Karuthal♥

The day was full of variety and energy. Karuthal, a social awareness society based in Thiruvananthapuram took charge of the day for conducting a thoroughly engaging and informative session regarding various topics including child abuse,  cyber crime, addiction etc. Each session was curated specifically for the target audience which were the learners of standard 8, 9 and 10. The session which began with an icebreaking activity to sustain learners' attention took different unpredictable turns with time. The session was supported by puppet show, magic, rhymes, powerpoint presentation, documentaries and short video clips to explain the concepts being discussed. All the speakers were vibrant and friendly and got along with the learners really well. 

The session shed light on various forms of child abuse and reinforced the fact that it's not okay for people to make you feel uncomfortable. They were aksed to shout no and share their feeling with individuals whom they feel are trustworthy. The importance of being educated about safe practices in the cyberspace was also expounded.

Unlike all other awareness programmes I've been to, learners didn't complain about getting bored or sleepy. They actively contributed by sharing their concerns, answering the questions, showing their excitement, interacting without fear and sharing their feedback as well. The most unique aspect of the sessions was 'Thakkudu', a jovial puppet who interacted with the learners, left them laughing their heads off and won their hearts. It was so cute how the learners asked Thakkudu not to leave the school and to stay with them. 

Due to the programme, I couldn't engage the learners of 8C. My class with 9B during the fourth period went really smooth. After the discussions around the lesson, I asked them to write a short paragraph about their drean career. The answers blew my mind. There were all sorts of careers from kalari trainer to psychiatrist. But it's quite concerning that the learners misspelled many commonly used words including ambition, career, achieve etc.