Leadership Activity at Unkal Lake, Unkal, Hubballi

Activity performed at Unkal Kere, Unkal, Hubballi, Karnataka.

The activity was conducted on 25th of Jan 2009 at 06:00 am by Ms.Gayatri, Mr.Veeresh, Mr.Shambuling, Mr.Lakshmish.

The aim of the activity was make the people take responsibility of social properties and to conserve them for next generations.

The objectives of the activity were
1. To bring in awareness about cleanliness, conserving the natural resources and proper utilization of the facilities provided by Government.
2. To bring in the notice to the Government about the mismanagement by the authorities.
3. Educate the society about health and hygiene through various activities like drama, skit, role plays etc

Reason for choosing particular activity:
During the previous visit to Unkal lake by the fellows, came across about the unhealthy condition inside the park over there, cows and buffalo lying inside the park making the surrounding area stingy by dung all around. Gutka packs and waster paper lying throughout the park. Waste water from the companies surrounding the park enters inside and has made the part of park stagnant with drainage water. Waste thrown all over the park made it very untidy and created an unpleasant environment for those who come there for better healthy condition. This brought in the idea of advocacy in the mind of group members.

Activity: The group members led by Ms.Gayathri and Mr.Veeresh joined by Mr.Shambuling and Mr.Lakshmish as followers started cleaning the park by picking up the garbage lying all around the greenery area of the park. All the four members pecked the waste and collected it in one corner of the park. It was not an easy task as the waste was just spread over the park in each and every corner. Picking glass pieces of the cool drinks bottle and gutka packing cover was really a challenging job for the group.



The people who came for walking and jogging were slowly attracted by our activities. They started coming to us to interact what was happening and started sharing their views. They appreciated the work performed by the group and shared the actual problem that was happening there by the ignorance of the people visiting the park.

Two people responded by sharing the failure of Government’s intervention in keeping the area clean and performing the developmental activities for the funds they receive. One of the elderly person said, people coming on the week end does throw all the garbage around the park. He also added saying “It makes us feel difficult to come for walk especially on Sundays and Mondays, the place looks so dirty and waste spread all over leaving food waste scattered all over. People should be thought about waste management in public places, do they litter like this at their house?” He also added a statement aiming at the failure of work by Government focusing on not placing the dustbins in and around the park.

Seeing the cleaning and advocacy work by the group, many people around the area were motivated to take part in the activity. Many young and elderly people also joined hands in the activity. Children took it as a joy and were happy to do it as fun. By elders response was quite good and suggested the group to bring in the change that were necessary to keep the surrounding clean and tidy forever and to do it by the fellowship program gets over. They assured the group that they would contribute their help in needed.

The beside photo shows the entry of waste water entering into the park, that is put out by the companies situated around the park.

Members helped the goup in cleaning the park

Future Plans:
1. Pressurizing Corporation to Place sufficient dustbins inside the park through the intervention of corporation.
2. Educating the people about the importance of maintaining cleanliness in and around the park, by communicating innovatively through effective dramas, skits and role plays associating with local groups
3. Follow up for next couple of months to see that the objective and carried out by the ownership of society.

Deshpande Fellowship Programme : Orientation Program

Deshpande Fellowship Programme, Cohort – II
The orientation for the fellowship program started on 20th Jan 2009 for the Cohort-II batch. The day started with energizers by Ms.Taryn, those helped the fellows to know more about each other. After the activities concluded, bags and face books were issued to each fellow.

This was followed by a session by Mr.Naveen Jha, Director, DCSE that oriented the fellows more about the content of the program. It gave a brief idea on the modules that will be covered during the 6 months of the fellowship program. The topics seemed to be very interesting and the fellows were so amazed to know about the topics. The session also focused on the activities that were to be performed by the fellows during the fellowship program. The Director also briefed about the Stipend and how to avail the incentives by performing the various tasks. The session gave the fellows a brief idea about the activities and the thought about the commitment required for successful performance. Later Mr. Chinna Babu, Manager, DCSE briefed the fellows about the Policies and Procedure of the fellowship program, code of conduct etc. This was followed by preparing the Charts by each fellow that provides information about them. by this I had to leave the day’s activity for some personal reasons and was on leave even on the next day (i.e., on 21st Jan 2009).

The fellow could join the 3rd day orientation for the discussion on the visit to ‘Akshaya Patra’ facilitated by the Director, DCSE. Though the fellow could not visit Akshaya Patra, the discussion and debriefing was so effective that helped the fellow to imagine the picture of the activities and the management carried over there. Later the day progressed with the visit to Agastya an organization, dealing in promoting the Practical knowledge for the children about Science. The visit gave an enormous knowledge about the practical application of the theoretical knowledge in the field of science utilizing simple models. It helped the fellows to understand the importance of practical application and how it helps the children at their young age helps them to understand the application of theory into practice. Later the Director, DCSE briefed the visit for the fellows that helped to understand the activity in the entrepreneurial concept.

By this the orientation was concluded and led to the start for the program activities.