|
COVID-19 pandemic has been a global catastrophe that has exposed the stark inequality and social differences that still plague our world. But it is times like these that also allow new heroes to emerge to address challenges and concerns of poor, underprivileged, and disadvantaged groups of the society. Ms. Amandeep Kaur a teacher at AKSIPS 41 Smart School, Chandigarh is also one of them.
When the world was thrown into chaos and everyone was worried about their personal health and well-being, Ms. Kaur decided to help out those who were neglected by everyone. Be it migrant labourers who were travelling back to their hometowns after the loss of livelihoods or poor and downtrodden sections of society in her immediate surroundings; she decided to launch a series of initiatives to help meet their concerns. To help extend the reach of her work, she also involved her school students and inspired them to be part of Roti Bank and Ration Distribution Drives; sowing the seeds of empathy and compassion in the next generation as well.
Roti Bank
During the pandemic, arranging food, be it for poor and downtrodden people or for patients who are suffering from the COVID-19 was a major challenge. To address this, Ms. Amandeep Kaur launched a special initiative called ‘Roti Bank’ which was aimed at feeding the needy and poor who are unable to arrange food for themselves.
As part of this initiative, students were asked to bring extra Rotis and paranthas with pickle/sabzi rolled up in their tiffin box. These extra Rotis were then collected by a team of students; separated and repacked to make food packets for distribution. The food packets prepared by the Roti Bank were then distributed among patients and their medical attendants at the PGIMER in sector 12 or GMC in Sector 16, Chandigarh. Students of all age groups and classes from Nursery to Class 10 have participated in the Roti Bank initiative with great enthusiasm. In addition to having a social impact, an even bigger achievement of the Roti Bank Initiative was to instill a spirit of empathy and compassion among students, who will go on to become model citizens in the future.
Distribution of Dry Rations
Staying true to the core mantra of AKSIPS School ‘Giving back to the society and sharing resources’, Ms. Kaur also inspired her students to organize Dry Ration Distribution Drives for poor and marginalized sections of the society. Inspired by the initiative, students and teachers came forward to not only donate dry rations but also to participate in the distribution drives and ensure that these resources reach the needy in time. From migrant labourers to street children and poor in the neighbourhood, dry ration packets were distributed among all, by the students.
In addition to the distribution of Dry Ration among the poor and needy, she also inspired the school staff to cook mini-meals and hold langar outside Govt. Hospital, Sector 16, Chandigarh, on one Sunday every month. This practice is being continued even today when the impact of the pandemic has receded significantly.
Amandeep Kaur is a finalist for Best Initiative (For Grassroots Service) Because…when faced with an existential crisis, she decided to look at the needs of the downtrodden sections and address them. In addition to her personal effort, she also inspired teachers and students from her school to join and instilled a spirit of empathy and compassion among them.
To Reach the Information Dossier Shared by Amandeep Kaur Click Here.