I want to see your face....

( A story from Taipei, Taiwan ) 

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          Even a minute wasn't over when I realized that I couldn't do this anymore and I had to open my eyes now. Colors burst in my vision and I felt relief wash over me. This was not going t be easy. I decided to try again. As soon as I closed my eyes, I heard a squeaking sound and opened my eyes in fright. I let out a sigh of relief when I found out that it was just Si Hao's shoes rubbing against the bench. " Si Hao's shoes are filthy again aren't they ?" asked Jack. I was awestruck. Here I was, Zhang Tuo Ye, trying to step into my best friend, Jack's world for sometime and failing miserably! Whereas Jack knew perfectly what was happening where. I looked on as his long slender fingers we arranging all the books and  stationary with perfect precision, and gaped at him! He turned to me and said," I don't need to see it, I can smell his shoes, Zhang."

              They called him visually impaired, but I knew the amount of miracles that he could perform. Jack cold sense his friend's presence from across the room and know when they were happy, angry, sad or simply bored. It was truly amazing to see the amazing work that he did.He was a shy, enthusiastic kid with an amazing smile. You couldn't help but smile back at him. I was in 5th grade then, studying in National Taipei University of Education Experimental Elementary School and Jack was 16. We became friends due to the constant interactions that we had when he came to my mum for tutions.A constant tap - tapping sound brings me back from the " having - a - conversation - with - self - world." " What is it? What is bothering you Jack?" asks my mother.He answered," I want to be able to see each one of my friends!" Oh! yes, I forgot to tell you about how Jack see's his best friends. He touches our faces and after that he says that he knows just how we look.We suggested that why not he go and talk to people, but he said he felt shy. We decided that we will talk about this at school the next day.

      There was a lot of discussion and fight, but at the end we came up with a brilliant idea! We decided that we will make cards on behalf of Jack and distribute them among people. After a lot of mocking each other's drawing's, skills, the cards were ready and we distributed them to some of his classmates. The initial resistance soon turned into a lot of enthusiasm and even the classmates who had not been given a card, lined up to get their faces felt by Jack. All of them were very excited and kept on asking Jack of he could really see them. There was laughter all around and we were elated!!! Jack asked them if it felt weird, but all of them were jumping around and shouting at the same time.  All of us felt really happy seeing Jack this way. The sense of pride was extremely strong and the positive response that we got  motivated us even more. We spread more awareness about Jack's campaign. He told us something that surprised us even more. Jack had never felt his mother's face, and he was shy to ask her. We chuckled and dragged him home. He asked is mom if he could touch her face, a shy smile playing on his lips. His mom agreed in an instant and it was simply magical to see the mother - son duo have a bubble time of their own. " You have such a small nose, mother!' Jack exclaimed and all of us burst out laughing. Jack's mother joined in too, her cheeks wet it the tears of joy! Jack could now see all his loved ones. The postcards were a huge success!!!!

    

Stationary Scarcity....

(A story from Boisar, Mumbai )

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               This is the first Design For Change story that we are posting and it gives us immense pleasure to bring to you this amazing story from Maharashtra. The way these children made sure that all the supplies were there on time and stacked to an adequate amount is what inspired us immensely. The children had to have a strong base of their academics also since this project involved a lot of math!!! I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as we did and do send us feedback on - mn13dfcworld@gmail.com
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           It all started with the group project that had been given to children of Chinmaya Vidyalaya in Boisar.They wanted to come up with a great project and they did have a lot of ideas, but they lacked something extremely important. Can you guess what I am talking about? Well - stationary!!! You can have the world's best ideas and the most skilled people working on your team, but until and unless you do not have the correct equipment you cannot go about completing you masterpiece.Children usually have something that a lot of adults don't. It's the will. The will to do and reach excellence every single time and that, is what kept the kids going!  The kids thought a lot about it and even interacted with students across the grades to find out if this problem was a common one. Brainstorming and coming up with solutions was the next step. They approached their teacher with the idea of setting up a stationary shop in school itself! The idea was taken into consideration by the teachers and the principal with a lot of enthusiasm and they were given permission with the condition that they would have to clean the space and set it up themselves... The trio set to work and roped in students from all the grades to help in setting up the shop.They went to take surveys from different classes regarding what material did they need and began stacking all of it up!!! Finally the D-Day arrived.Their principal had come for the inauguration and was really happy with the amount of  work that had been put in by the children! The pride on the student's face was a reward enough for their teacher....They never expected this amount of turnout.All the students came to the shop to buy  stationary for their project and congratulated their peers on the amazing work done by them.The shop was a huge success and the children had a sense of belonging and pride towards their school!  

