I learnt about the importance of education at my mother’s knee as she shared with me her passion for learning. That small town girl born in times where women were not educated and married in their teens had such an incredible and almost illogical love for education that she left no stone unturned to fulfil her desire to learn. From hunger strikes to mellow her Gandhian father to accepting every condition thrown her way, she never faltered and went on to acquire every degree in sight. It is education that allowed Kamala to break all barriers and and the freedom fighter’s daughter would go on to become a- Ambassador’s lifelong partner .
I realise today that with every story she shared she was imbuing me with her love for learning and crafting the person I would become as well as paving the road I would walk on. I often tend to forget how much I owe her and how much she has influenced the way Project Why has gone. It is her never-say-die attitude in the face of adversity that propelled me to never give up even if the challenges were daunting. I knew there was always a way, you just had to find it or simply create it.
That is how over the past two decades now, Project Why has overcome every challenge no matter how insurmountable it may have seemed. When Sophiya told us about the plight of the Okhla children I knew that a way had to be found and education had to be brought to these kids even if the only space was a garbage dump. Today I am reminded of St Exupery’s word when he said: “A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebodycontemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.” That is how one felt when one first saw the Okhla garbage dump. We all saw a school teeming with happy children learning and laughing and that is what the Okhla centre is today!
I now see the spirit of Kamala in all the incredible women who impart their love for education to the Project Why children. I see her in Pushpa, in Sophiya, in every one who has been part of this journey. I see her spirit in all the young girls who come and learn at Project Why. I see the same hunger in their eyes and I know that they are on their way to fulfilling their dreams.
Today, when our Okhla Centre is in danger of being closed, it is her spirit that once again propels me to do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen and I know that she is watching us and conjuring the miracle we need.
Kamala’s love for education was unconditional. My fight for saving Okhla has to be unconditional too!
It is Valentine Week, a week when one celebrates love and honours it. This year would you consider honouring the one you love by helping us save our Okhla school?
If you’re a fellow blogger, please consider joining the Valentine’s Day Blogathon. Write one or more posts to talk about love, any kind of love at all, and about honouring the ones you love.
All we ask is at the end of your post, you mention the fundraiser, link to it, and add the graphic above. We will start off a linky list where you can add all your posts.
You can support the #HelpMithuSaveSchool fundraiser to save the Okhla school HERE.
If you’re not a blogger, send in a small amount to support the fundraiser, and share it on social media so others can do the same. Every bit adds up. Let us celebrate this Valentine’s day with an unconditional love for education.
Sophiya is one of our oldest staff members. She came to us way back in 2001 or 2002 when we were still finding our feet and trying to answer the many whys that came our way and looking for people who would give wings to our dreams. Sophiya had been involved in community work and seemed the ideal person to help us understand the needs of our beneficiaries. Moreover I was impressed by her gentle demeanour, her kind smile and the inner strength that seemed to emanate from her and was keen to have her join our team. She did and there was no looking back.
Sophiya joined as a primary teacher and was loved by all our students. She has also stepped up whenever needed and was always eager to help. Sophiya never considered her role in Project Why as a ‘job’ but was an integral part of our vision and mission. In 2004 she told us about the plight of the children in the Okhla neighbourhood she lived in. This was an industrial area with small cramped tenements tucked away between factories that spewed all kinds of venom. There were no schools in the vicinity, no parks for the children to play in and absentee parents that led to children being on their own and ready targets for lurking predators. Sophiya wanted us to start a school in that area and was willing to leave no stone unturned to achieve that.
She offered her home to begin our school as she felt that beginning work would help us gain the support of the community and even authorities. With the help of Pushpa she set out to find a suitable space and also seek permission form the local administrative and political authorities. She did both! You cannot underestimate the power of this quiet, resilient lady!
After much searching a garbage dump was located and Sophiya was confident that it could be transformed into a happy place for children. I must confess that when I first saw it I was far from convinced. How wrong I was.
In no time we opened our ‘centre’ with a couple of bamboo poles and a bright blue plastic sheet. The rest is history. Sophiya and Pushpa weathered every storm, bore every slander but never gave up. Today the Okhla Centre is a vibrant school where over 350 children are busy crafting their morrows. Sophiya is back to teaching her primary kids.
