We have had our hands full at Saturday Art Class ever since we launched the Saturday Art Class Covid 19 Relief and Recovery Program in April 2020, which was essentially launched as a way to combat the challenges our communities back home were facing due to the outbreak of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown imposed by the government.  

The financial ramifications of the aforementioned lockdown resulted in many low-income communities without basic food supplies, as most of these depended on the daily wages to fulfil basic needs. Most of our students that we worked with, also belonged to these communities, hence it became imperative for us to take on Relief, by ensuring the supply of daily food essentials to families in need, which could help them, at least for a month. So far we have been able to help 12,000 individuals across 2500 families. 

Coupling this, we also launched Recovery, as a way to help children deal with their feelings in a positive way during this difficult time, where normalcy has been lost and has been replaced by constant stress on the effects of the disease and the pandemic. The Recovery program was basically designed to find a solution to our volunteers not being able to go on ground and conduct Social Emotional Learning and Art sessions with our children, since schools remain shut in India. Three months ago, we launched phase 1 of our "Virtual Classes for Recovery Program" where our facilitators hosted sessions for children over zoom calls. However, while phase 1 was largely successful, with more than 85% attendance being recorded, we realised that digital learning further created a gap in an already divided education system by the use of technology. 

The communities we worked with do not have access to technology compatible with digital learning nor do they have the resources to invest in a relatively expensive device, especially when they are currently just surviving. Additionally, over the course of the lockdown, studies show how children exposed to excess screen time as a result of schools shifting onto a digital platform, has done more harm than good. 

Keeping these setbacks in mind, we decided to launch our Phase 2 of the program by being mindful of what our children and communities really needed without creating a new demand. We compiled all our 12 lesson plans for Phase 2 into a workbook called, In My Mind, printed and distributed it to all children who are a part of the current phase along with Art Kits. Although we will continue to have classes over a digital platform, the larger idea behind this was to equip a child with simple tools to help him at home, with minimal tech intervention. For example, if a child cannot come online due to technical setbacks, with the aid of the workbook and art kit, our facilitators can ensure learning reaches a child over a 10 min phone call rather than a 90 min virtual class over zoom. 

We are also launching an e-version of the In My Mind workbook as an open source to help parents, teachers and children across the world with social emotional learning and art tools. 

"I believe it is a helpful resource which can help children get through the current circumstances that has jolted the world into a halting stop." -Chhavi Khandelwal, Co-founder