Project Why’s beauty salon
In January of this year, we opened a beauty skills centre for the women of the community. This is to teach the ladies new skills and make them more independent. In this centre, we have employed the mother of one of our ex students. In the first 6 months, the ladies...
You reap what you sow
India’s ancient system of education and the New Education Policy talks about Panchkosha, the five dimensions of a child’s development. Education which fosters holistic development and goes beyond academics is what builds WHOLE child. At project WHY we create a...
Once you learn to read you will be forever free
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” wrote Frederick Douglass. At Project Why we strive to instill the love of reading in all our students. That is why we have a library period where children can go look at books, feel them, browse hem and be motivated...
What’s new
Happy New Year
The children, staff and management of Project Why wish you a very happy 2022!
What’s new
In lockdown time
In lock down times project Why does not stop work. Our team of dedicated teachers take online classes for all their students. Our goal is to ensure that no child drops out of school in Covid times. we hope we can meet our goal
What’s new
Happy New Year
The children of Project Why wish you a happy and peaceful New Year.
What’s new
Project Why on line
For the past six months now Project Why has been teaching online! Our stellar teachers did not take long to adapt to the new normal and came up with innovative ways to make sure that the children study in the best way possible. With the help of smart phones, whatsApp...
Anou’s blog
Chapeau Bas!
Meet Project Why and Azure hospitality's Covid 19 warriors: Vijay, Seema, Sanjeet, Dharmendra (Project Why) and Manoj Kumar (Azure Hospitality) For the past 2 weeks now they have been distributing over a 1000 meals to the agricultural labour families on the banks of...
Life in the times of pollution #WATWB
Usually for We are the World Blogfest, we share a positive story--one that shines light amid the darkness, For the past two months Delhi has been in the throes of severe pollution with the Air Quality Index reaching impossible figures. This sadly happens every year...
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Write Tribe Festival of Words: Project Why takes over Daily (w)rite!
From March 4 to 10th, Project Why will be participating in the Write Tribe Festival of Words by taking over Damyanti Biswas's Daily (w)rite! It is an honour to be part of this Festival and to talk to a new audience about Project Why. I hope all my readers will join me...
Auf Wiedersehen, liebe Luisa und Fabian #GivingTuesday#India
For the past three months, Project Why has been touched by the magic of two young souls: Luisa and Fabian. Luisa was barely sixteen when she first visited Project Why with her mother. She was touched by what she saw and told us that she would come and volunteer after...
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Janmashtami Celebrations
Project WHY centres - Delhi and Dehradun - celebrate the Indian festival of Janmashtami today. Children dress up and play act as lord Krishna.
ANOU’S BLOG
The art of surviving #GivingTuesday#India
One of the greatest lessons I have learnt during the last two decades is that of survival with dignity and a smile. It has been not only a great eye opener but also taught me to review my own life in a whole new perspective. The art of survival with dignity lies in...
ANOU’S BLOG
They died of hunger #GivingTuesday#India
Three little girls aged 2, 4 and 8 died of hunger in India's capital city! Their autopsies revealed that there was no trace of food in their bodies and that they had most probably not eaten anything for at least 8 days. The media is abuzz with the news. The political...
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Back with a Bang
We are back with a bang on social media. Find us on Twitter Facebook Instagram!
ANOU’SBLOG
Numbers Game #GivingTuesday#India
A recent article on the quality of persons correcting CBSE class XII papers sent my blood running cold. One must remember that marks are of the essence and that careers depend on the marks you get. A high score guarantees you a place in Delhi University a place...
I hold every person a traitor #GivingTuesday#India
"While millions suffer from hunger and ignorance, I hold every person a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the slightest attention to them" Swami Vivekananda. This quote was part of a play that Utpal's school put up for the Republic Day...
Complex problem solving #GivingTuesday#India
I have been screaming hoarse for the past 18 years that education needs to be reinvented in India if we aspire to become a leading nation in the future and if we want our youth to find employment. Sadly no political dispensation has made education reforms a part of...
Let the twain meet #GivingTuesday#India
I challenge anyone to tell me who in this picture was to the manor born and who was not. It is quasi impossible. And yet some in the pictures come from one side of the social fence and the some from the other. Let me elucidate: this is a picture of teachers from CSKM...
Above all else, we taught them to fear failure #GivingTuesday#India
I recently stumbled upon an interesting article entitled: When success leads to failure! It was an eye opener in more ways than one. Th article is about a parent and a teacher discussing a well performing child. The words that caught my eyes were: Above all else, we...
