Vizag-based women’s club using technology to spread cheer

VISAKHAPATNAM: Making ample use of social media and technology, a women’s club in Visakhapatnam has been organising several programmes that are open for anyone to join. 
Vanitha Walker’s Club has been organising expert-led virtual sessions on health, career growth, skill enhancement among others. Around 10 sessions were held by the club in June. Since the second wave began, 40 conferences had been held through Zoom App. Due to the Covid-19-induced lockdown, its physical social service activities were restricted. However, the club didn’t give up and started making use of all online resources to help people not only from Vizag but also from other States as well. 

Talks were given by senior nutritionists, doctors, and career counsellors in May and July, and an English-language speaking/training programme was held for 45 days in June. Club president V Jayaprabha Sharma told TNIE, “We gathered our resources to hold these virtual sessions. Several people from Haryana, Odisha, Telangana and Tamil Nadu are taking part in the sessions.” 

“At a time when the world is going digital, we didn’t want to lose out,” she said. One of the most recent conferences was held by Accenture associate vice president Sita Radhakrishnan. She spoke on the IT industry and gave suggestions on how to succeed in the same. “Several engineering students from different States took part in the seminar,” she informed. 

Similarly, conferences on fashion technology, yoga, and music were also held in virtual mode. 
An informative digital session on cybersecurity by an expert—Pappu Deepthi, who was conferred an award by Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella in 2020—is going to take place in mid-July. “Personally, I learnt so much from these sessions. They are interesting and quite helpful,” K Vineela, a member of the club, said. 

Additionally, the club also provides food and basic necessaries to artists and those who have lost their jobs during the pandemic. “In 2020, we only provided food, necessities. This year, we took it up a notch by taking social services online as well,” Jayaprabha explained. The club wanted to spread positivity by using the technology available, Jayaprabha said. 

“We have started a YouTube channel in which club members upload various recipes. This is something like a simple coping strategy for us. We all hope to spread happiness virtually,” Jayaprabha explained. 
She said the club members want to ensure that the conferences continue, and are hoping to have a physical conference on Covid-19 scenario sometime soon.