naveen, shared similar stories. It was hard to imagine that a simple programme such as this could create so much change and happiness. When the secretary of Round Table school went on stage to give the testimony of a child who had performed and danced with joy despite being diagnosed and treated for Mild Depression, I knew that that was my story of change. While I was musing over all of this, another little hand tugged at my clothes.
I turned around and saw Ashok. He looked sad. I knew that because of the lesson on emotions that Naveen had taught me the previous day. I asked him what was the matter. 'Nanna bitti hogthaidira?' (Are you leaving me and going). I was shell-shocked. I didn't know what to say so I asked him what he meant. 'Evathe last day na? Nammna ella bit hogthaidira?' (Is today the last day? Are you leaving all of us and going?). Saying that, he wept as i held his dear little self. It was heart wrenching to watch his pain considering that the Summer Camp was a programme that was not meant to be. Ashok, I told him, don't worry. I noticed that other kids around him were also getting emotional, waiting for my response. I told him, on behalf of Dream a Dream that that was not the end of it. That we would come back in June and if all went well, in three years, we would've made the way for a smooth transition that ensured that for as long as they studied in the Round Table School, it would be okay for them to be a child. Slowly their tears cracked into a smile and a smile into a spring in their step.
Lessons Learnt?
Sometimes it takes a different kind of love to raise a child.
Sometimes it takes a different kind of Dream to make it right
- Anju, Staff-Dream a Dream
Time moved on, and for some reason last year, we suddenly thought of Dream a Dream again and I got in touch with Vishal, who is ever open to meet and discuss. This time we entered into a longer collaboration and decided to be partners for the school year and handed over students of Std 8th, 9th and 10th from the Guru Harikrishan School to Dream a Dream to participate in the Creative Arts and Udaan Life Skills programme apart from occasional Fundays.
