SOEC Fergusson

Social Outreach & Enabling Centre

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The Social Outreach and Enabling Centre (SOEC) is an initiative that aims to provide the students of Fergusson College with an opportunity to engage in meaningful volunteer work. The aim is to give back to society in as many ways as possible and learn in the process. More than 150 volunteers join hands every year and work in the areas of children’s education, environment, enablement of the disabled, women’s empowerment, etc. The Social Outreach and Enabling Centre firmly believes that it is our collective responsibility to empower the underprivileged to become self reliant so that they can live with respect and dignity.

In this endeavor, we are guided by certain universal and enduring values like compassion, tolerance, non-violence, justice, equality, pluralism, and cooperation.

Click here to register yourself as a Volunteer of SOEC 2020-2021.

[Registration Form will be activated after the SOEC Orientation.]

To sensitize the students to the world of deprivation, social exclusion and marginalization
To engage students in meaningful service that meets community needs
To instill a sense of social responsibility in students
To equip the students with skills, attitudes and knowledge to work with the poor sections of society
To foster reciprocal learning where both the students and the recipients of service benefit from the activity
To encourage a lifelong ethic of service in students.

1) Greensteps Initiative & Poornam Foundation

Greensteps is a campus initiative with a view to having a more eco-friendly attitude on or off campus and creating awareness about our environment. In the academic year 2018-’19, Greensteps expanded its work by collaborating with the Poornam Ecovision Foundation , which is based out of Pune and works in the same field.

This year Greensteps conducted a paper bag making activity and an activity by the name of Box your Books. In collaboration with Poornam, a sanitation survey was also conducted. Volunteers learned how a survey is conducted and fulfilled the task with great enthusiasm.
Greensteps also conducted an eco audit in the month of December during the fests in college.

2) Akanksha Foundation

The Akanksha Foundation is a non-profit organization with the vision to equip children from low income communities with a high quality education. The foundation has over 10 schools in Pune and our volunteers can choose to work in any one.

Volunteers’ responsibilities range from assisting teachers in the classroom to administrative work such as data entry. If a volunteer is particularly good at a sport or art and craft, they get the chance to help the students in that area of interest.

Volunteers also work one-on-one with weak students, help clarify doubts and assist the students in filling out forms/sheets.

3) Prism Foundation

Prism Foundation runs three schools in Pune which caters to children with learning disabilities using flexible teaching programs.
The three schools are Phoenix, Larc and MOVS and the volunteers can choose to work in either.

At the Prism Foundation, volunteers find themselves becoming increasingly sensitive and receptive to the issues of the mentally challenged children.
Volunteers also enjoy and appreciate working and helping the children prepare for any festivities or conducting any extracurricular activities for them as their excitement knows no bounds for the same.

4) Saathi

Saathi Enabling Centre is an on campus initiative with a vision to create a friendly environment for visually impaired students by bridging the gap between able bodied and disabled students.

Saathi tries to bring the needs of the visually impaired students unto the mainstream campus life. This is done through a variety of activities such as “Music Masti Gappa Gaani”, “Rishton ki Rakhi”, Celebration of Braille Day, etc.
Saathi volunteers are also responsible for the provision of writers for the disabled students’ exams.

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Saathi has the honour of having the association of Help the Blind Foundation. This foundation aids our visually impaired students with scholarships and any other necessary accessories that can empower the students.

Click here to know more about Saathi.

Click here to know more about Let’s Record.

5) Doorstep School

The Doorstep School runs three CLCs or Community Learning Centess in Pune and volunteers can choose to work in either.
The aim is to provide education and support to the children of slum dwellers, pavement dwellers and construction workers as most of these children never get enrolled for formal schooling and do not have access to books.

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Volunteers teach a variety of subjects and also take up other activities with the kids such as storytelling, helping students to enroll for scholarship exams, etc.

6) Ankur Vidyamandir

Ankur Vidyamandir, located within the college campus, is a school that was started with the purpose of inclusive education. It is an all inclusive school that believes in accommodating all children regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic or other conditions.
Volunteers get every opportunity to assist the teachers in the classrooms, explore their creative side by making study cards, conducting quizzes and storytelling sessions for the children.

Events such as Independence Day, Diwali, etc. are celebrated on a large scale at Ankur Vidyamandir and every volunteer is required to be on deck. This includes work related to art and craft, attending to the sand pit, assisting with the educational stalls, etc. The festivities are carried out with great enthusiasm by the children and this is a great motivator for the volunteers.

7) Sevasahyog

Sevasahyog, a non-profit organization based out of Pune, is one of the more recent additions to SOEC’s partners.
Sevasahyog believes in building a network of socially conscious people with a vision to transform India through various projects that are spread over the areas of education, women empowerment and smart community.
In spite of being fairly new, Sevasahyog procured 4 volunteers and all of whom attained the opportunity to be a part of some noteworthy projects. One of the most impressive one being the assembling of school kits for Kerala.

Apart from this, the volunteers also work at the Community Learning Centres (CLCs) set up by Sevasahyog for underprivileged children all across Pune. Teaching, correcting the children’s answer sheets, etc. are some of the many tasks fulfilled here.

8) Aasra

Another recent addition to our partners is Aasra. Aasra is an ‘I-Care’ initiative started in association with the Sahyadri Nature Foundation.
Aasra believes in providing education to the lesser privileged but through practical training and by innovative means.
Aasra is based out of Ishrat Baug, Pune and gathered a total of 8 volunteers in its first year of collaboration with SOEC.

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Volunteers teach the children the subjects of Science, History, Geography, English and Political Science. Moreover, volunteers also take guitar lessons, teach soft skills, and conduct storytelling sessions, screen movies and take sports sessions as part of the curriculum.

These activities increase the children’s interest in learning and also challenge the volunteers’ creative side.

SOEC has helped students in following ways:

Societal contribution

Our Students have actively worked and made a positive contribution in the growth and development of the society.

Increased employable skills

Students have developed skills required for required for employment like accounting, finance, research, raising and re-distribution of funds, punctuality, teamwork, cooperation and leadership qualities.

Professional development

Students have developed professional skills to meet the demands of the role and of the organization.

Better networking

Students got a chance to build their network with influential people and bigger companies. It gave them a chance to know people with same goals as theirs.

Broader horizon

Working with SOEC has broadened perspective of many volunteers. It made an impact on the way they pursue their objectives and make decisions.

Leadership skills

As a part of a team, students have not only gained leadership skills, they also got a chance to employ them too.

Cultural understanding

Volunteers learned and experienced working with people of different cultures. They also increased their ability to adapt to different cultural demands and behavioral expectations. This has also impact on their ability to handle sensitive situations.