Vibha-DSS Outreach Workshop was a 3 day event being organized by Vibha in collaboration with Door Step School in Pune, India from Dec 6 – Dec 8 2012. This post summarizes the first day of the event.
Vibha – Door Step School [DSS] Outreach Workshop was formally kicked off today at YMCA Club, Pune. Vibha Pune was playing hosts to around 15 citizen sector organizations which had shown interest in learning about the DSS model and then implementing the same in their target area. To learn more about DSS and the workshop’s objective, please click here.
As is customary now, the event started with an ice-breaking session to counter the sleep inducing effect of lunch. Participants, irrespective of their age, actively participated in a few fun activities organized by Vibha Pune volunteers.
The welcome note was delivered by Zankhana Patel, Director – Vibha India. The fact that majority of the participating organizations were not direct beneficiaries of Vibha, made it imperative to discuss Vibha’s role as a social venture capitalist. Hence, the opening hour was dedicated to inform the participants about the impact that Vibha has been creating in child education across India through its partner organizations. This was followed by screening videos of Ron Victor [President, Vibha] wherein he discussed the birth and evolution of Vibha, the operating model, the volunteer network, the impact being created and the road ahead. It was an interactive session in which participants raised several questions around the role Vibha could play if their organizations were to launch a venture similar to that of DSS. Roopa Srinivas, an attendee, added that the session was vital to help them set their expectations right and to learn more about Vibha as an organization.
Next, Rajani Paranjape, Founder President – DSS, took over the stage. She knew that most of the participants had only read or heard about DSS’s work and not witnessed it first-hand. Moreover, through the workshop, Vibha and DSS strived to accomplish the herculean task of sharing various aspects of the model – which has been perfected by DSS, through various iterations, over many years – in just three days. Rajani Tai, as she is fondly called, calmed the nerves of the curios listeners by charting out the schedule for the workshop. She also shared the insider’s perspective on the award winning model.
The last session of the day was conducted by Dr. D.K. Abhayankar, Director General – CREDAI Pune. The success of the DSS model owes a lot to those builders who have realized the importance of having a school for the kids of construction workers. CREDAI, a group of real estate developers, is one such organization. He spoke about various initiatives taken by CREDAI to ensure humane work environments for construction workers – including financial inclusion, health, sanitation and education. Additionally, he promised that he’ll request CREDAI clubs in other cities to support similar initiatives.
The first day was all about laying the foundation for the two action-packed days ahead.