The students at Holy Mother English School in Mumbai took on a project to paint a zebra crossing on a busy road near their school that had seen accidents with students. They realized students were at risk crossing the road when school let out. The students planned the project, got permission, and painted the crossing at night when traffic was lowest. The project brought positive change to road safety and brought the school and community together with a spirit of teamwork.
1. HOLY MOTHER ENGLISH SCHOOL
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT By the kids
The only effort to bring change, we think lies in realising. In the mundane life full of
cobwebs, it has rather become a bitter truth, a habit..To ignore. The intensity of
human sensitivity has its throat parched for ‘a’ drop of compassion, moderation and
a thought; A thought that brings a better tomorrow, which looks happy and secure.
However small it may be, but the young minds of Holy Mother English School are
ignited by the spirit of change and with the help and support of DFC have now
reached a level where they proudly stand as the little harbingers of change in their
own community. This year this team has taken up three projects, among which one
is a pledge to make the roads of Malwani better secured and safe. Under the banner
of ‘’ZEBRA CROSSING: UNDER CONSTRUCTION’’, these teenaged social
engineers have picked up paints and brushes to paint a Zebra Crossing across the
breadth of the road running through the busy street of Malwani in Mumbai.
It all began with a realization when unfortunately there were cases of school kids
being hit by fast moving traffic at the time of school dispersing. A little history behind
the project goes like this:
Area: Malwani. Road running through Block No.6.
Problem: Jam-packed road and crossing with no zebra crossing. Accident prone
area for school kids, especially.
Causes: Presence of 7 schools opening on the same road, a bus stand, a rickshaw
stand, a u-turn, heavy number of pedestrians and people!
The students of Holy Mother brainstormed together to provide some relief to the
existing issue and came up with the idea of making a zebra crossing across the road
and spread awareness about the traffic rules. Basically, Zebra Crossing: A RIGHT!!
The journey towards the construction of the crossing began very similar to the way a
planning for a mutiny begins; reason being that the execution of this particular
project was planned to happen at night (since traffic would be the minimum at that
hour of the day).
One group of kids were busy painting slogans and banners for ‘the’ night. The
others were advertising the job to gather support from the locals for the night. The
official channel with the school prefects were running to authorities for the due
permission and resources to be sought and gathered before the final execution takes
place and the rest were cheering hard to maintain the enthusiasm of the entire team.
2. Finally after having the local authorities and area police force under confidence, the
execution of the project created a much hullabaloo with posters and placards saying,
‘’Men at Work’’, ‘’Drive slow, school kids in action’’, ‘’Use Diversion’’.
The activity not only brought a small but significant change in the society but also
brought the community and school together on the whole with a sense of team spirit
spreading like fire in the forest. The concept of FEEL, IDEATE and ACT has helped
the school to channelize their ever wandering energy into constructive positives for
the society and Holy Mother School, Malwani promises that for the infinite coming
years it will be an indispensible part of the change wagon till a time comes when
initiatives that DFC need no reason for existence.