Puja Roongta came to know about Akanksha three years ago through a mutual friend. Hoping to work with children, she joined as a volunteer. After a change in scheduling, Puja was unable to volunteer, but she didn’t want to let go of her connection with Akanksha. Subsequently, she joined the Mentor Program.
She now serves as the coordinator of the Saturday group of mentors, a group of individual professionals who can’t make time on weekdays, but still want to work one-on-one with students.
She coordinates 10 mentors from all different backgrounds, and each Saturday the group meets with 14 children. Together they work on team building, confidence building, personality development, and career awareness. The main focus is opening the children’s minds to different career possibilities, and Puja does everything she can to ensure her students are getting exposure to an entire spectrum of careers.
In addition, Puja makes a point to get to know her mentees on a personal level. She takes them out to the mall, she visits their home, and she builds a relationship with their parents. She is more than just a role model, she is a friend as well. She talks to them throughout the week, and is constantly messaging them. Puja says that she is continually inspired by her students. Although they live such hard lives, they still maintain such high confidence and intelligence levels, as well as a positive attitude towards life. Her children are also constantly eager to learn and expand their minds.
Her students clearly respect her, and she has won their trust and confidence. She met with her group of mentees on the last day of 2011 and had everyone make resolutions. One student stated that she would wake up early every day to study. The next day, Puja called this student at 9:30 in the morning to see if she was ready for an outing they had planned. She was fast asleep when Puja called and when she got on the phone she exclaimed, “Didi, it’s Sunday and that’s why I was sleeping otherwise I would have been up at 6am studying!” The next day, Puja received a text message early in the morning: “I woke up on time today, di!” Puja was so touched that her student had taken everything so seriously and was so committed to her studies and to keeping her word to Puja.
When Puja talks about her students, stories like this are plenty, and so are stories of how her students have inspired and motivated her. From those who work two jobs and still go to school, to the others who reach out and tutor younger children, her students do it all. Listening to her talk about their relationship, It is clear what an impact Puja and her students have had on each other.
sending...