Lady Doak College, Madurai (An Autonomous Institution Affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University)

“College with Potential for Excellence” Re-accredited by NAAC with Grade A

(3rd Cycle: 3.44 out of 4)

LIFE FRONTIER ENGAGEMENT

2018-2019

EDITORIAL TEAM Dr.A.S. Priscilla - LiFE Co-ordinator (2018-2019) Department of Zoology

Mrs.L.Hemalatha- LiFE Co-ordinator (2018-2019)

Department of English

Mrs. Ann Nirmala Carr – (2018-2019)

LiFE Committee Member, Centre for Womens Studies

Mrs. M.Lakshmi – LiFE Co-ordinator (2019-2020)

Centre for LiFE

NEWSLETTER (2018 – 2019) ISSUE - 01

Service-learning is a structured

experiential learning in Lady Doak College

from 2004 onwards where the theoretical

classroom learning of the core discipline is

applied in practical contexts and extended

for service to meet the identified

community‟s need. Earlier, all departments

offered Service-Learning programmes/

courses only to interested students for extra

credits. The mission of enhancing the

existing Service-Learning Programme into

Life Frontier Engagement is to promote

Service-Learning as an integral and

enriching aspect of every student's education

and to foster the college engagement with

the larger community that furthers the

academic and public purposes of the

institution.

LiFE, an acronym for Life Frontier

Engagement program, is essentially a

community based experiential learning and

action research. It is synonymous with the

concept of service-learning, where the

students serve and learn from the

community. LiFE in Lady Doak has fostered

responsible citizenship where students have

realized their potential and have gained

impetus to contribute to the society as

responsible individuals.

LiFE is a flagship program of Lady

Doak College and is offered as a mandatory

course taken up by the final year

undergraduate students for six academic

credits. The Life Frontier Engagement

program offers an out-of-the-classroom

experience whereby the students of both

Sciences and Humanities get a foretaste of

the human responses of their target

communities that are determined by their

complex living contexts. This has enabled

the students to identify inter disciplinary

approaches to shape their own responses to

these community ventures as responsible

citizens.

The learning outcome of LiFE in this

academic year 2018-19 was manifold - Life

Frontier Engagement provided many

opportunities for students to relate what they

have learnt in their classrooms with the

societal issues that clamor for attention. This

experience has led them on to a deep

understanding of the realities with which a

common man grapples in his day-to-day life.

Working closely with communities has

given the students newer insights into their

lifestyle and has especially enabled them to

spot how the people they worked with

continue to suffer for even basic needs like

employment, electricity, proper sanitation,

health, street lights, education and how the

farmers suffer from high levels of debt and

the gender bias that surrounds the

agricultural laborers. They also realized the

apathy of the people and the government to

the plight of their fellow citizens employed

in manual scavenging, a field where the

absence of technological development has

paved way for this demeaning and

hazardous work to continue.

The students worked in small teams.

The LiFE groups developed great team spirit

and communicated well with one another. A

friendly bond emerged among the students,

faculty, laboratory assistants and research

scholars. This was a great space for peer

learning and team building. Students shared

how their decision making, problem solving,

and leadership skills were enhanced as they

had to independently handle situations.

Lady Doak College has paved the

way for students to connect with the society,

interact with the world beyond the premises

of the college, apply their knowledge and

SERVICE-LEARNING AT LADY DOAK COLLEGE

develop critical perspectives through the

LiFE program.

As a way of celebrating its yearlong

success in its community ventures, the LiFE

Open House was held on 5th April 2019.

Dr.Christianna Singh, Principal and

Secretary of Lady Doak College, in her

introductory remarks, highlighted the

significant role played by Life Frontier

Engagement Service-Learning ventures in

instilling the spirit of responsible citizenship

among the student community. The yearlong

activities of the LiFE programme were

highlighted in the annual report. A total of

14 departments with 17 courses and 24

batches of students have successfully

completed around 200 community-based

projects. Mr. Nagaraj Krishnan, Chairman,

CII Madurai and Managing Director,

Aparajitha Corporate Services (P) Ltd, gave

the inaugural address and he applauded the

good work done under the banner of LiFE

and hailed it as a unique endeavor. The

guest invitees emphasized the importance of

students‟ concern on societal issues and

applying academic research to industries and

the multifarious sections of society for the

betterment of the country. The students

were challenged to explore the journey of

social entrepreneurship.

