“Do your little bit of good wherever you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” –Desmond Tutu
Community Service forms an important part of life at MCGS and each student from classes IX to XII has to compulsorily choose to be a member of one of the five domains of Community Service at MCGS. These are called: Prayas, Khushi, Jagriti, Sparsh and Asha. Traditionally, each of these groups have their specific goals in different areas of social service.
01. Prayas
Members of Prayas aim to form bonds of empathy and understanding with the rural population in and around Ajmer. With this aim, members of Prayas adopted Sarana, a small village near Kishangarh in the Ajmer district.
Aim: Prayas- an effort or a small attempt to make someone smile; to make a person’s life better is our main goal.
Prayas aims to sensitise our students with regard to the urban-rural divide and the many difficulties and problems faced by our rural brethren. We strive to provide them with access to modern day education and skill development opportunities. We try to connect with the people of the village, knowing their day to day life routine and the hardships they have to face everyday. Members of Prayas identify the problems faced by the people and help them overcome these problems.
Learning outcomes: Students of Prayas have organized a number of training programs over the years for women where they aim to make the women independent in their crafts like soap making, handicrafting, etc. We have also organized a self-defence program for girls.
Teachers associated: Mrs Raina Sharma, Mr Anurag Pandey, Mrs Suman Soni and Miss Nuzhat Ahmed.
Student Presidents: Payal Mahana and Manavi Lahoti.
02. Khushi
Members of Khushi interacted with Hearing and Speech impaired students of Badhir Vidyalaya- the school of hearing and speech impaired students over 18 years, and with ‘Mission Girls School’- the school for girls rescued from hunger, destitution and child abuse, for more than 2 years now. The students from classes 9 to 12 interact with these children and learn the art of communication, transcending the frontier of language and experiencing the simple joys of life. Our girls teach them various activities like dance, music, art and craft, sports, cooking and life skills. We help them to put up a stall at the MCGS fete every year on our founder’s day to recognise the capabilities of these differently abled children and raise funds for them.
Learning Outcomes -This community service has been a blessing not only to these underprivileged children but to our girls, developing in them sensitivity and empathy and contributing meaningfully to society. On the basis of community service hours completed in school our girls are able to get admission and recognition in the best universities all around the world. Some students remain connected to these schools even after passing out from school by celebrating birthdays and contributing their first earned salary. Khushi community service has been a real life experience for our girls.
Associate Teachers: Mrs Anita John, Ms Richa Sharma, Ms Deepti Verma, Ms Caroline Joy Oliver and Mrs Manisha Solanki.
Student Presidents: Darshika Kothari and Saanvi Kapoor.
03. Jagriti
Members of Jagriti worked towards improving the literacy levels and vocational skills of the support staff at MCGS.
Education is a necessity. It is the most useful element in the world.
Aim: To provide a safe and encouraging environment to learn by promoting not just traditional education but also through various skill development activities.
Learning outcomes: We have weekly meetings with the baijis, where they become part of fun activities like making lamps, needle work as well as hygiene awareness workshops. All the products made by the baiji’s are then sold during the Annual Prize Giving Ceremony. Our baijis learn something new on a daily basis. These classes aid in giving them an opportunity to discover their wonderful talents like singing, dancing or arts and needle work.
The Jagriti Community Service is one where both the students as well as the baijis learn something new everyday. This is a student led society which helps the students take charge and help the baijis complete tasks or teach them alphabets and numbers.
Associate Teachers: Mrs Meenu Parasar, Mrs Aditi Sharma, Mrs Shradha Chauhan and Ms Yashika Saxena.
Student Presidents: Jassenia Tasleem and Pooja Airy.
04. Sparsh
Sparsh made efforts to bring happiness and inclusivity in the lives of the differently abled students at Meenu Mano Vikas Kendra, Chachiyawas.
The team of Sparsh works with the children of ‘Meenu Mano Vikas Kendra’. These are the children with special needs and have some kind of physical or mental disability. Our journey with the school has given us an opportunity to closely observe the lives of these children and help us understand the difficulty they face in day to day lives.
When the students at MCGS opt for Sparsh, they choose a difficult path of having a better understanding of the students with disabilities, learning about their true ability in order to cater to their needs more efficiently. They try to make them feel comfortable and confident while respecting their personal space and supporting them in every possible way. It is not something that one gets to learn frequently, therefore we have a good number of students in our school who are willing to opt for Sparsh as their community service.
In Sparsh, the students conduct various events and competitions like fundraisers, tree plantation campaigns and awareness programs throughout the year. The students collectively explore creative and innovative ideas that help make a difference in society.
Learning outcomes: Our interaction with the students at Chachiyawas, through various engaging activities like art and craft sessions, outdoor games and field trips, has helped us recognize their strengths and weaknesses and has made us aware of their true abilities. It has taught us the importance of qualities like empathy and courage in today’s fast paced world.
Associate Teachers: Mrs Deepti Rae, Mrs Lata Gupta, Mrs Rashmi Thakur, Mrs Rekha Kohli and Dr. (Mrs.) Annapurna Shukla.
Student Presidents: Manya Bagaria and Suhani Mathur.
05. Asha
Our youngest team, Asha strives to extend friendship and support to the underprivileged children who live, work and study at The Bal Prakash Ashram, Badgaon. The Ashram was set up in 1996 and, since then, has served hundreds of students from all religions, castes and creeds.
The students from Asha help the Bal Prakash students to learn art, drawing, craft, music, dance, yoga and English poetry and reading. The students and teachers visit Bal Prakash which at present houses 95 children. During the visits to the school, our students assist them with learning and guide them in other aspects of school life, too. When the students of Bal Prakash visit our school, they engage in many outdoor and indoor activities. Not only are these activities enjoyable but also help teach them various things. Mayo College Girls’ School has donated books, toys and other learning material to Bal Prakash.
The main objective of Asha as part of Community Service is adolescents’ holistic enhancement in school curriculum.
Associate Teachers: Mrs Madhabi Gopalan, Ms Ritu Bhandari and Mrs Pinkey Vaishnava.
Student Presidents: Riya Gupta and Yashwini Khichi.