by anouradha bakshi | May 31, 2019 | Anou's Blog
“I fell in love with Project Why and India and I want to help as much as I can even from 7000 km away. Project Why is like a family for me and I want to share how wonderful Project Why is with people here in Europe” Claire De Felice Volunteer from Luxembourg.
For We are the World Blogfest I want to share a simple love story. The story of a young woman of substance who came to Project Why and fell in love with India and Project Why, as we fell in love with her.
The genesis of this unique love story goes back half a century to a friendship cemented in college, a friendship that withstood the test of time! Prajna my old friend wrote to me last year about the daughter of dear friends of hers, Claire, wanting to come to India and spend some time in an NGO. Prajna suggested Project Why.
Claire wrote to me saying she was interested in women’s empowerment, and wanted to visit Project Why. I must admit I was a little worried as our primary work is with children but told her she was welcome as we did have a women’s empowerment programme.
I first met Claire a few days after her arrival and was immediately taken in by her quiet yet incredibly warm persona. We talked for a long time and as I shared the Project Why journey with her I realised that we had done quite a lot for women be it the women who we had employed and skilled to take on many roles, or the girls that were getting an education thanks to our work. Project Why was undoubtedly a very women-oriented organisation. We decided that this could be the direction of her work with us: document the role of the women of project Why! At that moment none of us knew what was awaiting us.
It was the time we had launched an online fundraiser that needed a lot of social media support and we at project why were quite social media challenged. Our mentor was Damyanti who guided us over numerous phone calls and Whatsapp messages and we did our best. Claire gently suggested that she could help us as she was not only a mean lenswoman but also quite savvy on social media. I connected her to Damyanti and both of them took over. The rest is history as the fundraiser was a great success.
What endeared Claire to me as I slowly got to know her was her willingness to help wherever she was needed and her ability to get along with each and every one, be it a student or a teacher. She was all heart and could establish a link with anyone in a jiffy. Everyone just loved her. And being all heart she instinctively knew that we needed help and decided that she would do all she could to help us.
Many of her friends generously donated to our fundraiser and knowing our difficulties with social media she decided to take over our Instagram and still does it today from 7000 km away. Upon her return, Claire wrote an article on how Project Why empowers women.
A few weeks ago she told me she was planning a fundraiser and on May 21st organised one in Brussels where she invited some eminent personalities from the European Parliament!
Claire’s relationship with Project Why did not end with the seven weeks she spent with us. It has gone beyond as the bonds established transcend space and time. She has left an indelible mark in our hearts and we think of her as family! We now look forward to her coming back.
People like Claire restore faith in humanity as they exemplify all that is good. For me personally, they give me the strength to carry on, particularly in times when things look bleak and even scary.
Today we stand on very fragile ground. We need to find long-term support to be able to carry on our work of twenty years. The fear of not being able to keeps me awake at night but then just remembering the smile and quiet confidence of a young woman like Claire gives me hope and the courage to soldier on.
Thank you Claire for being who you are.
This post was the 24th installment of the monthly We Are the World Blogfest: I’d like to invite you to join, if you haven’t as yet, to post the last Friday o
f each month a snippet of positive news that shows our essential, beautiful humanity.
The co-hosts for this month are: Shilpa Garg, Simon Falk, Mary Giese, Dan Antion and Damyanti Biswas.
Here’s a sampler of this blogfest. Click here to know more. Sign up here and add your bit of cheer to the world on the next installment of June 28, 2019!
You can find Project WHY on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Please help us change the future, one life at a time.
by anouradha bakshi | May 28, 2019 | Anou's Blog
The new education policy is soon to be revealed. It has been four years in the making. Though no details are known, the major focus it is said will be on improvement of quality of education, curriculum, bringing in new technology, and changing the pedagogy. This is truly music to one’s ears as the present education system is due for an overhaul. This system was inherited from a colonial past where the need of the day was to have a docile workforce willing to follow rules blindly. There was no room for independent thinking or creativity.
Over the years we have witnessed how the system has deteriorated to become one where learning by rote is lauded. Today you simply need to learn your text book by heart to get a 100% even in subjects like English. There is no room for personal views or creative thinking. And as entry to colleges is based on marks, only those who have the ability to learn by heart can hope to accede to higher education in state run universities. This means that children from humbler homes, who cannot compete with their peers from richer ones and who cannot effort private universities simply fall off the wagon.
