[PDF SUMMER CHALLENGE]
5 Level;
42 day long challenge;
15 Teams;
27 Events;
150 Participants;
437 Volunteers
6500 Physically-challenged and Underprivileged got the service.
Overview
The Physically-challenged Development Foundation (PDF) was proud to present the ‘PDF Summer Challenge’, 2011. First introduced in the July 15 ‘Project Placement’, the ‘PDF Summer Challenge’ was a collection of small-scale projects designed exclusively by 15 ten-men teams of young, amateur volunteers. As the title suggests, the whole project was one type of competition where the 15 teams, under the supervision of one coordinator and two mentors each, carried out their individual projects and received accolades for the creativity, determination, and skills they have demonstrated.
The main goal of the ‘PDF Summer Challenge’ was to promote active involvement of youth in society. By assigning the teams to carry out 15 sub-projects, not only was it aiming to encourage its young participants to develop an appeal for social work, but also affect their contemporaries and acquaintances and thus create a mass awareness of the importance of youth citizenship. Furthermore, each of these small-scale projects had different backgrounds; some were directed to deprived children and families, some were for the benefit of underprivileged laborers. Each of the 15 teams aimed to directly assist approximately 50 people, be it by carrying out a distribution project, or by organizing a social event or an iftaar party. Therefore, in concurrency with instigating the youth to cultivate a personal concern for the society, the ‘PDF Summer Challenge’ was also proposing to assist a number of indigent Bangladeshis through the enthusiasm of its young volunteers.
Rationale
Youth involvement is an imperative factor in the development of the society, and the country as a whole, as it is the children of today that will be the adult leaders of tomorrow. However, in Bangladesh, it can be seen that the average young person gives more importance to academics and personal life, rather than the society. It may prove difficult to persuade one into leading an active social life: they might feel intimidated by the possible complications that may arise, or they might shy away simply because they feel that they might not be able to accomplish anything alone or in small numbers. They might also believe that it is not their place to carry out work that is meant for adults.
The ‘PDF Summer Challenge’ intended to change this common psychology. It has provided a friendly initiative for its young participants. Each project has been designed exclusively by the team members themselves, thus pertaining to their comfort zones. Also, we believed that working with familiar individuals from overlapping social circles is a more persuasive way of attracting the youth to care for the community; in fact, it is easy to be influenced by friends and contemporaries than by strangers and adults. Furthermore, as this was a “challenge”, it assured commitment and the will to strive and do what is better, rather than what is good. In conclusion, by giving them the duty of implementing the projects themselves (under the supervision of experienced PDF members), we were instilling in them a sense of leadership in order to incline them to believe that yes, their collaboration is indispensable, and they do therefore have the right and the ability to work for the betterment of the society.
Goals and Objectives
The primary goal of the ‘PDF Summer Challenge’ was to create an awareness of the importance of youth leadership. We were hoping to help our young volunteers to familiarize with the concept of working for the community. We expected them to develop a feeling of responsibility towards their country while carrying out their small-scale charity projects. We also expected their determination to affect other young people in their social circles; furthermore, we were also aiming to impress those adults who believe that the only duty of the youth is to strive in academics. We wanted an overall change in the psychology of the youths and the adults alike; they need to understand that a young person should not be estranged from the outside world, but rather be a proficient member of it. He or she should be given a chance to demonstrate their abilities in understanding and facing real-world problems – theoretical knowledge forms only part of the requirement to conduct a prosperous adulthood; practice is what makes perfect.
Program and Activity Description
The ‘PDF Summer Challenge’ had been divided into five concise levels of procedure. A timeline and a list of procedures was distributed among the teams to aid them through their individual projects; also, two mentors and a coordinator, with past experience in organizing community-based projects, were assigned to each team.
The five levels are namely the ‘introductory level’, the ‘initiation level’, the ‘fuel-gathering level’, the ‘implementation level’, and the ‘concluding level’. In the ‘introductory level’, also known as the ‘Project Placement’ of July 15th, seminars were carried out to inspire 15 four-men teams; the volunteers then participated in a workshop where they designed and presented their 15 draft sub-projects. In the ‘initiation level’, the 15 four-men team were required to form ten-men teams and revise their project draft; they were also required to gear up by distributing t-shirts to three impoverished children and post their updates on the PDF group webpage in order to keep the other participants and the organizers on track. At the third level, the ‘fuel-gathering level’, the teams are to devise and carry out individual and public fundraising, such as institutional fundraising, distributing their work among their members according to their revised budgets. In the ‘implementation level’, the teams were required to confirm their project plan and carry out their projects in and at apposite venues and dates, in the presence of a senior PDF member; presence of additional volunteers and guardians earned them extra credit for the challenge. In the ‘concluding level’, a final ceremony with all the teams and volunteers was held, where each team made a short presentation of their individual projects and five projects were awarded as: the most popular project; the most fundraising project; the project with most volunteers; the project with most service provided; and last but not least, the overall best project.
Timeline
15th July | LEVEL ONE [Introductory Level] |
15th to 20th July | LEVEL TWO [Initiation Level] |
21st July to 5th August | LEVEL THREE [Fuel-gathering Level] |
5th to 25th August | LEVEL FOUR [Implementation Level] |
26th August | LEVEL FIVE [Grand Finale] |
Posted 29th September 2013 by Anonymous