We have known each other for almost two decades Sophiya and I! Over the years I have learnt to admire her quiet but firm ways, even her occasional stubbornness which is so much part of who she is. I realise how much she has given to Project Why and am deeply grateful to her. Sophiya is undoubtedly an unsung hero.
Today the very centre and school Sophiya created with so much love and pain is in danger of being closed. We have launched an online fundraiser campaignto save it and hope you will join it too.
Find Project WHY on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We need your help to share Sophiya’s story with your friends and family on the hashtag #HelpMithuSaveSchool.
Each share can bring us three times the donation.
Add in a little to the fundraiser–with small contributions from a big crowd, we can get together to help Sophiya keep her wonderful school alive!
Mithu Mandal lost his legs to polio at the age of 3, and was never interested in a formal education.
At Project WHY, he not only learned about computers, but became good enough to teach children how to use them.The Project Why Okhla centre where he teaches, supports the education of 350 children, quite a few of whom also learn computers from Mithu. Without this centre, Mithu would not have a job.
In the coming year, this centre is about to lose its funding and faces a very real possibility of shutdown, which is why we’ve now launched the #HelpMithuSaveSchool fundraiser.
PROJECT WHY ACTIVITIES
Project WHY is a flagship programme of Sri Ram Goburdhun Charitable Trust, which provides educational support to underprivileged children. This non-profit, after-school support programme goes beyond academics, to include life skills and all-around development.
Project WHY reaches out to 1200 children and 160 women.
Since 2005, Project WHY runs a computer education programme. Mithu started as a student, worked his way up to being a teacher’s aide, and then took over as the computer teacher.
WHY THE PROJECT WHY OKHLA CENTRE SHOULD REMAIN OPEN
The Okhla education centre began its activities in 2004 to address the problems of an extremely vulnerable group of children who were targeted by drug and other mafias.
Space was not easy to find and the only option was a space near a garbage dump. It was ‘reclaimed’ and classes began under a plastic sheet held by bamboo poles. The centre is the result of hard work from its staff and founders, who have faced everything from littering, to assault from criminal elements in order to keep it running for all these years.
Today, the Okhla Centre has a stable structure, and Mithu runs its computer programme. It helps retain children in school, offering primary and secondary education along with the computer classes.
The centre is an important component of the neighbourhood, keeping crime, drugs and negative elements at bay and replacing it with education and employment.
WHAT IS NEEDED
To give us time to find a sustainable source of funding, the Project WHY Okhla centre needs:
1. 4 Staff honorariums for 6 months: 379, 104 (5,330 USD)
2. Electricity for 6 months: 9, 000 (125 USD)
3. Learning aids and stationery 15, 000 (210 USD)
4. Laptop for Mithu 33, 700 (475 USD)
5. Internet 3, 000 (45 USD)
6. Bank fees for fundraiser 48, 379 (680 USD)
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Total 488,183 (6, 865 USD)
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WHY YOU SHOULD DONATE
▪ Computer education has changed Mithu’s life, and he’s passing on his expertise to others who are gaining the skills essential at a modern workplace.
▪ The teachers Mithu Mandal, Pushpa Kumar, Sophiya Tirkey, Naresh Bhardwaj belong to the underprivileged community, so when you donate towards their salaries, you’re directly donating to the community and not a non-profit overhead. Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing their stories, each just as inspiring and full of spirit as Mithu’s.
▪ Children gaining secondary education at the centre will be going in for higher education, and staying away from life on the streets.
▪ The laptop will be given to Mithu. This will enable him to take courses, which he will use to improve his teaching curriculum.
▪ The entire expense account would be put up on the Project Why website once the amount is raised. You can check out an account of our previous fundraiser.
▪ Join the Project Why family by supporting Mithu, so he can help others in his community. No amount is too small, and every little bit would help keep Mithu’s workplace, the Project WHY Okhla Centre, safe from a shutdown.
The Annual Status of Education Report 2018 has been published and there is little cause to rejoice. True there are more children in school and less drop outs but most of the children who ‘pass’ out are unable to read or do basic calculations. There has been little improvement in learning outcomes. The report states that: the story today is far worse than what it was a decade ago. In 2008, 37% of Class V students could do basic maths; now less than 28% can. Children are not learning what they should.