What the present system is teaching today is not in sync with the needs of the XXIst century job market. Some of the skills required to succeed in today’s world are critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, initiative, leadership etc. One sincerely hopes that the new education policy will address some of these so that those who graduate will have a fair chance on the emerging job market. School education should be able to inculcate such skills in each and every child. This is a far cry for what they are taught today!
Many countries have changed their school education system and one of most acclaimed is Finland’s. For the Finns, ‘real winners do not compete’ and school is not about competing but about cooperating. School becomes an even playing field where all children find their place in the sun.
I hope and pray that the new education policy will rid the education of system of its colonial past and usher in the changes needed to succeed in this day and age. India children are bright and deserve the best.
Follow us along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and we will follow you back.
.
by anouradha bakshi | May 21, 2019 | Anou's Blog
A very special summer camp is on at the very special section of Project Why. It is the third of its kind! Every year the students of the special needs section of Project Why have a vocational summer camp that culminates in an exhibition cum sale of the products they have created. This is part of our effort to not only teach the students new skills but also teach them how to market and sell their products to all the visitors that come to the exhibition. All proceeds of the sale are used to buy something for the students.
This year is a very special one as thanks to the generosity of our friend Swarup the vocational programme has its now ‘shed’ on the terrace of the centre and two new supervisors: Geetu and Shalini are now gainfully employed and run the centre under the benign care of their teachers.
Geetu and Shalini receiving their first pay cheque
Last month was a great moment for them as they received their first pay check! Shalini delighted us all as she went form class to class showing off her cheque and saying to one and all that she had passed!
Each year the team tries to be more creative and over and above bags and coasters, this year we have table mats, embroidered handkerchiefs, stunning bangles and earrings and much more. What is lovely is that everyone participates in someway or the other and all is done in s spirit of joy and fun. If you drop by the camp, all you see are smiles.
The special needs section of Project Why is by far the happiest place you can find and always brings a huge smile on your face. It is a real feel good shot. Our effort is to make this centre a happy place for the students, one where they are not judged or riled, where they can be themselves, laugh and have fun, one that restores their right to a fulfilling and dignified life.
If you are in Delhi on Saturday June 1st, please come and encourage these wonderful souls.
by anouradha bakshi | May 14, 2019 | Anou's Blog
The class X and XII results are out and it is time to celebrate. Over 40 Project Why kids have cleared their boards and I am proud of each and every one of them. I am proud of the ones that got the sought 90% but also of those who just passed! It is true that marks make a difference in the present education scenario and that if you are not in the top percentile you may not get access to higher education in the college of your choice but have you ever thought of how unfair the grading system is to the child! Only those who have the ability and capability to learn by heart can accede to those high marks. But does that mean that those who can’t are less capable? And more so the child is judged on her or his performance on the five days of the examination! Do you call this fair? I don’t.
I recently came across a post on social media, that said the following:
Congratulations , for getting that 90% and more marks….
Congratulations for getting 60 % and more…..
Congratulations for getting 33% percent and more….
Congratulations for getting less than 33 %….
It’s an exam of education not LIFE…..
Please celebrate whatever results your kid has got.
These words were a real eye opener as one does not realise how hurt a child can be if he is constantly reminded of his poor performance and also as the author says that this is just an exam of education not of life!
Another social media post is a letter written by a mother to her son who had secured 60%! A lesson in parenting indeed. She wrote: “Super proud of my boy who scored a 60% in Class 10 board exams. Yes it is not a 90, but that doesn’t change how I feel. Simply because I have seen him struggle with certain subjects almost to the point of giving up, and then deciding to give his all in the last month-and-a-half to finally make it through! Here’s to you, Aamer. And others like you – fishes asked to climb trees. Chart your own course in the big, wide ocean, my love. And keep your innate goodness, curiosity and wisdom alive. And of course, your wicked sense of humour.” Every word rings so true. No education system should rob a child of his innate values.
Do we realise what we ask children to give up just to reach those hallowed marks! I think this is something we should mull on. We ask them to give up all that is fun in life, all that makes them children, all that makes them creative, curious and unique. It is a lot to ask.
I have my battles with my darling Utpal who tells me stubbornly that he does not like to learn what he does not understand, that we wants to skate and paint and read books and dance and volunteer at Project Why. He never got high marks in his class X but on the other hand developed so many skills and talents in the last two years and above all learnt compassion. I know he will do his best in class XII and that is all I should ask of him as I celebrate every step of his journey.
It makes one wonder about what one truly needs to teach a child in order to make him or her a good human being. We need to teach compassion and tolerance above all and that is not found in school books. We need to teach leadership and the ability to work and live with others; we need to teach problem solving and thinking out of the box. This is what is needed to succeed in life.
