JWALAMUKHI – A PLEASANT JIFFY

Jwalamukhi is an NGO that rolled-up into our college five months back. It is an organization which deals with mentoring children [at their influential age, 11, 12 & 13 years] about Environment, Civic and Social issues. The sessions held would be more through games, projects and practicality. Jwalamukhi has not only worked for bringing in us the change in attitude to the most positive terms but we have also been given thorough knowledge of the past, the present and an idea of how the future is going to be. This organization has brought in us amelioration.

I would love to share my experience on account of my five-month association with this organization. I prefer presenting it before you from the beginning. When I say beginning, it is not from when the first mentoring session started but from the day when we [my classmates & me] were trained on ‘how to mentor’. We had two training sessions; both were amazing and certainly informative. Dr. Meena Jain handled both the sessions. We were taught what mentoring means and how it is to be practiced flawless.

Very well till now! The actual work began on 26th June, 2010. It was my first day to sign in as a mentor. I was pretty nervous as the work was all about interacting with the kids and understanding them; I was no good at this trait off-work as well. Every second as I got closer to the actual session to begin, my heart palpitated like never before. Finally, it came down to the few seconds for the beginning; I covered up my nervousness and presented myself well. The session began with a small introduction to the kids about who their facilitators and mentors were. The children then participated in games conducted by the facilitators; mentors too took part in it. This helped us to have small interactions with the kids and it definitely made me feel at a little ease. After this, the kids were asked to introduce themselves to the gathered crowd. Some of them were really talented and they even gave us a demo of their talents. The very first day itself children left me amazed at the end of the session; their innocent questions and rapid guiltless answers startled me for some time.

As the sessions proceeded, the quadrangle of the college was filled with these jaunty broods running here and there, the walls accepted everyone’s hollers. Children from different schools got an opportunity to talk and play with each other without having any sense of disparity in between them. Later on, all the children were put into certain groups so that the sessions could work more meticulously. It was a wonderful experience when I helped my team kids in their assignments and projects. I was surprised to see that they took up all the homework seriously and did it with complete interest. Slowly, I could feel that some kids were getting close to me; they shared their happiness consistently.

Only the interactions with children hasn’t evolved me to be better but also those lecture sessions, guest-lectures and power point presentations have also edified me more. Along with the kids, I too got a chance to learn many new things and implement it in my own life. The class from which I extracted immense knowledge was on communicative and presentation skills. I was so delighted to know much about these skills. This generation somehow enthused in me the desire to speak out some words on the closing occasion of the first session. I must say that this was the first time wherein I stood up to speak my own words in front of a huge crowd; it was a nice and an inspiring experience for me. Sure on this act, Jwalamukhi became a platform for not only the children but also to me. In addition to this cheerfulness, I was left to enjoy much more happiness as the Jwalamukhi team members chose me as one of the three mentors who contributed [read: contribution through handling a social networking website and writing few reports on the professional blog] what we could to this organization and offered me a certificate. Well, in that case I got two certificates at the end, one – Certificate of Achievement and two – Certificate of Excellence.

Nevertheless, Jwalamukhi has become an influential club for me. It has inculcated in the children and in the mentors the spirit of care towards ‘Mother Earth’. I must admit that my five-month journey in this organization has changed my perception about NGO’s and their commitment to work. I also had an opportunity to observe at close quarters and participate in their activities; this has given me an insight into their working style. Seeing the way the children are spear-heading the movement towards a greener earth and the efforts being made to change themselves to future leaders, I’m sure they are more concerned and responsible and would bring about an appreciable change. This will certainly stand them in good stead in life. Holding a hope for the second session to start off with much more massive force and zeal, I put an end to my note.