ISR - Institute Social Responsibility - SSE, Pune

ISR Activities

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INSTITUTE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

College Community Service

Abstract

The ISR initiatives of the Symbiosis School of Economics range from caring for children affected by HIV/Aids to caring for the environment. The ISR is a module to ensure a holistic development of a student through community service.

The UN defines: “Development concerns not only man’s material needs, but also the improvement of social conditions of his life. Development is, therefore, not only economic growth but growth plus change-social, cultural and institutional as well as economic.”

At ISR we try each and every day to make a small difference which can in future bring about a greater change. The ISR is a student administered initiative and is supported by the faculty.

Tree Plantation

The tree plantation activity held on June 19th 2022 was a success It was carried out in collaboration with an organisation, 51 A, by the ISR Cell. This group focuses on the Vetal Tekdi. It grows roughly 100 plants each year and nourishes them for at least three years. This year, they intend to plant around 500 plants. Our pupils planted 27 plants with their group and learned a lot. Aside from tree planting, they also conduct awareness campaigns across the city.


Rakhi Celebration with Staff
Rakhi Celebration with Staff

Rakhi Celebration with Staff
Rakhi Celebration with Staff

Bhumi- October 2020

Bhumi Volunteers are working in two main initiatives of Bhumi, namely, IGNITE and CATALYSE. Ignite deals with the education aspect of Bhumi and Catalyze is inclined towards social projects and civil responsibility.

IGNITE

The volunteers in Ignite have further been divided into different centers and have taken up their choice of subjects to teach. A consolidated volunteer work table is given below. Most of the centers started conducting sessions from the month of November.

MONTH TOTAL NO. OF SESSIONS CONDUCTED VOLUNTEERS INVOLVED SESSIONS CONDUCTED BY ISR VOLUNTEERS
October 1 1 -
November 9 9 3
December 17 11 10
January Ignite Fest 8 -

The detailed table with the month, subject and center bifurcation is given below,

PROJECT NAME CENTRE NAME NO. OF ALLOTED VOLUNTEERS TOTAL NO. OF SESSIONS HELD CUMULATIVE ATTENDANCE PERCENTAGE
Artoons Aasra 2 6 80%
Lakshya Bhimnagar 4 5 90%
Lakshya Baitul 2 5 70%
Speak Out Eklavya 1 7 100%
Speak Out Mauli Krupa 1 7 100%
LEM Delhi 1 5 100%

CATALYSE

Two volunteers from ISR were a part of the blanket donation drive. Since most activities took place in Pune, the volunteers were unable to participate. However, they have a few interesting activities coming up.

Volstory- October 2020

Interns under Volstory, which is an initiative led by ISKCON and Ashary Foundation, are allotted in three departments under the Central Execution Team of Volstory, viz, Content Curation, Market Research and Strategic Development from the selected interns. The three departments are given the following roles and responsibilities:

DEPARTMENT
NO. OF INTERNS ROLE
Content Curation Social Media 2 Maintain the social accounts of Volstory by posting on a regular basis, increasing its outreach to different NGOs, and conducting awareness campaigns on social media.
Content Curation Newsletter 4 Prepare the Volstory monthly newsletter, with articles about various social issues and NGOs working towards the cause, interviews from experts in the volunteering industry, etc.
Market Research 4 Conduct market surveys analyze the data to make informed decisions about upcoming volunteer connect programs,crowdfunding projects, or new initiatives.
Strategic Development 5 Discovery of strategic opportunities for connecting NGOs and potential volunteers through cross functional collaboration with various departments.
Manage new opportunities and engagements with various NGOs through the development of proactive social media activation.
Identify the NGO's needs and challenges and advocate solutions to deliver an excellent client experience to both the parties.

Interns have been working for Volstory since October 2020 in virtual mode and completed the following projects while adhering to their prior roles and responsibilities:

a. The Strategic Development interns have successfully connected website designers and 100 graphic designers with 30 NGOs as a part of their Digital Utsava and 40 NGOs as a part of Design Utsava campaigns.

b. The Newsletter team has written several articles and released the first and second editions of Volstory Monthly Newsletter for the months of December 2020 and January 2021 They have also assisted Project Smile in proofreading and editing their Annual Report for 2020

c. The social media team in collaboration with the graphic designing team has also been regularly maintaining the various social media accounts of Volstory.

d. The Market Research team has conducted feedback surveys for Digital Utsava and Design Utsava campaigns and has come up with a report on enabling integration amongst the 100 NGOs by hosting conferences about social issues.

e. NGO Volunteers have also been connected with several NGOs namely Integrated Volunteers’ Network, BRM World, Ashish Foundation, Mission Deep NGO Trust and Bethany Society.

