Compassion in Action: An interactive event with Father Agnel School, New Delhi

Compassion in Action: An interactive event with Father Agnel School, New Delhi

Empowering the Vision Project in collaboration with Lunar Energy took a yearlong initiative entitled “Compassion in Action” to spread the message of Peace and non-violence as championed by Mahatma Gandhi and HH the Dalai Lama particularly to school children through theatre, art and writing.  Our first interaction began on July 6, 2015 coinciding with HH the Dalai Lama’s birthday at Vasant Valley School, New Delhi. Since then, Compassion in Action was conducted across Tibetan and Indian schools in Delhi, Gurgaon, Dehradun and Paonta Sahib.

The final Compassion in Action interactive session was conducted successfully on May 05, 2016 at Father Agnel School in Gautam Nagar, New Delhi. With help from the school, we identified class-VII with a total strength of 220 as our focus group. The session began with a short interactive skit entitled “Beyond black and white,” played by theatre artists Jaya Iyer and Lokesh Jain. The skit was aimed not only at spreading awareness on the relevance of compassion in our daily lives but also to stimulate and motivate students to think critically.

Following the skit, some 90 student volunteers of class VII had immersion in theatre, creative writing and canvas painting.The creative writing group led by Ayush, Youdon and Nima wrote poems, essays and made cartoons strips on the theme of compassion in action., The theatre group led by Zubair, Migmar and Apa further subdivided to rehearse and perform short skits.  Anita, Tsundue and Topchen facilitated the canvas painting session during which students in three groups painted together on the canvas.

Father Agnel students were not only attentive but also very inquisitive and interactive. We also received good support from the school faculty. Several teachers including the Vice Principal attended the entire event.

To summarise, the final Compassion in Action programme was very engaging and fun learning for the students. For Envision and Lunar Energy team, this programme was a great step toward building awareness on the importance of compassion, peace and nonviolence in our world, as championed by Mahatma Gandhi and HH Dalai Lama.