In the heart of the Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti lies the Hope Project, a charitable organisation that upholds the teachings of the Sufi saints. Its aim is to enable the poor to help themselves. The various programmes launched by the organisation help to counter the problems faced by people living in this basti. It is driven by the spirit to serve humanity, whilst showing respect to all religions. It strives to provide the poor with resources and opportunities to enable them to realise their potentials, determine their futures and become responsible members of society.
[gallery link="file"] 4 students, Bhavika Sharma, Sakshi Singh, Arushi Grover and Yasha Jain of class XI volunteered to work at The Hope Project for a week from 23 May to 3 June 2016, as their summer internship. During this period, they were placed in different departments of the organisation, namely, healthcare, education and the crche. They worked by turn in each of these departments during the internship so that each student could get a feel of every department. They were accompanied by the School counsellor, Ms. Enakshi Rai on the first day of their internship. On the first day itself, coordinator, Mr. Masoom oriented the students about the vision and mission of the organisation along with its working. The project was founded in 1975 by a Sufi preacher, Pir Vilayat Khan, who was moved by the immense poverty of the people living near the mausoleum of his father and he envisioned a programme to arm the poor to help themselves. The Hope Project currently runs community health centres, mobile medical units, education centres, a thrift and credit programme, baking and catering courses, vocational courses and income generation courses for the entire family. The students were divided in two groups, one to work in the healthcare department and the other to work in the crche. The healthcare department serves the medical needs of the people and aims to provide a comprehensive health programme that offers treatment, diagnosis and medication. The underprivileged people of the Nizamuddin Basti, Sarai Kale Khan, Srinivaspuri and Nehru Nagar regularly visit the healthcare department for their medical check-ups.The students offered their services in the OPD and the homeopathy department. They worked under the supervision of Dr. Luna Ajmali and their primary role was to handover medicines prescribed by the doctor to the patients. They also worked at the reception and maintained a record of the diagnosis and treatment of patients for future referrals, took care of finances and issued new booklets. Working at the crche was also a very valuable experience for the students. The purpose of the crche was to meet the needs of the mothers in the Basti who need to leave their children in a safe environment when they go for their daily work. The crche had a supervisor and a coordinator with 3 trained support staff to help the children. It provided a healthy and stimulating environment for the growth of the children. Our young interns organised various activities to help the children in their overall development. Special craft classes were held for the children who were in the age group of 5 to 8. They were taught to make paper bags and pen stands using waste paper. The children of the crche were engaged in different games so that they learn t to work in teams. The crche is more than a just a day care facility as it grooms the children to secure a bright future. The interns regularly had interactive sessions with the children studying in the education centres. Usually a topic or a subject of difficulty would be brought up for discussion. They assisted in teaching fundamental Math and conversing in English. It was here that they made many friends! It was indeed an excellent learning experience as it provided a platform to learn community service. Bhavika Sharma.
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