21st to 26th March, 2022

The Community Outreach Program for the academic year 2022-2023 was conducted by St. Teresa’s Institute of Education, Santacruz West. This was a week-long program which extended upto 30 hours of community work, which had to be done by 50 F.Y. B.Ed students and 8 S.Y. B.Ed students of St. Teresa’s Institute of Education.

The program was designed to engage us in community service activities through joining hands with Sarva Seva Sangha, Andheri East, where we had the opportunity to work with social workers and specially abled children. The community outreach program was held from 21st March 2022 till the 26th of March 2022. Our timings were from 9.00 am to 2.00 pm. The co-ordinator of the program was Mrs. Shobha D'souza, and was supported by her staff members.

The main objectives of this community service for us was to learn new techniques to communicate and teach young and special children. The aim was to also develop in us a feeling of giving back to society in whatever way we can. These sessions also focused on life skills like acupressure and occupational therapy.

Each day the program began with prayer and hymns thanking God. Soon after that we had a short meditation session which was conducted by Mr. Stefan, and the coordinator of the program. Apart from this, there were sessions like talk on Pressure Points of the Body(Mr Stefan), Spoken English (Madam Glynnis Lamb), Phonics (Madam Shobha), aqua therapy for young and adults, yoga for self and children (Dr. Pawalselvi) and child psychology sessions (Ishita ma’am) were conducted by resource persons and the staff. We learnt the EFT technique i.e Emotional Freedom Tapping technique for development and well being of our body and mind. An exhibition was also held for the students and their families which was conducted and organised by the F.Y. B.Ed students and 8 S.Y. B.Ed students.

The community work at Sarva Seva Sangha was very important, as it taught us how to interact with special children, how to identify special children, how to have team work, etc. It also showed us how each child is special in his/her own way and it is very important for each and every child to be educated and how we as teachers can make a difference in a child’s life. We also learnt various techniques of how to teach children and help them have a good education and future.