Each day entire community spends working to maintain the campus in different teams. While the reason is to maintain but it brings a lot more understanding about the process and brings involvement. Often kids are considered “small”. Imagine a community of all ages where all contribute irrespective of age or gender. All participate irrespective of their skills. Each one gets involved.
Signing up for kitchen teams means understanding how easy or tough is to cut the vegetables…onion bring tears, while cabbage is tough, beans are hard, capsicum are tender. What goes in our food? What is the role of carbohydrates or proteins? The journey at Aarohi begins with knowing what I am eating? Is rice carbohydrate or protein? The kitchen team adds value by labeling the food. The advantage to kitchen team – we also develop the vocabulary and also know what is in our food today! Setting up snacks is most wanted activity among Kitchen team. Some of the enthusiastic number counters want to count the number of biscuits required for one person and then multiplying for 26-29 people. They counted each biscuit, divided equally, made piles, sometimes decorated and then distributed!
Freedom is not easy, it comes with a tag of responsibility at the campus. While we have the freedom to choose the resources we also have the responsibility to take care of them. Even after many requests, announcements, discussions take responsibility for one’s action or take care of resources was missing. When resources were not taken care resource team issued warrants. The first question was “what is a warrant”? Here is one of the definitions “Warrant is a document issued by a legal or government official authorizing the police or another body to make an arrest, search premises, or carry out some other action relating to the administration of justice”. Some resisted while some sincerely worked. Resource team had to be more firm with whom took even these warrants for granted. The resource team sorts and arranges resources, maintain our sleeping places and maintain various tools. Not an easy job, one is to be self-disciplined (being in resource team, we need to know where do all the resources comes from) and second is to deal with various temperaments and attitudes – I did not do, I did not use it, he was using this and so on.
Washing toilets, maintaining dry toilets, watering plants, pets food, cleaning and maintaining drains, ensuring safe pathways…the list includes everything to maintain the campus. Sometimes it is tough, sometimes it’s fun. Dirty toilets are the most challenging task while watering those thirsty trees is a laborious process. But the desire to get and give clean toilets and make a forest in the campus keeps us motivated and we get going. For some, its just a task while for some its joy. The joy of contributing and participating in our own space.
Imagine Aarohi, a life education, where learning happens from their life – for their life.