BESIGE BESUGE…………

        CHITHRA Don Bosco organization organized a three-day residential summer camp from April 15, 2024, to April 17, 2024, under the title “Besige Besuge” for the children of evening study centers of CHITHRA Don Bosco at CHITHRA Don Bosco, Chitradurga. The inaugural ceremony of this camp was held on April 15, 2024, at 11 am. Mr. Nagabhushan (respected BEO of Chitradurga taluk) inaugurated the program. Rev. Fr. Steven Lawrence, Director of CHITHRA Don Bosco, was the president of the program. The program was inaugurated by lighting the lamp by all the dignitaries.

        Then Fr. Steven addressed the children and informed them that the camp is a platform for children to show their hidden skills during the holidays and encouraged everyone to take advantage of this camp.

        Then Mr. Nagabhushan emphasized that children should not forget the activities learned in the summer camp. Well-educated children are able to gain a good reputation in society. He also stressed the importance for children to know about the Juvenile Justice Committee, Child Helpline, and Police Helpline. One hundred forty children, 12 evening school tuition teachers, and staff members of CHITHRA were present at this camp.

        After the inaugural program, Mrs. Theresa, the program coordinator of CHITHRA Don Bosco, divided the children into five groups. She outlined the rules of the games and also spoke about the cleanliness of the children, the building, the surroundings, discipline, and the participation of the children. Then the children gave names to their groups, selected their leaders, and listed their team members’ names. Afterward, they had lunch.

        Following lunch, Br. Raju taught an action song, dance, and rain clap.

        Then Mr. Ramakrishna from the Fire Brigade arrived with his team and informed the children about the types of accidents caused by the use of petrol and gas, ways to extinguish them, the importance of the fire brigade, and their helpline. He practically demonstrated emergency services of the fire brigade.

        The children were given evening snacks and then guided to freshen up. Outdoor games like volleyball, throw ball, kabaddi, and cricket were started for the children. Children were served supper at 8 pm.

        After supper, indoor games were played for the children by Br. Raju. The teams earned points for the games. Then a group song competition was held for the teams.

        The second day of the camp started around 7 am with prayer, meditation, and yoga conducted by the tuition teachers Mr. Papanna and Mr. Bommanna and Fr. Steven.

        Br. Raju taught an action song. Then the children had breakfast. After breakfast, Master Benakaraj and Miss Deepthi, who are students of Thaikonda, gave information about Thaikonda and its importance and led some exercises and action movements of Thaikonda.

        Then Mrs. Leena Mary, a theater artist and teacher, spoke to the children about the importance of theatre and led some action songs and games. She divided the children into six groups and they also made plays. Each group was given a topic of market, hospital, school, college, family, and social media and asked to create a play on it. After this session,

        Mr. Vishwanath, a drawing teacher, conducted a drawing class. He explained object drawing, person drawing, memory drawing, colors, and other drawing skills by drawing a picture.        Then the children had lunch. After lunch, Mr. Dinakar, a respected DYSP of the Special Juvenile Police Unit, Chitradurga, introduced himself and explained child rights, the Special Juvenile Police Unit, POCSO act, child trafficking, child labor, and child marriage.

        Mr. Arun Kumar, a social activist, spoke about leadership skills through activities. He demonstrated leadership qualities using four glasses filled with water, mixing water with one glass, stones with the second glass, soil with the third glass, and sugar with the last glass. The analogy presented by Mr. Arun using water, mud, stone, and sugar to represent different leadership qualities was a creative way to convey the diversity of skills required for effective leadership.

        In the evening, Mr. Chidananda Swamy (Taluk Physical Education Officer) conducted a session. According to English alphabets, he taught clapping and exercises in a new way. Then the children had supper.

        After supper, they had a campfire. Children dressed up like wild people in their respective teams and danced and yelled with joy, participating in this campfire. Mr. Papanna, a tuition teacher, dressed up as Agni Deva and started the campfire by lighting the fire. Competitions were also held in singing, dancing, and yelling on this occasion. Every team participated in the competitions and earned points. Today’s program concluded at 10:30 pm.

        The third day of the camp started on April 17, 2024, at around 6 am with prayer, meditation, and yoga conducted by the tuition teachers Mr. Papanna and Mr. Bommanna and Fr. Steven.        Then Mr. Dheemanth (Director of Theater Fort, Chitradurga) taught action songs. Then the children had breakfast.

        Then Mrs. Theresa conducted an activity where she spread some objects on the floor and asked them to pass them individually with their eyes closed. When no one succeeded, she blindfolded one member from each team and instructed them to guide the rest. Through this activity, she explained

• The concept of a group
• How group management is done
• The importance of a group
• The qualities that a good team should have, such as cohesion, good communication, positivity, and good leadership qualities, among others.
• She also gave some suggestions for effective group dynamics and good leadership.
• She also emphasized the importance of the value of life and unity through stories.

Children attentively listened to the stories and interacted well.      Then Mr. Siddesh (Lecturer of DIET College) spoke about learning hobbies and Kannada Grammar.

        Mr. Harshavardhan (Lecturer of Arts College) provided information about the problems faced by children and their solutions.

        Mr. Abhishek (Lecturer of Don Bosco Degree College) organized indoor games for the children. He provided information about memory, learning methods, and diligence through activities. Life skills like self confidence activities, Care and Share through activities, a drama on the importance of what and Pollution, Aabhi sir class on how to address the problems through passing ring, what are the problems children face? Healthy mind and Healthy life through physical exercise and Aerobic dance, folk dance.

        Bro. Raju took class on group dynamics through games and competitions like singing, dance, group participation, group activities for the camp fire, please add all these points and above all Coming together from different villages to build healthy friendship with one another.

        Then the concluding ceremony was held. In this program, Rev. Fr. Steven and Rev. Fr. Sebastain (Administrator of CHITHRA Don Bosco) addressed the children. Then prizes were distributed to all the teams. The ceremony ended with group photos taken, after which all the children had lunch and returned home.

Students’ opinion:

Many students found the camp an enjoyable and exciting experience. A variety of activities ranging from games to songs engaged us and kept us entertained for three days, he said. Students appreciated the educational sessions like fire safety, leadership skills, child rights, value of life, unity and more. In these sessions they found information and valued the knowledge he gained. Students said the camp provided opportunities to develop new skills in sports, theater or art and group dynamics and leadership activities helped build confidence. They expressed gratitude for giving the opportunity to showcase their talents and learn from others.