TERESIAN RURAL OUTREACH PROGRAMME (TROP)

St. Teresa’s College (Autonomous) believes in the overall development of the students. The College pays special attention to inculcate values in the students at every opportunity. Teresian Rural Outreach Programme (TROP), a unique endeavour of the College, is an extension activity aimed at reaching out to the marginalized and underprivileged.

St. Teresa’s College envisions a life-oriented education that empowers students to respond proactively to social concerns and work for the integrity of creation, thereby building a ‘Civilization of love’ as agents of transformation and development at different levels of life.

In keeping with this vision, St. Teresa‘s College encourages the students to take an active part in helping the marginalized sections of the community. They are given necessary training to impart life skills. The Teresians meet the target group on a regular basis and conduct training sessions.

Teresian Rural Outreach Programme (TROP) implemented in St. Teresa‘s College in 2009 reaches out to people in rural areas and extends a helping hand to the needy. The students are given hands on experience in imparting life skills.

All the departments have adopted areas in the outskirts of Ernakulam including the coastal areas and conduct activities appropriate to their area of specialization. Activities are based on themes like language development, e-governance, environment friendly practices, parenting skills, adolescent counseling, resource management etc.

Given below is a brief report of the activities of the various departments.

Participating Departments

Teresian Rural Outreach Programme initiated in the department is a student led programme of social involvement. TROP activities of the Department are being organized at St. Mary’s U. P. School, Maradu. The programme equips the school students to imbibe and benefit the skills and craftsmanship imparted to them by selected students of the Department. Groups of students from different classes prepare and plan activities and visit the school. Various training programmes are conducted for the school students related to ‘Best of Waste’, paper bag making, Origami, fabric painting, glass painting, floral bouquet and art of flower arrangements.  Environment awareness classes are conducted and basic health and hygiene practices are delivered. A vegetable garden was also set up in the school premises. The students of the College and the school equally benefit from the programme.

Chemistry Department students have conducted talks on Drug addiction, organised Workshop on Waste Management and Clay Modeling at Maria Goretti Public School, Nettoor.

Inauguration of TROP activities of the Department for the year 2015-16 was done by Dr. Geetha Andrews, HOD of Chemistry on 10th September 2015.

Awareness session using PPT on Environmental Pollution & Protection was conducted by Miss. Snehamol of III B.Sc. Chemistry. Demonstration of ‘Bhoomitra Sena Sanchi’ made out of recycled cloth, by Nature Club members to discourage the use of plastic carry bags was done on the same day.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam memorial essay competition for students of St. Maria Goretti School, Nettoor.

Visit to the organic farm maintained by III BSc year students.

Organic farming workshop was organized for students of St. Maria Goretti School, Nettoor

Students of St. Maria Goretti school also attended the talk on Cyber Crime Awareness Programme  by Shri. Francis Pereira, Inspector of Police( Rtd),  organized  by the Department.

These extension and outreach programs were taken up by students under the guidance and help of teachers. As Excelsior is the motto of our Department social responsibility is our mission, the Department not only imparts knowledge in excellence but also engages the students in serving the society and the underprivileged in many ways possible. Teresian Rural Outreach Programme (TROP) takes all the necessary initiatives to accomplish this objective. At the beginning of every academic year, it orients the first year students about the need for social service by inviting them to be volunteers of TROP. All the TROP members will have a chance to interact with the target group in rural area and share their knowledge in uplifting the group.

As a part of the Teresian Rural Outreach Programme, the first year students visit the Little Therese GLP School, Ochanthuruth, Vypeen. The objective is to improve their language and communication skills in English. The students are trained for various activities like skits, action songs and speeches for their Annual Day programme. Students from class I to VII are part of this programme.

As part of the Teresian Rural Out-Reach Programme, the Department of Computer Applications, in collaboration with Nanma an organisation which acts as a link between the needy of society and those who are willing and capable to uplift the less privileged, organised a one-day workshop on Computer Literacy for their CEEP(Capability Exploration and Enabling Programme), to the selected high school students of  Vypin unit.  The objective of this programme is ‘to unleash human potential by inspiring the less privileged to find their inner strength’

The Department also joins hands with MAGICS an NGO promoting the concept of Age friendly Ernakulam District with the support of Cochin Municipal Corporation. The programme was named ‘Viovigyan’– computer literacy programme for senior citizens. The programme started in month of February.

A group of 30 College students have been selected as Trainers and 30 senior citizens as students. Classes were held twice a week. The classes were conducted on 1:1 ratio of trainers and students for effective communication.

TROP aims at reaching out to the community and extending its expertise for the benefit of local communities. Staff and students of the college share their skills and resources with various local communities and facilitate their sustainable integrated development. The extension activities of the department focus its on three broad areas

  • e- Governance – Students have initiated e- Jaalakam project which aimed at enhancing capability of the common man to live in an e- society.  As a part of the project they havep prepared a citizen’s hand book on e -governance, developed an interactive webpage www.ejaaalakam.com and train civic groups. The project won accolades at the State and national level and was a recognition of their innovative ideas
  • Water conservation- volunteers work in association with local Governments to promote conservation of water resources through cleaning of wells and ponds
  • Waste management-. Students design green alternatives to plastic carry bags in turn also promoting material resource recovery and upcycling of textile waste thereby contributing their little to sustainable development.

