Friends,
As we cross the first anniversary of YFS Chennai chapter it becomes increasingly relevant and important to spread the mission and vision of Youth For Seva. Although in its infancy as compared to its buddies in other cities, Chennai chapter has attracted good number of Samaritans within short period of time. Probably this underlines the basic principles to which YFS attributes its foundation. The mission of YFS is to inspire youth to volunteer, connect them to the grass root projects, and provide support and training to the volunteers.
Formed on March 20th 2011, YFS Chennai began its journey from Seva Bharti office in Chetpet. Priya joined as first full time volunteer in May and naturally became the co-ordinator taking lot of initiatives and trying to bring together people who wished to serve. In fact even before the chapter was formed there were lot of queries from Chennai volunteers on the YFS website to know how they could take part and contribute. It seemed people already had inherent willingness to come out of their comfort zone and work for the society yet they did not know where and how to start. YFS tends to provide that platform and volunteers are free to initiate any activity or take part in the ongoing projects.
After a slow start Chennai chapter saw volunteers quickly getting involved with various activities. A weekly computer training for children was started at a tuition center in Thiruvanmiyur. This involved imparting basic computer knowledge along with activities that would help develop the personality. Volunteering in ICH (Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children) also popularly known as Egmore Children’s Hospital, started with the initial idea of doing a cleanliness drive not as a one time event but as a sustainable program with the involvement of local community and the hospital staff.
The activities were not just limited to Chennai city but at times volunteers took extra effort to travel distances on the outskirt of the city. A vision pre-screening was conducted on behalf of Sri Perumal ITI of Palavakkam taluk, for the school children studying in standard 6th to 8th of Kodandarama School Oothukotai Village. Total about 300 children were screened and those who reported some kind of vision problem were further recommended to qualified ophthalmologist.
Some of the individual volunteers conducted reading sessions for the visually challenged students at PSBB school and Nethrodaya. It was an effort from their side to travel every Sunday and help the students prepare for their exams. Apart from all these events one of the major initiative was School kit drive which was inspired by similar project conducted by YFS in other cities.
Overall Chennai chapter found lot of avenues of initiating new activities from time to time. As the volunteer base started to grow it was decided to have a monthly team meet to update everyone with the latest news about all the projects, discussing new ideas as well as introduction to new volunteers. On the occasion of first anniversary of YFS Chennai a visit was planned to Ramakrishna Mutt, Chengalapattu around 60 kms from city. The intention was to bring all the volunteers together and spend a day at the Mutt. The Mutt is part of the Ramakrishna Mission which is keenly engaged in lot of philanthropic activities. It was indeed a day well spent in the spiritual atmosphere of the Mutt.
Although one can find plenty of ways to help and support the causes essentially it is vital that Seva has an impact. Now that there are many helping hands YFS Chennai plans to start and sustain the momentum of various projects rather than doing it as a one time activity. To achieve this, recently different groups were formed who wouldl pursue & manage dedicated activities such as Children education, environment awareness, health & hygiene. This would be possible with the help of volunteers who already bring experience of working with other NGO's or similar organizations.
After more than one year and having its own share of contribution towards various activities Chennai chapter continues to take inspiration from YFS motto "Experience the joy of sharing".
As we cross the first anniversary of YFS Chennai chapter it becomes increasingly relevant and important to spread the mission and vision of Youth For Seva. Although in its infancy as compared to its buddies in other cities, Chennai chapter has attracted good number of Samaritans within short period of time. Probably this underlines the basic principles to which YFS attributes its foundation. The mission of YFS is to inspire youth to volunteer, connect them to the grass root projects, and provide support and training to the volunteers.
Formed on March 20th 2011, YFS Chennai began its journey from Seva Bharti office in Chetpet. Priya joined as first full time volunteer in May and naturally became the co-ordinator taking lot of initiatives and trying to bring together people who wished to serve. In fact even before the chapter was formed there were lot of queries from Chennai volunteers on the YFS website to know how they could take part and contribute. It seemed people already had inherent willingness to come out of their comfort zone and work for the society yet they did not know where and how to start. YFS tends to provide that platform and volunteers are free to initiate any activity or take part in the ongoing projects.
After a slow start Chennai chapter saw volunteers quickly getting involved with various activities. A weekly computer training for children was started at a tuition center in Thiruvanmiyur. This involved imparting basic computer knowledge along with activities that would help develop the personality. Volunteering in ICH (Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children) also popularly known as Egmore Children’s Hospital, started with the initial idea of doing a cleanliness drive not as a one time event but as a sustainable program with the involvement of local community and the hospital staff.
The activities were not just limited to Chennai city but at times volunteers took extra effort to travel distances on the outskirt of the city. A vision pre-screening was conducted on behalf of Sri Perumal ITI of Palavakkam taluk, for the school children studying in standard 6th to 8th of Kodandarama School Oothukotai Village. Total about 300 children were screened and those who reported some kind of vision problem were further recommended to qualified ophthalmologist.
Some of the individual volunteers conducted reading sessions for the visually challenged students at PSBB school and Nethrodaya. It was an effort from their side to travel every Sunday and help the students prepare for their exams. Apart from all these events one of the major initiative was School kit drive which was inspired by similar project conducted by YFS in other cities.
Overall Chennai chapter found lot of avenues of initiating new activities from time to time. As the volunteer base started to grow it was decided to have a monthly team meet to update everyone with the latest news about all the projects, discussing new ideas as well as introduction to new volunteers. On the occasion of first anniversary of YFS Chennai a visit was planned to Ramakrishna Mutt, Chengalapattu around 60 kms from city. The intention was to bring all the volunteers together and spend a day at the Mutt. The Mutt is part of the Ramakrishna Mission which is keenly engaged in lot of philanthropic activities. It was indeed a day well spent in the spiritual atmosphere of the Mutt.
Although one can find plenty of ways to help and support the causes essentially it is vital that Seva has an impact. Now that there are many helping hands YFS Chennai plans to start and sustain the momentum of various projects rather than doing it as a one time activity. To achieve this, recently different groups were formed who wouldl pursue & manage dedicated activities such as Children education, environment awareness, health & hygiene. This would be possible with the help of volunteers who already bring experience of working with other NGO's or similar organizations.
After more than one year and having its own share of contribution towards various activities Chennai chapter continues to take inspiration from YFS motto "Experience the joy of sharing".