Quaranteens

The idea of distributing necessary essential items and products sprang from the current ongoing pandemic which has led us to help those who are underprivileged and in desperate times of need. We came together as a group to give each of us a leadership role in order to work as a team and provide the essential items such as masks, gloves, hand sanitizers, food, and clothes. We found it to be of high importance that we give back to the community.

I found myself intrigued in this project because every time I leave my house, I always see many people living in poor conditions on the streets of Pune. Many who are without food and amenities which are essential for every human being to have. During the pandemic, I always see them without a mask and sanitizers. We believe that it is not only important for them to have a mask, so they stay safe, but also for the safety of others who are near them. Through getting in contact with the NGO Snehalaya, we are able to reach some of those in need. These people and families who are financially unstable and require desperate assistance from anyone are far more vulnerable to the virus. Nonetheless, due to the dense population of India, many of these people and family live close together, which again increases the risk of the virus spreading. That is why the group Quaranteens was established.

Every member of the group was assigned a leadership role, my role was to ensure that the parents would receive proper information regarding the donation of the clothes, the gathering of the clothes through proper and organized planning. This information was submitted electronically.  We have faced multiple challenges, through understanding how we will distribute food and clothes while taking precautions due to the ongoing pandemic, as well as through the proper usage of masks, gloves and social distancing. We also faced the challenge of connecting the domain to the website where the form I created would be embedded. We had to do some research and conduct a meeting with the IT specialist of our school to understand and immediately fix the problem.  This problem was worsened as we were facing the issues within our group itself, where there was a lack of communication amongst the members of the group. Due to this tasks were taking longer, and the decision-making time prolonged. Due to the lack of communication many disagreements were seen within our group which caused the project to arrive at a temporarily halt. This also had a negative impact on our teamwork. We ensured that if anyone had misunderstandings then they could come clear, and we could all solve it as a group to improve our collaboration and communication skills. This led to us finally solving the issue of connecting the domain to the content of the website.

Our group started distributing on the 22nd December, where each member of the group had a specific role to play such as Rohan(DP2) and I will distribute the essential items, Aryan R is responsible for the photos, Ishaan is responsible for the preparation of food supplies, and Dayun is responsible for the sanitization of all the items being handed out.  At the time of writing, the vaccines were still under progress of being developed and tested, and therefore, the uncertainty of this pandemic can last for many upcoming months which is why we encourage the upcoming DP students to continue to develop this service programme next following year and support the ones who are in need.

I believe this CAS Project has brought my teammates closer to taking initiatives as a group to help others. Helping others provides a feeling of happiness. Through this project you are given the opportunity to communicate with not only your teammates but different NGOs, allowing you to meet different people. Lastly, in this project you can make an impact on many lives through the dissemination of these essential items and supplies.

Aryan Singh DP2