Into the sunset

by anouradha bakshi | Jan 2, 2025 | Anou's Blog

2024 was the year I finally took my first step into the sunset.

There has been an elephant in the room for a long time now. True we attempted to address it several times, but they were always half-hearted attempts as there was always more pressing short-term issues that needed to be taken care of, so the elephant was pushed into a corner where it sat quietly. At the beginning of 2024 it was once again the issue of funds for our Khader and Yamuna centres. Mercifully the Trivedi Foundation agreed to support us once again but with the rider that this would be the last year of support, hence the funding issue remained alive. We had just been handed a breather. We were on life support. We needed to find sustainable funding for these two centres too. Just as we had for Okhla where the Adish and Asha Jain Foundation has committed long term support.

Before I go any further. I need to tell you what the elephant in the room was. Simply: what would happen to Project after me!

 We had attempted to answer this many times and the result was the always the same: the team would carry on the work on the ground without problem but getting funds was an issue. But as we had secured funding for this year, the elephant was again pushed into a corner. We simply got busy with the work at hand. 2024 was once again a vibrant and fulfilling year. So let me walk you through the year and share the salient happenings

On the academic side it was again a year filled with learning and fun. As always our teachers were innovative and thought out of the box to bring new and fun ways to teaching. However the objective remained to see each and every child perform well and regular assessments kept track of every child’s progress and remedial measures were taken when needed.

All students passed their examinations including Board exams. Many are now pursuing university education.

Debates and quizzes were organised every month to help the children deepen their knowledge. Outings to local parks helped the children learn about nature and were excellent prompts for creative activities.

It was not all studies! Children went out on outings to different parts of the city and enjoyed their day out. Summer camps were organised in every centre ensuring that children enjoy their holidays.

On Children’s day Azure Hospitality invited 60 students for lunch at their Dhaba restaurant. It was a unique experience that the children will remember forever. Azure Hospitality continues to provide a fresh hot lunch to over 100 students at the Yamuna centre. Our heartfelt gratitude to Kabir Suri.

All festivals and commemorative days were celebrated in each centre with children putting up performances and participating in drawing and essay writing competition.

2024 also saw a host of new happenings.

To address the issues of qualitative education at the senior secondary level and the cost of specialised teachers, Project Why decided to go online! With the help of the Asha and Adish Foundation we were able to set up a state of the art recording studio. This will allow us to record lessons for classes 9 to 12 in maths, science and social studies. These will be available on our you tube learning channel not only to project why children but also any child who wishes to access them.

2024 saw us redevelop our website and increase our social media activity on all social media handles. We also launched a you tube channel where over 30 impact stories have been uploaded. Four such stories will be uploaded every month. We hope that all these new activities will help us increase our reach and help engage new donors.

A French filmmaker documented the story of our teacher Madhuri. Madhuri is our alumni who joined when she was in class 3 and who is now doing her PHD. The film will be shown at an upcoming film festival in France.

The Japanese volunteer group visited our centres and engaged in a host of activities with the children. We were honoured to have the visit of Mrs Abe, wife of  Late Mr Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan.

This year also saw the upgradation of our skill development programmes. Our beauty and stitching programmes at Giri Nagar are now sponsored by the Peter Wulff family and the stitching unit at Khader is supported by the Rotary Club Premier. We received huge quantity of fabric from Mohan Lal and sons and Rotary Club Premier. These were upcycled into carry bags, crayon rolls, cushion covers, floor mats etc. A big Thank You to them

Generous funders enabled us to revive our Khader computer centre with 6 brand new computers.

Three girls completed their dental auxiliary course and are now gainfully employed at dental clinics. Two girls are pursuing wellness therapist courses at the Ananda Foundation in Rishikesh.

This year we welcomed many volunteers from France. They spent several weeks engaging with children thereby adding tremendous value to our educational programme.  We also hosted Kiko the clown who spent six weeks bringing smiles and joy to one and all.

As you see, it was an exciting year!

