The NSS Special Camp of VVM’s Shree Damodar College of Commerce & Economics was held at Shree Shantadurga Chamundeshwari Temple Premises Ghudo-Avedem, Quepem, – Goa from 2nd to 8th November 2016. 62 NSS volunteers along with NSS Programme Officers Dr. B.P. Sarath Chandran, Mr. Vishal Chari, Ms. Preksha Chopdekar, Mr. Krishnakumar Bandolkar and Mr. Frazer Taylor attended the camp.
2nd November 2016
The NSS camp began with the Inaugural function. The camp was inaugurated by the Principal Dr. (Mrs) Prita D. Mallya, Vice – Principal Dr. Sanjay Dessai, NSS Chief Programme Officer Dr. B.P. Sarath Chandran and by two NSS Volunteers. After the function, the volunteers were formed into five different groups and they were given a brief orientation about the activities to be undertaken of the camp. This was followed by an entertainment program by the students.
Every morning began with an assembly, a morning walk and an exercise session organized by one group. Similarly every evening ended with a cultural program organized by one group.
3rd November 2016
This day volunteers cleaned the temple premises by removing weeds and other plastic materials. In the evening the volunteers were taken for a nature walk within the village. There was a special talk on organ donation by Shri. Santosh Kamat. The speaker highlighted the importance of organ donation and how NSS volunteers can promote this noble cause.
4th November 2016
The day started with volunteers participating in Bird watching. Volunteers were taken to the nearby village and shown various types of bird species. Students were guided by Ms. Mamta Kumari, a trained bird watcher. After breakfast the volunteers were involved in a field based activity wherein a Plastic Collection Drive was carried out and the volunteers collected plastic waste from the roadside within the vicinity of the camp site. In the evening Adv. Vallabh Dessai delivered a talk on Goan history and culture.
5th November 2016
The day started with a field based activity. This was followed by an Ayurveda camp for the villagers, organized in collaboration with Kamakshi Ayurveda College, Shiroda. A large number of villagers visited the health camp and received medical attention, prescriptions and medicine from the doctors. In the evening two talks were held for the volunteers. Mr. John Silveira gave a very useful talk on mobile etiquette and how students should use mobile phones responsibly. This was followed by a talk by Mr. Viswanath Swar on how to conduct group activities and how drama can be used as an important tool for conveying social messages.
6th November 2016
The highlight of the day was a programme on snake familiarization by Shri. Amrut Singh where different species of snakes were shown to volunteers, who were educated about their aggressiveness and nature of venom they possess. Students were told how they should be sensitive towards this important species. In the evening, volunteers made paper bags, which were distributed in the nearby villages. During the evening session, volunteers attended a talk on traffic awareness and road safety by the representatives of MARG, an NGO.
7th November 2016
After the morning Assembly, NSS volunteers were involved with field based activity of cleaning the Village and clearing garbage in the area. This was followed by a presentation to the villagers on various online services available to the people and how to make use of them. Practical aspects of using online services were demonstrated to the villagers by the teachers and students of the BCA department of the College. Ms. Ekta Agarwal, Ms. Deepa Pujari and Mr. Gajanan Nial along with 5 students conducted the programme. In the evening, the NSS campers organized a sports activity for the children of the village. A large number of children participated in the sports activities and received prizes and mementos. This was followed by the Valedictory programme in which volunteers performed Cultural programs. The traditional Camp fire was organised at night where volunteers shared their camp experiences and performed various items of entertainment.
8th November 2016
On the Last day of NSS Camp all the NSS volunteers cleaned the premises where they were staying, leaving it clean and tidy as they had found it. After the assembly and taking stock of the camp activities, volunteers left for their homes.