In spite of gaining the Right to Education, it looks like not much has changed on the ground and this is extremely disturbing as education is undoubtedly the only path to meaningful social transformation. At Project Why we have innumerable examples of how education has changed lives for the better.
When Project Why began almost two decades ago, it was my hope that the day would come when the education scenario would improve and we would be able to redefine ourselves and bring new perspectives to our children. But that did not happen. We are still engaged in helping our children cope with their school curriculum and enhance their learning outcomes. We strive to give them an all rounded education that goes beyond textbooks and that can make them lifelong learners.
In the wake of the present education scenario, the work we do at Project Why is still very relevant as children have to pass their examinations with good marks in order to get access to higher education and we need to work within a system that judges a child by the marks s/he gets in a school examination. Our effort is to try and weave in as many ‘other’ skills as we can in order make them ready for the world that awaits them.
Many countries have reformed their school education to attune it to the demands of the future. Finland is an excellent example of how an education system should be run. There are no mandated standardized tests in Finland, apart from one exam at the end of students’ senior year in high school. There are no rankings, no comparisons or competition between students, schools or regions. Finland’s schools are publicly funded. The people in the government agencies running them, from national officials to local authorities, are educators, not business people, military leaders or career politicians. Every school has the same national goals and draws from the same pool of university-trained educators. The result is that a Finnish child has a good shot at getting the same quality education no matter whether he or she lives in a rural village or a university town. This would be an ideal situation for India as it ticks all the right boxes.
Educationists have defined the skills every child should master to succeed in what is know as the Information Age. Some of them are: Critical thinking; Creativity; Collaboration; Communication; Information literacy; Flexibility; Leadership; Initiative and Social skills. Thinking out of the box seems to be the key to success in the future.
It is obvious that our present school system teaches none of the above. In India we have chosen to commercialise education instead of strengthening the state-run schools and make them the first choice for parents. The curriculum is dated and the emphasis on marks does not reward the creative or innovative child. Thinking out of the box is almost anathema.
At Project Why we strive to teach children to be creative, take initiative and also hone their social skills. We hope that our efforts will bear fruit and pave the way for the future of every Project Why child.
Do you think the education system in India needs to be reformed? What is the education system like where you live?
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Please consider collaborating with us! We welcome visitors, volunteers and anyone who can give us advice on how to improve our practices and processes. Check out our Facebook page for information on the events that are held at Project Why.
You can also support Project Why through a small donation. Even a small amount helps us support a child’s education.
He is an extraordinary man. Humane, kind, gentle, unassuming, generous, compassionate. A successful corporate honcho who makes the impossible seem commonplace. But that’s just half the story. I will tell you the rest.
When I think of Kabir, I get reminded of the words of the Turkish playwright and thinker Mehmet Muran Ildan who wrote: “The first step to be a good man is this: You must deeply feel the burden of the stones someone else is carrying” or of the wise lesson of the Fox in St Exupery’s Little Prince : It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. Kabir Suri, Co Founder and Managing Director of Azure Hospitality, is a man who sees with his heart.
I met Kabir for the first time at a dinner party where we happened to be seated next to each other. No one could have imagined that this would be the beginning of a beautiful story with all the makings of a miracle. It was a chilly autumn night in 2014 and a time when Project Why had hit rock bottom. We did not have money to pay salaries for the next month and I was at my wit’s end. Needless to say it took me no time to start pouring out my heart to this gentle dinner companion who seemed willing to listen. Unlike many others in the past he did not look for a quick exit and kept on listening with interest, asking pertinent questions time and again. The dinner came to an end, and before leaving Kabir gave me his number and asked me to call him and come and meet him. The rest is history.
In spite of his busy schedule and numerous travels, we met and the first thing Kabir did was to dip in his pocket and ensure that the next month’s salaries were paid. That would have been enough to win my heart forever but there was more to come. Kabir had become Project Why’s friend forever. He made it his mission to ensure that we become sustainable and left no stone unturned to do that. He introduced us to the Savitri Waney Trust and they helped us bridge the gap for the year. They also reached out and funded two of our larger centres, Okhla and Khader, for the next two years allowing us to set our house in order and become eligible to other funding avenues.
Kabir also agreed to join our Board of Directors and is one of the most engaged members of the Board. He is actively involved in ensuring our long term sustainability.