During the Open House, Students

from various departments displayed their

project works in the booths provided and the

display was open to the public, faculty and

students of all departments. This served as

an awareness-raising program on how

academic knowledge and skills could be

used for the betterment of the society and

how every student is expected to walk the

extra mile to make it happen. The following

is a comprehensive report on the projects

accomplished by each department.

1. Department of English:

Confront intoxicating truths –

Conversations on Manual Scavenging and

Women Prisoners -

The department of English worked on

two broad areas of Teaching and Journalism.

Societal issues that hitherto lie ignored were

brought to the fore through the investigative

eyes of the student journalists. A journalist

team from the English department met with

women prisoners. The student team was

empathetic to the complexities faced by the

women prisoners and the team‟s aspiration

is to build social acceptance that these

women need to restore their meaningful

places in the wider society. The team

focused on:

Sharing of Fables and folktales with

women prisoners to reduce

hopelessness & anxiety

Create literary pieces through

collection and recording of the

responses of the women prisoners

Kindle the ability of individuals to

enhance their efficiency and ability

to cope up with social stigma &

challenges

Spread awareness in the wider

community - significance of

literature in developing social

acceptance of the women prisoners

in the mainstream society.

Their work was so stupendous that it was

applauded by the prison authorities.

Another journalist team looked into and

exposed the stink, suffocation and stigma

encountered by manual scavengers. Its

probe into the issue revealed that the

absence of technological innovation in waste

disposal is the key factor that has led to this

dangerous and demeaning practice.

The social stigma attached to their job, the

apathetic governance mechanisms, the caste

system and social hierarchy which are

primarily responsible for the relegation of

their position in society were the critical

issues raised during a meet of students with

personnel from the media, legal experts and

peoples‟ organizations. The longevity and

the persistence of this problem is due to the

loathsome caste consciousness is the

message disseminated by this team.

The team interacted with the target

communities at Melavasal and Lady Doak

College and identified the presence of social

exclusion and geographical segregation,

lethargy in implementation of law, and

liberation from the vicious cycle of caste is

low. The Team has successfully initiated

conversations on the issue within the

academic community in the college and has

challenged them to deliberate on the

presence of caste system in India.

Inculcating Young Minds – Functional

English And Learner-Centered Methods to

Teach English

The teaching team discovered novel

ways to make English learning easier and

interesting – use of body language and

mother tongue. The student teams went to

Panchayat primary schools with the

intention of driving home the idea that

learning English is fun. Fear was the major

crippling factor for these learners. The

children were found to be fearful of writing

wrong spellings could not think or retain

concepts in an unfamiliar language like

English. So, the LiFE student team

identified words related to our physical

expressions, helped learners enact it and

taught the English ord.

They further looked into the words used in

their mother tongue – Tamil and spelt out

the translations. This scrupulous use of

mother tongue helped a lot in learning

retention.

Another teaching team learnt the

sign language to teach English for children

with hearing impairment. This shows the

commitment and the enthusiasm with which

the students went about their work.

2. Department of History: Be a

Responsible Citizen

The History department studied

Thiruparankundram, - a historical site and a

symbol of heritage and religious harmony

for the people of Madurai in collaboration

with Dhan foundation. The LiFE Teams of

History department carefully looked at the

festivals celebrated to honour deities, rivers,

trees, mountains, the monuments, the Water

bodies, and how women sustain the culture

by retaining the occupations linked to the

heritage of Thiruparankundram. The

researchers found that people living in the

surrounding villages of the monuments and

the Temple were a wealth of knowledge on

the history of the place.

There is an intermingling of cultures

and religions in the festivals celebrated at

Tiruparankunram and cultures are preserved

through festivals. Furthermore, heritage sites

sustained livelihoods of women and the

water bodies had significant uses. Hence

there is a critical need as citizens to preserve

and safeguard them and address the

environmental challenges due to insufficient

waste disposal mechanisms.

