Ramavaram, 20th June 2008

Friday was our fourth time visiting Ramavaram. We went with the intention of establishing a good rapport with the children and to bring about the concept of external mentorship and internal leadership.
We were a group of 28, and we divided ourselves into small groups. Six of us focused on completing the survey, and the rest of us spent time with the kids.
All the children of the slums were assembled in the grounds and were divided into two groups according to age.
It took us a long time to manage the kids and make them sit down, though the group of the elder kids was much easier to manage.
We basically wanted to create a bond with the children being one amongst them. We tried doing so by sitting down, playing their games and eating with them.
Just like the other times, we served the children a square meal and for the first time we introduced the concept of washing hands before they eat and hopefully with enough repetition we will make it a part of their daily routine.
Our interaction with the kids was satisfying in the sense that we got to know them better and we definitely saw potential leaders amongst them.
We are happy with the response we got from the kids and also that they are as excited to see us as we are to see them.
At the end of the day we realized that there will be obstacles but we are also sure that we will be able to overcome them.