Brief about the Personality Development Drive held at Dr. Y S Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Nauni, Solan.

In one of the recent endeavours of the Team Transformers, a series of residential workshops were conducted on personality development for the final year post graduate and post doctorate students at the Dr. Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan.

From the very start of these workshops, there was always a strong query or doubt  prevailing, for what can actually be done to enhance, improve or develop the personalities of such hard core technical people, who's thoughts, ideas, perceptions, understanding was now more governed and was shaped up according to their area of specialization.

Under such doubtful circumstances where more of reluctance or casual approach could be felt or realized by the participants, it was very essential to immediately develop a strong rapport with them. To initiate this process of rapport building, the start of the 2 days workshop for each group of participants was an energizer or an ice breaking activity,  which helped to promote maximum alertness, presence of mind, provoke ideas and induce lots of brainstorming.

Immediately after the same, the participants were inspired to self introspect and understand their real strengths and areas of improvement so as to induce maximum self awareness. This further helped participants to have a deeper understanding of self which further induced self esteem and stronger self motivation.

Thereafter the participants were assigned some tasks which helped them unleash their individual talents, promote self expression and provide them with opportunities to brand themselves and prove their real worth or capability in action.

In the next session to develop positive thinking and make way for building of positive attitude, the participants were made to introspect and understand one's personal beliefs and  value system, which further induced clarity about:

Ø  Self Perception and Self Reliance

Ø  Understanding of one's own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in life

Ø  Introspection and understanding of why someone has a specific personality and behaves differently

Ø  Freedom from lack of interest or unwillingness towards work and collaboration of one's personal values and ethics

Ø  Realization of need to enjoy what you do

To define our purpose of life and gain experience from mistakes

The participants also had a full fledge session on Emotional Intelligence, wherein with the help of special audio visuals and some other simulative exercises, the participants were helped in understanding and expression of self emotions. Further progressing in the same direction the participants were guided with the ways to manage emotions and develops the most essential skills of empathy, compassion, adaptability, flexibility and creativity to be emotionally smart or emotionally intelligent.

The participants were further put into various simulative situations of problem solving and decision making so as to further enhance their ability of goal setting, prioritizing and managing time. The participants were also emphasized upon the need to share, express and brainstorm matters of conflict and chaos.

In another very important session on effective communication skills the participants were involved in special exercises to promote attentive listening, maximum alertness, deeper understanding and stronger receptivity. The participants were instilled with deeper realization and stronger understanding of different styles of communication as per the role and situation. As the learning outcome of various energizers the participants were elaborated the essentials of non verbal cues, gestures, facial expressions and body language along with the para verbal aspects of tone, pitch, volume, voice quality, articulation, etc. 

In the concluding sessions of this program, the participants were sensitized with the most crucial aspects of overcoming gender disparity and stereotypes and balancing the variations existing due to generational gaps. The participants were also made to realize their responsibility, beyond self, towards their near and dear ones, the less privileged ones, the ignorant ones, the ones in pain and suffering, towards mother nature and most importantly towards it nation.

At the end the participants were even provided with this opportunity to present the learnings of this personality development program in their own unique styles with the aid of music, dance, poetry, story narration, pictorial presentation, graphical presentation, mime or role play.

At the valedictory of the personality development program of each respective batch, the participants themselves elaborated some of the most crucial learnings of "Being Action Oriented and Unleash your hidden traits or real personality by putting yourself in different challenging situations" and yes we the Team Transformers strongly believe that this was surely the initiation of a very strong change or personal transformation to be induced into one's personality on a permanent basis.

Props: The Perfect Tool to Interact with Junior Students

Props: The Perfect Tool to Interact with Junior Students

Under the guidelines of UNICEF, a program known as WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) in School (WINS) has been initiated by Rotary Club of Chandigarh and further facilitated by The Transformers Value Creators. 