There were thirteen water bodies, of

which the Saravana Poigai is used for

domestic purposes and for rituals by the

villagers and devotees. The pond has not

been desilted since 2003 and a foul smell

emanated due to the garbage dumped in the

water. The student teams tested the water

quality of the Saravana Poigai and

Velliangiri Well in the Chemistry laboratory

of Lady Doak College and identified that the

water from both sources is perfectly fit as

drinking water. However, people used the

Saravana Poigai only for domestic purposes.

The findings were shared with the

community and the researchers gave petition

to the corporation commissioner Mr.

Visakan regarding cleaning of the garbage in

Saravana poigai. Every human being in this

world is responsible for the natural

resources. After scientific approaches within

three months.

3.Department of Commerce: Unorganized

retailing

When large retailers and

multinational global chains loom large in the

horizon, the Commerce department‟s aided

stream focused on unorganized small

retailers and petty shop owners by keenly

studying their needs and suggesting ways of

boosting their sales and profit. The

researchers studied the areas of

Ismailpuram, Anaiyur, Poikaripatti and

Dhirdirnagar.

Unorganized Women Retailers:

Most of the women were in the age

group of 20-30 years. More than 30% of

respondents studied to make and sell food

items. They follow the direct selling method.

The investment in the tiny petty shops is less

than Rs.10,000/- and their earnings are also

significantly less [less than Rs.10000 per

month].

Dhobis

100% of the respondents availed

credit from the local money lenders as

they have no knowledge about the

banking services or the self-help groups.

Dhobis have an association and they

transfer help from this association to

their community.

Government can provide the

supplements to dhobis as subsidies

through ration shops and introduce

sustainable technologies.

Technological development can

enhance the working conditions,

consumer access and income of Dhobis.

For example, a common place with

washing machines and the usage of MY

DOOR app, will enable them to connect

with customers easily, simplifying the

process of clothes collection

Panipuri Vendors

63.3% of the respondents were in the

age group of 15-25 years. There were no

sellers above the age of 40 years. 76.7%

of the respondents used their own

savings to start the business and they

work for more than 6 hours a day.

Majority of the respondents face a lot of

difficulty due to bribery.

The Banking and Insurance stream

of the department focused on rural banking,

rural insurance, schemes related to the

welfare of the girl child, and studied the

importance of institutions like MUDRA –

Micro Units Development and Refinance

Agency Ltd, a financial institution of the

Government of India.

Micro-enterprise

• They face many obstacles for

financial assistance.

• Thus, it is an essential role of our

Government to fund the unfunded.

• Difficulties of the women

entrepreneurs have to be wiped out.

• Effective awareness has to be

created.

• Bank representatives must take some

more initiatives.

The Corporate Secretary ship stream of

the commerce department spearheaded a

study on Corporate Social Responsibility

Schemes in Various Trusts and Hospitals

like Arokya Trust, Meenakshi Mission

Hospital, HCL Foundation Initiatives in

Adolescent Education Program, Kalvi

Trust‟s Quality of Education in Primary

Schools in Cholavandan, etc.

Computer Application stream of the

commerce department studied the awareness

of E-payment services among women in

Madurai city and their willingness in using

the internet for payment services. Their

focus area was to impart ICT enabled tools for

effective communication and transaction.

4.Department of Mathematics: - Focus on

Gender Discrimination and the Girl Child

The department of Mathematics

closely studied varied aspects of the

community in the thickly populated Sellur

area. Mathematics is a vital tool that

translates itself into data, giving us an

overview of all items. Students discovered

the complexities in researching the myriad

aspects of communities ranging from

available infrastructures such as the public

distribution system, sanitation facilities,

education, livelihoods, delivery mechanisms

in health, family systems, gender identities

and the battle with gender discrimination.

The researchers collected tabulated and

analysed vital data and unearthed notable

findings.

The team found that even in cities,

women face problems in health care,

restrictions for education and liberty. The

nature of employment is dependent on the

gender of employees, and more educated

men than educated women are employed.

Furthermore, many families including

women consider the presence of a girl child

as a burden, and many of the women as

young girls were forced to discontinue

school due to marriage or insufficient family

income. Married women are keen on

increasing their education and finding good

jobs. For working mothers to spend more

time with children, support of their partners

is needed in sharing household tasks.

