Start your child’s journey to success. More than 1.7 million people in India lack a place to live, and millions more struggle on a daily basis with poverty and hunger. Many people, including families, children, and the elderly, are going through struggles that most of us can’t even imagine.
At Global Indian International School (GIIS) Noida, students are rising to the occasion and taking on these challenges head-on. They are actively working to lessen the effects of poverty through community outreach and practical projects.
Let’s check out the remarkable initiatives of the young people of GIIS Noida in the fight against homelessness.
Why Awareness Matters
Many people often misunderstand poverty. They think it’s just about lacking money.
But the impacts of poverty reach further. It:
- Has an influence on mental and physical well-being
- Keeps kids out of school
- Pushes families into substandard housing
- Restricts access to nutrition and sanitation
A survey among street children in Bombay found that 60% of them had never attended school, and about two-thirds were illiterate.
Thus, hunger and homelessness should not be mere government concerns. It should be human concerns. And that’s where awareness raising comes in.
Awareness programs are crucial in schools. They sow the seeds of compassion early in life, urging youth to be socially more responsible.
And it is pretty important for the larger visions of insightful curricula like CBSE, where study does not necessarily mean books, but being aware of the world. That’s exactly why many CBSE secondary schools are actively incorporating social awareness raising campaigns into their curriculum.
When citizens and students are given the context in which the homeless people live, they start to feel empathy. Empathy is translated into action. The more that individuals are aware of the cause of poverty, the more willing they are to act on it.
GIIS Noida’s Initiatives
GIIS Noida believes in learning by doing. That’s why we offer students some opportunities to solve poverty. Have a look at them:
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Ek Mutthi Aasman
GIIS students have partnered with the Hope and Care Foundation to form the Ek Mutthi Aasman initiative. During the pandemic, they sponsored underprivileged families in the Jewar district and regularly helped them with provisions, clothing, stationery, and emotional support on a monthly basis.
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Winter Clothing Drive
The Interact Club at GIIS Noida has started a Winter Clothing Donation Drive, where students collect items like woollen clothes, socks, caps, shawls, and blankets every winter to distribute them to homeless people who live on the Noida streets.
It was started through a partnership with Hamara Kartavya Organisation to offer winter essentials to underprivileged children in Sector 62, Noida. In the second phase, GIIS students collaborated with Hope and Care Foundation to extend the scope of the initiative with additional donations.
Both phases were successful in developing empathy among students. Seeing its success, many other leading Noida international schools have drawn inspiration from the initiative to launch their own student-led initiatives.
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No Poverty
In alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), GIIS Noida organised a week-long awareness programme for students of Grades 6 to 12, focusing on the goal ‘No Poverty’. Students engaged in carefully planned activities throughout the week to broaden their perspective on poverty.
The program’s highlight was a Shark Tank-style classroom exercise in which students acted as policymakers to share ideas for government programs aimed at helping the underprivileged. These practical exercises promoted teamwork and problem-solving skills among students.
These hands-on activities are one reason why GIIS Noida is recognised among the top international high schools. We teach students skills that matter in the current job market in a practical way.
Skills Developed Through Social Action
When students become involved in awareness raising, they acquire skills that no textbook can impart. Check out some such crucial skills:
- Communication Skills: While interacting with homeless individuals of varied backgrounds, students acquire the skill of communication across social and economic divides. They learn to listen actively and communicate complex concepts in straightforward language. All these skills are extremely useful in their professional lives.
- Empathy and Awareness: They can visualise the world from the other person’s perspective. Greeting homeless individuals, hearing their stories, and assisting them develops an emotional connection that no textbook can give.
- Team Leadership: All the above-mentioned social actions are student-led. That is, students group themselves, allocate resources, and assign duties. These leadership skills are life empowering.
- Cultural Competency: India’s homeless people are from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Students gain sensitivity towards cultures and come to value diversity outside their own social networks.
- Problem-Solving: Students have to resolve real dilemmas during the activities. They would struggle with several questions, like how to get to rural families, which items to prioritise, how to raise money, and so on. These experiences impart critical and creative thinking.
Conclusion
Real change begins when young minds come together with purpose. That’s why we at GIIS Noida promote awareness raising through community-oriented activities. We help our students become the kind of citizens the world really needs.
Remember: every act, no matter how small, can help build a more caring world. And it all starts here, right inside the classrooms of GIIS Noida.
Noida Campus
