The children were loud and full on energy. Colourful origami necklaces hung around their necks as they ran around playing with a ball. “Catch”, shouted one before throwing the ball up the air. Coconut trees swayed gently in the breeze and a river flowed silently nearby. It was day one of a three-day Dream Camp 2018, organised by the NGO, Make A Difference (MAD) at Sakthi River Resort in Pollachi. There were 96 kids from three shelters in MAD’s Coimbatore chapter - Sevashram, Don Bosco Anbu Illam and PSG Sarvajana. Most of them being in classes five to nine, they divided themselves into groups of five with a mentor to guide each group. These mentors were mostly college students or young working professionals. Each group was given a yellow or blue hydrogen balloon. I got one too and I joined the rest of the children and their mentors to free them into the sky. There were loud cheers as the balloons took flight. “See that is mine, the one with the origami flower”, a child shouted out pointing to a yellow balloon with a red paper flower. Somasundaram. S, a volunteer explained, “The first day of camp is usually made up of unstructured activity, where the chidren can play and explore the place. They also get to know each other. At other times there are a number of sessions designed for them to understand their talents .” A class VII student who was resting under the shade informed me, “This is my second Dream Camp. In my last one, I learnt to embrace all the things that I love and to let go of things that I don’t! I made a lot of new friends.” He excitedly added that he had seen a pool and he couldn’t wait to swim in it. The sessions in the camp were named ‘Beautiful You’, ‘River of Life’, ‘Arts Challenge’ and ‘Dream Tree’. Kids drew, made mini houses out of vermicelli, sang and danced with their mentors. Hemanth S, camp lead for this year said, “We have been planning this camp for the past one month. Each session will be a new experience for the kids. The sessions will help them understand their strengths and weakness and they open up. They are also enabled to identify and understand problems and try and find solutions for them. In the ‘Dream Tree’ session they are encouraged to find ways of making their dreams come true. There will also be a talent show for the kids to showcase their talents.” As kids will be, there were those kids who were all focus on the sessions while there were some more who preferred to run around. Madsters are all akkas and annas for the kids. “MAD tries to give equitable chances to kids in shelter homes. Most of these children study in government schools and have access to only limited facilities. We try to give them foundational classes and new experiences. This will give them the confidence to face the world better”, said Rahul.R, MAD city team lead. To know more visit http://makeadiff.in/ MAD about Coimbatore MAD was started in Coimbatore in the year 2011 There are 187 volunteers and 172 children in its Coimbatore chapter Their core values are cause above self, leadership through ownership and sense of family.

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