CHENNAI: Four hours, every day, for three months — this was the effort put into the wall paintings at Stanley Medical College, Washermanpet by the Visual Communications students of MOP Vaishnav College for Women.
Around 15 to 20 students from the department, as part of the Pagir social service initiative introduced by Lalithaa Balakrishnan, principal, MOP Vaishnav College for Women painted the paediatric ward of the medical college. The students covered around 1,000 sq ft of the ground floor with visuals of animals, cartoon characters, and messages for young patients.
“We came up with the concept and had our reference pictures ready. We went to the medical college after our college hours and on the weekends, when the hospital working hours were over. We also wrote messages for the children — to eat healthily and wash hands,” said Medha Vishwakarma, a third-year student and project coordinator.
During the process, the students interacted with parents and children. “Kids usually don’t like going to the doctor because they don’t like the ambience. They want something relatable, and this is something they are comfortable with,” said Shilpa Venkatesh, another third-year Visual Communication student who took part in the project. The walls of the waiting room area, emergency rooms and outpatient departments were all painted.
The college funded the projects after the students were approached by Stanley Medical College. “These children come with a lot of pain and pressure. These wall paintings are informative and comforting. Creating rapport with the children is easier now, and they don’t associate hospitals with syringes and blood anymore,” said Dr Manoj Kumar, assistant professor of paediatrics, Stanley Medical College.
According to S Jaishree, head, department of Visual Communications, MOP, this experience has helped her students as well. “Visual Communication is all about effectively communicating through images, and the students have done the same using their skills. They have done it to the fullest of their capacity, and it took planning and systematic execution on the students’ part,” she said.