Volunteer Services Organization (VSO) is a platform that not only helps the needy but also provides each volunteer with an opportunity to gain new skills, work in a team, and most importantly, become a better person. VSO undertakes projects that cover community, social, organizational, and soft skills avenues. VSO-MIT Bengaluru under VSO- Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) Bengaluru Chapter was launched on June 11, 2022, so that the students and faculty from MIT Bengaluru can initiate and participate in volunteering.

In this short span, VSO has been conducting various events like DAAN UTSAV, Health Festival, Project VIDYAA, Project AKSHARA etc

Every year, VSO MIT Bengaluru under MAHE Bengaluru celebrates Daan Utsav from October 2 to 8, 2022. Daan Utsav is India’s biggest festival of giving during which people come together and perform acts of kindness by giving their time, material or money in interesting ways to any cause(s) of their choice. VSO has various projects to spread the joy of giving by touching the lives of others. The projects, facilitated by VSO under Daan Utsav include

·        Help a Life - Blood Donation Camp

·        Books for All - Donation of Books to Library

·        Gift your Clothes – Donate reusable clothes or shoes

·        Food Bank - Donation of Food to the Needy

·        Help the Environment - Plant a Tree Sapling

One another mega event is the Health Festival conducted during the month of March and April. Under the Health Festival KAYA, VSO organizes various events like blood donation camp, meditation camp, and a free health checkup camp.

Project Vidyaa is a literacy program that aimed to provide around 30 students in the adjoining village with remedial and extra classes. Student volunteers of MIT Bengaluru visited Government School at Muddanahalli village for the purpose of this Literacy Project VIDYAA. Under this project, students visited the above-mentioned school regularly every week (tentatively all Saturdays) from August 2023 to December 2023 and facilitated the students of Grades 1 to 5 by inculcating basic knowledge of science and maths. This helped the students to gain confidence and perform better in their classes.

A unique program named "AKSHARA" was inaugurated at the MIT Bengaluru campus on 22^nd November 2023 by the VSO team, led by Dr. M. Ramya and Dr. Rajendra Prasad, under the guidance of MIT Bengaluru's Director, Dr. Jagannath Korody. Over thirty members of the dedicated housekeeping staff of MAHE Bengaluru are actively enhancing their literacy skills through this transformative initiative. The program involves comprehensive lessons in Kannada and English, covering speaking, reading, and writing abilities, with classes held for three hours each week.

Recognizing the communication challenges faced by housekeeping personnel, MIT Bengaluru initiated the AKSHARA program. This innovative teaching module incorporates activities and workbooks focusing on alphabet, word, and sentence learning in both Kannada and English.

Designed to ensure holistic development, the program targets various domains, including literacy, socio-emotional skills, and cognitive life skills. Specific learning outcomes encompass:

Literacy Development in Kannada and English: such as

• Recognizing letters and corresponding sounds
• Reading simple words (3 to 4 alphabets)
• Recognizing and reading numerals
• Reading with meaning
• Framing sentences and Speaking in English

Socio-Emotional Development of Life Skills: such as

• Recitation
• Singing
• Oration

Cognitive Development of Life Skills: such as

• Basic banking skills (e.g., filling up forms for cash withdrawal and deposit)
• Booking a taxi via OLA app

The ultimate goal is to cultivate effective communicators and evolved learners among the participants, enabling them to connect with their environment more effectively.

This successful mission to enhance foundational learning for our institution's housekeeping personnel wouldn't have been possible without the active guidance of MIT Bengaluru's Director, Dr. Jagannath Korody.

Faculty Coordinators:

Dr. M. Ramya

ramya.manohar@manipal.edu; 8825865352

Dr. Rajendra Prasad

rajendra.prasad@manipal.edu;  9986229455