JAGRITI INTERACT SUMMER CAMP 2016 18th - 27th April 2016 The Jagriti Interact Club run by the NFBM Jagriti School for Blind Girls which was sponsored by Rotary Club of Pune Central in March 2004, recently organized its 9th Summer Camp for the benefit of 55 members of the club. This year, the camp which was inaugurated on 18th April 2016 and culminated on 27th April 2016, was a camp with a difference. Not only was the entire planning of the camp done by the members of the Interact Club but the activities were also suggested by the girls themselves. This year the camp focused on professional skills, environmental awareness and accessible technology. Over the first two days, the girls explored the possibility of becoming professional comperes through a special workshop on compering skills. The workshop was conducted by Mrs. Vinaya Desai, a well-known compere herself, and assisted by Mrs. Manasi Kulkarni from Aakaashwani Pune. As a positive outcome of this workshop, seven girls with good compering skills were selected by Mrs. Desai for further training and opportunities to compere programs with her. The second workshop was on Wealth from Waste, conducted by Mr. Sumit Patil and his team from Mumbai and the third workshop was conducted Ms. Sangita Gaud from Bid Crafty. Both workshops focused on providing knowledge to our girls on handicraft. The experience was thoroughly enjoyed by the girls where they learnt to make decorative articles from waste material, key chains and flower pots from bids etc. Where is the 3rd workshop? The fourth activity of the camp was an exploratory visit to Kanchan Shruti, a farm house in Paud. The objective of this 2 days retreat was to give the girls a hands on experience of living in natural surroundings. During this visit they learnt paper quelling in a calm and serene atmosphere. They also learnt nursery plantation and the basics of poultry farming as well as chicken rearing. We thank Mr. Santosh Chinchkar from Namdeo Umaji and Company and Mr. Hari Vijay Kanchan for conducting these agriculture oriented workshops. We are grateful to Mr. Rajkumar and Aditi Navgire for their kind support. The fifth workshop, which focused on training the participants in the effective use of the Smart Cane for orientation and mobility purposes, was conducted by Mr Piyush Chanana, a senior Research Scientist at IIT Delhi. This workshop opened up an entire world of assertive devices and tactile graphics for the girls. They learnt the skills of obstacle detection, while walking, using the Smart Cane. The last day of the summer camp before the valedictory function was the day on which the girls visited Balkalyan Sanstha and learned the skills of creative writing and storytelling. The additional highlight of this day was an exposure visit to VMWare, one of the leading software companies in Pune. At VMWare the girls were oriented on the functioning of the company and also enjoyed interacting with their volunteers. The girls played various games and also participated in a short cultural program. We are grateful to the global operations and the R&D teams at VMWare for making this visit a grand success. The grand culmination of this camp was on April 27th, 2016. As ia practice every year. a successful visually impaired guest of honour, a role model, is invited in order to motivate the girls. A dream of the last eight years, that the role model should be from the Jagriti School, was realized this year as alumnae of the school Ms. Kavita Sadakal, Ms. Pratibha Sanap and Ms. Anjana Kale were invited as our Special Guests. All three work with BMC software as Accessibility Testers. Kavita, Pratiibha and Anjana spoke frankly about the journey of their life, their struggle and their achievements. Their message was “ There is no subsititue for Hard Work”this approach helped them in their life is hard work and they expressed their gratitude for the support received from the school and from Rotary. It is a proud moment for RCPC to acknowledge for us to mention that these girls were active members of the Jagriti Interact Club and had attended couple of summer camps during their stay in the school. They gave credit for their achievements to their experience of being key post holders in the Interact Club. The summer camp came to a conclusion with a valedictory ceremony, the chief guest for which was Rtn. Dr. Alka Vyas - a multifaceted personality - Dentist, Gemmologist, Psychologist and Lawyer. She proved to be a major source of inspiration for the girls. Her message of positive thinking and facing challenges of life with a smile and a constant effort at learning new skills had a positive impact on the girls. The success of our girls in professional skills like Accessibility Testing in the field of Software speaks volumes about the impact of Jagriti Interact Club on their life. We are sure that this positive impact of the Interact Club as well as the Summer Camp will continue under the able leadership of the members of Rotary Club of Pune Central. Special thanks to all our supporters and well wishers for their guidance and contribution in making this camp a grand success.