Kids Motivational Stories | Kids Inspiration Stories

Worried that the kids will be bouncing off the walls in sheer boredom during the school holidays? Or they'll be glued to cartoons or playstations all summer? Here are some ways to keep them entertained, active and out of trouble. At very little or no expense.

1. Marble Painting

Pic source: simplefun4kids.com

This one's for young kids - preschoolers to 8-year-olds. Get some tempera paint, poster paint or activity paint in at least 6-7 shades; a small pack of marbles; a metal box/canister (the kind that chocolates come in) or, if that is not available, a shoe box; thick sheets of poster paper cut to fit at the bottom of the box. Now get the kids to coat the marbles in different colours and drop them in the box. They can use as few marbles as they want or as many, depending on the number of colours they want in their painting. Now close the lid and shake the box a few times. Open it and voila, the painting is ready! Now wash the marbles and try with different colours. Older kids could experiment with rolling the marbles carefully around in an open box or tray instead of closing the lid and shaking the box.

2. The Leaf Hunt

Pic source: readandcreate.co.uk

This can be done by kids from ages 5-12.Pick an outdoor area green area like a park or a garden where you are comfortable sending the kids on their own. Now, leave the kids indoors while you secretly go and pick leaves from different trees/plants/bushes - one leaf for each child. Hand the kids a container with these leaves and let them loose in the green area. The idea is for them to match the leaves they are carrying with those growing on the plants/trees. You can then tell them the name of the plant or tree as well and as much more information as you think can absorb.

3. Family Tree

Pic source: familytreetemplates.net

This is a great activity for teenagers. They can make this on chart paper or on their computers using a template. They can go back as many generations as they want depending on how complex they want the family tree to be. It's interesting to learn the names and ages and relationships in one's family - going back to great grandparents, granduncles and aunts. Rummage through old picture and add those too if possible. Basically, a family tree is the most common form of visually documenting one's ancestry. Most family trees include a box for each individual and each box is connected to the others to indicate relationships. In addition to an individual's name, each box may include dates, birthplace, and other information, depending on the desired complexity of the family tree diagram. You can find many resources online to create a family tree.

4. Travel Alphabet

Pic source: flashpackatforty

Play this game when travelling by car, especially long trips, with children of all ages. Run through the alphabet from A to Z by asking them to spot the letters, in sequence, on the number plates of other cars travelling on the road. When they're done with the alphabet, you can switch to numbers. Next, try spotting objects or cars or buildings in different colours.

5. Grandparent Biography

Pic source: grandparents.com

This is another good activity for teenagers, although 10 year olds can do it too. Do you live in a joint family, with parents or uncles and aunts? Grandparents are often lonely but full of memories of their childhood. Children love listening to their stories. Get your child to record and transcribe an interview with a grandparent or much loved uncle/aunt about their childhood. You can then "publish" it (along with pictures) and distribute to family and friends. Here are a few questions to get them started on an interview with grandma:

What are the names of your parents and brothers and sisters? Did you have a nickname?
When and where were you born? When and where were your parents and brothers and sisters born?
What kinds of things did your family do together when you were young?
Who were some of your friends? What did you do with your friends?
What schools did you attend? What were your favorite subjects? Who were your favorite teachers?
How did you meet Grandfather?

6. A to Z Scavenger hunt

Pic source: roundlake

Give the children a big box and send them off on a scavenger hunt indoors (if you don't mind your home being turned upside down) or outdoors to a park. Give them a time limit and have them compete against each other if they want. Ask them to collect in the box any items they can find starting with different letters of the alphabet. So your kids may pick up an apple from the kitchen (starts with A), or a safety pin (starts with S) from your sewing box, or a ballpoint pen (starts with B) from your work table. All letters of the alphabet must be covered. And all items must fit in the box provided. The kids can play this in teams with their friends too. A single kid can go on a solo scavenger hunt.

7. Wall Chalk Murals

Pic source: babbledabbledo.com

Give the kids paper, poster board, canvas...any legitimate surface to draw and paint on, but chances are they'll head straight for somewhere you dread - the wall! Now, it's understandable that you want your living room to stay safe and graffiti free, but how about compromising and letting them use an outdoor wall in your home or compound? Give them coloured chalk instead of paint to make murals on the large canvas of the wall. If the wall is large a bunch of friends can do this activity together. Chalk washes off easily so they can try different designs on different days.

8. Car Racing Track

Pic source: playathome

Put coloured tape on the carpet or floor to make roads for your kids' cars. You can add signals and stop signs to make the activity more creative. Make a special zone for parking where the cars have to come to a standstill after play is over. This will prevent you from tripping over toys lying all around the room. The tape will come off easily when you are done.

9. Bull's Eye

Pic source: mamaslikeme.com

A couple of sponges (for small kids, to prevent against injury) or bottle caps, and some chalk are all you need to turn a reasonably large indoor or outdoor area into a target practice zone. Join in with the kids for some fun.

10. Balloon Volleyball

Pic source: teachertomsblog

When you need to keep the kids active but it's too hot to play outside, string up a rope or two dupattas tied together across your hallway. Then hand the kids a balloon each and have them play balloon volleyball. Add a couple of rackets or paddle boards and it becomes balloon badminton!

11. Indoor Bowling Track

Pic credit: frugalfun4boys.com

You can make a very addictive indoor bowling game using a wooden board or flattened cardboard box laid out on a flat surface. Use pencil erasers or fat crayon stubs for bowling pins. And marbles or a ping pong ball as the bowling ball. Keep score and have fun!

12. Magazine Scavenger Hunt

Photo credit: magazinediscountcenter.com

Have an urgent presentation to prepare but the brat is pestering you to play? Keep a bunch of old magazines handy and make a long checklist of the kind of pictures they can find in there. The checklist could include things like: picture of a red car, someone wearing glasses, someone with a moustache, someone wearing a purple tie, etc. Ask your child to tear out these pics and give them to you after you're done working. Have a small reward handy for finding all the pics.

13. Room Cleaning Race

Photo credit: yourteenmag.com

Get yourself a timer, sit back and let the kids do all the work. Can they put all the cushions back on the couch in 30 seconds? Can all the blue toys on the floor be found in one minute? Can all the shoes lying around the house make it back to the shoe rack in 2 minutes? Can all the clothes on the bed be folded in 10 minutes? The sound of the timer going off will galvanize your kids into action. Remember to have a reward ready for all the hard labour.

14. Ten Questions About Indian States

Photo credit: incredibleindiatour.net

Ever played 20 Questions with names of personalities dead or alive, where you can only answer with a yes or no? You can do the same with names of Indian states, but with only 10 questions. Is this state in the north of India? Does its border touch Nepal? Is tea grown there? Remember, you can only ask 10 questions before you have to guess. Play this game while travelling by car with schoolgoing kids of all ages.

15. Hold a Car Wash

Photo credit: fun-a-day.com

Park your car in the driveway and let the kids give it a good scrub with a bucket of water and sponges. If you don't mind getting wet yourself, get a garden hose and join in the fun. A great way to cool off on a hot summer day.

16. Make a Bird Feeder

Photo credit: happyhooligans.ca

This is a lovely way to help out our feathered friends while teaching the kids about different birds in the neighbourhood. Several craft websites will give you tons of ideas about how to make easy, inexpensive bird feeders. Here is one with 32 ideas. Don't forget to put a bowl of water out too. And remind the kids to keep refilling it.

17. Get Cooking

Photo credit: pinkchailiving.com

You don't need to pull out your recipe books or get into dicing onions to cook a meal with kids. Cooking offers a range of choices - from baking with older kids (a muffin pan, eggs, flour, sugar and a couple of basic recipes you find online to get them started) to teaching the young ones how to butter a slice of bread, roll out chapatis, cut a soft fruit like a banana with a non-sharp knife, whip up some dahi to make raita. Expect a mess at the end of the exercise though!

18. Life-size Selfie

Photo credit: mommy-labs.com

"Making a self-portrait is a beautiful way for kids to express themselves. It helps them explore who they are, what they would like to become; what are their likes and dislikes, fears and passions," says Rashmie Jaaju in her wonderful blog, where she explains exactly how you can help your kids make life size portraits of themselves with this keep-them-busy-for-hours art activity.

19. My Turn, My Task

Photo credit: WikiHow

For a birthday party, or just when you your kids have friends over, this is an interesting game for all ages. Divide the group into two teams of about 5 each. It's a relay game. On a table keep 5 things in a line, like mug of milk/soft drink, green chilli/cookie, thread and needle, boiled egg, etc. (you can pick any items of your choice). The team members have to stand in a queue at a starting line (assign tasks to each member at this point). The first person from each team will run and drink from the mug and run back to the second person in the queue. The second will run and eat green chillies kept on the table and will run back to the third person waiting in the queue, the third will thread the needle and the fourth will shell the boiled egg, and so on. The game continues till the last person finishes his/her task. The quickest team is the winning team.

20. Spinning Top/Lattu/Bugari

Photo credit: webindia123.com

And finally, take the kids down nostalgia lane to your own childhood. When there were no playstations and video games and everyone went outdoors to play with other kids. This very typical Indian game is virtually on the verge of extinction so you may have some trouble finding the necessary equipment. Do you know where to buy a spinning 'top' or lattu (Hindi) or bugari (Kannada)? Maybe a small toy shop in the older part of the city? The game involves spinning this wooden toy, which is spherical at the top and tapering at the bottom. A string is used to wrap around the top to spin it. It is knotted at the end to hold between the fingers. You throw the wrapped top in the air in such a way that the toy is spinning when it lands on the ground. Two people can compete to see whose top spins for the longest time. You can also pick up the spinning top on to the palm while it is still spinning and pass it on to others also.

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Children across Maharashtra's schools are implementing this simple but highly effective method of conserving water, at a time when the rest of the state is reeling from drought. Maharashtra is in the grips of a dry spell this year. According to government statistics, there is only 19% water left in the dams in the state. But some school children have set into action with a simple plan for water conservation. If other schools in the state, and in the country, follow the simple yet powerful idea, the impact could be tremendous. In Pune, 7,000 schoolchildren are now empowered to save and conserve water. What they do is simple: they collect leftover water from their water bottles in a large drum installed in their school. This water replaces the fresh water used to water the plants and clean the school premises.

An effective strategy that reduces water consumption, it also has the dual purpose of educating young impressionable minds about the importance of conservation.

Source: Facebook

The campaign is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Vedant Goel and Yusuf Soni. So far, their efforts have reached out to 7000 schoolchildren in Pune. “Our aim is to reach 10,000 children. Our campaign aims to educate kids about the importance of water and also make sustainable use of the available resources,” said Vedant to YourStory. The socially conscious duo, who made it into the Limca Book of Records for a dental health drive that brought together 1011 students, also ensure that the children are well educated about water problems in India. They conduct workshops at the schools every Saturday, where they have an open discussion with the kids on saving water. “We want to do this forever,” said Vedant. “Water is a long-term problem. If further damage has to be curbed, educating children can really go a long way.” He added that the children are more likely to spread the message to their family and neighbours and encourage a whole lot more people to save and reuse water.

Also Read: This Man Will Show You How to Conserve Water and Prevent Weeds by Growing Plants in Tyre Tubes

Currently, Pune schools such as Dada Gujar High School, Sadhana High School and Vidya Niketan High School have been inducted as part of the campaign. The leftover water collection drive also extends to the staff working at the schools, to encourage students. Two years ago, City Pride School in Nigdi, Pune, suffered from a case of water shortage. Ashwini Kulkarni, the school director, said to Pune Mirror, "We had no water to mop and flush, forget watering the plants and the lawn. The garden had dried up. A limited budged restricted us from availing of water tankers on regular basis." In a meeting with the school's staff, Sakina Bootwala, who heads the environment committee, said that they estimated that children would have 200 millilitres of water left in their bottles at the end of the day. "Collecting it instead of wasting it made sense. This way, 300-400 litres of water would be saved everyday," she said.

City Pride School then installed 12 buckets at six of its exits, and has collected water that is used for the gardens.

Source: Facebook (left), Facebook (right)

"Previously, we had to close down our kitchen garden project. Now, with availability of water, students have harvested tomatoes, lady fingers, spinach and many such vegetables. All trees and bushes are now in good shape," said Bootwala. Similarly, another school in Mumbai has taken forward the idea of collecting leftover water. The Vidyanidhi Educational Complex also set up a large storage drum for water collection in its campus. What’s more, the school has appointed a few students to be a part of a ‘water conservation squad’, an initiative that excites children, especially with special badges on their uniform. At the end of the school-day everyday, students are encouraged to pour out all the water left out in their bottles into the drum. Laxmi Shetty is a fifth grader in the school who is quite enthusiastic about the campaign. “We store the leftover water from our water bottles in the water bank,” she says to DNA, “Every child has to do this without fail before leaving the school.” Chirag Jadhav, in Class 8, is a part of the squad which keeps a lookout for leaking or open taps all day. “There are 20 students in the squad, from Std V-IX. We check taps in the morning – if they are open or leaking – and also before and after recess and end of the day,” he says, his eyes brimming with pride.

