Pehchaan: Shaping Identities Through Education

Wikipedia defines identity as “ the set of qualities, beliefs, personality traits, appearance, or expressions that characterize a person or a group”. But then what shapes our qualities, beliefs , personality traits etc.? is it our parents , society , friends, family , teachers , life experiences who?OH GODDD it’s so confusing .Maybe the answer for this question is all of the above as every person we meet in our daily lives and every experience we go through shapes us. Honestly it is not important to define identity , because it can never be defined for it’s layer and dimensions are far beyond human comprehension

However, among all these factors the biggest influence , infact what actually shapes are identity is education. According to Sydney J. Harris “ The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows”, which honestly can be understood in many different ways. However I believe that he tried to say that through education one can convert a mirror into window through which we can see ourselves.

While, we grapple on this issue of defining identity Pehchaan The Street School as the word ‘Pehchaan’ suggests has been shaping identities for 11 years. We have 1600+ students studying across multiple centres in Delhi Ncr. Our centres are at Indraprastha metro station, Dilshad garden, Noida Sector 35, Sunder Nursery,GTB Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar. Seeing what began with a very few volunteers and students to expand into an organisation with 1600+ students and 800+ volunteer truly feels like a dream.

The vision at Pehchaan The Street School is to provide quality education at no cost to students from underprivileged background. The meaning of education at Pehchaan The Street School is not limited to books and rote learning, we aim to equip our students with leadership skills, critical thinking, vocational skills etcetera, We also aspire to foster a sense of harmony, respect for diversity and equality among our students.

Multiple collaborations are also invited for students at Pehchaan The Street School. Even this week many people made their contributions for students at Pehchaan The Street Schools.

Following are the contributions made at Pehchaan The Street School from 19th-25th May.

1. Contribution by Yamini

An individual contributor, Yamini, distributed biscuits and water bottles among 72 students at the Indraprastha Centre on 16th May.

2. Visit by Gautam and Team

Gautam, an anchor, visited the centre along with his team on 17th May and performed songs for the students.

• Fun game activities were also conducted with the students.

• The team donated ₹5000 for the students.

• Notebooks and stationery kits were distributed among 150 students.

3. Contribution by Manvi

Manvi distributed chips, Lotte Choco Pie, and lollipops among 250 students at the Noida Centre on 17th May.

4. Collaboration with The Campus Tree

A team of 6–7 volunteers from The Campus Tree conducted a drawing competition at the Mukherjee Nagar Centre on 17th May.

They also distributed 87 stationery kits containing:

• Notebook

• Crayons

• Pencil

• Pen

• Sharpener

• Eraser

Frooti was distributed among all the students as refreshments.

5. Contribution by Hamdard

Hamdard sent lemon and orange flavored squash bottles for 240 students at the Indraprastha Centre on 17th May.