Overview

 

Legend:                              

The main focus of this years’ project has been on:

Revisiting and annual maintenance of the patauda site – originally taken up in phase i.

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Adding a stage/platform & girls toilets for performance to the government village school in village teekli.

Undertaking de-silting of a new pond area which has been in disuse for a decade.                                    

The settlements in the aravali ridge area have been changing their profile from primary to the secondary and the tertiary sector.

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Over the last two decades, this change has been rather intense resulting in the youth ‘heading to greener pastures’ and leaving their fields behind.

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A similar situation got our attention at pond patauda, where we witnessed water being manually poured into the lake so as to keep the cattle from not having to change their grazing ground.

This was the catalyst which made us explore ‘water conservation’ not only for man but also other co-inhabitant flora and fauna.

 

The challenge:

This year, the collaborative service project 2012 – project patauda has expanded its horizons from being a water conservation project alone, to a project that will look at ways and means to further strengthen the connect with the community around us.

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The bond of the local population with the hinterland is as much a factor of concern as the traditional jobs that they have been carrying out.

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As the city inches closer, the village schools that are being run with support from pathways world school are also looking at enhancement of facilities.

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In this context, our project this year provided a 30 feet by 30 feet stage at haryahera village school, which is co-funded by the friends of round square, india.

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In addition, we revisited patauda, de silting the lake afresh for the approaching monsoon.

Our efforts of last summer paid rich dividends and owing to a good monsoon we have had water there till date.we also visited another similar pond (pond phutaka) in the vicinity and commence work on surveying it for next summer.

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To top it all, we took upon the challenge of relocating and constructing a 160 feet long boundary wall belonging to the village school in bass.pathways world school took up the initiative of rejuvenating the lake and was ably partnered by welham boys school,  vidya devi jindal school for girls and in the last two years has had almost 90 students from the doon school, st. George’s school, switzerland, the sanskaar valley school, indus international school, hyderabad, amongst other participants.

                                             

Commendation:

The project took on the tasks with due diligence and attained not only the tasks assigned but went beyond the mandate given.

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The students were proactive in determining the flow of events and thoughts.

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The cohesiveness and the bonding of the team which was constantly reinforced by their consistent interactions was very welcome and kept the momentum going even when the summer heat was unrelenting in its fury.

This sojourn has been a huge step for all the delegates and for pathways world school as hosts to discover their hidden capabilities and harness them productively.

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Phase – iii of the collaborative service project began with the arrival of the participants on the morning of the 10th of june. The sun was scorching, the heat unforgiving and as the group assembled on the basketball courts – for an ‘ice-breaker’ (irony unintended!) – foregoing the confines of the air conditioned rooms seemed like a major sacrifice!

 

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—– students dancing with local people on the final day of the event—–

 

Round S0quare Collaborative Service Project 2012

Pathways world school took up the initiative of rejuvenating the lake and was ably partnered by welham boys school, vidya devi jindal school for girls and in the last two years has had almost 90 students from the doon school, st. George’s school, switzerland, the sanskaar valley school, indus international school, hyderabad, amongst other participants. 

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***********our school director dr.sarvesh naidu chating with students delegates and the local village peoples************

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This project is being launched by pathways world school on the world environment day as an extension to our on-going efforts under the cas (creativity, action and service ) programme and also the activities of round square and the iayp (international award for young people).

We are sharing this project and the experience we have gained from it, residents of these locations, our students and our rs fraternity….to further spread the message of change and value the ideals, particularly of environment and servic.

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———-our  delegates serving food to the local village  peoples———-

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We have been congregating to work on lake patauda, a scenic picnic spot with a waterhole, close to the school campus to work on our conservation project for this year. Our agenda is to collect our excavating equipment from the store, hop onto buses for a short ride to the point from which we trek for a kilometre to reach lake patauda.

 

——-our school director dr.sarvesh naidu chating with local village peoples on the site——— 

 

The project worked on two different yet connected aspects.the one task was a construction project at government senior secondary school, tikli. The pivotal school in the village of tikli, the senior secondary school has been running since 1968. It gets students from three villages: tikli, baas and aklimpur and has a student base of about eleven hundred students with a minimal population of girls purely driven by the absence of girls toilets.

 

—mr.sumit m.dargan working in the site with students delegates—

 

Well, it is not always pleasant to be away from family and friends during the vacation, but it is inevitable if students have to complete a demanding component of ibdp (international baccalaureate diploma programme) called cas (creativity, action and service). Hence, a group of students from grade 11 decided to accomplish the collaborative service project organised by pathways world school. 

 

—students delegates painting  the boys toilets in the site——

 

This project has the active participation of students and adults from not only the host school, but also from schools who are part of the round square fraternity and beyond. 

