“It is not important how others see you, but how you see yourself”. Yes! This is one step in building one’s self-esteem or self-confidence.
In the month of October 2016, one day camps were organized by CODP for children benefitting under its Child Sponsorship Programme. The camps were held in 5 centers of Mangalore Diocese viz Belthangady, Puttur, CODP (for children of Bantwal and Mangaluru), Kumbla, and Moodbidri.
The programme at each centre commenced by invoking God’s blessings. The resource persons were introduced by the project staff after which the input session on “Boosting one’s Self Esteem” was taken up by resource persons viz. Mrs Shanthi D’souza, Rev. Fr Francis Assisi, Dr Mrs Preethi D’souza, Mr Sujan Crasta, Rev. Fr Vernon Vaz and Sr Carmelita, UFS.
The talk by the resource persons was very interesting and the children/students listened to it in rapt attention. The students also interacted with the resource person and asked many questions of their interest regarding the ways to boost their self esteem. The resource persons answered the questions to their satisfaction. The main idea of the talk was to educate the students as to how to develop their self confidence and the role it plays in their daily lives. The resource persons presented many examples of prominent people who were from low background, but with their efforts, perseverance and self-confidence they could rise to great heights in their personal lives.
The participants were reminded that there are many talents which God has given them. They should recognize these talents and utilize them for their own as well as society’s betterment, rather than keep it to themselves. This will enable the students to further develop their talents and improve their self-confidence to face the society at times. Self-esteem or Self-confidence can be achieved only through perseverance, hard work, practice and by taking risks. One should possess a positive attitude like, “I can do it. I am good”. These, and several thought provoking quotes were highlighted during the input sessions.
The talks were supported by examples, audio/video clips which made the talk lucid and easy to understand to the children/students. Each day the talks were followed by interactive sessions where the children/students shared their views, clarified their doubts and also gained more knowledge on the topic.
At the CODP centre, the Director of CODP, Fr Oswald Monteiro first explained to the children and students the proper procedure to be followed when contacting CODP. He also explained the background of the foreign sponsors and the child/student’s obligation toward their sponsor and to CODP, even after the sponsorship tenure.
In the afternoon, the children and students were entertained with games and quiz programme. The children evinced a lot of interest in the quiz as dealt with current topics which enhanced their general knowledge.
Every day’s proceedings ended with an evaluation where the children and students expressed their happiness regarding the conduct of the programme and thanked CODP for the same. The camps were very effective and educative. The children were sent home around 3.30 pm with a small gift to mark their participation.