THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The city offers different options for children to spend their vacation. There are umpteen summer camps spread across the city to choose from according to one’s aptitude. Some learn a new language, a dance form or join training classes to hone skills like swimming. Parents who have been to such camps during their childhood are ever ready to enlist their children. There is no denying that summer camps are fun. Plus it makes one confident.
While most of the camps in the city are about making an individual gain a particular skill, the one organised by the corporation aims to make children aware of their surroundings and the importance of its upkeep.
The aims of the camp titled ‘haritha nagarolsavam’ are lofty. It is about creating awareness on environmental conservation, cleanliness, waste management and organic farming. For a environmentally conscious younger generation it would be interesting know how pollution affects air, water, land and our life. More importantly the camp teaches them the remedial measures needed to tackle the issues which in all probability are going to worsen in the coming years.
The camps are held simultaneously in four schools in the city. Cottonhill Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Kulathoor Government Higher Secondary School and Peroorkada Government Girls Higher Secondary School are hosting camps.
In Cottonhill school, the camp has 55 participants from eight schools nearby. On Friday they learnt about making paper and cloth bags which are the alternatives suggested by the corporation to tackle the menace of plastic bags.
In the first day the children held a trash walk to estimate the waste generated in campus. The campus has a trash corner where bio degradable waste is segregated from the non biodegradable. The volunteers used waste management techniques learned during camp to scientifically dispose garbage. Kitchen bins were used to treat waste generated from the food they consumed during the camp. A culture of recycling is propagated by teaching children to reuse old toys and clothes, said coordinator of National Service Scheme in the district, Viju Dev. He is a 3rd year B Tech student of Trinity College of Engineering. Like him the camp has 20 mentors who guide the participants. The mentors are given training by the corporation.
The participants will visit residents living around the school and spread awareness about environmental conservation on Saturday. But the camp is not just about tackling environmental issues, kids are also taught games and songs too. On Sunday the concluding day, all participants from the four camps will gather at the Museum auditorium to share their experiences.
There will be an exhibition of items made during the camp along with cultural activities. Mayor V K Prashant will honour the participants by giving arm bands and declare the camp participants as members of the green army. The corporation plans to start green army units in all schools in the city from the coming academic year.