ICRF LIFE for school teachers

Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF) held a seminar under the banner of ICRF LIFE for school teachers yesterday at the Carlton Hotel, Adiliya. 

ICRF LIFE (Listen, Involve, Foster, Engage), a group of Student Support Service members, was formed with a view to empower children to face any challenges they might encounter while in school or outside school hours. 

Around 100 teachers from various schools, including The Indian School, The New Indian School, New Millennium School, Al Noor International School, The Asian School, Bahrain Indian School and New Horizon School participated in the seminar.

During the seminar a presentation on ‘Promoting Children’s mental health within school settings’ was done by Dr Anisha Abraham, Clinical Psychologist at the American Mission Hospital. She highlighted the importance of recognizing and addressing the special needs of students. Another motivating presentation on ‘Overcoming challenges’ in the teaching environment was also presented by Anand Nair, Vice Principal of the Indian School Bahrain.

ICRF Chairman Aruldas Thomas, General Secretary Mehru Vesuvala, Vice Chairman and ICRF LIFE convener Dr Babu Ramachandran and ICRF volunteers Sudheer Thirunilath, U K Menon, Nasser Manjeri, Madhavan Kallath, Pankaj Nallur, Javad Pasha, Florine Mathias, Sushma Anilkumar also participated in this seminar.

Students facing issues like depression, suicidal tendencies, turning to drugs and other social vices are a global phenomenon.

ICRF Life also intends to set up hotlines to be manned by trained volunteers to help distressed children and their parents. ICRF aims to train around 90 volunteers, including teachers and other interested in this student support programme.

ICRF LIFE is led by a team of professionals from the fields of medicine, education and counselling along with individuals with passion for social work.