STORY PREVIEW

2021

Isolation to I=solution

Navrachana Vidyani Vidyalaya

Gujarat

MENTOR

Falguni Harpale

Step 1 FEEL

List the challenges or problems in your surroundings (school,neighbourhood etc.) that bothered you.

- We realized covid-era led to isolation and that had a direct impact on the mental health of people. - It led to insecurity, uncertainty, and frustration. - The young minds had been trapped inside the four walls and they were growing irritated by the day. - And the adults in general were losing their mental equilibrium along with jobs, people, and sensibility.

State the problem chosen to work and why.

- “Isolation” was the main problem we chose to work with and help the people out of the mental pandemonium that had been created. - We had to make people realize that its highly essential for them to be happy, stay calm and have faith. That’s because during the pandemic, some people lost faith too after seeing their life breaking apart. - Therefore, we decided that happiness is the foremost emotion we need to ignite in people.

Who were the people affected by the problem? What were their primary concerns?

- The children and the teenagers were the most affected according to our research. But we also discovered that the adults from the age of 21-40 were undergoing the same problems. - One of their prime concerns was anxiety of future. The pandemic wreaked havoc in a way people lost any faith they had and became uncertain and wary about the future. - For children especially, now that their minds were trapped inside the four walls, they didn’t know what their future held either. They were no longer happy because their freedom was curtailed. - The kids in the age of growing up were tied down by the shackles of the wide-spread corona virus.

Step 2 IMAGINE

List ALL the different solutions you came up with.

- We first thought of an event we can put where people can come in large numbers. - The best opportunity came to us in form of ‘world mental health day’. - We were asked to organize this event and the activities had to be in accordance to helping the students helping with the mental health. The first brainstorming session included the idea that we will propose games with a hidden meaning and certain activities with the same purpose.

Which solution from those listed above did you choose to implement and why?

- There was no hassle in planning the activities as we more deeply recognized the need for good mental health and happiness among people. - We came up with number of events out of which we short-listed only some which have been briefly presented in our video.

Step 3DO

Describe very briefly the process of implementing your solution(s).

- We first properly decided the activities and its proceedings. - Then on we organized and prepared for the same for mental health day. - Then on the final day, we were well equipped to conduct the games and activities

What was the result or impact of your project?

- The result was much better than what we expected it to be. - The students were all thrilled and happy after doing the activities. - The teachers who participated with enthusiasm were also happy at the end. - And gladly, the outcome was just as we expected it to be.

How many people were impacted by your solution(s)?

400

What did the impacted people have to say about your project? Provide 2 quotes or testimonials:

-The teachers, parents appreciated, and the students were happy. - ‘Congrats Team in a job well done! The efforts you put in were evident from the amazing display of masterpieces and the interesting games! THANK YOU for letting me be a part of this. Keep up the good work!’ – said a parent Mrs. Rashmi Monish ‘Kudos to the entire team for a job well done! Well organized, creative, interesting, fun! Keep it up!’ – said a teacher Ms. Vinaya Mishra

What challenges did you encounter while implementing your project, and how did you overcome them?

- The main issue was that Covid-19 was still prominent. - We had the threat of that, and we had to conduct all the activities with precautions, which added to our limitations.

How long did it take to implement your solution?

7-15 Days

Which global goals does your story align with?

Good health and well being

Please explain briefly why do you think so?

- We thought of reaching to a large population because isolation is a global problem. But we didn’t have such a platform to reach to such a large population. - Hence, we thought of a domino effect. The kids when go home and share their experience with the activities at home on the mental health day even parents are motivated to do the same for themselves. - Apart from that we also came up with the idea of happiness lab which is a sustained lab where all the recreational activities, happy activities, etc is what we plan to implement. - In this era where all one can see is a gloomy face, the sight of a smile is truly refreshing. - Through this we aim to spread happiness. Because indeed what is a better gift than to return one their mental health and smile.

Step 4 SHARE

How did you share your project with your school and community? Who did you share your project with? What was their response?

- Extending the project at school level was very easy due to the celebration of the ‘world mental health day’. - To the community we spread the word, about the various ways one can work to improve their mental health. - Also, we are hoping that this project would be more widespread once its put up on the DFC platform, as it would exposed to great experts and to the population at large.

Approximately how many people did you share your story of change with?

More than 100

Briefly share your plan to sustain the impact of your project?

- Our project for sustaining the impact we made due to our event on mental health, gave rise to the idea of establishing “Happiness Lab”. - We plan it to be a room where students could freely spend time in, without any social intervention or coercion, to basically have a pleasant time which many students find almost impossible at school. - And as mentioned above, this idea is still in the process of getting into existence but soon we hope we’ll be having our fellow students experience it.

BACK TO HOME