Pictures by Martha Williams
Within the early days of the pandemic, Akanksha Manna moved to India to handle her grandfather after he was identified with most cancers. Whereas the pair bonded throughout her therapy, Manna knew that many senior residents have been lonely, so when she returned to Atlanta, she started main actions at senior residing facilities. After organizing a number of rounds of bingo, Manna thought artistic, art-based actions could be extra interesting to residents. “Isolation is absolutely frequent in senior residing as a result of residents do not have folks to speak to, and bodily disabilities could make it tough to get out and socialize,” says Manna. “Artwork could be a option to categorical feelings and is helpful for cognitive well being.”
Manna based the nonprofit Sketching with Seniors when she was 15 with Campbell Excessive Faculty classmate Claire Jiang. Sketching with Seniors brings highschool college students to fifteen senior residing communities within the metro space however has unfold throughout states, international locations and even Canada. About 10 scholar volunteers take part in hour-long workshops the place they create artwork utilizing clay, watercolors or crochet — regardless of the residents need — as soon as every week. However it’s extra about making connections than artwork. “We actually emphasize dialog,” says Manna. “You might be the worst artist on the planet who cannot even draw a straight line, however we ask volunteers to ask seniors about their day.”
From this dialog, Manna learns that age doesn’t matter in making associates or affect. Now a junior in highschool, she additionally conducts educational analysis, works as a medical author and hosts a radio present on South Asian identification. Numerous tea. Regardless of her packed schedule, sketching with seniors will all the time be a precedence for Manna, at the same time as she plans to pursue a profession in rural medication. “Wherever I’m going, I take it with me by beginning a chapter or doing one thing with the identical mission.”
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