On the 5th of April, 20 volunteers from CISCO visited Diya and conducted a workshop on understanding rights as a voter and responsible citizen of the country. The volunteers also discussed important aspects of leadership with our trainees. Some of the key objectives that the volunteers set out to achieve were to help our trainees understand what it means to be a responsible citizen, understanding their roles and responsibilities as citizens, understanding the leadership in India, understanding the importance of voting, who can vote and how they can vote. The trainees used Videos, Picture & writing materials as resources to conduct a range of activities and group discussions.

The trainees were guided into recognizing who are leaders in a family setting, at a hospital, in a school and at a workplace. The volunteers explained in great detail about the facilities that are available for the trainees in a society and the people in charge for the maintenance of these facilities. Information about Protection services and leaders in the government were also discussed with the trainees.

The most effective activity however was the role play. The volunteers created an opportunity for all the trainees to have an experience of what the voting process actually looks like. They included practice Voter ID for the trainees, Voting location paper, List of voters, Electronic Voting Machine – Balloting unit & control unit. By using all these props, a very realistic mock voting was conducted for our trainees. Lots of pictures and other visual aids were also used to educate our trainees.

A big thank you to all the volunteers from CISCO for doing a stellar job.