Camping in the woods
S.S. KAVITHA
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The camp for Irula children turned out to be better than planned.
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Five days of fun: Having the time of their lives.
MADURAI
It was more of a five-day rendezvous with Irula children living in the cool salubrious hills of Dhenkanikottai. Thanks to “Urchaka camp” organised at the spacious grounds of the Aiyur Forest Department campsite.
The children not only had fun-filled activities, but also exchanged notes on the uniqueness of their culture and background.
The camp encouraged children like Mathammal, a tribal girl, and P. Preethi from Madurai to come out of their cocoon. Though they were hesitant initially, they managed to mingle and share their culture, habits and traditions, besides having fun with a series of games.
S. Lakshmanan from Madurai had gained knowledge on how to pursue their goals, besides learning to stand united as Indians throwing aside caste and religious divisions.
Apart from that, the children said that they had learnt a lesson that they should not have fun at the cost of others. “We have decided not to call others by nicknames as it would hurt their feelings,” said S. Bharath.
He said that the children from Madurai were surprised to see the Irula community people who had a closely guarded tradition. “Changes have taken place but the Irula tribes still ensure that their culture and knowledge base was not lost,” he said.
C. Jim Jesudoss, executive director, Sakthi Vidiyal, said that the focus of the camp was self-development with importance given to raising the self-esteem, significance and security among children.
The eventful days
On the first day, the children had split into six teams namely “Vannangal”, “Siruthai”, “Anantham”, “Malarhal”, “Araniyam” and “Moongil”.
Games, craft work, self-exploration exercises, water games, song, dance, story telling, night manoeuvres, trekking into the forest, elephant water hole jungle games and campfire added to the fun and laughter, he said.
Night manoeuvres was voted the most popular as it involved a series of problem solving and initiative exercises, besides scores of games such as “fire flies and ghost” and “hide and seek”.
As the power supply was cut off, the children used their pen torches to locate and read the messages, formed human ladders to tie a ribbon to a pole followed by a night nature walk to see and appreciate the surroundings.
The grand finale of a treasure hunt for a package of watches for each team was great fun. The activities proved to be turning points in generating group cohesiveness, Jim Jesudoss said.
The children took the initiative in planning skits relating to the sound of birds, insects, frogs, and breeze, and highlighted useful messages on the inter-relatedness of all life forms, care for the environment and importance of traditional medicines.
Each team had planned and conducted programmes for other team members, he said.
Sakthi Vidiyal, a city-based non governmental organisation that works for the betterment of street children, along with Rural Development Council had organised the camp.
As many as 40 Irula children and 30 Vidiyal children from Madurai in the age group of 10 to 14 spent five days at the camp.
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