Reaching out to the community by teaching English is one of the most challenging yet rewarding services the Department of English can offer. Considering the ever-rising demand for proficiency in English language and Communication skills in the job sectors, the Department of English has undertaken several projects and extension activities under the Teresian Rural Outreach Programme (TROP). The educated in society, particularly college students, can make vital contributions to filling the inadequacies noticed in English language teaching in state education schools. Some of the initiatives of the Department in this regard include Spoken English programmes conducted by the students in Edward Memorial School, Veli and Government High School, Panangad. Communication Skill classes were held at Governmentt Girls L P School, Ernakulam South. Two other extension activities include the Graffiti Workshop conducted at CCPLM School, Perumanoor, Thevara, and a Survey on Domestic Waste Management.

Teresian Rural Outreach Programme implemented in the College is to reach out to people in rural areas and to extent a helping hand to the needy. So far our Department has covered few places and communities through different programmes. The programme has helped in bringing out many changes in the society. As part of the programme our students visited few schools, to impart communication skills in English to the students of the lower primary school. The dynamic and interactive            sessions enabled the students to overcome their inhibitions. A Library was also set up by the students of our Department for the school children.

This is one of the unique features of Home Science is that extension is an integral component of the subject. Department is very actively involved in the areas of nutrition education, prevention of childhood disabilities, wise consumerism, selection of clothing, resource management , smart home , innovative recipes, Child development , effective child rearing, geriatric care and ecological conservation. The outreach programme offers experiences beyond routine classroom/laboratory activities. It provide platform for the students  for extending  their services  to the community under the  guidance of the faculty thus utilize both internal and external resources to the full, and willing to contribute fully to the development of families, communities, and the nation while upholding respect for others.. The main purpose of the programme is to bring about a change in attitude, skill, and knowledge that will help to raise their standard of living. The department is actively involved in the life style Education and Awareness Programme (LEAP) of the national rural health mission(NRHM) of the government of Kerala. Trainers training for ICDS and Anganwadi workers are also provided by the Department faculty.

To transform students to socially committed young woman who can contribute to the development of society, visits to orphanages, old age homes and training sessions for school students are organized by the Department.

The Department of Sociology is steering its TROP activities at Valappu, Elamkunnapuzha Grama Panchyat of Vypin area. The outreach programme focuses on five key areas – academic improvement and skill development, nutritional awareness and health care, environmental consciousness, awareness campaigns, and socio-economic surveys for planned policy making. Field visits are also organized to-

  • Old age homes & Senior Day care centers
  • Homes for destitute & differently abled
  • Juvenile homes
  • Orphanages

As a part of the TROP, Department of Zoology takes up 2 outreach activities every year.  The major activities planned as milestones for TROP every year are as follows:

  • Mentoring and teaching slow learners at Reena Memorial Samrakshana Special School-Children with special needs are assisted in learning, to enable them to realize their full potential. This is a rolling activity for the entire year as students will be visiting the school on a regular monthly basis so as to maximize the impact.
  • Conducting Awareness Drives -Students spread awareness and information about Nutrition, deficiency diseases, and on plastic pollution among public and the student community and through them the entire family. Students also initiate the sale of Jute bags in the campus to ensure a plastic free campus.
  • Lekha Sreenivas (HOD) and third year students of B.Sc Apparel and Fashion Design functioned as the master trainers for training housewives on bag making using old clothes in and around Ezjikkara Panchayat,organised by the Ezhikkara Panchayat in association with Bhoomithra Sena of St. Teresa’s College and Gandhi Grama Seva Kendra.
  • Lekha Sreenivas provided training in Pattern making and Surface ornamentation for the members of the Kerala Tailors Welfare Forum.
  • Lekha Sreenivas, Prof. Nivethitha Sanjay and Prof. Nayana Vinayan conducted a workshop on folder making with the theme “wealth out of waste” for the students of Govt. School Elamakara and Ayyappankavu
  • Lekha Sreenivas, Prof. Ben Joe Vattathara, and Prof. Nayana Vinayan provided skill training to the tailors of a unit functioning under Chavara Bhavan, Alleppey
  • Third year students of the department functioned as master trainers in connection with Bhoomitram project to conduct a training program on Bag making using old sarees, uniforms etc. for STARS of the College.
  • The students conduct nutrition awareness programmes and medical camps in various rural areas to improve community health and thereby developing professional and personal skills of students.
  • Surya M. Kottaram and Minitha Susan Joseph functioned as trainers for farmers on value addition of underexploited fruits at Regional Agriculture Technology Training Centre, Nettoor.
  • The department set up a diet clinic in “Raahgiri” (theruve utsavam)– an event for a social cause at Shanmugham road organized in connection with Kochi Metro Rail Ltd. The diet clinic was open to the public and it included medical checkups and nutritional assessment.

COLLEGE INITIATIVES

DEPARTMENTS