When we were kids all we needed was a crayon or a color pencil to get lost in our imagination and forget the world. I think every kid deserves this period of bliss. Especially the children of Ladakh, they just endured a major disaster, it would be nice to add some color back in their lives. And I intended to do just that. I am Souparnika Krishnan, a student of class 9 in Amity International School. Sec 43 Gurgaon, I knew I couldn’t conduct something on a large scale, so I started with my school and the results were amazing. The idea of a pencil donation campaign came to me when I was attending a presentation by Mr. Dario about his trip around the world, creating awareness about climate change and helping people overcome it. He briefly described the need of proper stationary in schools of Ladakh and that’s where it all started. I discussed the idea of a donation campaign with Mr. Dario and he was glad to help. I got back to him a few days after; he forwarded my mail to Ms. Jyoti Arora head of education department of Amity and with their support and guidance I launched a pencil donation campaign in my school on the 26th of September. I and my team went from class to class to raise awareness and urge participation. We targeted class 4 to class 12 and it was an instant hit. The next day, the 3 donation boxes were full of not only pencils but also other stationary. On Thursday the 30th of September we segregated the contents of the donation boxes and packed them in one big carton. We had been able to collect more than 400 color pencils, 250 pencils, 200 crayons, 100 erasers and sharpeners. We sealed the carton with the message ‘with love from Amity’. I couldn’t help but feel immense pride and contentment as the carton was sealed. I was helped my Umang Manchanda, my best friend who helped and supported me throughout. Pallavi Vemuganti and many others also extended a helping hand. Ms. Sanggeta Sethi, our event co-coordinator also supported us a lot. I hope to be part of TOPtoTOP again, soon.
Thanking You
Yours sincerely
Souparnika Krishnan