This year we had many visitors. Xavier Ray President Enfances Indiennes and Hans Emde President Pwhy Germany visited the Project and spent quality time with the children. Mr Trivedi and family visited the Yamuna centre on Republic Day. Adish and Asha Jain of the Adish and Asha Jain Foundation visited the Okhla Centre engaged with the children and shared lunch with the teachers. Mrs Prerna Mayank celebrated her birthday with the Yamuna children and distributed woolen clothes to children and staff.

But none of this would have been possible without the continuous support of our donors and well wishers. Asha for Education Seattle continue their support. We held a virtual tour of the centres for them in spite of the time difference and they interacted with students and teachers. Enfances Indiennes, Project Why Germany and Project Why UK continued their unstinted support. The Trivedi Foundation renewed their commitment to Khader and Yamuna for one more year. The Adish and Asha Jain Foundation decided to extend their support beyond Okhla. They set up our digital studio and sponsored our you tube channel videos. Max India Foundation supported our Giri Nagar centre. The Rotary Club Premier and the Rotary Club Delhi One also support various activities. We are grateful to Kiran Frey for her support of our skill development activities. To each and everyone our heartfelt gratitude. You are the soul of Project Why!

A big thank you to my Board members who have always stood by me in thick and thin. Could not have done it without you. We welcomed Mr Mayank Mohan as our newest Board member and look forward to his support.

I began this post with mentioning the elephant in the room. 2024 is the year that we finally addressed it. This was possible as Mr Adish Jain decided to be more than a donor. He compelled me to address the issue of Project Why after me and has promised to hand hold us through the transition. It will be slow and difficult but needs to be done. New roles have been assigned to the team and they are slowly moving into them. My role is to accept to take my first step into the sunset. It is indeed bittersweet.

My gratitude to the children, the team, the donors, my Board. It is all because of you.

May 2025 be filled with miracles.

Anou

Children’s day

by anouradha bakshi | Nov 14, 2024 | Anou's Blog

It is children’s day today but actually every day is children’s day at Project Why! In all centres children are busy celebrating with games and competitions. 10 children from every centre have been invited to lunch by Azure hospitality at their famous Dhaba restaurant and you can imagine how excited the chosen few are.

As always, the onset of winter has got the pollution levels rise to unimaginable levels and Delhi is a real gas chamber. You can barely breathe. The privileged can shut themselves in their homes with air purifiers running 24/7. But the poor have no such luxury. They just continue surviving as they always do with a smile. My heart goes out to them.

With all my health issues, I have not option but to remain indoors.

This forced incarceration has a silver lining I guess as I decided to write a blog after many moons. My once prolific creative juices ran dry for years and in spite of many attempts I have not been able to resume my ‘one blog a day’ routine of yore years, But somehow I have the feeling that time has come to at  least try and bring back the lost practice.

So much as happened since the terrible day in 2020 when I got diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a death sentence of sort as this cancer it is said is not curable. But here I am 4 years later ready to take on what life still has in store for me.

One of the let us say ‘elephant in the room’ is undoubtedly what happens to Project Why after me. A succession plan has to be put in place and that is what we have been busy with lately. Project Why 3.0, the one without Anou, is being conceived, albeit gently.

The true successors of Project Why can only be those who have been associated with it since its inception. New roles are being defined and a transition plan set in place. It is felt by one and all that I should still be the one to see the transition through. I am honoured and humbled by this decision and will find the strength to abide by it in spite of my advanced age.

The levels of anxiety and even fear are high but they are accompanied by dollops of excitement and enthusiasm. The next weeks and even months are not going to be easy as getting out of comfort zones is a challenge. The new leaders will have to work hard to be accepted by the team but they are willing to accept the challenge. I am confident that they will be able to succeed  though there will be hiccups along the way.

So challenging and exhilarating days await us at Project Why but this all behind the scenes. On stage Project Why will continue its mission of creating spaces for children to be children!

Happy Children’s Day!