Meet Megha, a second-year engineering student at Ganpat University, who joined the Ganpat VolunTeacher Movement (GVM) as a volunteer. For her, it started as a chance to contribute a few hours on Sundays, but it turned into an experience that reshaped her perspective.
When Megha first reached the village of Gilosan, she was nervous. She carried her books, charts, and chalk like armour. She looked at the children some shy, some curious, many hesitant to see if her teaching would matter. The first few sessions were awkward: the children would be silent, sometimes distracted, or shy to ask.
But Megha persevered. She designed games, puzzles, storytelling lessons, and gradually the children started opening up. She remembers one little girl, Pinkie, who never spoke in class. Megha gently coaxed her to read a sentence, then applauded her. The next time, Pinkie came with her notebook, eager to show.
Over weeks, Megha found a reward she didn’t expect: a deeper empathy, a sense of purpose, and the realization that she, too, was learning not just academics, but patience, humility, communication, and service. She learned that change doesn’t always show overnight, but it builds in small steps like a child’s smile when she finally reads a sentence.
At the end of a year, as Megha returned to campus, she carried with her notebooks full of students’ writings, drawings, and messages. One message read:
“Thank you, Megha didi, for helping me believe I can learn.”
For Megha, her Sundays of volunteering became a journey of growth one where teaching others taught her much more about life, compassion, and leadership than any classroom ever could.