Working women seem to be more from

nuclear families than from joint families.

While studying infrastructures in

Sellur area, students found that there is a

common drainage system and most houses

have garbage disposal mechanisms but more

than 30% of households lacked toilet

facilities. A research team looked into the

physical, mental and emotional health of

women and found that family, children and

financial issues were the main contributors

to stress levels of women. PHC‟s are able to

ensure normal deliveries compared to

private health care and are popular for

deliveries and pregnancy care among

women. But they are understaffed and in

need of more doctors. During data collection

the researchers felt while people said

education is necessary for both genders, they

didn‟t really mean it as they felt that

educating a girl child led to loss of money

Low family incomes contributed to marriage

of girls at an early age and boys taking up

work at a young age. This consequently led

to an increase in child laborers in the Sellur

area. Students attempted to convince the

communities on making use of educational

loans, scholarships and other government

educational schemes, so that children are not

forced to drop out of schools.

5. Department of Zoology: Women and

Health.

Department of Zoology worked in

Mathichiyam and Karumbalai, to scrutinize

water quality, sanitary and hygiene

practices, and closely studied health issues

like osteoporosis, anemia and eye health.

This team of students made a thorough

examination of water quality from

Karumbalai, an area primarily categorized as

a slum. Good quality of water is vital to

social health and wellbeing of people. The

alarming rates of urbanization contribute to

the bad quality of water consumed by poor

people. Water stagnation breeds mosquitoes

and consequently mosquito borne diseases.

So, the researchers collected water samples

from eight streets in Madhichiyam by Catch

sampling method. From the third week of

January to the first week of March 2019,

bore well water, river water and corporation

water were analyzed in triplicate. The team

found that corporation water was the main

water source, and 85% of the drinking water

pipelines in the area were closer to drainage

systems. Coliform bacteria were present in

all the three water sources and poor

sanitation is a major problem in the area, as

also the breeding of mosquitoes. So, the

researchers interacted with the community

to highlight their findings and suggested

many measures to purify, store water and

protect themselves against mosquitoes.

Other teams of researchers examined

the presence of anemia among women in the

17-30yrs age group, to identify the risk

factors associated with anemia and sensitize

the community to take preventive measures.

The teams found that the young women who

are most susceptible to pregnancy and

childcare are prone to be anemic due to poor

consumption of iron rich foods. A medical

camp was held along with dental

examinations for the community to realize

and take preventive measures on anemia and

its associated ailments and risks.

6. Department of Chemistry: Water

Management

Water is the elixir of life, but the

dwindling water bodies is a grave concern

for the future. The Chemistry Department

took up water quality management, a study

on the effect of sewage infused industrial

wastewater discharge on ground water

aquifers and assessment of surface water

quality in canal, in Puliyankulam, Madurai

were their areas of concern.

Awareness programmes were

conducted with posters made by our groups.

Further, the canal at Puliyankulam was

cleaned with the help of panchayat

members.

7. Department of Computer Science:

Development of Auditory and Visual

Learning Applications

For those organizations striving for

the creation of their websites, but with no

real expertise to help them out, our students

of the Computer science department lent a

helping hand. Websites were created for the

Transgender Resource Centre at

Viswanathapuram. Royal Vision School at

Perungudi, My Father‟s Trust at Chinna

Chokikulum, and Samam- an organization

that stands against inequality.

One team targeted people below the

poverty line, and as they could not learn

computers, they created a tutorial to learn

about the computers, to motivate and to

kindle their interest in the learning process.

The team worked with the Social

development and Rehabilitation Trust so

that they would take up the responsibility of

administering the tutorial among the

learners. The course content was developed

in images, texts and videos.

Another team worked with a Church

Community and developed more

connectivity with the Church management

and congregation, for the members to

receive messages/notifications on church

time schedules, events etc, as well as to

access funding/welfare programs.

The teams developed Auditory

Learning Applications for visually

challenged students. The app had audio

instructions for practice sessions, that the

target group could listen to and improve

their skills.

