THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After being confined to the house for almost a year due to the pandemic, 11-year-old Nekul Madhav was eagerly waiting to join a theatre summer camp, organised by THAMP Theatre Academy in the city. However, the abrupt cancellation of the camp due to the second wave has upset the child. “My son is shy and it takes time for him to socialise.
However, before the pandemic, when he used to attend summer camps, he started socialising and became more active. Even a drama was staged by him along with other children at the camp. Though the camps have resumed this year, the sudden restrictions imposed due to the surging number of cases have led to the cancellation of the camps and the kids are devastated,” said Maneesh M P, Nekul’s father.
With limited peer interaction, many children are suffering both mentally and physically. The summer camps were a source of relaxation for many. However, with the pandemic restrictions, summer camps still seem a distant reality for children. “Though we started the theatre camp for children aged between 6 and 16 years from this month, we had to abruptly end it due to the sudden restrictions imposed. About 30 children had registered for the two-month camp.
However, the sudden cancellation has upset the children who were quite happy to come out of their house and engage in some activity,” shares Rajesh Chandran, director, THAMP. Rajesh adds, “Though the camp has been cancelled due to the current situation, we are continuing to give counselling to children who had been facing mental health issues due to the pandemic. Many parents have approached us to counsel their children since art is therapeutic and helps in healing the mind. Both parents and children are equally worried as the summer camps ended abruptly.”
Meanwhile, the Kerala State Science & Technology Museum and Priyadarshini Planetarium who have been conducting creative science workshops for school children every summer have cancelled this year’s camp too. However, Kerala State Jawahar Balbhavan is conducting the summer camp via online.