Making next gen future ready – Bhavisha Yaan : Delegates of Global Citizen Foundation visited the Byculla Centre

A 15 member contingent representing Global Citizen Foundation visited the Byculla Centre of the RCB funded Bhavishya Yaan project on 17th November 2016. The delegates hailing from U.K, U.S.A, Canada, Australia & Scotland
were welcomed by coordinator Rashmi Bapna who was aided by our education partner Vidya foundation.

Like Rotary which defines its mission as, ‘neighbors, community leaders, and global citizens uniting for the common good,’ the Global Citizen foundation defines its members as ‘above all philanthropy , useful to men’. Since their members share common values with Rotary they chose to visit our Mumbai city centre, to glean insights that could aid their objective to bring about change in the lives of children and youth and to empower them through education.

Keeping foremost the Indian adage of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’, the delegates were accorded a traditional welcome with Rangoli at the entrance and applying vermilion on their forehead. As a bonus the foreign delegates received origami roses made by the students. The centre staff was quizzed on: what are the current problems which plague them and what do the students like the most? Students were asked a wide swathe of questions ranging from what they learn at the centre, who are their favourite singers and what would they want to become when they grow up?

One of the students told them the story of Sadako & the 1000 cranes. Namrata from the 6th standard recited a poem on peace while the students from 8th standard performed a skit on peace which was very well appreciated.

Students were curious to know how the global citizens celebrated festivals in their countries, their most important festival and whether loudspeakers are an essential accompaniment in their culture too. The delegates then spoke about their foundation and what work they do and attempted to inspire students to work towards social causes.