Fundraising Activity – December 2020

ISR additionally also did a fundraising activity on 7th Dec for a student of Sparsh Balgram - Vrushali. The student was getting married and as a token of gift, the ISR volunteers in just one day raised an amount of four thousand and fifty one.

Turtuk Preparatory Club- January 2021

Turtuk Preparatory Club has three volunteers of ISR volunteering to teach children of classes 4 and 5 in the remote village of Turtuk in Ladakh. The volunteers started their volunteering in January and have been working towards the academics of the children on a one-on-one basis. They spend one hour daily on weekdays to enhance the reading, writing and speaking skills of the child allotted to them.

Sparsh

Ganesh Puja Activity - 15 Sept, 2018

As Ganesh puja is celebrated with pomp and grandeur throughout the state, ISR students decided to celebrate it on a different note. The kids of Sparsh were divided into two categories with kids below Class 9 in one group and rest elder ones in another. The kids were given pictures of Ganesh bhagwan to colour. This was in the format of competition. The SSE students also helped the kids and took [art in the contest. The winners of the contest were given chocolates as reward. The kids were enthralled to take part in such an initiative and this brought the creativeness of their innocent soul. The ISR students also enjoyed the event as they gleefully took part, helped the kids and also tried their drawing skills.


A devoted group of SSE students visit the NGO run shelter at Khirkee. Here they teach the children who have been affected by HIV/Aids. The community does not accept them the way they accept others but at SSE we forego any ideas of division or discrimination. The SSE students provide moral support and basic help for their formal education in government schools. This is a regular weekend activity and the students enjoy it!

Ganesh Puja Activity - SSE
Rakhi event at Sparsh
Ganesh Puja Activity - 2018

Rakhi event at Sparsh

Recently on the occasion of Rakshabandhan festival the kids at the shelter were given a project to make their own Rakhis. The SSE students helped and taught them how to make it with simple ribbons, colours and ear buds. The whole event was aimed at making the kids happy and joyful. The SSE students too loved it.


Jeevit Nadi NGO collaboration

Along with Jeevit Nadi NGO, SSE has adopted a river stretch of the Mula-Muttha river. The college students visit the stretch on weekends and take up cleaning drives, conservation efforts and also spread awareness about its biodiversity and importance. This is aimed at instilling the idea of environment protection along with economic development into the student community. Adhering to the SDGs this initiative makes SSE an institute with an ‘actual social responsibility’ and also one that works for sustainability. This is a regular activity

Jeevit Nadi NGO collaboration
Jeevit Nadi NGO collaboration

Kerala Floods Relief Drive - 22 Aug to 25 Aug, 2018

The SSE students took it upon themselves to contribute relief items for the massive effort underway in flood ravaged Kerala. The survivors of the floods were given shelter at various relief camps. SSE collected materials ranging from buckets and mugs to medicines and first aid items. One of the major items sent was sanitary napkins which was in high demand and was essential; for women health and hyiegene. The students collected funds from all batches and pooled the items which were directly sent to the shelters of Indian Red Cross at Alleppy.

Kerala Floods Relief Drive - 2018
Kerala Floods Relief Drive - 2018

Staff Is Strength - 27 Aug, 2018

The college runs on four pillars- the Director & Deputy Director, the faculty, the students and lastly but importantly the staff. The staff members are responsible for carrying out the most minute level administrative work that helps and aids the college function properly. The ISR students organized a Rakhi For All event for the staff members of the college. This was an act of gratitude towards their untiring effort and service. The students tied Rakhis to the staff members and distributed sweets on this occasion. This gesture brought a smile on the faces of all the staff members and was a delightful experience for the students.

Rakhi Celebration with Staff
Rakhi Celebration with Staff

“It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead”

~Nelson Mandela