When one enters the world of books, it can make the world a better place. It was perhaps with this idea that Vidyamritam, a Thiruvananthapuram-based NGO started out to set up a small reading space for children at the Government school, Kuriyathi in Thiruvananthapuram. The NGO is founded by Sreelakshmi Nair, who also teaches at Lecole, Chempaka. The programme titled ‘Book Buddy’ aims at introducing children from vulnerable backgrounds to the world of books and imagination.
The journey of Vidyamritam began on July 1, 2012. The team includes professionals, home makers and most importantly, trained teachers and educationalists from diverse platforms like art and literature. “Our idea is to inspire, empower and liberate children to learn and become a good human in future. We focus on skill-based training where our teachers present a virtual classroom of narrated images, animated games through which they gain attention even from the toughest child,” says Sreelakshmi.
The conventional system of teaching has been replaced by fun-oriented activities through which a child can be reached more easily and effectively. “I’m very happy to notice the effective participation of youngsters as volunteers,” she says.
“We look forward to work with like-minded people, who are willing to spend an hour or two in a month on Saturdays with children as volunteers. Also, we are looking for people from different levels of society to help us. The true state of brightness could be attained only when knowledge received is applied and spread, and thus ‘Vidyamritam’,” she adds.
If not through service, you can support them for the camps and other craft sessions by donating books, shelves and floor carpets/rugs where the children can sit and read books. Kindly ensure that the second hand products are neat, presentable and usable. For further details, contact: 9072301986 or e-mail: info@ vidyamritam.org