 

On the 10th of june, 2012, students from a select group of schools from all over india gathered together for the round square collaborative service project. After we all arrived at pathways—aravali, we marked the start of the project by conducting a reconnaissance of the project sites.

 

Some of us went on a recce to various villages and lakes where we would carry out our project-work to assess everything we had to do. Surveying village schools, and trudging through the forests of aravali, we not only made new friends, but planned our course of action for the coming days. A refreshing ice-breaking session followed, where we got to know each other, and the issues surrounding us today.

 

Together, we watched a thought-provoking documentary called “the land of the vanishing lakes” by ishani datta, about the state of the forests in the aravali, and illegal mining. With those issues in mind, everyone returned to their rooms

 

It was centred on the ideals of round square and not only encouraged service but also environmental protection and promoted leadership traits. Round square is a worldwide association of more than 90 schools which share a commitment beyond academic excellence, to personal development and responsibility.

 

—-our students delegates sharing their food to local school students—

———students delegates taking dinner in chancellor’s club in a enjoyable meal under the silver moonlight.——

 

The big task was a construction project at government senior secondary school, tikli. The pivotal school in the village of tikli, the senior secondary school has been running since 1968. It gets students from three villages: tikli, baas and aklimpur and has a student base of about eleven hundred students with a minimal population of girls purely driven by the absence of girls toilets.

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–mr.sunil bhardwaj & mr.sumit m.dargan  enjoying the breakfast in the site——

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With a strong belief of learning by doing and commitment beyond academic excellence, a group of more than a dozen motivated students undertook the task of demolishing part of the existent toilets and renovating them. This involved raising the level of the passage leading to these washrooms to avoid water clogging in the monsoons with the rain rendering them defunct, rebuilding the roof of the raised washrooms, installing doors and other fitments and also refurbishing the school building.

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Early in the morning on 11 june, we left for the pond called patauda to de-silt it and clean the area around it. We were welcomed by a herd of buffaloes lazing in the cool water of the lake. As they were chased out of their natural habitat by the roar of the jcb machine, we noticed the obstructions that prevented the pond from expanding in the monsoon. So, we got to work, cleaning out the channels that bring water to the lake. We also protected the termite-infested greenery that surrounded the lake by whitewashing the barks of the trees. 

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——–our students delegates i n the patauda lake———

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Ten days later, the intensity of the heat had not lessened any, the fury of the dust storms was as much a living fact and yet the students happily danced to the tunes of the village folk music and made the most of this unique bond between ‘bharat’ and ‘india’ that they had managed to forge so very effortlessly.

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——our students delegates dancing with local village womens—-

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The locally known ‘patoda’ (in local language, to denote a waterhole) is a frequented location where buffaloes and cows from the vicinity come to graze and sit in the swamp/low lying water that collects there.

Over the years, the catchment to this waterhole have been blocked, due to commercial use of surrounding land area, and the silting of the area itself has made the place shallow, thereby depleting the water, much earlier than in the past.

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The project would involve de-silting the area of the pond and if possible, clearing up the channels that bring rain water to this lake, from the catchment areas.

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—our students delegates working in the lake patauda—-

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The project worked on two different yet connected aspects. One was revisiting and de-silting the water body called patauda. This water body is a common one for people of three neighbouring villages who bring their cattle to graze in the adjoining lands. This pond was so rundown and dilapidated that water was being bought from gurgaon – in tankers and pumped into the lake.

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—round square collaborative service project teachers delegates—-

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The experience has contributed to the on-going process of individual development of every student into a committed young adult in the community.

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Patauda only constitutes a symbol to the overall change that we need to make in our own lifestyles and inspire those who matter to us to also change, for a better tomorrow!

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—on the final day we have taken a group with our school director—-

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Students also undertook additional construction projects in other schools, to promote education and awareness. We also built a stage for the haryahera village school, to improve the quality of education of the children.

The children also got an opportunity to acquire a new skill by taking up two different projects in design & technology besides exploring sports facilities and swimming in the daytime.the participants built a model car, crafted clay sculptures, and created short educational videos for the children of the local gyan shakti school. This trip also provided us with an opportunity to make many new friends from different places. It was truly an enriching experience.

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——-dt teacher mr.praveen teaching  our students delegates———

 

The first phase of this project is the actual digging and excavation of the lake. And the cas co-ordinator, mr sunil bhardwaj, informs us that in the second phase the excitement will build up. We need to paint the buttress of the trees in the vicinity of the lake with a solution which is a mix of organic pesticides which will deter the advance of pests on these trees and make them live longer.

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We are proud of these children who have opted for this project and have found a great avenue to express their feelings, raw physical energy and a greater understanding of the larger world that we live in.

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—-mr.sumit m.dargan interaction with delegates in the patauda lake—–