Through this program, the focus is to emphasize the importance of clean, safe drinking water, sanitation and personal hygiene amongst school students which would create an enabling environment securing children’s dignity, safety and health. Further, this also enables maximum class attendance and participation in schools rather than facing absenteeism and loss of their curriculum.

Taking these crucial concepts to the junior students while maintaining their interest is a major challenge for which we adopted the method of prop teaching, something which is relevant and inclusive of both the genders of the students.

Our props include dolls, pictorial posters, creative attire, practical exercise of hand washing, stories such as ‘magic potion’ and ‘Typhoid Mary’ along with some fun group activities which aid to achieve student attention constantly towards what is being taught as play. The children are found to be very excited and engaged to learn wholeheartedly.

With the help of interesting and artistic props as these, we have aimed to educate the students:

·    * A neat and clean beautiful doll is a representation of well dressed and tidy student based on which we have been able to interact and educate them efficiently.

·  * An enthusiastic involvement is observed from the students when given a chance to demonstrate with doll on how to use the toilet facility with methods of usage for boys and girls.

* Pictorial posters solidify the concepts in form of pictures which can be retained in the young minds for longer.

* Creative and informative attire adds to the level of interest amongst the students.

* Practical demonstrations help to conceptualize the theory of ‘Learning while doing’ where it is not only education but also an edutainment.

* Stories escalate the creative minds of learning and understanding to stay with the students throughout.

* Question & answer methodology is also involved for judging the level of involvement and understanding of the students as direct feedback.

* Fun group activities, games and races such as collecting, sorting the garbage, cleaning the school premises helps students to involve and take responsibility to keep their surroundings hygienic.

We observed the Benefits of prop learning as:

* They create an environment that sparks the imagination while building skills & offer opportunity for physical activity and invite interaction by stimulating the senses.

* Prop serves as a dynamic key to hands-on discovery learning for children and they love them because they are learning in form of play.

* It is an excellent resource for teachers looking for new ideas to add to the classroom.

* Prop enables children to act out what they know, cement their concepts, practice skills in a meaningful context, and learn with and from other children who also are engaged with the material.

The junior students thoroughly enjoy and interact when they find beautiful dolls, animated pictures and a pleasant smile on the face of their day’s facilitator.

Menstrual Hygiene Management- Educating the girls’ students

Menstrual Hygiene Management- Educating the Girls’ students

In the next stage of sensitizing students in the 26 Government Schools under the preview of our WASH project aegis UNICEF, where have now started sensitizing the senior girls from classes 6th to 10th on the more sensitive and crucial aspects of Menstrual Hygiene Management.

In the girls’ sessions apart from detailed explanation of the menstrual cycle, related process, facts, myths, taboos, the girls are primarily educated on the ways to take care of themselves during the menstruation:

* To clarify your doubts, seek guidance from your mother or speak to some elderly women.

* To control the bleeding and avoid staining of clothes, girls should either use sanitary napkins or properly washed and sun dried cloth.

* The girls are explained that it is normal to have irregular periods in the start as it takes time for body to adapt to new hormones. Irregular periods for a new beginner varying from 22 to 34 days are normal.  

* Colour of blood is usually bright red in beginning and then slowly turns into brown.

* Not having periods even uptil the age of 15 to 16 is normal but beyond this age, the girls must visit the doctor.

* The white discharge from the vagina is a natural process of cleaning of body as long as it does not smell a lot and if it is not green (like balgam). 

* Feel tired or pain during the periods is normal. 

* Food or diet to be taken during periods: important to have iron rich foods like banana, apple, spinach, black chana, etc., have lots of water especially during periods.

* To have relief from pain: drink hot milk or ginger tea, use hot water bottle on lower abdomen and lower back, massage your lower abdomen or lower back with pain relieving oil.

* Wearing fresh underwear is a must for females.

* If anyone feels like eating mitti, chalk or scrape wall- it means you are deficient in iron. Consume the iron tablets which are made available in schools.

Educating the girls that menstrual hygiene is vital to their health makes them more confident, aware and maintain hygiene for safe and healthy life.

