the dirty dividerI was lying unloved and ignored

Tucked away in the corner of the school hall

You did not see or heed me until todayBut now at last you have heard my call!

You have filled me up with so many colours

Turned me into a beautiful work of artNow I am so very happy

To have won a place in your heart! Original in Bengali by Mamoni Mondal,13 years

We changed a bare wooden

classroom partition into a colourful mural.

In the process the two classrooms

were transformed into bright and happy places.

WH

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The classroom where we meet for our Sunday activity club is quite bare and shabby. An unpainted wooden partition cuts across it diving the room in two.

It was crying out to us...”Help me help me !” it said as it saw us having fun dabbling with paints, crayons, paper, glue and scissors.“Paint ME! “ it cried. “Brighten me up and make this a happy classroom!”

And we felt we just had to do something to help the dirty divider……

FEEL

We decided to use colours left over from another

project to make the partition bright and cheerful.

We wanted to involve the students of the school in this project. They must have

also heard the divider’s cry for help and would definitely enjoy being a part of the rescue

mission !

IMA

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Besides this would also give us the chance to share our own knowledge of colours and painting with students who do not get this

opportunity as often as we do !

Click to start video

We first went to meet the school principal, Mrs. Monorama Chakraborty and asked her for permission to undertake the project. She was really happy about it , especially when she heard that we wanted to involve the students of the school!

Mrs. Chakraborty suggested that we work with the students of Classes 3 and 4 . She fixed a date on which we could come and interact with them.

DO

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All the children of our weekend class were eager to help!

The younger children prepared the board with a coat of primer…..

….and we applied a base coat over it

The next Saturday, we started working with the students of the Shishumela Vidyalaya. A group of 15 students of classes 3 and 4 stayed back after school and we joined

them after our own school got over.

DO

We helped the children put handprints all over one side of the board.

It was such fun …..and we managed to keep everyone’s uniform spotless!

They drew flowers on the other side.

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The next day we got together with our Anando friends and

turned the handprints into butterflies and birds.

DO

Then we completed painting

the flowers on the reverse side.

DO

“You have transformed me !” said the divider.

THANK YOU !

THANK YOU !

We now had one very happy divider……and a lot of smiling children !

HO

W W

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HA

NG

ED We realised that we too can make a

difference….and quite easily too!We learnt we could work on our own. Though we discussed each step with our mentors, the implementation was totally ours….from speaking to the school principal and working with the school students to putting the finishing touches on the mural.

Working together like this also brought us closer ….to each other and to our other friends at Anando. We enjoyed the team spirit and the shared sense of achievement at the end.And finally we learnt to take disappointment in our stride when some of our ideas did not work out.

The classroom looks so bright now! This was the first time we took the lead in planning and executing a project and we have really achieved something! I feel confident now….MadhumitaWhen we see the school using the partition for all its special occasions, it makes me feel proud !MamoniI loved working with the school children ! Its so funny now when they try to find their own handprints on the partitionPiyali

VO

ICES

TH

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MMadhumita Roy

Deepti Aich

Pinky Panja,

Mamoni Mondal

Piyali Chandra