An apologia for state run schools #GivingTuesday#India
I have always held that to bring about meaningful change, it is imperative to make state run schools centres of excellence. Only then will every child have the opportunity to change her morrows. Sadly we seem to have taken the other route: privatisation of education....
Children are meant to laugh, not kill #GivingTuesday#India
Two horrific tragedies occurred last week in the capital city. In the first one a 5 year old sexually assaulted his 4 year old class mate in an upmarket school and in the other, 4 school students slit the throat of a young man over an altercation over a phone. The...
Bye Bye House #GivingTuesday#India
So the deed is done! After months of procrastination and doubts the old now crumbling house is ready for a makeover. So bags were packed, boxes filled with memories and moved to a new transit home waiting with bated breath for the day one would move back lock stock...
As Delhi chokes #GivingTuesday#India
Delhi is facing a critical health crisis. The pollution rate is alarming. It is believed to be off the charts. Some call the city a 'gas chamber'. Experts suggest evacuating the city. But is this a viable option for the millions who live here/ The causes are many...
In the land of silence and raised eyebrows #GivingTuesday#India
Came across an interesting article on the need of sex education in India. Sex education is a highly controversial topic as for some it is seen as offensive to Indian values, and concerns that it might lead to risky sexual behaviour and promiscuity. What its detractors...
Startling and shocking numbers #GivingTuesday#India
A recent report from theInternational Food Policy Research Institute states that “India is ranked 100th out of 119 countries". The indicators used are : undernourishment, child mortality, child wasting and child stunting. The statistics of 5000 children under 5, dying...
And the drop outs go on #GivingTuesday#India
This graph appeared in a recent newspaper. It makes for interesting reading as to the situation of school drop outs in India. For us at Project Why, its is of prime importance as our primary mission has been to contain school drop outs something we have done quite...
Kamala – An unsung woman of substance
It is Kamala's centenary today. It will be celebrated in the centre that is named after her and where two of her most cherished ideals are pursued: education and women's empowerment. It will be a low key affair, a far cry from the loud and impressive centenary...
Not your daughter, wife or mother #GivingTuesday#India
In a recent heated debate on women safety, a spirited woman anchor told a politician that she and for that matter all women, were not anyone's daughters or sisters or wives. She wanted to be considered simply as a citizen enjoying the same constitutional rights! A...
It is time we looked at rape in the face #GivingTuesday#India
Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi's launched a 'Bharat Yatra' against child abuse on Monday with the words: "Each time when a child is raped, our conscience, innocence is raped. I am not going to tolerate this. I am going to change this." The sad reality is that a...
Broken Beyond Fixing #GivingTuesday#India
I recently stumbled upon an article entitled: India's education system is broken beyond fixing; we need to reimagine it entirely. It caught my attention as this is something close to my heart. The author refers to education as being a 'terror outfit!'. It kills an...
The school bizMess #GivingTuesday #India
I send my child to school because I believe my child will be safe. This is undoubtedly what most parents feel when the wave goodbye to their child at the gate of the school or the school bus stand. But all changed on the fateful day when a little seven year old was...
Auf Wiedersen Liebe Carla #Giving #Tuesday India
This post should have gone up a long time ago! All in perfection as it is said. Our website crashed and for almost a month we were 'under construction'! But we are back now. A few weeks ago we bid farewell to our dearest Carla: friend, mentor, fund raiser...
Naresh Sir, with Love
Project WHY opened its first spoken English class for secondary students in 2001 in Giri Nagar. It was the same time that Naresh had just completed his Bachelor’s degree in Arts and was looking for a job. He was a whizz mathematician and loved to teach, and to fulfill...
Hungry for Education #GivingTuesday#India
(Posting a series of success stories from the compilation The Project Why Stories 2000-2016) Priya is a 5-year-old girl who lives on the Yamuna Floodplain. Her parents, like the majority of those living on the plain, have no skills other than...
Your child will follow your example, not your advice. #GivingTuesday
Live so that when your child thinks of fairness, caring, integrity she thinks of you. These words sum Ram and Kamala's life. Today a more than a quater of a century after I lost them, and in the seventh decade of my life, I know I could not have been who I am if not...
If not for you Kamala
The Trust does not bear her name. Once again it was the flamboyant husband who won the match! But the real inspiration and the quiet and gentle motivating force as always in my life was Kamala Goburdhun née Sinha. Her lessons were not exuberant like those of her...
Finding a purpose #GivingTuesday#India
(Posting a series of success stories from the compilation The Project Why Stories 2000-2016) Project WHY’s journey starts with the story of Manu, a boy with special needs who the founder of Project WHY, Anouradha Bakshi, came across one fateful summer day in 2000....