The school has managed to save up on their water bills, and realising the drought situation faced by the rest of the state, put this plan into action at once.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

“We used to pay Rs 20,000 every month to get potable water tanker for the school,” says Dr Kitida Mehta, secretary of VEC. “Now, this initiative is not just helping to save water but also creating awareness among children.” Indeed, there’s no better learning experience for children, as they realise the impact their little actions make. Like the schoolchildren of Cathedral & John Connan School in Mumbai realised after collecting Rs 15 lakh for helping people who are suffering from the drought. “It was a presentation on the drought in Marathwada by a former student, who is a media professional, that brought home the scale of the crisis,” says the school’s principal, to India Times. Alarmed by the seriousness of the situation, the students set about raising funds: selling t-shirts designed by them, even taking the money set aside for events. The entire amount was handed over to Naam Foundation, an NGO run by Nana Patekar and Makarand Anaspure. These schools in Maharashtra might just be the tip of the iceberg, as more schools begin to adopt this effective water conservation strategy.

Also Read: India’s Water Warrior Has a Solution for India’s Droughts. The Best Part – We Can Play a Role Too!

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Is it time to talk about sexuality and puberty with your kids? Sex education is important for kids and teens to avoid abuse, develop healthy relationships and be aware of their bodies. Here are 11 books by Indian authors that can help you start the conversation. Talking about sex, puberty and relationships is still a topic of taboo in Indian households. But it needn’t be so anymore. If you’re looking to start a dialogue with your children, here’s a list of books you need to get. For kids below 10 years of age, read it with them, exploring topics of sexuality. For pre-teens and teenagers, give them the privacy they deserve while they read, and the space they need to think. Encourage them to come forward with questions. And remember, answer all questions honestly, without shame or hesitation. They have no one safer to turn to other than parents, teachers, or responsible adults.

Just For Boys/Just For Girls: A Book About Growing Up

As the title suggests, these two books about puberty for boys and girls helps in opening a healthy, honest conversation between parents and teens. It is written for teens as well as pre-teens, and touches on topics related to growing up, physically and emotionally. Included in the book are fact boxes, easy to understand diagrams, helpful tips, and even a question-answer section. Published by: Parragon Books India Get it now: Just For Girls, Just For Boys

The Red Book: What You Want to Know About Yourself

A book for pre-teens and teens (between 10 and 14 years) that doesn’t just stop at sexuality and puberty, it also talks about body image and self-esteem. Part of a series of books on sexuality, there’s also a clearly detailed section on differentiating between touches, and how to look out for potential abusers. It also emphasises that children have the right to say ‘no’, that they can make informed decisions by themselves, and that they own their bodies. Available in Hindi and English Published by: TARSHI Get it now: The Red Book

21 Things Every Teen Should Know

A book by a teenage girl, for teenage girls, it couldn’t get any more appropriate and relatable. The focus of the book is to inspire positivity and confidence in teenage girls while they go through unavoidable but difficult changes through puberty. It encourages girls to have fun, but wisely, and the book tells them how, based on the 14-year-old author’s personal experiences. This includes chapters on how to make friends, deal with bullies, build relationships, and the importance of keeping happy. Author: Divya Jalan Published by: Grapevine India Publishers Get it now: 21 Things Every Teen Should Know

My Little Body Book: Keeping Ourselves Safe

Aimed at kids above 5 years of age, it is detailed and brightly illustrated in many colours. While it is written in a friendly tone and simple language, the message of keeping oneself safe and clean comes across firm and strong. Written from the point of view of Avni and Vivaan, it illustrates the differences between a boy and a girl’s bodies, and makes a point to talk about what is the good touch and the bad touch. Author: Shruti Singhal Published by: Zubaan Books Get it now: My Little Body Book

Menstrupedia Comic: The Friendly Guide to Periods For Girls

For girls aged 9 and above, this wonderfully illustrated comic book can help them understand menstruation the best. It’s humorous, relatable, fun and informative, as it talks about body changes, periods, nutrition, and women’s health care. With cartoon illustrations that remind us of Tinkle and Panchatantra comics of the yore, this 88-page gem gives practical advice, real life experiences, and is medically accurate. Available in Hindi, English, and other languages. Author: Aditi Gupta, Tuhin Paul Published by: Menstrupedia Get it now: Menstrupedia Comic

Also Read: IIT Kanpur Students Develop Kit For Teachers and Parents to Educate Children About Sexual Abuse

The Blue Book: What You Want to Know About Yourself

Second in the series to The Red Book, this one is for teens aged 15 and above. It tackles more complex situations, keeping in mind the hormonal changes, curiosity and sexual experimentation that teens go through. It also deals with peer pressure, pregnancy, parental communication about sex, and, in fact, communication of all kinds, with everyone. It’s available in Hindi and English. Published by: TARSHI Get it now: The Blue Book

Body Talk: Real Girls Ask Real Questions about Love, Life and Everything in Between

A treasure trove of 400 questions that plague the mind of the average adolescent girl in India. Right from questions like ‘How do you have sex?’ to ‘How do I tell my parents about my boyfriend?’ and ‘How do I determine my bra size?’, the book gives informed, clear, positive and uplifting answers to a girl’s questions. Aimed at girls over 14 years of age, the questions touch upon menstruation, safe sex, making the right decision, and how to keep well. Author: Anjali Wason and Amruta Patil Published by: HarperCollins Get it now: Body Talk

Why India Should Go All the Way: Sex Ed Book for Children

Released as part of a multi-media project themed on sex education, HIV awareness and population control, this sex education guidebook caters to kids above the age of 10. It breaks down the subject of sexuality in simple, well-illustrated terms, including information about the good touch and bad touch, functions of human body, and more. The book is a well-researched effort that culminated after interviews with psychologists, child experts, doctors and government school teachers. It is bi-lingual, with Hindi and English text. Author: Vedanti Sikka

Shareer Ki Jaankari

This is an interestingly structured book co-authored by 75 women from rural areas of India. For kids above 10, this is as interactive and fun as it gets. The book illustrates, through flaps (where you can see what’s inside a body part) and detailed diagrams, the various changes that a boy and a girl’s bodies go through during puberty. It is written and drawn by hand, and has some DIY exercises that explore sexuality and puberty. It comes in English, Hindi, Gujarati, Oriya, Bengali and Marathi. Published by: Zubaan

Mr P's Guide For Boys, Ms P's Guide for Girls, and Ms P's Lessons on Safety

A series of books by Bengaluru-based Deepa Kumar, who also runs a website called howtotellyourchildren.com, these books are a comprehensive guide for adolescent children through their years of change and uncertainities. Topics such as stages of development, body shape, breast development, menstruation, PMS, hair growth, orgasms, erections and more are touched upon in detail in a confident, positive tone. The book for boys also answers important questions and quells fears, as Kumar had noticed that no one sits them down for a talk, unlike girls. Author: Deepa Kumar Get it now: Three books

The Yellow Book: A Parents’ Guide to Sexuality Education

And finally, a book for parents, teachers, and other adults who want to teach kids, but don’t know how. A guidebook of sorts, this one has tips on approaching the subject with kids according to their age, how to feel comfortable talking about sex, and what to tell them about sex, puberty and relationships. It prepares parents to deal with curious questions and genuine doubts as well. Published by: TARSHI Get it now: The Yellow Book

Also Read: Family Planning, Sex Education in Rural Madhya Pradesh Yields Results

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This article on using mobile technology for social good is part of the #Connecting4Good series & is made possible by Vodafone India.

Talk to any young parent these days, and chances are they’ll launch into a litany of complaints about technology and their losing battle with it. 'If the kids aren't already using a tablet or phone, they spend all their time asking for it,' is a common grievance. But what if you could use your children's obsession with technology to introduce them to Indian mythology, help discover new cities or learn about the world around them? Bulbul Apps helps you do just that. What do a writer from Mumbai, an illustrator from Mexico and a music studio from Israel have in common? The ability to come together to create a beautifully illustrated, interactive story series like the Krishna series! Produced by Bulbul Apps, the Krishna Series is a wonderful introduction for children into the world of Indian mythology. The series witnesses the coming together of incredible international talent in the telling of a story that is quintessentially Indian."It is a powerful metaphor for what we are trying to do, a reiteration of our belief that stories and the emotions they generate are universal," says Prakash Dantuluri, founder of Bulbul Apps. Children are not only introduced to Krishna but are taken along on his many adventures –be they announcing his divinity to his mother by revealing the cosmos in his mouth, or teaching Indra a lesson in humility, or taking on the mighty Kaliya.

The illustrations are striking and the script is engaging – a sure-fire way to get your children hooked on Indian mythology.

And then there is the Tuk-tuk app. Referring to this as a "travel app for kids," Mr Prakash reveals that the series - like most of the Bulbul Apps series - was the result of a cross-border collaboration. A professor from Bangalore wrote the script, while an artist from New Delhi provided the illustrations that were set to music by a team from Britain and animated by talent from Hyderabad. The series - which follows Tuk-Tuk, an enthusiastic, eager-to-learn auto on his journey through different cities - met with resounding success. Kids can follow Tuk-tuk as he explores Mumbai, comes face-to-face with BEST buses, makes friends with one of the 'bumble bee’ taxis synonymous with Mumbai, and sets off to explore the sights. The second installment in the Tuk-tuk series, Tuk-tuk Goes to Hyderabad, was recently in the news when crowd-funders helped the organisation reach their funding goal in record time. In this series, Tuk-tuk takes the children sightseeing in Hyderabad, while exploring the local cuisine and befriending local taxis!

In future series, children can explore cities like New York, Paris, London, Dubai, and Hong Kong with Tuk-tuk!

Bulbul Apps has now entered the information and education domain with the series What is it? This series explores the world around us with the simple question 'What is it?' In answering the question, children are provided with in-depth information - presented in a fun and engaging manner. Whether they are house sparrows, elephants or tigers, you can be sure that with this app, your children will know all there is it to know about them! With apps like these, will parents be okay with their children being glued to technology? "To be honest, its not like I have a choice," laughs Chandramouli Vijjhala, parent of 4 year old Abhinav, a loyal fan of Bulbul Apps, "But these apps really do help him learn." What about these apps does he, as a parent, approve of? "For one thing, I believe that storytelling is very important. It is important that we tell our kids stories, and this app does that. Secondly, the pictures and the colours are bright and attractive. Anything to do with pictures enhances their ability to learn. And the same is true of things they can connect and relate to. Like my kid's favourite app right now is 'Tuk-tuk goes to Hyderabad' because he likes travel and he likes vehicles, so this was like a culmination of his favorite things!" With more than half a million downloads, it is clear that Mr Chandramouli is not the only parent who approves of the app. It also comes as no surprise to learn that most of their apps have an average rating of 4 and above. Bulbul Apps have certainly made an indelible mark for themselves in an industry where trends change by the minute and the fear of becoming irrelevant is constant. Their differentiator? "Local content with global quality," says Mr Prakash, without missing a heartbeat. The company’s insistence on quality shows in each and every beautifully illustrated scene and wonderfully strung together script.

Featured image for representation only. Source: Firstpost

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Elizabeth Sholtys believes in giving and teaching street children more than just the basics. She treats them like she would her own children and this has earned her the love of 200 slum kids who call her Ashraya centre their second home. “I finished high school from the United World College in Pune and was deeply involved in many social activities there. We volunteered in NGOs, orphanages, hospitals and more. But when it came to dealing with education of street children, the one common thing I noticed at most organizations I volunteered with, was the lack of expectations. People just thought – ‘Oh! They are underprivileged children. It is enough if they just understand the basics’,” says Elizabeth Sholtys, a resident of the United States who has been working for Indian children for the past 10 years now.

Elizabeth returned to the US having gained a sense of the kind of options available for marginalised children in the country, but not without the desire to do something for street children in India.

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Elizabeth with the kids[/caption]

“I wanted to do something that would offer the best quality services to street children, truly the kind of quality I would want for my own children,” she says.

And one fine day, during her first year in college in 2005, she made up her mind, called some of her friends who had worked with her in Pune, and together they started the Ashraya Initiative for Children. Also Read: This School in Rural Karnataka Teaches Only ‘Out of System’ Children and Achieves 100% Results! The work began with a residential program for four kids. Today, Ashraya’s centre is like a second home to over 200 children from three slums in the Yerwada area of Pune. They belong to the highly disadvantaged Waghris and Sikligar communities and Ashraya is changing their lives one day at a time.

The centre concentrates on the holistic development of these children and touches all aspects of their lives – starting right from the age of 1, up until they enter college.

