Skip A Meal (SAM) is an independent students’ initiative, started at the TISS Tuljapur campus in June 2013, by a group of like-minded students from the first BASS batch of the campus, now in their second year of graduation. The aim of Skip A Meal as initially envisioned was to skip one meal, every week, and feed those in need of food in the village of Tuljapur. Post the conduction of a survey in T
uljapur, the SAM team zeroed in on two orphanages/child care centers, Tuljabhavani School and Tuljai Balgrah, with a total strength of around 150 children, ranging from grades Nursery to 10th. Although girls are lesser in number, it is imperative that the group volunteers should focus on them as well. Some of the children are orphans, some have been abandoned and some are such that their parents cannot afford to provide them with adequate nourishment. Most of these children suffer from serious family problems, which no doubt affects their psyche. In such an atmosphere at home and not much change in the orphanage, where the teachers are known to beat up the children, or where the health care facilities are so dismal as to not even have a thermometer or basic medicines, the volunteers hope to provide a healthy, happy and friendly atmosphere to the children. Even if it means being able to visit them once a week, the smiles on their faces are suffice to let us know that something is being done right. The children, all 150 of them, eagerly await the arrival of the TISS bus, not so much for the food, which they get even otherwise, but more so for the company that we are fortunately able to provide them. Since the past one year, therefore, our team has been diligently working towards motivating enough people in the campus to skip their meals for the children. Currently, on an average, around 100 out of 195 students skip their meals, and 20 regular volunteers take the food to the children. The goals of the initiative have expanded over the past year, as our volunteer base has increased due to the induction of the new BASS batch in 2013, from just distributing food to also focusing on building a strong academic base by imparting education, particularly English and Mathematics. The members of Skip-A-Meal have been divided into three major committees:
• Education Committee
• Activities Committee
• Food Committee
The first comprises of students who teach in pairs to two classes simultaneously, thus we have two teachers each for classes 1 and 2, classes 3 and 4, classes 5 and 6, classes 7 and 8 and classes 9 and 10. Their education, although at a stage of infancy, will not get hampered by teaching two classes together, because the teachers primarily focus on each child individually as there are some children in the lower classes who know much more than their peers, and some in upper classes, who are struggling with the basics. One of the motives of teaching them is also to inspire and motivate them to do better in life, to alleviate their conditions and aspire to become professionals or at the very least to be able to do what they want. With this motive in mind, the children were brought to our college for a visit on 31st August, 2013. It was also so that they could be briefed on certain issues relating to their academics or personal life, in greater detail, as the lack of facilities in the orphanages hinders such discussions. Giving them a tour of the campus, especially the library and the computer center, was done primarily so that they get the required exposure and to realistically be able to dream of pursuing higher education. Thus, food is just a source for us to bond with them. Therefore the same volunteers are requested to make regular visits for at least three months at a stretch, so that a basic level of comfort and communication is established between the children and the volunteers. After three months, a new set of volunteers can be recruited to teach and play with the students. The Activities Committee helps in organizing informative games and art and crafts projects for the students. The Food Committee is in charge of getting an adequate amount of food packed from the Dining Hall and distributing it in the orphanages. Some volunteers are also involved personally with the children, solving issues close to their hearts or just lending an ear, for them to vent out their feelings. We would like to request greater participation from the rest of the students and support from the administration. We request all those who are interested to please come forward and help us, either by skipping lunch every Saturday, or by volunteering to visit the children, or any other help one can provide.