The project entitled “Dynamic Web

Based Sign Language tutorial for hearing

impaired students of YMCA kamak higher

secondary school” was developed with the

intention of developing an easy learning

method for the hearing-impaired students.

This website promotes direct access to

information resources and

effectively communicates the school

vision and mission. This website allows the

parents and other visitors to access salient

information about the school anywhere,

anytime, if there is an internet connection. It

helps the teachers to teach the students basic

knowledge in English through sign

language. The videos were created by

students of computer science department

using sign language, with a list of questions

under each video tutorial for the learners to

assess their learning.

8.Department of Business Administration:

Entrepreneurship for Women

The department of Business

Administration, with the intent of helping

out the women entrepreneurs, studied their

marketing strategy, economic factors

influencing their work and worked out

sustainable strategies for development.

Women entrepreneurs from

multifarious fields like manufactures of

bamboo products, food products, jute bag

manufacturers, women tailors, small scale

catering services, beauty parlor owners were

studied, and the teams‟ main finding was

that for women entrepreneurs, making ends

meet is a day to day struggle.

The study on women tailors has

revealed that:

84 % of women tailors were disposing

the cloths through dustbins and 16% of

women tailors were using it as pillows,

pillow covers, cross patti and purse.

52% of women tailors are ready to spare

their time for making by-products.

67% of women tailors think they can

save money by making by-products.

67% of women tailors are ready to go for

bulk production of by-products.

Can improve effectiveness with

awareness programme on by-products.

Awareness on Mudra Yojana Schemes.

Improving their creative skills through

social media such as YouTube,

Facebook , and Instagram

Bulk production can increase their

standard of living.

Bulk sales through AMAZON SELLER

and FLIPKART SELLER HUB

The team developed brochures for

by-products as a market promotional

intervention among women tailors. As

packaging plays an important role in the

creation of demand by attracting customers,

another team of researchers from the

department took initiatives in making the

snack items produced by women

entrepreneurs more hygienic by

implementing newer techniques of

packaging and labeling for their products.

Packaging acts as a better storage for the

products and labeling provides information

about a product to the prospective consumer.

9. Department of Botany: Vegetation and

Health

The department of Botany explored

the flora, environment and health of the

target community of B.B.Kulam. Different

areas of B.B.Kulam were charted out by

each of the teams and the flora and

vegetation of these places were scrutinized.

The results of the study were shared with

families living in B.B.kulam.

The teams found that absence of

space, water scarcity were the main

impediments for nurturing healthy

vegetation in their homes. These factors

contributed to the poor density of vegetation

in these places. The student teams looked

into the possibilities of terrace gardening

and the families were impressed with the

various methods of terrace gardening which

were cost effective as well, which were

shared with them by the students.

10. Department of Biotechnology: Value

Added organic products from bio

degradable and solid wastes

Solid waste management is the

collection, treatment and disposal of solid

materials that are discarded as they are no

longer useful. Improper disposal of solid

wastes results in unsanitary conditions

which lead to pollution and spreads various

infections and diseases

Inadequate collection, recycling or

treatment and uncontrolled disposal of waste

in dumps can lead to severe hazards such as

health risks and environmental pollution.

Solid Waste Management is a challenging

area of analysis, and the research teams of

the department of Biotechnology studied

conversion of organic waste into utilitarian

products. Issues confronted in the

communities visited were:

Near absence of segregation of bio

wastes from inorganic wastes.

Insufficient solid waste recycling and

reuse methods.

These teams utilized their knowledge and

learning in the areas of waste conversion

and engaged the communities in:

Recycling solid wastes of Textiles.

Conversion of fruit wastes into

dishwashing liquids.

Conversion of dried lemon peels, egg

shells and cow‟s urine to make bio

pesticide.

Value additions to the biodegradable

fish wastes.

The Teams worked at the bustling

and populous K.Pudur market, to

segregate bio waste for composting and

at the Malaipatti village to recycle and

reuse the solid wastes of textiles into

door mats and sanitary napkins. The

biodegradable waste segregation and

conversion to compost and organic

pesticides were the most simple and

effective technologies for the local

community to be engaged in. People had

complained of the high cost of pesticides

and the team helped the community in

making the bio pesticides and did a

successful experiment in their jasmine

gardens at Malaipatti village.