The centre opens at 6:00 am and children start coming in to kickstart their day with a healthy breakfast. There are eight caretakers who cook breakfast for them and also help some children get ready for school because they don’t have water supply in their homes. Ashraya has tied up with rickshaw drivers who then drop the children to schools and bring them back to the centre after classes, where they have lunch and proceed for tuition. The centre has 12 teachers and two counsellors who help children finish their school work and also provide assistance with anything extra that they need. The kids then get an evening snack with milk and head back home.

“For many children, the food they eat at the centre is all they eat that day. They don’t get anything to eat at home on some days,” says Bharati Kewalramani, the Executive Director of Ashraya.

The organization obtains funds with the help of fund-raising activities conducted by Elizabeth and her friends in the US. The entire team is currently 40-member strong, all of whom are highly dedicated to their roles.

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The team[/caption] “The process of enrolling a kid starts right from the time when a young woman is pregnant. She becomes part of our health outreach program where we talk to mothers on different topics like nutrition, vaccinations, etc., and support them throughout the pregnancy. When a child is born, we help the mom with the provisions, medicines, hospital bills, etc., and then, when the child is one, he/she becomes a part of the play group at the centre. This is the pre-primary section where we take care of all the needs of children, right from ensuring they have birth certificates and IDs, to providing them with nutritious food. Later, we have them admitted to schools, after which they join the education program,” says Bharati.

The different programs conducted by Ashraya include:

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Children from Class 1[/caption] • Residential Program: Under this program, the day-to-day needs of children are met with the help of counselling, medical care, providing clothing and personal items, etc. Ashraya provides a home like environment to children where they can feel safe and loved. During vacation time, the residential programme children participate in activities like trips, holiday camps, extra tuition, etc. • Education Outreach Program: Here, the primary and secondary education of children is taken care of. Ashraya enrols children in schools, provides them with fees and supplies, and a tutor for about two hours after school each day. • Health Outreach Program: Children are provided with all necessary medical care free of cost. This includes routine health check-ups, emergency medical care, immunizations, etc. Adults are also engaged in health awareness sessions so they can be empowered to provide their children with the best care. Also Read: An Offline Social Network for Teachers Is Changing the Education Scenario in Northern India

Ashraya also partners with other organizations in the city to help with aspects of a child’s development that they cannot address at the moment.

“In 2008, the youngest child to come into our residential program was a one-year-old named Ramu. He had been abandoned and weighed only about 4 kg. He was so malnourished that he could not eat, walk, talk, or even lift his head. We took care of him under our health outreach program. Today, Ramu is nine; he speaks fluent English, Hindi and Marathi, and studies in a private boarding school. He and my children, whom I bring along with me whenever I come to India, are like best friends. Looking at him, I think if there hadn’t been someone to step in for this child, what would have happened to him. And it is stories like these that keep us moving forward,” says Elizabeth.

In 2014, two of Ashraya’s first residential programme girls, Geeta and Jyoti, received full scholarships to study at United World Colleges in Germany and India.

Two other children, Sanjay and Akash, graduated from secondary school and were enrolled in Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce for diploma courses in Travel and Tourism, respectively. “One of our informal mottos at work is ‘whatever it takes’. We are committed to these children in every way. No matter what the issue is for the child, we will try to find a way to address it and try to improve the situation. It is not like a child comes to us and says that her father hits her mother at home, and we tell her that we can’t do anything about it. We intervene and make sure that she gets a safe and happy environment, no matter what it takes,” concludes Elizabeth. Ashraya is currently raising funds to continue providing nutritious meals to the children. You can contribute here. You can contact Ashraya by writing at: contactus@ashrayainitiative.org Also Read: A Woman Returned to India After 40 Years, and Started Changing the Lives of Street Kids in Dehradun

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Angel Xpress Foundation connects people who want to do constructive social work with less privileged children who want to learn. The volunteers teach municipal school children in public spaces like parks or promenades for 2-3 hours a day. On one of her regular morning walks, Mumbai resident Anubha Sharma stumbled upon her true calling when she spotted a group of elderly retired men teaching street children. She was on a long break from work, and had already tried volunteering at some organisations because she wanted to give back to society. “But I never felt like I was making a real difference,” she says. However, watching the elderly men with the street children moved her. “I asked them if I should bring some breakfast for the children, but one of the elders said I should teach them something instead.” She was hesitant at first but still turned up every morning to interact with the children and teach them. Soon, she realised the children attending municipal schools had major gaps in knowledge compared to regular school-going children of their age. One day, on a chilly January morning, when she was teaching the children, one of the kids huddled up next to her, feeling cold. The children would come in simple frocks or shirts and trousers, ill-prepared for the cold. She then put up a Facebook post asking for donations of warm clothes for the street children. “That post went viral and someone put it on BBM,” she says. “I had 3000 people calling me in the next 10 days.” That's when she realised that so many people, including herself, wanted to help but didn’t know how.

This realisation led her to start Angel Xpress Foundation (AXF), along with Beena Advani, a teacher who believed that if enough educated and affluent people started doing constructive social work, the impact could be tremendous.

[caption id="attachment_54081" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]

Anubha Sharma and Beenaa Advani[/caption] “I started the Foundation as an attempt to create an opportunity to bridge the gap between people who want to give back to society, and underprivileged children who want to learn,” she says, adding that people don’t have to go out of their way for it. “We formulated a plan where learning centres are created in public spaces like parks, promenades, malls, or held in free areas of schools or corporate offices.” AXF started out with 18 children on the Bandstand promenade in Bandra, Mumbai, with encouragement from the Bandra Bandstand Residents’ Organisation.

Volunteers at AXF only have to spend two or three hours with the children, says Anubha.

[caption id="attachment_54083" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]

Volunteers teaching classes.[/caption] In four years, AXF was able to put a proper system in place. “All you have to do is pick a neighbourhood park or community hall, and call a few underprivileged children who don’t have access to education,” she explains. “You only have to spend a few hours of the day to teach them English or maths, along with meditation, art and craft, and other such activities.” Today, there are about 200 women who take time out from their schedules to help over 800 children. They come from various backgrounds - finance, business, art. Some of them are still working, some have quit, and some are housewives. “It is very fulfilling, which is why some of our volunteers stick on for three to four years,” she says. The entire impact is recorded through year-end assessments sent to all the centres and volunteers.

AXF supports new volunteers by helping them out with curriculum, training and assessments.

[caption id="attachment_54084" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]

Billabong High School, Malad, organised a sports day and various activities like zumba for the kids.[/caption] Debika Ajmani is the centre head for Juhu, where she mobilises volunteers, gets funding through corporates and friends, and spreads word about the centre. She has helped new volunteers familiarise themselves with the system. “I started out by teaching maths twice a week and soon took charge of the centre,” she says, “I’m at the centre five days a week, three hours a day, sometimes even weekends.” Besides residents, Anubha also approaches schools and corporates to take up the cause, especially companies that have a mandatory community service program as part of their CSR.

Anubha adds, “We also involve parents and children through schools. It helps these children understand the reality of life in India by interacting with the street children.”

Debika once brought her own children to one of the centres. “That day my 14-year-old daughter came up to me and said, ‘Mom I’m so proud of you’. That, and encouragement from my family, keep me motivated to continue.”

Besides teaching, some volunteers also take the children out for movies and provide them with food, new clothes and toys.

According to Anubha, over time, the children show a visible change, starting with their attitude towards life. “For instance, at first they would all be very pushy, wouldn’t maintain lines or wait for their turn,” says Anubha. “But gradually, they learn that their turn will come, that they will also get their share. This has made a huge impact on their lives. They behave a lot differently, perhaps much wiser now.”

Adds Debika, “They even understand the importance of hygiene and keeping their surroundings clean. There’s an improvement in their behaviour, as they love and respect each other.”

When the children are exposed to opportunities, their talents shine through. “There were some girls who were really good at art and have been picked up by an art school. Some were good at dance and now they have received scholarships for dance,” she says.

Some volunteers have even picked out the brightest students to focus on mentoring them to excel in certain subjects, such as maths, so that future opportunities open up.

Debika joins in, saying, “We create in them the ambition to achieve academically through higher education and aim to have careers.” Some of the children even come back to the centre to teach young kids. For Debika, the satisfaction of seeing these children realising the importance of education keeps her grounded.

She recounts, “It’s wonderful when kids come up and say, ‘Didi, I like the way you teach us maths and the way you listen to us.’ In their schools, they don’t teach students with much attention to individual students. They’ve begun loving maths now.”

Anubha worked in the financial sector for almost 20 years, but had quit because she didn’t find it fulfilling enough. She now devotes all her time to AXF. “When I was young, most of my actions were driven by the thought of people taking small steps to create a better world. If it is in your power to help someone, then the most sensible and noble thing to do is to exercise that power.” [embedvideo id="CIPQHSai5OY" website="youtube"] To volunteer or support the cause in Mumbai, write to info@angelxpress.org, or visit www.angelxpress.org.

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From selling bangles to becoming an IAS officer – who says hard work and determination don’t pay off? This is the inspiring story of Ramesh Gholap. Ramesh Gholap, known as Ramu in his village Mahagoan in Barshi Taluka, Solapur district of Maharashtra, was a bright child. His father Gorakh Gholap ran a cycle repair shop, enough to provide an income for his family of four, but the business did not last long as his health suffered from constant drinking. It was then that Ramu’s mother Vimal Gholap started selling bangles in nearby villages to support the family. And though Ramu’s left leg was affected by polio, he and his brother joined their mother in her little venture. Ramu and his brother would yell out loud, “Bangde ghya bangde (Buy bangles!),” and their mother would help the women try them on. As Mahagaon had just one primary school, Ramu later went to stay in Barshi with his uncle to study further.

He knew education was the only way out of the poverty his mother and family were facing, so he worked as hard as he could.

[caption id="attachment_53357" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] 1 (2)

Ramu receiving a prize after winning a competition in Class 6.[/caption] Ramu’s sincerity and dedication made him a star among his teachers. But, in the year 2005, when he was in Class 12 and his college model exams were going on, he got news of his father’s death. The bus fare from Barshi to Mahagaon was Rs.7 those days. And since he received a bus pass for the disabled, the fare for him was just Rs. 2. But Ramu did not even have that.

His neighbours helped him with the money and only then could Ramu go for the last rites of his father.

[caption id="attachment_53358" align="aligncenter" width="1587"]

Ramesh's father - Late Gorakh Gholap[/caption] Just four days after his father’s death, Ramu had a chemistry model exam in his college. On his mother’s insistence he went and appeared for the exam but, after that, he skipped the other model exams. He did not even submit his journals. The final exam for Class 12 was just a month away when he received a letter from his teacher that he had scored 35 marks out of 40 in chemistry. The teacher wanted to meet him. With help and encouragement from his teacher, Ramu took his final exams and scored 88.5%. Ramu chose to do D.Ed (Diploma in Education) in spite of scoring so well, because this was the cheapest course he could afford to do to get a job as a teacher and support his family. He completed his D.Ed and also pursued a graduate degree in Arts from an open university simultaneously. And finally, he was able to start working as a teacher in 2009. This was like a dream come true for his family. But, deep down, it was not what Ramu really wanted to do. Ramu lived with his mother and brother in a small room provided by his aunt, who had got her two-room home through a government scheme called Indira Awas Yojna. He saw his mother making visit after visit to government offices to get a house for herself too under the same scheme, but she was turned away because her BPL (below poverty line) card wasn’t eligible. Ramu was angry with the ration shop owner too, who sold kerosene in the black market instead of providing it to needy families like his. He had already been through the frustration of seeing his father not get adequate attention when he was admitted for tuberculosis in a government hospital.

He saw his mother and other widows being manipulated by an officer who collected money from them and made false promises to get them their pensions.

[caption id="attachment_53360" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] 4 (1)

Ramesh with his mother, Vimal Gholap.[/caption] During his college days, Ramu had been a member of the student’s union and consequently had to go the tehsildar’s office often to get approval for various college issues. He saw the tehsildar as being the most influential and powerful government official he had ever come across. Ramu decided he wanted to become a tehsildar too in order to solve all the problems he and his family faced. In September 2009, he took the first step towards his dream. Using the loan that his mother had taken from a self-help group in his village, Ramu went to Pune to prepare for the UPSC exam, taking a leave of six months from his job. “I did not even know the meaning of MPSC and UPSC since I had always lived in small villages. I did not have money to take coaching classes either. So, the first thing I did was to meet one of the teachers of these coaching classes, just to understand if I was eligible to take the UPSC exam. The first teacher who met me was Mr. Atul Lande. I requested him to write down the answers to a few of my questions, like what is UPSC, can it be taken in Marathi, am I eligible for it, etc. And he told me there was nothing to stop me from taking the UPSC. It is only because of that one statement that I finally did it,” says Ramesh Gholap. Ramu appeared for the UPSC exams in May 2010 but unfortunately didn’t make the cut. In the meantime, he had also formed a political party with the help of some friends in his village of Mahagaon to fight the local panchayat elections. His mother stood as a candidate for sarpanch. The mission of the party was simple – to come to power and help the distressed. On October 23, 2010, the results of the panchayat elections were out. Ramu terms this date as the biggest turning point of his life in his autobiography, Ithe Thambne Nahi (I Won’t Stop Here). Ramu’s mother, Vimal Gholap lost the elections by a few votes but the loss did not break Ramu. Instead, it gave him the strength to stand up and fight back again against the system. On the same day, he announced in front of all the villagers that he was leaving the village and would come back only when he became a powerful officer. After this, no one could stop Ramu. He left his job and cleared the State Institute of Administrative Careers (SIAC) exam – this gave him a hostel to stay in and a stipend as scholarship. He painted posters to take care of his expenditures. And finally, this son of illiterate parents, who studied in a zilla parishad school and by correspondence with open universities, cleared the UPSC examination with an all-India rank of 287, without any coaching.