Today I celebrate every Project Why student who has passed her or his Boards as I know that each one did its best. Every child is unique and that is what we need to celebrate.
Follow us along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and we will follow you back.
by anouradha bakshi | May 7, 2019 | Anou's Blog
The class XII results are out and once again I am flummoxed at the results. 499/500 in humanities! 99.9% in subjects like English, history, psychology etc. I fail to understand how one achieves that except if the paper was entirely a multiple choice one and that is no the case. A couple of years ago a topper had admitted that she has learnt all the books by heart. My heart went out to the poor child and to all those who like her mug up the text book word for word. But that seems to be the way to go, or so it seems. I feel sorry for the children who have been usurped of their right to play, have fun, be creative, think out of the box, develop extra curricular skills and so on. To ‘succeed’ you have to excel in rote learning. Any child who cannot do that cannot get admission in the prized colleges and universities. Sadly the 99 percentile is something Project Why children cannot achieve as they run the race with many handicaps and try as we do, we cannot give them all that their peers from better homes have.
Quite frankly in my opinion a 99% obtained by rote learning does not define an intelligent child and does not open doors to carriers in today’s world. What is needed in the Information Age are skills like creativity and imagination, critical thinking, problem solving, initiative etc. A far cru from rote learning. This is the antithesis of the education system our children follow and which is rooted in the colonial past where what was required were pen pushers willing to obey orders. Education as we know it needs to be turned on its head.
Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon an article about a proposed change of pattern in grading class X and XII examinations. The article was music to my years as it talked about a possible revamp of the examination pattern with a view to discourage students from rote learning! The new pattern would test students on their analytical skills and reasoning abilities instead of blind copy pasting of textbook text. The plan has been submitted for approval and it is hoped that the changes would be effective in 2020. This is a huge step in the right direction and I do hope it will lead to more changes in the education system itself. Way to go!
Follow us along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and we will follow you back. Let us take a few steps together on this journey of education and empowerment.
by anouradha bakshi | Apr 30, 2019 | Anou's Blog
There is always Room for Hope is the title of the book I wrote when battling my partner’s cancer. Writing helped me cope with the elephant in the room and hope was what I held on to with both hands and my heart. And somehow we managed to survive and ultimately win the battle against all odds. This was six years ago. With life resuming its normal course I had forgotten about those terrible days.
It is only this morning when I sat on my balcony after yet another sleepless night wondering where we would be next month, next year, next…., that the title of my book suddenly appeared in my mind and I once again understood that in the darkest hour, hope was the only lifeline you could cling to. And hence, today, when all seems dark in the horizon I need to hang on to hope like never before.
Project Why’s life is a stake as in spite of all our efforts and prayers, the miracle we sought is nowhere in sight. We are again on life support and need to find a long term solution to continue our work or else look for the honourable way out, if way out there is. My blood runs cold at the very thought as every part of Project Why is like a child to me and I do not want to be face with Sophie’s choice. Yesterday we received a rejection from a funding institution; many of our appeals have gone unheard and unanswered; the situation is grim to say the least.
And yet amidst all this, hope remains alive.
When I look back at the last two decades I recall the umpteen times when we have been at the edge of despair and yet never gave up hope. And each and every time a miracle, for want of a better word, occurred making me believe that there was someone, the God of Lesser beings, who intervened and ensured we remain on track. I must confess that there were times when we were almost hubristic in our approach, making promises and commitments that defied all reason. But somehow we knew in our hearts that we would be able to stand by them: we never gave up hope.
Today I have over a thousand children with dreams in their eyes who believe that we can fulfil them. I have a team of almost 50 souls who depend on us to feed their loves ones. So how can I give up hope?
I did not give it up when a scalded baby landed in my arms and today he is a lovely teenager who walks in your heart or when a little girl was found rummaging the garbage dump for foods, her body burnt her fingers fused and today she is an impish young girl who you cannot help but fall for.
I did not give it up when broken hearts came to us for repair; I did not give it up when bulldozers raised my happy place to the ground, I did not give it up when a bunch of boys were riled by their principal who branded them as gutter snipes, I did not give it up each time a mother came with a prayer that needed to be answered. I never gave up because I knew that no matter how dark the night, there was hope at the end of it when the sun would rise again.
So today again I need to hold on to hope as tight as I can, and believe in my heart that the sun will rise again tomorrow. I just need the strength to go through the night.
Some of the inmates of our heartFixHotel
Follow us along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and we will follow you back. Let us take a few steps together on this journey of education and empowerment.