11. Department of Economics: Enhancing

Health Care, Education and functioning

of Public Distribution Systems for the

wellbeing of Farmers.

The department of Economics

looked into the socio-economic status of

agricultural landowners, expenditure

patterns of women agricultural laborer‟s in

the villages of Boothakudi and Perumalpatti.

The teams examined the source of water for

agriculture and the critical infrastructures

behind the functioning of Public

Distribution Systems, primary health centres

and primary schools. They assessed the

health behavior of the communities during

insufficient medical care facilities. While

looking into the expenditures of women,

they realized that health and education of

children were their main concerns and a

significant number borrowed from the shop

keepers who were the money lenders. Bank

credit was utilized by around 50% of the

women. However, lack of maintenance of

the pond, which is a main source of water

for agriculture, prevented farmers from

accessing adequate water supply. The

primary school had children of all age

groups in the same classroom and students

needed more co-curricular programs. There

was no health care facility, and this forced

the community to improvise with their own

basic methods of treating diseases. The

public distribution system did not display

available stocks and some senior citizens

and differently abled people were unable to

access its services.

The student teams approached the

managers of the Public Distribution System

to take note of the available stocks and to

strengthen the delivery mechanisms so that

differently abled people and senior citizens

can be delivered products at their doorsteps.

The teams have come up with the innovative

idea of deploying NSS volunteers for regular

cleaning and maintenance of ponds and for

controlling garbage disposal near water

bodies.

12. Department of Physics: Energy Audits

Demand for energy is increasing

substantially, so it‟s high time to find

solutions to conserve energy and save it for

our future generations. Energy management

provides a way to reduce environmental

pollution and conserve our natural resources

for a longer period. With this long-term

perspective in mind, the department of

Physics engaged in electrical energy audits

conducted in various places of Lady Doak

college campus and Vellichanatham village.

Energy audit is an in-depth check carried out

on a building or home to access a amount of

energy being utilized.

The Students discovered that

appliances like refrigerators and fans

consumed a lot of energy and energy

consumption was more in urban areas than

in rural areas. The village of Velichanatham

was chosen as the target area of energy audit

as it is near the satellite campus area of Lady

Doak College. Electricity consumption in 12

houses of Velichanatham were measured

and analysed by using EB bills and power

guard meters. People from the

Velichanatham village live a simple and

eco-friendly life. They do not use fancy

lighting and other unnecessary electric

appliances which affect the environment and

cause energy crisis. And hence, the

researchers found that the total power

consumed in one village house for one year

is almost equivalent to the power consumed

in two months in city houses!!!The

community welcomed suggestions from the

students on the usage of LED lights and the

Five Star Refrigerators in the place of Four-

Star Refrigerators as they consume 15%

lesser energy.

13. Department of Social Sciences:

Emotional and Social Health

The Department of Social Sciences

with the mission to develop personal, social

and professional competencies to be

sensitive and proactive to the needs of the

society, engaged in the LiFE program to

address the growing presence of suicides in

India, to measure the relationship between

resilience and problem solving, and to study

how the self-image of young adults is

affected by break up in romantic

relationships.

Intervention in suicide prevention: India

has a growing presence of the suicide

burden. Globally 36.3% of female suicide

deaths and 24.3% of male suicide deaths are

in India. “The immense popularity of a show

that glorifies suicide, inaccurately portrays

mental illnesses and shows mental health

experts in a negative light disturbed us as

students who study about mental health”

says the student team who examined

perceptions of a small group of young

students in the age group of 17-19 years who

watched the Netflix Series „13 Reasons

Why‟. They found that public

embarrassment, pressure and harassment of

any kind were influential factors for suicide

ideation among adolescents and young

adults. Media has drastic effects on

youngsters and seemed to be a very strong

contributing factor for suicides among them.

Suicide is a topic of misconceptions, myths,

taboos, and there is a lack of confidentiality

among mental health experts. As an

outcome of the study, a session was

arranged for students with Dr. Nandini

Murali, founder of SPEAK Foundation

(Suicide Prevention, Education, Awareness

Knowledge), who showed how to change

conversations on suicide and promote

mental health. It is unfortunate that even

educated and reasonably informed

individuals hold such insensitive and

abrasive views on mental health issues, and

so educational and family institutions must

be sensitized on treating adolescents and

young adults with care.