Ramu was selected for the IAS in the year 2012. And, as per his promise, he came back to his village on May 12, 2012, after finishing a long journey from being Ramu to becoming Ramesh Gorakh Gholap, IAS.

[caption id="attachment_53362" align="aligncenter" width="1587"]

Celebrations in Ramesh's village when he came back after becoming an IAS officer.[/caption] In the next couple of months, the MPSC results were also out and this time Ramu broke all records. He topped the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exam in the year 2012, scoring the highest ever marks of 1,244 out of 1,800.

Ramesh Gholap is now posted in Jharkhand as Joint Secretary in the Energy Department.

[caption id="attachment_53359" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] 2 (2)

Ramu to IAS Ramesh Gholap[/caption] “Mala swatala shikta nahi aala pan porala khup shikwaycha asa tharwila hota…Aaj majha mulga itka motha sahib zalay he baghun khup anand hoto…pang fedala porane (I couldn’t get an education but I had decided that I would educate my sons. Today, my son has become such a big officer and that makes me so happy…. my boy has returned all my debts!),” says Vimal Gholap.

Ramesh Gholap has given more than 300 informational and motivational talks to youngsters aspiring to take the MPSC or UPSC exams. He is also fulfilling his dream of helping the poor and distressed through his work.

[caption id="attachment_53361" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] 3 (2)

Ramesh helping a child labourer[/caption] “Whenever I cancel the licence of a PDS shop owner who has been black marketing kerosene, I remember my days when I had to turn off the lantern for lack of kerosene. Whenever I help a widow, I remember my mother begging for a house or for her pension. Whenever I inspect a government hospital, I remember my father’s words when he had left drinking and just wanted better treatment. He would ask me to become a big man and take him to a private hospital. Whenever I help a poor child, I remember myself, I remember Ramu,” says Ramesh Gholap, IAS.

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Jeevan Public Cord Blood Bank offers millions of patients in India the hope for a better tomorrow with its quick and affordable access to stem cells. Here’s how you can help. At the age of three, most children view the world with wide-eyed wonder. Their senses lead them head-first to explore the world around them. Half-walking, half-stumbling, they reach out to grasp life and everything it has to offer with their tiny flailing hands – their quest to learn being limitless and their energy, boundless. It was no wonder then that when three-year-old Deepti (name changed to protect identity) began to complain of fatigue, her parents were alarmed. Their little one lacked the energy other children her age displayed and was often forced to stop playing because of shortness of breath.

Tests and consultations with doctors followed and the parents learnt Deepti suffered from Thalassemia Major, a condition that affects red blood cells and results in low haemoglobin. Deepti needed blood donations every month to keep her haemoglobin near normal.

Image for representation only. Source: Flickr

The diagnosis brought Deepti’s parents’ world crumbling down around them. Unfortunately, Deepti and her parents are not alone. Every year, India witnesses the birth of more than 10,000 children with Thalassemia and other blood disorders. Every year, 120,000 Indians also face the fateful diagnosis of blood cancer. One third of these are children. The numbers are staggering. For Deepti, as for many children suffering from Thalassemia and blood cancer, finding matching stem cells is often the only cure. These stem cells can be obtained either from bone marrow donors or from donated umbilical cord blood.

One organisation has set out to provide quick and affordable access to stem cells, with the hope of saving more than 70% of patients suffering from blood cancer and Thalassemia: Jeevan Public Cord Blood Bank

Image for representation only. Source: Flickr

Set up in 2008, it was this organisation that came to the rescue of young Deepti. Today, Deepti leads a happy and healthy life, thanks to the stem cells she received from Jeevan. Jeevan Public Cord Blood Bank was started by Dr P Srinivasan and Dr Saranya Narayan, founders of the Jeevan Blood Bank and Research Centre.

“When we started reading up about this, we found that 60% to 80% of those suffering from blood cancer and Thalassemia can be cured if they have access to matching stem cells donated either from umbilical cord blood or by bone marrow donors,” explains Dr Srinivasan.

Read also: This New Blood Banking App Lets You Deposit, Withdraw and Even Transfer Blood, Just Like Cash!

“But unlike blood, matching of stem cells – what they call HLA matching – is very complicated. And this depends on one critical factor – the ethnicity of the donor as well as the recipient.”

Image for representation only. Source: Flickr

As of today, 27.6 million bone marrow donors as well as 6,87,000 cord blood donations exist globally. Yet, given the role ethnicity plays in ensuring a good match, this impressive number means little to Indians.

“The chance of an Indian – say Deepti or 9-year-old Pooja fighting blood cancer by finding a match in any of the global registries – is less than 10%. We Indians have our own DNA,” says Dr Srinivasan, “And even if the child is lucky enough to get a matching donor, the cost of getting that single unit to India for treatment is anywhere between USD 25,000 to 45,000. The cost makes it unaffordable for 98% of the children who need it today.”

22-year-old Vigneshwaran is a perfect example of this conundrum. Vignesh was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was in Class 9. For five years, he struggled to beat the disease: “We lost almost everything we had in the five years of treatments,” he says. “During that time, there were no public stem cell banks in India and, as a result, stem cell transplant was not common.” Vignesh did have the option of going to Singapore for treatment but the cost was proving to be prohibitive: “Then, my classmates at the Engineering College took up the matter with my department head and started raising funds,” he recalls. His classmates, their parents and college authorities raised more than Rs. 1 crore, helping Vignesh complete his treatment. Not everyone is as fortunate as Vignesh though and it was this realisation that drove him to join Jeevan as a trustee.

“Public stem cell banking saved my life. It can save thousands of lives. It would make a new treatment option, a highly successful one, available to thousands of Indians who are left with no options after rounds of chemotherapy or at a later stage of cancer,” he says.

Image for representation only. Source: Flickr

A treatment option that is affordable and accessible is just what Jeevan hopes to achieve with its Public Cord Blood Bank.

Explains Dr Srinivasan: “The bank will create a pool of cord blood donated stem cells in India, because of which the chances of children like Vignesh and Deepti finding a match will go up to over 70%. We can give them access and a hope for a cure.”

Since ensuring affordability was one of the primary goals of setting up the Public Cord Blood Bank, Jeevan offers the stem cells free of cost to families whose annual income is below Rs. 10 lakhs. Families whose annual income exceeds Rs. 10 lakhs are requested to donate as much as they can, to ensure the sustainability of the Public Cord Blood Bank model. Read also: Meet the 86-Year-Old Who Has Helped 6 Lakh Patients Get Medical Treatment They Could Not Afford In order to ensure quick and affordable access to matching stem cells, the organisation is looking at building an Indian inventory of 30,000 donated stem cells from cord blood, before 2020.

With more than two crore births per year, building an inventory of 30,000 stem cells from umbilical cord blood should be fairly easy. Yet, Jeevan’s experience says otherwise.

Image for representation only. Source: Flickr

“Till date, we’ve had 9,593 cord blood donations, of which 4,768 were fit enough to use,” says Dr Srinivasan. “Parents today have two options,” he explains, “They may choose to put the cord blood in private cord blood banks or throw it out altogether. Less than 10% of the parents take the first option. The other 90% end up throwing it in the dustbin. It is this 90% we are targeting. If we are able to convert even 2% of these parents, we will meet our inventory target.” Given the number of children the stem cells from donated cord blood could help, throwing it away seems almost criminal. And yet, that is exactly what happens. Read also: Indian Scientists Achieve Impressive 82% Reduction in Newborn Sepsis Deaths With Radical Innovation In 2014, Jeevan launched the Bone Marrow Registry. “Stem cells work for children who are less than 30 kg or 40 kg. Adults and overweight children need to depend on adult bone marrow donors,” says Dr Srinivasan, explaining the driving inspiration behind the initiative.

So far, the organisation has managed to rope in more than 1,700 donors who have volunteered to donate bone marrow stem cells if and when a need arises.

Image for representation only. Source: Flickr

These are only two of the initiatives launched by Jeevan Blood Bank and Research Centre. The organisation started with a 100% component blood bank in 1995, expanded to the Public Cord Blood Bank in 2008, a HLA (Human Leucocyte Antigen) typing lab in 2013, and the Bone Marrow Registry in 2014. As a not-for-profit, its services are offered at a nominal cost for those who can afford them and free-of-cost for those who can’t. Over this incredible journey spanning more than two decades, funds have continued to remain the biggest roadblock for Jeevan. All of Jeevan’s operations so far have been funded by private and corporate donations. But, given the magnitude of the Public Cord Blood Bank project, it will – for the first time – look at crowd-funding to help see the project to fruition.

“We are looking at getting 10 lakh Indians to contribute just Rs. 100 each. This will allow us to scale up quickly, rather than waiting to go through the rigmarole of government funding,” says Dr Srinivasan.

Image for representation only. Source: Flickr

Jeevan is currently raising funds to to help save the lives of more than 70% of children suffering from blood cancer and Thalessemia in India. You can contribute here or here. As Dr Srinivasan summed it up succinctly: “This is something our children, our grandchildren need. It is for the future generations.” For more information on Jeevan, log on to www.jeevan.org You can also contact the organisation at jeevan@jeevan.org

Featured image for representation only. Source: Save the Children, Flickr

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Your children need not spend their summer vacation indoors watching television. Check out these summer and adventure camps for kids aged 9 to 17. Summer camps provide a great opportunity to children to indulge in fun activities, go on adventures, make new friends and learn about things that are not in textbooks. At adventure camps, they learn to be one with nature, climb mountains and run with the wind. Or, at city-centric camps, they learn various skills such as cooking, crafts, art, communications, design, etc., that are essential for developing well-rounded personalities. Here is a list of summer camps that you can still enrol your kids in this summer: [caption id="attachment_54388" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]

Adventure camps at Youreka[/caption]

Source: Facebook

Youreka, multiple places

Youreka, established in 1996, is an adventure camp that aims to use nature to build confidence and teamwork in children. The camps are divided according to ages: white star for 9-12 years, red star for 12-14 years, and black star for 14-17 years. The camps are set up in Sitlakhet and Jayalgarh in Uttarakhand, Yercaud (Tamil Nadu), Junga, Tirtahan, and Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh and Kambre (Maharashtra). Children undergo a variety of mental and physical challenges during the duration of the camp, including rock climbing, mountain climbing, backpacking, and even mountain biking. Age group: 9 to 17 years Register here.

Melange Academy, Bengaluru

The Melange Academy was founded in the year 2009 with the aim of providing top quality training in fine arts and performing. It offers classes in chess, dance, keyboard, guitar, and lots more. The academy focuses on activities that enhance the body and the mind, making learning enjoyable and meaningful. Age group: 5-14 years Register here.

Kshitij World, Mumbai

Kshitij was started almost a decade ago with the goal of child development through experiential learning. The organization has worked with more than 7000 kids in India. It currently offers summer camps in different areas like photography and outdoor sports. It also offers lakeside adventure camps in Kamshet, marine adventures in the Konkan, and more. Age group: 7-14 years Register here. [caption id="attachment_54384" align="aligncenter" width="960"]

A Froolic Boonies adventure camp[/caption]

Source: Facebook

Frolic Boonies, multiple places

Frolic Boonies, started in 2007, aims to provide a complete and wholesome experience of wildlife to children who can then carry their new-found knowledge on conservation back home and spread awareness. Their camps include an African safari camp in October, a Coorg rafting camp, and more. Currently, the Young Entrepreneurs Program is open for applications. Children learn how to recycle and upcycle things, they are introduced to farming, are taught cooking, and are taught principles of entrepreneurship through fun activities. Age group: 10 years and above Register here.

Anibrain School of Media Design, Pune

The Anibrain School of Media Design offers courses to students interested in creation of digital content. But it also has summer workshops for kids above the age of 10, which focus on giving them early exposure to the industry. The current workshop courses offered are aimed at making students experts in the area of animation. Age group: 10 years and above Register here.

