1. Design for Change Submission
Mentor: Maddie Brandenburger
Students: Navya, Mukesh, Naveditha, and Ayesha
The Gift of Friendship, Vaidehi Dolphin High School, North Lalaguda,
Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
The students considered what it was like to be an orphan living in a children’s home
without parents to take care of them every night. The children from VDHS make one
to two visits a month to the children’s home to spend time playing, reading and
forming relationships with the girls.
We identified a children’s home in the neighborhood that cares for 48 girls between
the ages of 6 to 15. We wanted our project to be sustainable and long-lasting so we
decided to continue the program beyond the one Design for Change week. Each girl
student at VDHS is paired up with a girl from the home of the same age. The girls
will meet once or twice a month, depending on the school calendar.
During the week we collected food and snacks to bring to the girls. We visited
classrooms of classes eight and nine to find volunteers to participate in our project.
For our initial visit, we brought ten VDHS students to play with ten girls from the
home. The girls had a wonderful afternoon getting to know each other. In the future
we will bring girls from classes six to nine with a total of 20 girls each time.