Relationship between resilience and

problem solving among residential

students: The researchers have identified

that residential students needed emotional

stability, more interpersonal communication

and enhanced facilities such as water, and

other room requirements. A Correlation

analysis indicated that there is moderate

positive correlation, which means that where

there is a tendency for high resilience, there

is high problem solving. For residential

students to understand resilience, the team

organized a guest lecture, video

presentations and a presentation on model

resilient personalities. There were also

practical sessions. The research team felt

that resilience, the potential to bounce back

from adversities can only be enhanced

through rigorous resilience training

programs.

Self-Image on Romantic Relationship

Break ups in Young Adults: Having

personally seen many friends suffering from

romantic break ups, this study team focussed

on emotional and social wellbeing on young

adults in the age group of 19-20 years in

Lady Doak College. The impact of a

romantic relationship breaks up on the self-

image of a person is astounding. The self-

image and self-esteem of the individuals

who haven‟t undergone breakups were high,

while the self-image and self-esteem of

individuals who have undergone breakups

was very low. Relationships are a serious

issue, and young people suffer intensely

when something goes wrong. Peer support

measures play a significant role in helping

those who suffer talk about failed

relationships and overcome the pain.

14. Department of Tamil: Literature and

healthy life : (Illakiyamum Vazhakai

Nallamum)

The students explored natural

agricultural practices, flowers and its

medicinal values, traditional food practices,

social etiquette among children using

folklore, skits, games and many such

interesting areas of study in Chathrapatti,

Chittampatti, Manalpatti.

Centre for Life Frontier Engagement:

(LiFE)

The activities of the Centre for Life

Frontier Engagement for the academic year

2018-19 started with the rapport building

process with DHAN Foundation, an NGO

that had already supported and partnered in

many community research programs.

This was followed by a workshop on

LiFE Facilitation, where newly recruited

faculty and faculty facilitators of LiFE from

all departments were initiated into the LiFE

venture. Dr. Mercy Pushpalatha former

Principal and secretary addressed the faculty

group.

This was followed by workshop on

Introduction to Service-Learning and

Community Engagement organized by LiFE

Centre and International Study Centre for

the newly formed Service-Learning Student

Team.

LiFE students interacted with Pacific

university students and International

Service-learning Programme students as a

way of disseminating the community

ventures of LiFE.

A discussion on Service-Learning at

USA and Lady Doak College was organized

for the LiFE students and Facilitators with

Dr. Roderic Owen, professor at Mary

Baldwin University, USA.

Dr. A.S.Priscilla, Coordinator of

LiFE and Ms. Mathangi Kalidas,

Programme Assistant of Life were invited as

resource persons in the Regional Conference

on the Pedagogy and Challenges in Service

Learning at Stella Maris College, Chennai.

Dr. A.S.Priscilla, Coordinator was

invited as a panelist on a discussion on SL:

How to integrate S-L into curriculum in the

National Conference on Service Learning:

An emerging experiential learning process

in India conducted by School of Business

Studies and Social Sciences, Bannerghatta

Road Campus, CHRIST (Deemed to be

University) Bengaluru.

Dr.T.Durga Devi, LiFE facilitator,

Department of History, presented a paper in

the National Conference on Service

Learning: An emerging experiential learning

process in India conducted by School of

Business Studies and Social Sciences,

Bannerghatta Road Campus, CHRIST

(Deemed to be University) Bengaluru.

The Centre undertook a 360-degree course

evaluation of the LiFE process by google

forms

The results have been shared as a

paper in the 7th

Asia-Pacific Regional

Conference on Service Learning held at

Singapore by Dr PriscillaA. S., Ms

Mathangi Kalithas entitled “Connecting the

Dots: Multifaceted Analysis of Students,

Faculty and Community in Life Frontier

Engagement of Lady Doak College, India.”

Evaluation of the program will help to plan

and execute the process much effectively in

future.

GLIMPSES OF OPEN HOUSE