Dream A Dream – Bala Janaagraha Exhibition

Vishal Talreja is the Director of Dream a Dream and an Ashoka Fellow. He shares his experiences about the Dream A Dream - Bala Janaagraha Exhibition.

Date: Sunday, 10^th February 2008
Venue: Government School, HSR Layout

On a bright Sunday morning, it seemed like all happiness, joy and colours had entered a small hall in a Government school in HSR Layout. Children from Dream A Dream’s partner organizations, Sukrupa and Makkala Jagriti were dressed in their best Sunday clothes for a very important function – The Dream A Dream - Bala Janaagraha Annual Exhibition on 10^th February 2008.

The Bala Janaagraha program is designed by Janaagraha to make children aware of their civic responsibilities. Dream A Dream brings this program to children from its partner NGOs. Over 60 children have been participating in a series of sessions over the last 6 months; understanding their role as citizens, how the government functions, how do we get water and electricity, etc. The theme for this year was “Transport and Traffic” and at the end of the sessions – the children are required to work on a project related to the theme. The project work was displayed in an exhibition format at this unique function. Three groups presented their projects on “Traffic Rules”, “Accidents and Road Safety” & “Pollution and Global Warming”.

The project presentations by each group included making a live model on their project theme, making collages and giving a small presentation on their project. The project presentations were enthralling and very informative to say the least. The children knew their concepts and facts well, spoke with supreme confidence and with a conviction that the solutions proposed by them were definitely workable. There was simplicity in their ideas such as more awareness in schools about traffic rules to tremendously innovative ones like using electric vehicles and creating cycle paths.

One group along with their volunteer guide had also prepared a powerpoint presentation on ill-effects of global warming. Their presentation explained how global warming happens through simple graphs and illustrations and was done so well that even the adults learnt things they didn’t know about Global Warming.

The coordinators from Janaagraha then conducted a quiz on civic issues – The children scored well in answering most of the questions which were taken from their course material. Finally certificates were distributed to all participating children.

As we ended the proceedings, I could not but feel happy and secure in the knowledge that our future is in the hands of these children. Children who are so much more aware and willing to change the abuse that we as humans have meted out to Earth for so many hundred years.