We hope that these sessions will work as a trigger for better, stronger development of girls. 

Menstrual Hygiene Management- Sensitizing boys’ students to this essential subject

Menstrual Hygiene Management-  Sensitizing boys’ students

 to this essential subject

In the next stage of sensitizing students in the 26 Government Schools under the preview of our WASH project aegis UNICEF guidelines, where have now started sensitizing the senior boys of classes 6th to 10th with the process of the menstrual cycle as the reality of every girl.

The task is definitely more challenging for how to introduce to the boys with a topic, which is till date even not openly discussed even with the girls. 

At the very initial stage itself to grasp the maximum attention of the boys, they are segregated into different groups and each group is then given the task to jot down few points on the importance of education for girls. 

Based upon the inputs received from each group of boys, we are indirectly able to instigate amongst the boys the feelings of mutual respect along with importance of girls and most importantly importance of girls’ education for a progressive society. 

After the above, the boys are made more inquisitive to know and understand the reality of human birth and their coming into this world.

How naturally and biologically the individual bodies of boys and girls start preparing themselves by undergoing some very essential changes and developmental processes to actually develop as a full fledged man or woman respectively.

Inclusive of these above mentioned developmental processes, the process of menstrual cycle of girls is explained to the boys, so as to promote complete knowledge and better understanding. 

After the detailed explanation of all the biological developmental processes happening in the bodies of boys and girls independently, the boys seem to be more confident, respectful and sensitive towards the special needs of both genders and more willing to be supportive and well behaved with the girls.

To further these feelings of mutual respect and care towards the girls, the boys are narrated the real life story of Mr. Arunachalam Murugnanatham, who brought about the sanitary pad revolution and mastered the indigenous technique of producing low-cost sanitary pads.

We hope that with the guidance and new learnings for these students, the boys will now realize all the more the importance of acknowledging, respecting and understanding girls as their fellow gender.

WASH in School- An initiative to promote Clean Water Consumption

WASH- An initiative to promote Clean Water Consumption

When we peer into a glass of drinking water, we are looking at a drop of human history—the water we consume today has been around in one form or another for thousands of years, continually recycled through the atmosphere and back into our glasses.

But today, ‘drinking water’ and ‘consuming clean and safe’ water are two different realities. In continuation to which, the major target to numerous acute water borne diseases are our children who lose a major part of their childhood in struggling to retain a good health. Furthermore, this leads to absenteeism from schools and loss of their studies.

Addressing to the above situation, under the guidelines of UNICEF, a program known as WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) in School (WINS) has been initiated by The Transformers Value Creators in association  with Rotary Club, Chandigarh and adopted 26 Government schools in and around Chandigarh Tricity where around 40,000 students and 8000 Teachers are being sensitized and educated with clean water consumption, improved sanitation and hygiene education that encourages the development of healthy behavior in students for life.

We are emphasizing on clean water consumption by making students understand the importance of clean drinking water and saving it from any adulteration.

Through this WASH initiative we are further explaining students ways through which they can contribute to save gallons of water daily and deal with the water scarcity.

* We can definitely turn off all the taps tightly after each usage whether in schools, home or public place.

* Taking responsibility to ensure repair and maintenance of leaking tapes or pipes is undertaken by their elders.

* Preventing any water cooler contamination or vandalism. Also washing our hands at interval times and preventing water pollution with dirty hands.

* Keeping water tanks clean, covered and checking them on regular basis. 

* Rain water harvesting is one of the most effective and suitable techniques around areas suffering from clean water shortage. Harvesting rain water can be used for purposes like watering plant, washing clothes, in toilet flushes etc.

* Planting trees eventually helps our environment to produce more rainfall.

We are also sharing insight about the nationwide campaign, “Rally for Rivers” focusing on saving our depleting rivers by practicing methods through which we can ensure a safe future of our water bodies.

Thus, practicing sensitive & collaborative efforts towards conserving natural water to ensure its availability for future generations can only be fulfilled with involvement and engagement of children.