Our Favourites....

Like we said it before, our blog is all about sharing with each other and getting inspired in that process.We will be sharing with you a few of our favorite stories from around the globe and also why these have remained with us throughout. Do send us your stories @ mn13dfcworld@gmail.com and keep reading the awesome stories brought to you by - Design For Change !!!

Mahek.......!!!!!!!

     My Story of Change :)....

                   Riverside was a new environment for me! The fun, the teachers, my classmates, everything was  and interesting and refreshing! I was 12 then. New to the pre-adolescence phase. Just exploring interesting avenues, developing varied interests, making a lot of  friends, and well just enjoying myself. After coming to riverside I increasingly found myself sitting near the windowsill  and penning down whatever came to my mind. Yeah ! I was turning into a budding writer, but seldom did I share what I wrote with anyone apart from my parents! In short - I lacked confidence. Yeah it might be strange, you know it coming from a Riverside student and all, but it was true. That was when I was acquainted with the words " I CAN ". Two simple words with loads of power. It took some time for me to understand what those two words exactly mean, but when I did, they changed my world. My friends were always there to support me. Constant refinement of my writings help me become who I am today..somebody who has become so confident of her work that she went on to compose songs for the Be The Change Conference and her school annual function! Yes... awesome right? I had now fully understood what the power of I CAN is.When you believe in yourself, you will know that nothing is impossible and your spirit of being a Jonathan will spill over to the world.....  :)

 

Meet Mahek !!:)

 Hello there ! 

    

                    I am Mahek :) Fun loving, eager learner, blogger, reader, writer, and someone who loves traveling. Sounds a lot? well I still manage to squeeze in time to listen to music and compose songs ! Multitasking is totally my thing and that is what I am doing right now. Being the student ambassador of DFC,India will allow me to do what I love doing best and that is - meeting new people and learning from them.It's time my desire to bring about a change reaches you......

Nitika....

 My story of change:

                      I loved spending time with my friends and thought that they enjoyed with me too , but no ! It all began when I  realized that I needed to trust and be a bit more open to my friends. Not only was it my self introspection,but  a constant feedback I had been getting by my peers, teachers and parents. This was where I felt the importance of changing and I knew I could do it. The next step was imagining what will be different about me at the end of this process.I wanted to change my attitude and become a easy to approach person. The do consisted of consciously putting efforts to change and making sure my friends monitored my progress.  With constant reminders, regular feedback, evaluation, I could see a change and soon it became effortless for me to do so.I was much more chilled out with my friends and had developed a quality be listening and speaking to people from my heart. Here I am, sharing my story of change and letting everyone know how it was a simple four step process to becoming a better person from the body and mind !!! 

 Meet Nitika....!!!

Hello all,
           

 
                    I am Nitika Parasrampuria, from grade 8, Riverside school, and I am currently attending an internship at Design for Change as a student ambassador from India. I love playing tennis and have played state level championships. I am a music lover and love listening to a variety of it. At the same time I also enjoy playing soccer and doing swimming. I like my things being organised, but despite this my room is yet the same messy, unorganised one:) Also, I have spent a month refining my Photography skills and taking them to the next level during the Personal Project. I am thoroughly enjoying the internship so far and look forward to continuing with it.