Fun and Joy for All Ages | Education

By Tony585
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Joy for Kids and Seniors

When Nagendra K.S. took the Self-Expression & Leadership Program, a course offered by Landmark Education, each person was assigned to create a community project. Nagendra was clear that he wanted to bring happiness to his community, and so it was fitting that he named the project Ullasa, meaning joy in English.

The idea of his project was to bring orphans and seniors together to learn from each other. He saw that older folk have many life experiences which are very valuable for kids to learn from. These orphans also did not have the privilege of being with grandparents and were therefore deprived of love and affection and this opportunity to learn from their elders. He also saw that the children could be a huge contribution of joy to the seniors. His project brought these young people and older people together in an atmosphere of connectedness and joy.

The project connected children from an orphanage in Bangalore with a nearby old age residence. On the afternoon of May 11, Nagendra and his friends arranged for vans to take the children to the old age home. The seniors eagerly anticipated the children and greeted them warmly when they arrived.

The day fulfilled the promise of joy. Young people and adults alike engaged in a variety of activities. Many children performed different dances. Both young people and seniors sung devotional songs, including one moving tribute a 10 year-old sang in appreciation of his mother.

The seniors shared their experiences in the form of a rich variety of stories. One woman shared about Gandhiji and urged children to follow in his footsteps. Another exciting event was balloon blowing. Adults and kids blew up hundreds of balloons of all different shapes and sizes. Once all the balloons were blown up, an instruction was given to pop them all at once. It was a full blown experience of self-expression and fun, where everyone got lost in the joy of the moment.

Finally, everyone made drawings for each other. The seniors kept the drawings of the young people, and the young people kept the drawings of the old people as keepsakes to remember the day by.

Nagendra’s friends had collected some books to give away to the kids. They were given to the orphanage managers for their library there. Late in the day, everyone had cake, chips and drinks and talked to each other until the children left to go back at 6:45. By 7:30 all of the children had returned home and were left looking forward to another such opportunity.

The project was acknowledged by all present to be a huge success in providing joy and belonging to all involved. The team of people who helped Nagendra put the event together is willing and interested in organizing such events regularly. Nagendra is looking to unite 15 orphanages with 15 different old age homes for regular events to keep the possibility of this project alive forever.

About the Author

Tony is author of this article on Landmark Education. Find more information about Landmark Education here.

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