When the lockdown of 2020 was relaxed and support staff returned to the AMK campus, they found it in complete disarray. The 2.8 acre campus and sprawling gardens were a mess – a far cry from the clean, manicured gardens AMK usually sports.
Gurmeet Kaur, one of AMK’s Assistant Trained Teachers, looked around and had an idea. With no children on campus and with little to do, she decided to start tidying up as the AMK gardener had a comorbidity of diabetes and wouldn’t be returning for some time. Her aim? To return AMK to its former glory.
Prior to the pandemic, Gurmeet had never gardened in her life! With so much time on her hands during lockdown, she put it to good use – learning as much as she could from YouTube and planting her very own kitchen garden, which thrived under her newfound green thumb.
And so Gurmeet took charge of the campus clean-up, taking on one garden bed at a time – clearing broken branches, dead plants, dried leaves, and propagating new plants to replace them in pots, which she happily painted.
Buoyed by the slow transformation she was seeing, she mobilised other support staff to help her, and soon the old AMK they once knew, began to emerge. Inspired by the hard work and progress of the support staff, soon teachers got involved and the exercise was not only productive for the environment, but a wonderful camaraderie also emerged.
This driven ‘leader’ is a far cry from the meek housewife Gurmeet once was over 19 years ago. At that time she lost her husband, and as a widow, Ambuja Foundation gave her an opportunity at AMK.
19 years on, today Gurmeet is the pride of AMK and epitomises the spirit of Ambuja Foundation – passion, hard work, drive and commitment. We applaud Gurmeet for being such a wonderful grassroots leader during the most difficult time.
Impact
- 2.8 acres of campus garden transformed
- 100-120 new plants grown
- 20-25 pots painted and beautified
- All 21 staff members mobilized