Arobot Summer Camp, Chennai

Robotics is a field that is a combination of various other fields such as physics, mechanics, mathematics, even art. Arobot is a Chennai-based company that provides two-week robotics classes to children of all backgrounds, to help them achieve their technological aspirations. Age group: 10 years and above Register here.

Shape Up Kids, New Delhi

An art and craft centre, Shape Up Kids is offering this summer camp that is bound to be loads of fun -- between 14 May and 12 June. The craft activities here include calligraphy, clay modelling and origami. Besides these, kids also get to test their communication skills while taking part in elocution, drama and storytelling events. Age group: 10 years and above To register, contact here.

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“My father dropped me to my first workplace. I could never tell him how much I wanted him to drop me to a school instead,” says Mohsin, who is struggling to go to school and dreams of a better life. Rajasthan accounts for nearly 10% of the total child labour in the country, with Jaipur alone having more than 50,000 child labourers in the age group of 5-14 years. The state stands third after UP and Andhra Pradesh as far as child labour is concerned.

“Bhatta basti in Jaipur is notorious for child labourers who work on lac bangles within their households. Most of the adult members are either working on making jewellery or are unskilled labour. Substance abuse among children and adolescents is high. Dropouts are common as children become workers early on in life,” says Magic Bus’ Neelima, who is in charge of the programme here.

Bhatta basti looks a bit different from the shanties that dot the landscape of mega cities like Delhi or Mumbai: there are rows of pucca houses here –- with exposed red bricks and high ceilings. However, many houses have no roof at all. An open drain underlines the sorry state of hygiene in the area. People who call Bhatta Basti home are largely from a single community, engaged in bangle-making, stone-cutting, or tailoring.

In the meandering narrow lanes of Bhatta basti that run along a partially hilly landscape, lives a 19-year-old whose story deserved to be told.

[caption id="attachment_54293" align="aligncenter" width="3984"]

This is Mohsin and behind him is the Bhatta basti.

This is Mohsin and behind him is Bhatta basti.[/caption] “Which class are you in?” Chances are, almost all of us have been asked this question at least once, or sometimes more than once, during our lifetimes. For Mohsin Farukhi, this is a question he has carefully avoided since he was 13 and stopped going to school.

“My father worked as a stone-cutter in a nearby shop. My elder brother joined him after he finished his seventh standard because we were in desperate need of money. My younger brother failed in the eighth standard and started work at a local watch repair shop. My father stopped going to work once both my brothers started earning. When they got married and had their own children, they could barely spare any money to support the family. This is why my parents started putting pressure on me to start working,” explains Mohsin.

Consequently, he dropped out in Class 7 and started assisting in a shoe shop where he was paid Rs 5 for working 12 hours in a day.

“My father dropped me to my first workplace. I could never tell him how much I wanted him to drop me to a school instead,” Mohsin looks away as he shares the memories of his first day at work.
[caption id="attachment_54292" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Mohsin at his current job.[/caption]

He didn’t stick to his first job for long. He soon made friends in the neighbouring stores and found a different place to work, with better pay.

“I realised one thing: there are always jobs available for children like us because we can be paid less and made to work more."

While Mohsin worked for longer hours in jobs that did not interest him, his father started working as a priest (locally called mohzim) in a dargah. His mother is a homemaker. Three years ago, Mohsin came for one of Magic Bus’ sessions. He was 16 then. Having never had the time to be with children his age, Mohsin took a strong liking to the activity-based sessions.

“The person leading the session sat us down in a circle and asked how many of us went to school. I saw several hands in the air, and ran away in embarrassment,” he recounts.

Sarfaraz, who was conducting the session that day, saw Mohsin leave in a hurry and decided to find out more about him. He called on him the next day when he was leaving for work. Mohsin confided in him his eagerness to learn.

“If you want to go to school, who is stopping you?” Sarfaraz asked. Mohsin explained his situation. That day, Sarfaraz left Mohsin with a hope, “You can still study. I will help you get re-enrolled.” The support he was looking for within his family came to him in the form of a mentor he could trust.

When Sarfaraz spoke to Mohsin’s parents, he found out about the abject condition they were in. Sarfaraz approached an NGO and mobilised funds for Mohsin’s education. Mohsin negotiated with his father to allow him to go back to school in return for working to support the family. After being out of school for three years, Mohsin went back to school. He enrolled in Class 10 in a private school.But Mohsin’s challenges were far from over.

“I found the lessons difficult. After all these years, I found it difficult to concentrate. It was exhausting to work and study simultaneously,” he shares.

Unfortunately, he failed the Class 10 examination.

“His parents persuaded him to discontinue education. They didn’t think it was a worthy investment. But Mohsin persisted in his attempts. And of course, we stood by his decision," says Sarfaraz.

Today, Mohsin has completed Class 12. He aspires to become a nurse because getting an MBBS degree would be too expensive for him.

“I am, by far, the most educated in my family. My parents never went to school and my brothers dropped out. I don’t want to stop here. I want to study further and work in dignity," he shares.

Regardless of where his final destination is, Mohsin can inspire every single person who wants to learn.

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The Rajnat community relies on commercial sex work done by mothers, sisters and daughters to make ends meet. But these Rajnat women are determined their daughters will break free from this vicious cycle by gaining a proper education. Is sex work, sometimes euphemistically referred to as "the world's oldest profession", really a profession? Over generations, the answer to this question hasn’t really changed. In popular public perception, sex workers continue to be seen as women who are either “immoral, criminal or carriers of sexually transmitted diseases,” or victims, who are trapped and exploited for their sexuality. Although, these days, sex workers are rallying to alter this viewpoint – collectively they want to be seen as service providers with rights and entitlements – Rajnat women like Radha and Sheena, who were coerced into prostitution in the name of tradition and economic necessity, rue not having the option to pick their own future.

They are determined to ensure their daughters break free from this vicious cycle by gaining a proper education.

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Rajnat women in the villages like Bhojpura and Tilawala in Rajasthan are making sure that their daughters get the opportunity to go to school.[/caption]

Pic credit: Abha Sharma

Radha, 45, is a former prostitute. She belongs to the Rajnat community that relies on commercial sex work done by mothers, sisters and daughters to make ends meet. Traditionally, they were 'entertainers' who enjoyed royal patronage. But ever since the dissolution of the princely states, post Independence, the women have had to take up prostitution full-time to keep the kitchen fires burning. It’s a given that a Rajnat daughter will take on her mother’s ‘profession’; conventional marriage and even an alternative line of work is simply out of the question. But if Radha has her way then her daughter will never enter the trade. This mother of three from Bhojpura village on the outskirts of Rajasthan’s state capital Jaipur, says, “My daughter wants to be an air hostess and travel the world.” As she talks about her teenage daughter’s dream, her otherwise sombre face lights up. Radha fervently hopes that all her children will study well, become independent and overcome the ignominy of being Rajnats. However, in the very next moment, the worry returns as she verbalises the big fear that mars her life.

“What if my daughter doesn’t get a job? And she is unable to get married? Samay ka pata nahin, aage kya hoga (only time will tell what’s in store for her in the future),” she says with a sigh.

Indeed, that’s the worry that plagues every Rajnat mother, who wants her daughters to have the choice of building a different life from her own. Radha says, “I pray what happened to me shouldn’t happen to my daughter. But if circumstances so demand then who knows maybe she too might end up working at a dance bar in Mumbai.” Sheena, too, fervently hopes that she will be able to give her two daughters the schooling they deserve.

“One of them wants to become a doctor and I do want to support her in every way I can. But I am not sure till when I’ll be able to pay for her higher education. We all want our children to study and have respectable occupations. But most of us don’t really have the means to give the kind of quality education that is needed for them to get well-paying jobs,” says the mother of three.

Radha astutely points out, “There is no denying that the government provides free schooling, midday meals, books, and so on, which is very important. Yet, one can’t overlook the fact that the quality of teaching is not up to the mark. If teachers are only going to be spending their time gossiping over cups of tea then what would our kids really learn? That’s one of the main reasons why we have to put aside more money and send them to decent private schools if we have to have any hope of them building lucrative careers. Right now, the biggest problem, as I see it, is that our community doesn’t have a say at the higher level. Everywhere there’s demand for ‘donation’ but we can’t afford it. Government assistance and scholarships for our community girls will facilitate in furthering their ambitions.” Fortunately, these women do have some guidance and assistance coming their way from World Vision India, an international humanitarian organisation that works with disadvantaged communities across India. Since 2007, it has been working towards reducing the stigma attached with the Rajnats and encouraging the community to embrace change in villages like Bhojpura and Tilawala, located on the fringes of Jaipur.

Alok Peter, Gender and Development Coordinator, World Vision India, says, “Our experience shows that it takes time to break through regressive social customs and any change or enhancement in financial prospects requires a long-term, holistic intervention. So, while on the one hand we are speaking to women and community elders to bring about an attitudinal shift, on the other, we are focusing on organising vocational training with an emphasis on generating employment through small-scale industry and other suitable economic activities. So far, it’s been a daunting task because it’s far simpler for families to push their daughters into sex work rather than pursue other sources of livelihood that would require hard work and time.”

Any transformation is tough but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Shanta’s family in Tilawala village is an example for the entire community. Hers is an extensive, joint household of around 35 members, including half a dozen children of all age groups, who live together in a home built by them a few years back. Shanta, a former sex worker, and her sister-in-law Geeta are among the first few women who linked up with World Vision India after it began creating awareness on health, education and employment issues in the area. “I really want my children to get a decent education and not make the same mistake their father made by leaving school mid-way,” she reveals. Ideally, she would like them to follow in their uncle and aunt’s footsteps. Geeta’s brother-in-law is a practising doctor in Bagru, a town 30 kilometres from Jaipur, and his wife is educated as well.

Geeta herself never went to school and, therefore, vociferously advocates sending girls to school.

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The future looks bright: young children from the Rajnat community are being encouraged by the elders to move away from their traditional beliefs and work hard to make a life for themselves and their families.[/caption]

Pic credit: Abha Sharma

“Pahle humare paas koi zaria nahin tha. School bhi nahin the. Parivarwale ladkiyon ko padhane se darte the. Aarthik kaaran bhi the. Par ab sab freedom se bhejte hain (In my time, there was no way to ensure girls went to class simply because there were fewer schools, greater financial constraints and our families were afraid to send us by ourselves. But these days, we all send our girls to school without hesitation),” she says.

Considering the positive outlook of her family, it’s hardly surprising when Geeta discloses that her elder brother-in-law’s daughter is pursuing a career in nursing while her own son is studying medicine. Of course, employability and marriage continue to remain the top two concerns for those eager to move away from the Rajnat way of life. For instance, Sanno’s niece is a graduate today but the family is having a tough time finding a suitable, educated groom.

“Our boys grow up in an unhealthy atmosphere and fall prey to bad habits like drinking and gambling. Moreover, many of them have barely studied and those that have are struggling to get well-paying jobs. Where would one find an eligible groom within the community? Men from other castes won’t marry our daughters. Nonetheless, I still think that’s no reason to go back to the way we were,” she says.

Barring a few exceptions, most Rajnat women openly talk of higher education and feel proud when family members make a name for themselves as teachers or medical practitioners, which is what most of them generally pursue. The desire to educate girls is especially strong as the spirited mothers truly believe that this can be the game-changer for them all. (Names of the women have been changed to protect their identity.)

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About the author: Written by Abha Sharma for Women’s Feature Service (WFS) and republished here in arrangement with WFS.

Lagori, Kancha, Gilli-danda, Kho Kho – recognise any of these names? If you're in your 40s or 50s, the mere mention is bound to evoke nostalgia for summer days spent playing outdoors with friends. If you're in your 20s or 30s, your parents and grandparents could tell you a tale or two about the magic of these childhood games. But will the children of this generation have the same memories? Most likely not, because many of them spend their time playing video games in a virtual world. This addiction has brought the classic Indian games mentioned above, and many others, to the brink of extinction. So here's a list of 15 such forgotten games you may want to try playing with your friends or children:

1. Lagori or Pithu

Pic: defence.pk

A very popular game among kids in India at one time. It involves a ball and a pile of flat stones (which are stacked on top of each other). One member of a team throws the ball at the stack to knock the stones over. The team then tries to restore the pile of stones while the opposing team ( known as the hitters) throws the ball at them. If the ball touches a person, he is out and his team continues without him. Played by: two teams, any number of members.

2. Kancha or Marbles

Pic: newsworldindia.in

This is still a popular game among kids in rural areas. The game is played with round glass marbles and the motive is to collect as many marbles as possible by shooting and striking other marbles with the ones you have. Played by: any number of people.

3. Chain

Pic: wikipedia

Chain is another classic children’s game, although it is losing popularity now. The game consists of a 'denner', whose aim is to catch the other players. Once the denner catches a player, the player becomes part of a chain(which is formed by holding hands) and then has to help the denner in catching the remaining players. Played by: any number of people, usually not more than 10.

