Jogeshwari
Community – Our Recalls
Creating a balance and breaking the
ice
We started with a motive of getting to know
the community well by interacting with the kids. To make it attractive for them
we preferred the mode of games. We also tried to get into showing them
alphabets and numbers but we realised getting someone introduced to these
basics required sustained efforts and most of the kids used to mix up the
alphabets and numbers.
The group therefore started to tell them
about shapes and even more basic “holding the pencil”.
The response was good for this activity and
kids loved to colour and draw shapes.
The level of knowledge & way of
communication
Moving ahead we felt that we had a good mix
of kids of various age groups and we were telling them the same things. As a
result some found it too naïve or for some it was above their level.
The group then decided to split the kids
into groups and the volunteers also started interacting with the groups and
spoke to them as per their level.
We employed games, origami, storytelling,
dance and acting as our mode of communication.
A good innovation was BINGO number game a
customised version of housie to get used to numbers
Motivation for enrolment in schools
After spending some time in the community
we now had our next target getting the kids go to school. However it was not
possible without the engagement of the parents in our program.
We planned a pseudo enrolment drive and
invited the parents. There we explained the importance of education and noted
down the names of kids who wished to attend the school.
The kids were divided into groups and a
volunteer was assigned to each group to mentor them.
Are our plans working?
After the school session started we came to
know that the attendance is poor in school. It was a setback as we had worked
hard and got everyone aboard.
Our group therefore proposed the following
strategy:
1. Getting the attendance collected from school every 15 days and
emailed to all. So that each mentor can actually figure the exact situation.
2. Allotment of an intern to keep moving the initiative on weekdays.
We did our best before the festive season
to get the kids to school. Our group members even visited the community in the
mornings and evenings to take them to school personally or to discuss the
issues.
We even visited the schools and discussed
the problems with headmaster to figure out a solution.
The attendance improved but still was not
impressive.
What to do we feel stuck?
After a break of two months when we resumed
our activities we felt stuck. We felt we are doing the same activities that we
were doing few months back.
We really had to decide what to do we want?
Are we teachers or just mentors?
The group decided to give it a fresh start
and we started with teaching them basics. Like alphabets and numbers. We used
blackboard, chalk to make the session more interactive.
The result looks to be better this time.
Getting closer
We decided to celebrate Diwali with the
community this year. All of us who could make it went to the community, lit diyas,
made rangolis and spread love.
We wanted to make them feel special and we
hope we have succeeded. We have made some changes by being more closer to children and they hear our basic instructions on health and hygiene, taking bath etc. they show the excitement of us being there and doing various activities.
The Road Ahead
We wish to inspire and motivate them to
realise the importance of education and try to get most of them to school.
The Thorns:
1. Kids have a habit of begging.
2. No one to take care of a small kid at home so the elder one misses
school.
3. Kids work and support their family so making them attend school
increases burden on the other earning members.
4. Lack on constant motivation for education.
5. Volunteer availability.
Thorns which we can pluck:
1. We came across a kid who was brilliant and needed tution for
English. We managed it in the end somehow but we can have something better for
them or else whats the use of motivation.
2. We should filter our bright kids and run some scholarships or lets
say a scheme where if a kid attends 75% in a year the parents get some money.
This will reduce their financial burden will more willing to make the kids to
go to school.
3. We should have a permanent member to take care of the activities we
do and we act as enablers.
4. The permanent member should collect various datas and inform our
group weekly. We never know the exact situation and our impact. We make
guesses.
5. We should let them if there is some scheme under which small kids
can be taken care of like a day crèche which allows the other one to go to
school.
Special Applause:
Rashmi’s friend Katyayani has really helped
us in a great way by taking up the tuition responsibilities of the kid in need
of it. Her efforts will surely help him ahead.
We the team:
Kaustubh, Malvika, Siddhartha, Abhishek,
Ananya, Rashmi, Hitakshi, Sudeepta, Kavita Ghosh, Kavita More, Priyanshi, Avanish and the new
volunteers.
