San Ramon Students Seek To Help Peers Thrive Amid Pandemic: Q&A

SAN RAMON, CA — Patch is trying to support local businesses by giving them a platform to share their successes and tribulations during the coronavirus pandemic. The following comes from Anwita Chaudhry, founder and president of San Ramon student-led organization DesiHeart:

Editor's note: These responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

What do you do and how long have you been in business?

This is a student-led nonprofit organization with a mission to provide a safe, healthy, productive, and engaging place for students to interact with each other to create a new normal in these difficult times amidst the coronavirus. We do this by engaging in a common goal, to spread love and appreciation for various cultures throughout the community through art forms including dance, theater, cooking, crafting, singing, writing, story-telling, public speaking, blog writing and much more while having fun and making good memories. Students will get a chance to learn from each other. Our peer-to-peer model allows for volunteer opportunities for those who want to demonstrate their ideas, and extra curricular fun for those who just want to learn something new. We meet virtually throughout the school year and summer for events, parties, workshops, and meetings.

We have been in business since June 2020.

What challenges have you encountered during the pandemic? How have you adapted and continued to serve people during this time?

Our first project we worked on as a group was a summer play. Traditionally, plays are performed on stage, and rehearsed in person. However with the new guidelines we must conform to, it makes it impossible to do so we made a compromise.

We decided that our play would be rehearsed and performed virtually. We sent out scripts in a .pdf format to avoid surface to surface transmission. Rehearsals were conducted via weekly Google Meets. And our play will be performed and showcased as a short film.

What aspect of your work are you most looking forward to returning to when restrictions are lifted?

We look forward to hosting events, parties, workshops, and meetings in person.

Is there anything else you'd like to tell readers or customers?

With school closure parents are making arrangements for a proper academic set up for their children, however we want to make sure parents also plan on how they are going to support their children's social-emotional needs. This is why our team DesiHeart felt it was important to create a free outlet in which children can express themselves and also enjoy their favorite extracurricular activities.

How can people get in touch with you?

They can email us at youth@desiheart.org or visit desiheart.org