4. Gilli Danda

Pic: america.pink

Gilli Danda is a game very similar to cricket and baseball; its popularity in India once rivalled that of cricket. The game is played with a small piece of wood reduced on both sides known as gilli and a large piece of wood that is used to hit the gilli known as danda. The aim of the game is to hit the gilli as far as possible. Played by : two teams, any number of players

5. Kho Kho

Pic: blograja.com

The game consists of two teams, who are required to chase down and tag the players of the opposite team to win the game. The chasing team sends out nine players onto the field, who sit in a straight line with alternate players facing opposite sides. The chasers have to make sure they catch the runners (who enter the field one at a time) before time runs out. Played by: two teams of nine players each

6. Lattoo

Pic: sulekha.com

Lattoo is a game that involves spinning a wooden top (lattoo), which has grooves in it lower half and a nail at the bottom, on which it spins. A thick string is wrapped around the grooves on lower half and pulling the string makes the top spin. Played by: one or more people

7. Hopscotch or Stapoo

Pic: itimes.com

Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players throw a small object into numbered spaces of a pattern of rectangles marked on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces on one or two legs to retrieve the object. Played by: one or more people

8. Chhupam Chhupai or Hide-n-Seek

Pic: childeva.com

Hide and Seek is a popular children's game in which players hide themselves in a marked area, to be found by one or more seekers/denners. The denner closes his eyes and counts till a certain number, after which he tries to find the hidden players. Played by: any number of people

9. Chor-Sipahi

The game is the Indian equivalent of the western game “Tag.” There are two teams in the game - one team of thieves (chor) and the other team of sipahi (police). The sipahi try and catch the chor, after which the turn changes (that is, the chor become the sipahi and vice versa) Played by: two teams, any number of people

10. Four Corners

Four corners is a game often played by primary school children. Four corners are designated, and a player is chosen as being “it”. The remaining players have to swap corners without being caught by “it”. If a player is caught by “it” or is without a free corner to stand in, he becomes “it”. Played by: 5 people

11. Kabaddi

INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA - SEPTEMBER 28: Fatema Akhtar Poly of Bangladesh dives to evade India during the Kabaddi Womens Group Round match between India and Bangladesh during day nine of the 2014 Asian Games at Songdo Global University Gymnasium on September 28, 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. (Photo by Stanley Chou/Getty Images)

Pic:playnlive.com

Kabaddi is an Indian origin game that was on its way to extinction, but is now regaining its popularity. There are several forms of the game, but most involve two teams of seven players each, who have a designated area of their own. Players have to raid the other team’s area and try and touch one of their players, hence making the touched player “out.” Played by: two teams of 7 members each

12. Dog and the Bone

Pic: ordiate.com

The game consists of two teams, and an object such as a bottle or handkerchief, etc., which is designated as the “bone." A player from each team comes forward and attempts to take the bone (placed at the centre of the playing area) back to his team. The player who fails to take the bone has to go out of the game. Played by: two teams of usually 5-10 members each

13. Maram Pitthi

Pic: newsworldindia.com

A game very similar to dodgeball. It consists of two teams, who scatter around in a large area. Players from a team try to hit players of the opposing team with a ball (usually made of sponge). Once a player is hit, he is out of the game. Passing between players of the same team is also allowed. Played by: two teams, any number of members

14. Vish Amrit

Pic: itimes.com

It is the Indian version of the game “lock and key”. The aim of the denner is to touch the other players, giving them vish. As soon as vish is given the person stays there until teammates come to give him/her amrit. The game ends when all players have been caught and there is no one left to give amrit. Played by: any number of players

15. Langdi

Pic Source

Langdi is a popular childhood game, especially in the state of Maharashtra. The game consists of two teams, and the team that wins the toss defends first. The opposing team sends a player to tag as many defenders as he can, while hopping on one foot. The team that tags the most defenders wins. Played by: two teams, 12 players each

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Ishaan Patel is the 13-year-old CEO of Planting Pencils, an organisation that is helping children across the world get access to quality education. A bespectacled young boy dressed in a smart suit makes his way to the podium amidst thunderous applause. The hall in front of him is filled with MBA students from Syracuse University, New York. As he takes his place, the hall quietens down and begins to listen with rapt attention. It is not often that a teenager commands the attention of a hall full of adults more than ten or twenty years his senior. But then, Ishaan Patel is hardly your average teenager.

When Ishaan is not playing squash and soccer, or exploring his love for music with the drums, this 13-year-old is helping children across the world get access to quality education.

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Ishaan Patel, CEO of Planting Pencils[/caption] Ishaan Patel is an 8th grader at Kingswood Oxford School, Connecticut (US). He is also the CEO of Planting Pencils, an organisation that is empowering children through education. The organisation provides school supplies to schools in developing countries and to schools in low-income areas in the US. Planting Pencils also aims to create awareness about the appalling state of education in the world today, an initiative that has taken Ishaan to educational institutes across the US, including Syracuse University.

“The idea came to me last summer,” Ishaan says, “when I attended a week-long leadership conference at Stanford University. I came in contact with students from around the world. We were also challenged to come up with an idea that either helped the earth environmentally or helped future generations. At the end of the week, I realised that I had the ability to act on my ideas now and I did not have to wait to be an adult.”

Later that summer, Ishaan also went on to join a week-long financial camp. “By the end of the week, I had learned how to take a business idea and turn it into a profitable company, and expand and grow it. The two experiences really complemented each other,” he says. His learning at the two camps drove Ishaan to start an organisation that would make the world a better place: “I’ve always wanted to do something to help those who are less fortunate and I had so many ideas swimming in my head. By the end of the summer, I started talking to my mom about them,” says Ishaan. His mother, Dr. Alpa Patel, encouraged him to narrow down his choices through research.

“After I did so, the choice became clear. I found that education was the one way I could do the most good,” Ishaan recalls.

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Ishaan with his parents and students of the Syracuse University where he gave a speech[/caption] His aunt’s own experience in the field of education helped further strengthen his resolve: “My aunt volunteered a few years ago in India and in Costa Rica. She taught basic math and English to impoverished children in rudimentary schools. After her trip, she shared her experiences with me and my family and I collected school supplies to send to the schools,” he says.

“I think that was the first time I realized that all children don’t grow up with the benefits that I have grown up with. I felt that if we made sure every child was educated then the future generation would be self-sufficient. That’s when Planting Pencils was born,” explains Ishaan.

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Ishaan with students of Trinity Academy, one of the 4 schools Planting Pencils helped[/caption] Ishaan then set about bringing his vision to life. “He was very passionate about it,” recalls Dr Alpa Patel. “He is an extremely creative young man. He took all of his research and created a multimedia presentation to express the reasons why this was important. He came up with the name, created the logo, wrote the mission statement, established the short term and long term goals for the organisation and even helped with the creative design for the website.” “My mom helped me fill out the documents of incorporation,” Ishaan says, “She said if I wanted to be the CEO, then I had to do the work. She helped me select a group of board members and had me conduct the first meeting. I’ve learnt a lot.”

His mother agrees: “He has learnt a lot about starting an organisation and the responsibilities that come with it. He has learnt the importance of generating revenue and keeping expenses to a minimum, especially in a non-profit, so that we can maximize effort and contribution. He has become a leader.”

Being a full-time student, Ishaan’s biggest challenge is time: “I am busy with school, other activities and just being a kid. My mom helps a lot.” “We always discuss the steps that need to be taken together, plan out how to best accomplish them and prioritize the responsibilities. I take care of menial daily tasks while he works on strategic planning and spreading awareness,” Dr. Alpa Patel says. Planting Pencils was incorporated on December 2, 2015. On March 2, 2016, the organisation began operations by donating school supplies to Convenant Preparatory School and Trinity Academy – two schools in low-income areas in Connecticut, US.

The following week, Planting Pencils went global with donations to Asante Sana School in Tanzania and Mercy Child Community School in Ghana.

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Students of the Mercy Child Community School in Ghana with school supplies from Planting Pencils[/caption] Says Domini Andoh, Headmaster of the Mercy Child Community School in Ghana: “We started from a very humble background and faced many challenges. We have been struggling to find our feet to meet the educational needs of the students in the school.” Planting Pencils has made an enormous difference in the lives of the students in this school. “Their donations have kept us going,” says Mr Andoh, “They’ve donated teaching aids and school supplies like pencils, coloured pencils, sharpeners, erasers, boxes of crayons, pens, drawing paper, notebooks and story books to read.”

Mr Emmanuel Abaidoo, an English teacher at the school echoed the sentiment: “We are doing better than before and I can see the confidence of the students boosted by the class materials. Every student now has what is being taught in front of him or her, making teaching very concrete, unlike before when we were teaching from abstract and imagination. We are putting every donation to good use and we hope to produce results to merit what we have got from Planting Pencils.”

“We believe that every child in his or her community has the right to basic, free, and quality education. Planting Pencils has helped us focus on that goal,” adds Mr Andoh. It is clear that Planting Pencils has made an indelible impact in less than a year of its existence. But Ishaan is only just getting started: “Eventually, I would like to open a school in areas where there is no access to education for impoverished children. The school will offer free quality education, clean water to drink, clean water to bathe with and healthy meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) so the families do not have to worry about feeding their children. If we feed the children, then the families might be more encouraged to send their children to school.” Learn more about Planting Pencils here.

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Underprivileged at-risk children and child labourers in the Kashmir valley are slowly getting the opportunity to gain an education again. Kashmir is often referred to as heaven on earth but for its own children, unfortunately, the place is far from being a paradise. Poverty and illiteracy over the years have led to an entire generation of impoverished and unemployed youth. This, in turn, has led to children being deprived of sustained education and they are instead employed as child labourers. The labour intensive handicraft industry in the state, which has long served as its backbone, has gained notoriety for employing children as labourers. Besides working in industries, children also work in automobile units, restaurants or as domestic workers, and a huge percentage is employed in home based work like weaving and embroidery. Take the case of 10-year-old Nadia from Janwanipora village in Baramulla district, who comes from a carpet weaving family and is the eldest of six siblings. Given the large family, her parents, who are uneducated themselves, gave more importance to survival than education. When Nadia’s mother started working to supplement the family income she was forced to drop out of school and take care of her siblings and the house. Alongside, she also learnt weaving and started earning Rs 1,000 per month. But things changed for her in April 2015, post which Nadia continued her education and was back in school by December.

“Poverty cannot stop me. I will get my education if it is at home, school or any other place” Nadia says proudly.

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Amidst poverty, many parents are forced to take their children away from school. Many children are found to be working as child labour to aid their family's income[/caption] Similarly, 14-year-old Showkat Ahmed from Sikloo-Khaigam loved studying and going to school with his friends. The son of a hair cutter, he dropped out of school after his father’s death. With a mother and an unwell elder brother to take care of, Showkat was forced to work as a domestic help to support his family. However, within a few months of working, Showkat was back in school after securing admission in Class 7 in Government High School, Waisarmarg. For both Nadia and Showkat , the Children Activity Centres (CACs) in their areas helped them escape child labour and continue with their education. These Centres were introduced in 2010 by child rights organization CRY to help the huge number of out-ofschool children continue with their education and transition back to school. The intention was to create a community based facility for children to impart age specific education and subsequent integration into mainstream schools. Once identified, the children are assessed and referred to levels 1-6, as prescribed under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, and trained accordingly. They also have to clear six internal exams and the final NRBC exam conducted by the education department for integration into formal school The rampant problem of children dropping out of schools midway was identified by Jammu and Kashmir association of Social Workers (JKASW), CRY’s partner in the region, which runs these centres, during their child focused interventions in different communities.

It was found that parents needing additional support did not hesitate to take their children out of schools so they could contribute to the family income.

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Jammu and Kashmir Association of Social Workers started running 3 CACs a few years ago; the number has now grown to 23, touching the lives of 3500 children till date.[/caption] They also came across a huge percentage of first generation school goers - children who would be the first ones in their entire family to receive a formal education and hence in need of help and support. Both the issues called for some level of intervention thus giving way to CACs. The most challenging part however was to convince parents to let their children go back to school. Interaction with and counselling of parents and community members was done on a regular basis. Over time, having understood the importance of education, their reluctance slowly turned to consent. The next step was mapping and identifying out-of-school children and finding qualified teachers at the community level. While it was very difficult to find teachers in all the areas, in most places the community members themselves nominated a few teachers who were then selected after an assessment, and subsequently trained to teach children. The activity centres are designed to aid the learning process by adopting different mediums of intervention like Bridge Course for drop-outs, basic literacy courses for first generation and new learners, and remedial classes for mainstreamed children. Besides being a platform for education, they also provide a multifaceted and multicultural space for children to interact, share and learn together through their many children's groups.

