~ by Joshua S. Raju
Another tale, another journey to be inspired by (and another missed deadline). This time, we delve into the story of Darshini, the former Web Dev lead at VITeach.
Darshini’s commitment to helping others started long before she joined VITeach. During her school years, she was part of a social club that had goals aligned similar to that of VITeach- teaching young children. During her school years, she was part of a social club with goals similar to VITeach’s- teaching young children. While VITeach focuses on educating underprivileged children, Darshini’s school club emphasized imparting moral values. These would generally be through moralbased movie screenings, followed by a session to help the children understand the moral themes in the said movie. Needless to say, VITeach was Darshini’s calling.
But like any other college student who is supposed to be basking in some of the best years of their life as they transition from a teenager to an adult, the COVID19 pandemic struck, disrupting yet another student's life. However, Darshini’s need to help others remained unaverred. She fondly recalls the time when she had volunteered for the online Python sessions for the children in the slums of Mumbai. Now given the children’s background, the club couldn’t help but wonder how the children would learn such hands-on coding. But as the cliched saying goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way, these kids proved to be a testament to it.
The children coded on Python supporting apps on their smartphones itself, following along the sessions she conducted. The kids' excitement and eagerness to learn, despite their limited resources, constantly amazed her. These moments made her appreciate the privileges she had and motivated her to give back even more.
After the curse of the pandemic was lifted from the face of the Earth, Darshini soon took on the role of Web Dev lead. While she shone as an incredible VITeacher during school visits, she continued her mission to reach children whom VITeach couldn't access physically. As the Web Dev lead, Darshini and her team kept the VITeach website in top shape, ensuring the digital library remained a vital resource for children across India (check out the website, quite lovely in my opinion: https://viteach.org.in/ ). She led her team in organizing and uploading all the educational materials from the syllabus and worksheet team, presentation team, and video team. Under her guidance, the website became a hub where students from 1st to 8th grade at ADW and GHS schools could easily access lesson plans, worksheets, engaging presentations, and educational videos. Her leadership and technical expertise ensured continuous and effective learning opportunities for all Students.
When asked why she repeatedly went out of her way to volunteer for awareness events and school trips, despite having her own academic responsibilities, Darshini simply said, "What made me truly happy was seeing these kids show such an interest in learning and gaining knowledge. So in that regard, it's fulfilling to see how when someone listens and shows eagerness to learn from you, it naturally ignites your enthusiasm to teach them more."
If you were to ever find yourself at a VITeach event with Darshini, you might just hear kids calling out, "Akka, when are you coming back?"—a testament to the lasting impact Darshini has made on their lives as a VITeacher.
~ by Joshua S. Raju
Another tale, another journey to be inspired by (and another missed deadline). This time, we delve into the story of Darshini, the former Web Dev lead at VITeach.
Darshini’s commitment to helping others started long before she joined VITeach. During her school years, she was part of a social club that had goals aligned similar to that of VITeach- teaching young children. During her school years, she was part of a social club with goals similar to VITeach’s- teaching young children. While VITeach focuses on educating underprivileged children, Darshini’s school club emphasized imparting moral values. These would generally be through moralbased movie screenings, followed by a session to help the children understand the moral themes in the said movie. Needless to say, VITeach was Darshini’s calling.
But like any other college student who is supposed to be basking in some of the best years of their life as they transition from a teenager to an adult, the COVID19 pandemic struck, disrupting yet another student's life. However, Darshini’s need to help others remained unaverred. She fondly recalls the time when she had volunteered for the online Python sessions for the children in the slums of Mumbai. Now given the children’s background, the club couldn’t help but wonder how the children would learn such hands-on coding. But as the cliched saying goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way, these kids proved to be a testament to it.
The children coded on Python supporting apps on their smartphones itself, following along the sessions she conducted. The kids' excitement and eagerness to learn, despite their limited resources, constantly amazed her. These moments made her appreciate the privileges she had and motivated her to give back even more.
After the curse of the pandemic was lifted from the face of the Earth, Darshini soon took on the role of Web Dev lead. While she shone as an incredible VITeacher during school visits, she continued her mission to reach children whom VITeach couldn't access physically. As the Web Dev lead, Darshini and her team kept the VITeach website in top shape, ensuring the digital library remained a vital resource for children across India (check out the website, quite lovely in my opinion: https://viteach.org.in/ ). She led her team in organizing and uploading all the educational materials from the syllabus and worksheet team, presentation team, and video team. Under her guidance, the website became a hub where students from 1st to 8th grade at ADW and GHS schools could easily access lesson plans, worksheets, engaging presentations, and educational videos. Her leadership and technical expertise ensured continuous and effective learning opportunities for all Students.
When asked why she repeatedly went out of her way to volunteer for awareness events and school trips, despite having her own academic responsibilities, Darshini simply said, "What made me truly happy was seeing these kids show such an interest in learning and gaining knowledge. So in that regard, it's fulfilling to see how when someone listens and shows eagerness to learn from you, it naturally ignites your enthusiasm to teach them more."
If you were to ever find yourself at a VITeach event with Darshini, you might just hear kids calling out, "Akka, when are you coming back?"—a testament to the lasting impact Darshini has made on their lives as a VITeacher.
By: Joshua S. Raju