Little Dream Achievers

‘Bits & Bytes’ was held to celebrate the success of our little dreamers in conquering the world of computers, to showcase their achievements. Close to 80 students from three schools: Annaswamy, Round Table School & Excellent English School got the unique opportunity to go on stage and present their work. The event was a smashing success and our little dreamers the stars of the show. They took to the stage with the ease of practiced veterans, presenting on topics which ranged from pollution problems in cities to the role of computers in society today. Intimidating as it may have seemed to them to stand in a room of over 200 people and speak for the first time, they were able to conquer their fears and face the crowd with courage. It is amazing to think that just a few short months have transformed these children from shy, awkward individuals to strong, determined people. Thanks to our dedicated and trained volunteer-trainers, the life skills development program developed to nurture these children to their best potential produced amazing results.To quote Pablo Picasso:  “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up”. In Dream Creative Arts Program, all the artists are children. Here, children have a chance to explore and express themselves through one of the most powerful mediums available-ART! In celebration of this, 3 exhibitions were held at Centre for Social Action, Gurudwara, and Excellent English School. According to Kinnar Shah, Dream Champion, “It’s amazing to see how far the kids have come. I remember one little girl used to cry every time we asked her to draw or paint something. She was so scared because she didn’t know what to do. By the end of the program, she was so confident and sure, she created something all on her own. She drew a perfectly beautiful lotus and made a collage out of it”. Kinner further adds, “Even the managements from the schools are more co-operative now. I remember we used to have trouble just convincing them to let the children do whatever they wanted. But now, they trust us more”. As for Picasso’s question on how to remain artists once we grow up, we at Dream A Dream like think the answer lies in a perfectly beautiful lotus. Dream Sports Program is one of the corner stones of Dream A Dream. The culmination of this year’s activities was a soccer tournament held at Annaswamy. Children from all schools in the program were teamed up to play against each other in a series of matches. The result was an exciting week of soccer, fun and laughter. As one member of the Dream staff put it, “Natural Leaders emerged who took control of a situation and rose to the occasion. Yellow Socks was such a natural leader!” ‘Yellow socks’, affectionately named so by the Dream staff because of her bright yellow socks, is one of our little dreamers. She was so enthusiastic and excited about the event that she consistently motivated her team to win. Unfortunately for little Yellow Socks, her team lost! For some present that day, such as Revanna, Dream A Dream Field Coordinator, it was a full circle moment. Revanna started as one of the children in the program five years back. When asked why he loves being part of Dream Sports Program, his answer is a fitting conclusion to a beautiful year of accomplishments and triumphs at Dream A Dream: “I want to be a good sportsman one day”.