The 10th anniversary of the Department of Outreach attached to the Loyola College, Chennai, was celebrated on Monday. Around 1200 undergraduates and postgraduate students who were part of the outreach programme gathered at the Bertram Hall on the college premises along with 200 representatives from slums to celebrate the success of Outreach and its impact on the neighbourhood slums.
The Outreach Department was started by the college with the aim of introducing change in the behavioral and thinking patterns of the students and to make them agents of social change. The students have been functioning as several theme-based groups with the people in Zones 5, 7 and 9. Outreach, through its ‘Lab to Land’ approach enables the students to transform themselves through field exposure, experiment, experience and involvement in the slums of Chennai in partnership with NGOs, government officials, Corporation schools and social activists.
Poetess and writer Dr Thamizhachi Thangapandian was the chief guest and S Sivagami, head, Inclusive Education, South Asia, and regional manager, Aide et Action International, was the guest of honour. The best volunteers, teams and best departments under the programe were appreciated and awarded with certificates for their services to the marginalised people. Rector Rev Fr K Amal, secretary and correspondent Rev Dr Joe Arun, deputy principal Rev Dr S Arockiasamy and vice principal and director of Outreach Rev Dr G Joseph Antony Samy, were present.