Hasina Bano, a teacher at the Gundprang centre in Bandipora district says, “Despite being poor and uneducated, my parents gave their unconditional support to me and my five sisters and that has helped us in every step of our lives. The children from our villages as well as those who come here need that kind of support and encouragement. They are very bright and eager to learn."

Starting with just 3 centers on an experiment model, there are now 28 CACs running across four districts of Srinagar, Pulwama, Baramullah and Bandipora.

More than 3,500 children have been impacted so far and close to 1,600 children have been mainstreamed into government schools, more than 700 last year alone.

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A space for children to interact, learn and grow[/caption]

“I love learning and spending time with my friends here. Our teachers are very good and friendly. I want to study hard and want to become a painter and photographer," says a beaming 16-year-old Asiya Yakkob who had dropped out of school after Class 6 and was a domestic labourer.

Her friend Sumaira Bilal, who had stopped going to school after her 5th standard exams, wants to be an interior decorator and is looking forward to an exciting career. The biggest challenge, however, were the 2014 floods, which completely disrupted livelihood in the valley and shut down all schools in the region for months. With no signs of life returning to normal any time soon, the children feared missing out on their studies or being forced to work again. It was then decided to distribute books to these children to keep them engaged. Over time, when that seemed insufficient, CRY, along with JKASW, initiated ‘winter tuition centres’ on similar lines, helping close to 1,300 children stay connected with education despite the prevailing situation.

Over the years, not only has the dropout rate come down in these intervention areas but parents are now slowly getting convinced about sending their children to school despite the odds.

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These Centres have now become a model for Non-Residential Bridge Course (NRBC)[/caption]

“Both my daughters studied till Class 2 and then started taking care of the house. We now realize that they need to study and make a good living for themselves. As parents we are happy that they have got a second chance to complete their education," says Mashooq Ahmed, father to 14-year-old Afrooza and 15-year-old Nilofar.

The state government now recognises CACs as a model for Non Residential Bridge Course (NRBC) of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan. Buoyed by the concept’s success, the State Education Department has also invited JKASW to train teachers of NRBC centres across 12 districts. Even now, there are more than 2,000 out-of-school children and an equal number of child labourers in these four districts alone. A lot therefore needs to be done to bring all the children in the Valley within the mainstream education system. Hopefully, this government validation will play a positive role in ensuring that the maximum number of children are able to get the education they rightly deserve.

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Shahrukh is a young boy who bears the burden of supporting his family, while also giving hope for a better future to the children of his community. According to the 2011 Census, there are 13.7 million slum households in India. They constitute more than 17% of the urban households in the country. Life in these slums of teeming mega cities like Delhi represents deprivation at various levels.

Improper housing, lack of sanitation, poor access to health care and education, and lack of livelihood options make children and adolescents living in these areas extremely vulnerable.

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Shahrukh in his community.[/caption] 21-year-old Shahrukh from Tughlaqabad village recounts what it is like to live in an urban slum:

“My father migrated from Bilapur village near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh before I was born. We are Muslims of Darzi (Idrisi) caste. This means we are tailors by birth and profession,” he smiles, adding, “I don’t know any tailoring work though. I don’t wish to become a tailor like my father”.

Shahrukh’s father migrated to Delhi in search of work. “He wasn’t looking for anything apart from his caste-based profession. He thought he could earn more as a tailor working in Delhi than in some unknown village of UP." After staying for some time at his brother-in-law’s house in Tughlaqabad village, Shahrukh’s father and uncle pooled their resources to buy a small piece of land from the Gujjars in Tughlaqabad village. What Shahrukh and his family of seven calls their home is, in fact, a single room that stands among a row of brick buildings overlooking a narrow lane.

“This is Churiya mohalla, home to all Muslim families," explains Shahrukh. There are several such mohallas or communities within Tughlaqabad village. “There is a Bengali colony where a majority of Bengalis and Madrasis live together. Then, there is a Jat colony for Chamars, a scheduled caste community. There is a separate colony for the upper castes called Pandit colony. The Gujjars reside in Jalam mohalla and Bazaar mohalla," Shahrukh explains.

There is unrestricted mobility between these separate clusters – the only marker, perhaps, of urbanisation and increasing interdependence. “I am the only earning member in my family right now. My entire salary goes in supporting the family," says 21-year-old Shahrukh. Two years ago, Shahrukh’s father was the sole earning member of the family. He worked as a tailor and made Rs. 5,000 per month.

“Imagine a seven-member family surviving on Rs. 5,000! We have known what the lack of basic necessities means since our childhood. Although my uncle and aunt share our home they make no contribution to the family income. I was under a lot of pressure to work after I finished high school. This increased after my father started suffering from weakening eyesight. He lost his job soon after,” he explains.

In 2011, Shahrukh enrolled himself as a volunteer in the the Magic Bus programme in Tughlaqabad, which ensures children complete their education and become socially and economically independent when they grow up.

“Initially, I was attracted to the fact that I could play. After my first training as a Community Youth Leader, I began understanding what it was all about," he shares.

As a volunteer, Shahrukh discovered his potential as a mentor to young children.

“When I started conducting sessions in Tughlaqabad, I was surprised at the degree of violence among young children. Even the smallest fights would get them to hurl abuses and indulge in fistfights. I was shocked to see a large group of children taking to substance abuse,” he shares. “Within a year, all this has changed. I saw I could influence children to adapt to a better way of life without violence. During my stint as the volunteer, I enrolled many of them in school."

Shahrukh says that despite the financial crises he was battling at home, being a Magic Bus volunteer actually made him reflect on the larger crises facing his community. He was determined not to suffer the fate of his father so, in 2015, Shahrukh decided to be a Magic Bus staff member. He applied for the position of Youth Mentor and was selected.

“Apart from the fact that it gives me a source of income, my role as a Youth Mentor has actually brought me in touch with the lives of 500 children in my neighbourhood. I know them individually – their problems, their doubts and aspirations. When I see them changing in a positive way, I feel proud. When they call me bhaiya and share their problems, I feel important. This is why I enjoy being a Youth Mentor."

Shahrukh is currently doing his B.Com from Ram Lal Anand college, which is affiliated to Delhi University. All his younger siblings are in school. Although Shahrukh’s entire salary goes in meeting the needs of his family, he plans to save enough to support his dream of becoming a chartered accountant one day.

“I know the tuition classes will be expensive. I hope I can become a Training and Monitoring Officer in Magic Bus soon. I can then save up some money to finance my CA classes," he says.

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A Mumbai school for the underprivileged that takes education to the doorsteps of slum kids, has come up with an interesting initiative to encourage and motivate children to study. This NGO is naming hitherto no-name alleys and narrow streets in the slums after kids who are academic achievers or have made the effort to rise above their circumstances to study.

Signboards are put up on the slum 'streets' with the names of these children, who are thrilled to point them out to visitors and residents of their localities.

Pic Source: adageindia.in

The Local Corporators have joined hands in this effort. The driving force behind the Doorstep School, which initiated this effort, is the duo of Rajani Paranjpe and Bina Sheth Lashkari. They run two chapters of the school - in Mumbai and Pune. It is not easy being a kid in the slums of Mumbai. Parents have to work day and night to put food on the table, leaving the children to run wild - they often fall into the clutches of local goons and slum lords who lead them astray or into a life of crime. The distractions are many and role models few. In this scenario, efforts by the Doorstep School to engage and educate them so they can better their lives and dream of a future are commendable. Innovative initiatives like naming roads after children serve the purpose of rewarding kids for their efforts and creating role models for other children to enrol in school. Felicitating them also serves the purpose of getting them to stick with academics and focus on building careers. The impact of the road-naming exercise has been tremendous. According to ndtv.com, a 27-year-old young man named Rehmuddin Shaikh, a school dropout who grew up to be a state level rugby player and is now doing his B.A., had an alley named after him recently.

"I feel really proud of myself. Because people used to know me but did not know me by my name. But after my name came up on this board...they say, 'Where should we go today? Let's go sit at Rehmuddin Shaikh Road'".

Rehmuddin has become a role model for the young children growing up in these narrow crisscrossing bylanes of the slums.

Pic Source: ndtv.com

Another shining example is Devi Chauhan, a young art teacher who studied only till Class 4, refusing to get married at the age of 15.

"Things are different in our society now. I have only studied till Class 4 but want to study further now. I have to become a well known artist in the future," she smiles and says.

Pic: ndtv.com

This road naming activity has so far been carried out in three slum localities of Mumbai – the Balasaheb Ambedkar Nagar Chawl at Cuffe Parade, Hiranandani Akruti Chawl in Govandi and Maharashtra Nagar Rickshaw Stand Chawl in Mankhurd.

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Dramebaaz, started by Soumya and Prasanth, aims to use theatre to empower 1000 students with the essential life skills required to become confident and be creative agents of social change. His students are playing boisterously, but neatly arrange themselves on their wooden benches as he walks into the classroom. They greet their teacher with smiles and announce that they’ve written a short play, which they will be presenting to him. They’ve decided to examine the impact of economic inequality through a brief, modern-day take on The Prince and the Pauper. The left side of the room is essaying the role of the privileged elite and the right side plays a part much closer to home—underprivileged and overlooked masses.

The play ends, the children bow and the room fills with the sound of applause. Exit: actors. Enter: students. Class begins.

A dream? Not quite. It was, in fact, Prasanth Nori’s third and fourth standard classroom at M.A. Ideal School in Kishanbagh, Hyderabad.

“When I first met my class, I discovered my students were considered pre-emerging, meaning they were unable to recognize or read the alphabet,” he says.

His students were often violent, using unproductive and destructive ways to express their feelings. As a Teach For India Fellow, Prasanth was encouraged to bring his diverse skill sets to the job. He leveraged his background as a college thespian to build interest in the subject, speed up learning and encourage reflection about the students’ world.

“I started to use plays as a way to get them to fall in love with English,” he recalls.

That’s when he reached out to friend and co-Fellow Soumya Kavi, and it wasn’t long before Dramebaaz was born. Soumya was teaching third and fourth standards at Government Primary School in Kulsumpura at the time. The two Fellows had seen similar issues of diffidence and lack of enthusiasm in their classrooms, and both brought drama into the classroom to encourage dialogue.

Soumya says, “We asked the children to discuss issues and write their own plays so that they become solution-oriented when they grow up. Many of us think children don’t understand their surroundings, but they are remarkably astute.”

In December 2015, the group pulled off their inaugural show featuring 15 ten-minute original plays - written and performed by 150 third to fifth standard students from 15 schools in Hyderabad.

Most of the plays explore surprisingly hard-hitting, complex topics like the hypocrisy of society and intolerance. One of the plays, Pathar, tackles the tenuous relationships between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs in Kishanbagh – where memories of the Sikh-Muslim riots remain fresh. It follows three groups—each from a different faith—as they discover a rock. They each propose a plan to turn it into the foundations of their respective houses of worship—a temple, dargah or gurudwara. Upon discovering each other’s’ plans, they clash violently. Finally, the stone itself rises up to remind everyone that it’s merely an inanimate object that’s not designed to divide. The kids re-enacted their reality but re-wrote the ending. It was initially difficult to get the students into character because they had never been asked to play a role. However, there was one character they played with precision—the drunk patriarch.

“They knew exactly how he would stagger through the house, how he would throw things and abuse people—verbally and physically—along the way. We were stunned!” Soumya reflects back.

“When we began, there was a lot of scepticism and criticism from headmasters and other school teachers who felt this was a waste of time for a class of academically-challenged students,” she remembers. But once the parents saw their children come out of their shells and headmasters saw the students work together better, they were convinced.

Soumya mentions that getting positive feedback from such stakeholders is the greatest reward.

Both Soumya and Prasanth also leveraged their connection to the local theatre community and brought mentors like national award winning actor Mr. Rathna Shekhar Reddy into the fold, who has committed to reprise his role as coach going forward. On April 13th, 2016, the Dramebaaz team organized Spotlight at LaMakaan. The show featured six plays, one of which was coordinated by a school outside of the Teach For India network.

“I didn’t see this coming but the teachers grew more confident. They were so used to blackboard teaching. When we helped them discover drama as a tool, they began working closely with their students and became so engaged!” says Soumya.

Dramebaaz’s vision is to “use theatre to empower 1000 students with the essential life skills required to become confident and creative agents of social change.”

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This year, the group also attended InspirED--a pre-incubator conference organized by Teach For India in association with CSF & Villgro. “The conference really helped us develop a plan, vision and strategy for Dramebaaz, and connect with Umeed and Just for Kicks (other organizations founded by Teach For India Alumni),” says Soumya. They’ve also filed to be registered as a non-governmental organization so they can impact children outside of Teach For India schools as well. For the next five to ten years, they will be expanding into new schools and markets—they’ve already set up teams in Mumbai and Bangalore comprising Teach For India Programme Managers and Fellows. Prasanth is currently set to join Meghshala as an Implementation and Partner Manager, and Soumya recently moved to Mumbai to join a CSR consulting firm. But this isn’t a curtain call, the pair are leading the Dramebaaz movement and hope to devote themselves to the organization full-time, within two years. For now, they’re dreaming of new ways to bring more kids on stage and to teach them how to say it with drama. Written By Sneha Kalaivanan - Associate, Communications - Teach For India To learn more about Teach For India, please visit www.teachforindia.org.

