Project Medha
Project Medha is an initiative to build libraries across rural schools and localities that we have worked with. The difference between Project Medha libraries and other existing initiatives, is that, we actively rotate the inventory of books within these libraries and make sure that the children get new books every 6 months. KriyaiD raises funds through events for the building of these libraries and the logistics involved. We also do book donation drives. We’ve successfully completed 6 Project Medhas.
2017
2017 is special as it was the year of our first ever Project Summit with only 2 volunteers. It was a visit to a small orphanage in Guduvanchery, Chennai, India with about 13 children in June 2017. The first 2 days focused on storytelling and educational activities while the last day was all about playing games and providing the children with the necessary back-to-school kits. We had our first Project Medha, where we created a reading corner.
2018
Rural Education and Action Development, READ, is a non-profit organisation in Andimadam, Tamil Nadu, India that works to improve the social, educational, and economic conditions of the underprivileged. We visited them twice in 2018.
In June, we had our first Project Summit with them. In our session with the teachers, we shared and exchanged ideas on teaching methods and materials. In December, we combined Project Summit and Project Medha in our visit to READ. Not only did we conduct lessons for the children but we also built a library corner and brought a variety of books for them.
2019
In collaboration with Good Samaritan Charitable Trust, GSCT, we organised a trip back to Chennai with 4 volunteers in June 2019. This time, we had a bigger group of children to engage with — almost 50 children from varying ages. It was a combined Project Summit and Medha trip. We had 4 days with the children packed with games and activities focusing on English, Mathematics, and Hygiene while finding the time to set up a reading corner with books, toys, and posters.
Yet another combined Project Summit and Medha trip was organised later that year in December 2019. With a group of 3 volunteers, we visited the Supporting Children Initiative Foundation, SCIF Nepal. It’s a small orphanage, home to 13 children from ages 8 to 17, in Kathmandu. We spent our time there teaching language skills through storytelling and introducing them to financial literacy while setting up a library with books and posters.
In December 2019, we also had another Project Medha in Cambodia in collaboration with Dolphin School of English. We spent 4 days repainting and putting together shelves to build a library for them.
2022
In 2022, when travel was possible again, we started to plan our next Project Summit back to SCIF Nepal. We had volunteers who conducted virtual lessons in 2020 jump at the opportunity to visit and engage with these children face to face. A team of 4 volunteers conducted lessons around English, Science, Geography, and Sustainability. As part of Project Medha, we built an IT lab for the students.