TeNA launches 5th Summer camp for government school students in Tellapur
HYDERABAD: The Tellapur Neighbourhood Association (TeNA) launched its fifth consecutive Summer Camp for government school students on Monday morning at ZPHS Tellapur. Now in its third decade, and five years into this initiative, TeNA has made the camp a valued community tradition.
This year, over 100 students from local government schools will participate in a three-week program focused on life skills, English proficiency, and mathematics. The camp offers opportunities to children who have limited access to supplementary learning resources.
Much of the camp’s success comes from its mentorship-driven approach. Peer mentorship drives the camp’s success. Forty student volunteers from leading international schools, including Oakridge, Chirec, Manthan, and Meru International, serve as mentors. These volunteers, some as young as 14, lead group activities, support English conversation, and make math engaging through games. Through this experience, they also build a sense of social responsibility.
“TeNA continues to play a vital role in driving grassroots educational programs,” said Kavita Jale, Executive Committee member, speaking at the inaugural event alongside fellow members Sharmila and Ravi Ramana. “This camp proves that when neighbourhoods take ownership, transformation starts from the ground up.”
The association’s work also extends beyond academics to logistical support. Practical barriers often prevent children from attending such programs, but TeNA has addressed these challenges. The association provides daily transportation, breakfast, and lunch to all participants, ensuring that distance or hunger does not exclude any child. The camp creates a safe, vibrant, and inclusive environment where students can focus on learning.
Parents are already seeing the camp’s impact on their children. As the three-week camp gets underway, parents have already begun noticing the shift. “My daughter came home yesterday teaching me an English phrase she learned from an Oakridge volunteer,” said Lakshmi, a parent of a ZPHS student. “She feels important. That’s new.”
The camp’s benefits extend to the volunteers as well. For the 40 international school volunteers, the lesson is reciprocal. “You realise that talent is everywhere, but opportunity isn’t,” said Arjun, a 10th-grade volunteer. “We’re not here to ‘help’ as much as to learn from each other.”
TeNA’s summer camp now stands as a model for other communities. Now in its fifth year, TeNA’s Summer Camp serves as a model for neighbourhood-led education. It emphasizes collaboration over charity and fosters ongoing connections between diverse communities in Tellapur.