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October 8, 2015 was a day of immense happiness and satisfaction for the residents of Badamba tehsil of Odisha – the day when people from different backgrounds and fields of work experienced the pure joy of giving at the Badamba Seva Mahotsav.

It was the result of a group of villagers coming together to celebrate DaanUtsav – India’s festival of giving.

DaanUtsav is celebrated for a week starting from Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, till October 8 every year. In 2015, the festival volunteers in Odisha decided to take it to the rural parts of the state. They began campaigning for the same in August and worked hard for two months – spreading awareness about the joy of giving in different villages to bring the donors and receivers at one place.

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At the end of these two months they organized one full day of celebrations in the form of a Seva Mahotsav (festival of giving).

Initially, the volunteers conducted meetings in temples, mosques, churches, schools, colleges, etc. They also put up hoardings and distributed pamphlets across the district. A group of about 130 youngsters rode to 20 villages on their motorbikes, singing slogans in their local language that basically translated to – “let us come together to spread happiness.” It was important to help people understand the real meaning of daan, because many thought it to was only about donation of money. But this day was about a lot more – it was about spreading happiness with the donation of things ranging from clothes, blankets and shoes, to blood, organs, and health advice.

Eye specialists, paediatricians, dentists and many others from the medical field agreed to join in. Nearly 3,800 villagers participated on the final day.

The donations included blankets with torch light for the elderly, mosquito nets for ashram children, cakes, food, notebooks, pens, pencils, etc. One villager told the volunteers that he does not have any children, so he would like to arrange food for all the people who had gathered that day – like he would have done in the wedding of his children. A tea seller who had set his stall near the venue was so inspired by the cause that he offered to distribute free tea to everyone. Inspired by him, a paan seller offered to distribute free pens among children.

The spirit of giving started spreading from one person to another.

The volunteers had recognized old and underprivileged people from the villages and invited them to the come for the festival. Some people with vehicles in the district offered to bring them to the venue and drop them back. Even auto drivers were willing to offer free rides to help. A private organization donated shoes to everyone. Apollo hospital set up a health camp for free check-ups and AIIMS Bhubaneshwar had a stall where people could register for organ donation. Children from a nearby orphanage were also a part of the festival.

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In the end, there was a donation box set up for the receivers to enjoy the giving process, and they could donate whatever they wanted to.

The donation box alone resulted in a collection of Rs. 9,000 that was given to people responsible for setting up the tent, stalls, etc. Cheers for the donors, the receivers and the unadulterated spirit of giving celebrated by people in the region.

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Many kids living in Mumbai's slums have to drop out of school because their parents cannot afford their fees or want them to work instead. Three Gandhi Fellows understood the gravity of this situation and decided to do something about it. Neha is an 11-year-old girl who lives in the Damu Nagar slums of Kandivali. She has lost both her parents. Her grandmother is the sole earner and makes only Rs. 2,000 per month. With this income, she cannot buy the Rs. 160 monthly bus pass that Neha needs to go to school. So Neha, who loves to go to school and play with her friends, has to now sit at home instead. Suhasini Mhaske's case is no different. Her father drinks heavily and squanders money on alcohol. Her mother used to work but often had to skip meals just to provide her daughter with the bus pass. But now that she is unwell and cannot work, Suhasini too is unable to go to school. Three Gandhi Fellows, Harsha Ramchandani, Aditi Chatterjee, and Shrestha Ganguly realised this was the case for many students living in the slums. There were many such kids who were missing out on education because their parents could not pay for their education.

As per India’s Census of 2011 for Mumbai and Thane regions, approximately 1.01 million children in the age group 5-17 are out of school. This is because 0.4 million children have dropped out of school and 0.6 million have never been to school at all.

“As part of our fellowship, we have to spend one month living in the slums with the family of any of the children we teach, and one month working the same labour that the parents and guardians of these kids do. While living there, we came to know, through a co-fellow, about such families where kids were unable to attend their schools,” says Harsha.

They identified eight such kids in the Kandivali slums and a couple of kids in Versova. The effort to take care of round-the-year education of these kids gave rise to Urjayati. 'Urjayati' is a Sanskrit verb, which means to nurture and enlighten. The first step these young women took to raise funds for the kids was to organise raddi sales.

As Harsha says, “It is much easier to ask people for their raddi than their money.”

Image Source: urjayati.org

This initially helped them collect Rs. 5,000 to kickstart the process of sending the kids back to school. But they needed more funds, especially as they found out about a pair of kids from Versova who were the sole earning members of their family. Poonam and Anand Shinde’s mother had to stop work after she became pregnant. Consequently, the kids had to drop out of school and work odd jobs to support their mother and the baby.

“The situation was so bad that once when we visited, we found the one-year-old eating only sugar for lunch. The kids wanted to go to school but would only be able to do so if we could compensate for the loss of income they would have to bear.”

A successful online fundraiser on Milaap helped gather sufficient funds to take care of round-the-year education expenses for these ten kids. The next challenge was to keep track of their performance and make sure they did not skip school. To tackle these challenge, Urjayati created a model of mentorship, whereby they assigned a mentor to each kid or a couple of kids. The mentors not only guided the kids and helped them with their studies but also kept track of their performance and the problems in their households.

Nilanjana, the mentor to two sisters, Pooja and Ashwini, says, “If I work with these kids and turn them into better human beings and help them find the path towards their goal, wouldn't it help make the world and the society I live in a better place?”

She is all praise for the girls and believes they are more mature than their age.

“Pooja wants to become a cop and Ashwini wants to follow her big sister’s footsteps. They really want to make the most of their education. They’re not just going to school for the sake of it,” says Nilanjana.

The significance of the role such mentors could play became all the more apparent when the Kandivali fire broke out. Many slum homes were burnt, causing huge damage to people and property. At that time, the mentors helped collect food and clothes for the families of their kids and delivered them personally. They also provided mental support to help them recuperate from the shock and loss they experienced. Seeing the success of their venture, team Urjayati have decided to take on more kids, this time from a slum in Delhi. Do you also want to cover inspiring stories of change and make some substantial difference in the social sphere? Then click here to join the Milaap Fellowship Program.

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About the author: Ibrahim is a Milaap Open Fellow in Mumbai. He assesses the impact of Milaap’s crowdfunded campaigns and brings inspiring stories of champions to donors.

In a small town in West Bengal, Ananya Ghosh is defying tradition and the pressures of society and poverty to become a role model for girls. While congratulatory messages pour in from all corners of the village of Dhenua (Monteswar Block, Bardhaman, West Bengal) for Ananya Ghosh’s exemplary performance in her Secondary Examinations, the sixteen-year-old doesn’t sound too ecstatic about the results herself. Ananya, who scored a whopping 82%, says “I had scored above 80% in English for my selections before the Board Examinations. In the finals, I only managed a meagre 73%. My marks could have been much better.” You hear a tinge of disappointment in her voice and can’t help but wonder how one can remain so unaffected about creating history at such a young age.

Yes, Ananya is not just another bright student. She is the first girl in the village of Dhenua to have secured such high marks in Madhyamik Pariksha (Secondary Examination of West Bengal Board).

[caption id="attachment_56489" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Antara and Ananya with family1

Ananya with her family[/caption] For her neighbours who had only read about toppers in newspapers and seen them on television, it is hard to believe that their next-door-neighbour is now one of the same inspiring club. Ananya’s story is more remarkable in light of the dismal state of girls education in West Bengal. Recent data by the U-DISE (Unified District Information System for Education) for 2014-2015 reveals that there has been a steep decline in the Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) for girls in the state. The NER is an indicator of students who have enrolled in classes according to their age. At present, a mere 50.6% of girls are enrolled at the secondary level, meaning that only half of the girls in the state are enrolled age-appropriately. The numbers gets worse the higher we go, dropping to a worrying 32.7% at the Higher Secondary Level. This implies that less than a third of the girls in the state are enrolled at standard XI & Standard XII. The last few years have seen a significant improvement in enrollment at primary and upper-primary classes. The net enrollment ratio for girls stands at 91.3% for primary and 82.6% for upper-primary. However, the enrollment figures for the next two levels continue to be abysmal. According to experts, one big reason behind this disturbing trend in net enrollment is the age-limit mentioned in the RTE Act of 2009. Explains Komal Ganotra, Director of Policy Research & Advocacy at CRY (Child Rights and You):

“The Act covers children between the ages of 6 to 14 years. This enables free and compulsory education at the primary and upper primary levels. However, in the absence of any legislation for children above the age of 14, the scenario at the secondary and higher secondary level remains dismal. At the national level, the average annual dropout rate for girls rises from 4.14% at primary level to 17.8% at secondary level. In West Bengal, the situation is almost the same, as the average annual dropout rate for girls rises from 2.37% at primary level to 19.8% at secondary level.”

When viewed against this bleak backdrop, Ananya’s achievements are truly noteworthy. Born to Pronab Kumar Ghosh and Manashi Ghosh, Ananya is the second of three daughters. Hers is a typical rural family whose mainstay is agriculture. Her life could just as easily have been like those of the many girls around her; girls who have been forced to give up their education because of poverty, girls who have been forced into child marriage, girls who were pushed into earning a living and girls who had to drop out of school because they were, well, girls. But thanks to the combined efforts of her family, Ananya and her sisters have been given free reign to pursue their dreams.

“I wake up at 5 in the morning every day to go to Krishnadi, one of my teachers from school, who coaches me in English and Bengali. By the time I come back home, my mother is busy with daily household chores and looking after the one cow we have. But my father has already prepared a meal of rice and boiled potatoes for the three of us sisters to eat. We have our food and leave for school. My elder sister has appeared for her Higher Secondary examinations this year, and my younger sister is studying in 8th standard at Ghurkunda BM Institution, the same school I went to. I cycle to school and back. Shyamal Uncle (Shyamal Ghosh, a friend of her father) teaches me the subjects from the Science group every evening after school," says Ananya.

"I am back home by 9 PM and study till midnight to prepare for my exams. I want to become a nurse because my village is in dire need of a good one,” she says.

[caption id="attachment_56495" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] off to school

Ananya, who hopes to become a nurse one day, with her parents[/caption] She has scored an 86 in Maths, 91 in Physical Sciences and 95 in Life Sciences but has opted to study Humanities at the Higher Secondary level. “Monteswar Sagarbala High School, where I’ve taken admission for my Higher Secondary education, doesn’t have good teachers for the science subjects. I will have to study in a residential school if I choose to study science, and see, my father cannot afford it. Also, I have realised that a Nursing Degree doesn’t require me to study science in my Higher Secondary. I am quite strong in Life Sciences and will prepare myself alongside my regular studies. I know I will achieve my dreams,” says the confident young girl. While the village was still in the midst of celebrating Ananya’s success, her elder sister gave them all yet another reason to celebrate by scoring an impressive 75% in her Higher Secondary Exams. A perfect double whammy for the family indeed! Looking at the sisters, you cannot help but wonder where they get their resilience from. Their parents, who have stood by them through thick and thin, have surely had a role to play in this. It was no easy task for her father, a small farmer, to stand tall against the pressures of society and poverty, yet he did so, giving the girls an opportunity to write their own destiny. The sisters, for their part, have never been bogged down by their problems, viewing their poverty as a motivator, and not a hurdle. Ananya’s parents have categorically refused every marriage proposal that has come their way:

“We did get proposals but we’ve decided not to get them married until they are through with their education. For us, it’s their education that’s important, not their marriages,” says the visibly happy and proud father.

[caption id="attachment_56490" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Antara and Ananya with family

The Ghosh family[/caption] Ananya has always been a vocal advocate of child rights, speaking against child marriage and child labour. She even counsels her peers who face similar problems.

“It is the sessions with the Children’s Resource Group that has helped build my confidence and made me believe more in myself. It has not only built my knowledge about child rights issues, but also exposed me to a world much much bigger than my little village,” says an animated Ananya, referring to the group created by Vikramshila Education Resource Society and CRY.

[caption id="attachment_56494" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]

Ananya with her friends[/caption] Attitudes towards educating the girl child are slowly changing in India. Even in the remotest of villages, many parents want to send their daughters to school. As a country, we need to reciprocate this desire to educate their children by drastically increasing our resources and making access to secondary and higher level education affordable and easy. Progressive state-schemes and the government’s recent decision to increase the number of government schools are much-needed steps to ensure that every village and every home has an Ananya Ghosh of their own. To follow similar stories of hope and change and how you can be a part, visit: www.cry.org