The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Helping professionals take up community welfare projects

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Monday, Sep 13, 2010
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Helping professionals take up community welfare projects

Staff Reporter

OASIS's second event saw 50 participants

‘Dream a little dream' provided a platform to children to exhibit their creativity
Under another project, a team of volunteers provided basic amenities in a village in Hiriyur

Bangalore: OASIS (Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) community's second event saw 50 participants presenting their community development projects.

Oasis encourages professionals to take up community projects across the State, said Vijayalakshmi, a gynaecologist, who has been associated with this organisation for 13 years.

The projects taken up are wide-ranging. They include providing aid to underprivileged children, conducting literacy programmes, encouraging people to adopt children, and spreading awareness on the need to stop the use of plastic. Under the “Dream a little dream” project, aseries of art camps was organised for underprivileged children aged between and eight and 16. It provided an opportunity for children from orphanages, streets and slums to give expression to their dreams by way of drawing pictures and painting them.

The project was aimed at bringing in fun in the lives of the less fortunate children. Reena Chaudhary, Senior Manager Marketing in Wipro, has launched the project.

Ananth Ganjam, a shop-keeper, has launched a project called Pavement Rectification. He dreams of making the pavements in Bangalore look like those in Singapore.

A first pre-university course student Nishchitha H.V. Prasad's project, “Lighty Lamps”, is all about teaching orphans for free. She said, “The orphaned children need tuitions so that they can perform well in their academics.”

B.P. Veerendra Kumar, Kannada lecturer in the Government First Grade College in Challaekere, said his team has adopted a remote village in Hiriyur taluk in Chitradurga and made available basic amenities for the residents.

Mr. Veerendra Kumar said 200 volunteers from 26 colleges took part in the project under which they planted 3,000 saplings, mostly neem. Besides that, eye camp was organised in which 45 patients were operated upon for free. Veterinary camps were also held. According to Mr. Kumar, assets worth Rs. 25 lakh were handed over to the community in the village. OASIS, which has tied up with an international training and development company called the Landmark Education, has a programme where the participants who are working professionals are taught curriculum for living.

The third part of the curriculum is self-expression and leadership programme where participants take up a project for the development of the community. “This is a platform for anybody who wants to make a difference in society,” said Sunil Mehendarkar from OASIS .

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