The second rural exposure camp of the year 2019-2020 was held in Malur from 24 January to 26 January 2020 for 53 Volunteers of CSA. This camp was not only aimed at giving an exquisite exposure to the volunteers but also to initiate CSA in Christ College, Malur. Established in 2015, Christ College Malur invited the student body of CSA from Bangalore Central Campus of CHRIST (Deemed to be University) in order to launch CSA at their college as well..
Volunteers left for Malur on the morning of 24th January with a spirit of enthusiasm, excitement and social action. Since it was the last camp of the academic year, as well as the last camp for third-year students, a plethora of emotions could be felt throughout the two-hour journey. The student body from Christ College, Malur welcomed the volunteers with open arms and gratitude..
The first day began with a warm lunch. Post that, volunteers moved to their rooms assigned according to their respective wings for orientation purposes. Around 30 students from Christ College attended the orientation sessions. Four wings of CSA : Prayatna, Drishti, Activity Centre and Media and Communication along with Project Maatram elaborated upon their work in order to give a detailed insight to the volunteers from Malur. Activity Center not only explained the aim and working model but also included the volunteers in a rather ethereal Banana Dance! This helped in breaking the ice amongst the volunteers. On the other hand, Dristhi shed light upon street-theatre as a catalyst for social change and taught some of their jingles to the volunteers. Similarly Media and Communication, after elaborating upon their work, gave the cameras to the Malur volunteers and taught them how to shoot photos, videos and write a report. Using the same, an instant after-movie was presented which contained the footage shot by Malur volunteers only. Prayatna explained the importance of creating awareness on waste management and other civic issues to the volunteers.
A common orientation was held in the presence of Fr. Rinoj James in which emphasis was put upon the Activity Centre and Child Sponsorship Program. In the afternoon, to create a lighter environment, a session of ‘human-rock-paper-scissor’ was played by the students. This not only helped in breaking the ice but also helped in spreading the importance of teamwork and coordination.
On the second day, volunteers (including the Malur volunteers) gathered for a morning exercise session. After that, they were divided into two teams – survey and painting. The survey team covered two locations in Malur to gather data about the children of the village in order to start the Sponsorship Program. Other half of the day witnessed dust, paint and smiles as the volunteers cleaned, scraped and painted a government school in Aalambadi.
On the third day, volunteers prepared themselves for an eventful day. Volunteers celebrated Republic Day with the kids of the school in their newly painted world. Children welcomed the volunteers with a parade initiated post flag hoisting which went around the surrounding places with slogans like “Bharat Maata ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram”. Children celebrated the day with colourful performances like dance, song and speech. The CSA volunteers thanked the Malur volunteers and the children with their scintillating dance performances.
As the camp came to an end, reflections about the camp were made by the volunteers. Every volunteer learnt something new from this collaborative camp. From the spirit of social action to a little bit Kannada – every individual took something back home with them. To conclude the camp, M&C presented an exquisite recap in their aftermovie, which was wholly made by the Malur volunteers. Father Rinoj James thanked the volunteers and expressed his happiness over the camp. The camp concluded as the burning sun went down with the journey back
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