In 2015, when I told him about the plight of the Yamuna centre children, Kabir immediately decided to provide them a hot daily lunch and has been doing so for the past three years. The children look forward to this delicious daily treat. Watching them enjoy their food is a humbling experience.
When I shared with him the wish of our Okhla children for a computer centre he immediately agreed to build a concrete roof to replace the temporary one we had and thus allowed us to set up a computer centre in the middle of the community. Today many students have been able to get good jobs thanks to this initiative and thus broken the cycle of poverty in which they were born.
I could go on speaking about Kabir and how he has changed my life and the future of Project Why. Today he is helping us ensure that thousands of children see their dreams secured.
Kabir is one the the messengers of the Universe who renew our faith in humanity and tell us that no matter what, good will always prevail. I am privileged and honoured to have him as part of the Project Why family
Have you ever been helped when you most needed it? Has a chance encounter ever changed your life?
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Please consider collaborating with us! We welcome visitors, volunteers and anyone who can give us advice on how to improve our practices and processes. Check out our Facebook page for information on the events that are held at Project Why.
You can also support Project Why through a small donation.
Dharmender better known as Dharmender Bhaiya, is someone I have grown to admire by the day. His story is one that needs to be told as it epitomises the spirit of Project Why. Over the years I have realised that we share a common vision and dream for the children and ladies we reach out.
Dharmendra came to Project Why way back in 2004 as a humanities teacher for the secondary classes. He left a well paid job in a multinational to follow his calling. His stint as a teacher was short lived as I soon realised that he passionately wanted to change things and was willing to walk the road less travelled. We use to spend a lot of time sharing our thoughts and in him I found a soul mate.
He soon became involved in a wide range of activities: solving problems with the community, dealing with the many detractors we had and lending his hand with every crises of problems we faced. I could see that he was born to lead. I had to find a way and it would happen earlier than expected in the most unlikely yet amazing way.
Two ladies in distress landed our way. They were both abused and from dysfunctional homes and we had to find a way to care for them. This could only be done if we ‘created’ a residential facility and it was Dharmendra who took on the challenge. The rest is history. A place was found for them and this became the springing board for what is known as the Project Why women centre. It was Dhamendra’s idea to juxtapose a children centre to our residential outreach and to also begin a vocational centre to empower women from underprivileged homes. In the span of a year, he had the women centre up and running. It had been an uphill task with our two ladies being demanding and difficult. Dharmendra would not shun from driving in the middle of cold winter nights to go and solve fights and arguments. The residential programme came to a close once the ladies were healed and ready to move on and we felt that a residential outreach did not make financial sense unless we had a larger number of women something we did not want to do. In its place emerged the women centre, an outreach for 300 children and 120 women.
Dharmendra always has his heart open and he was the one to spot Meher when she was rummaging in a dustbin looking for food. He took on the challenge of giving her a better morrow and patiently accompanied her in her healing journey through several reconstructive surgeries. Meher never looked back. Today she is in boarding school, an impish creature you simply fall in love with.
Dharmendra runs the centre with a velvet gloved iron hand. His gentle demeanour can be extremely firm; He does not tolerate nonsense. His never say die attitude ensures that every problem that comes our way is dealt with in the best manner possible. He has earned the respect of the community he works with and ensured that they stand with us at all times. The women centre is one of the jewels of Project Why.
Dharmendra is also the one who found out the plight of the children of agricultural labour who live along the Yamuna river and conjured a way to start a centre for them. The Yamuna centre is definitely one of our most vibrant centres.
Dharmendra has always taken ownership of what he set up and is open to ideas and ready to implement them. He also comes up with his own ideas that often adds value to the work we are doing. I often find myself seeking his advise and am impressed by his innovative ideas. I have learnt a lot from him and am deeply grateful for this. It is a privilege and honour to have in my team.
He never ceases to amaze me and his latest feat was to get a community workshop organised by IGNOU (Open University) where people were told about the possibilities of learning from home at all ages. Actually this was a double whammy as it solved our problem of getting our Yamuna Centre class X kids to appear in their Board examinations. We were truly worried as these children did not attend school or have any civic papers. With one master stroke Dharmendra ensured that they would be admitted in an open program and able to sit for their exams.
It is a privilege and a blessing to have someone like Dharmendra in my team.
Have you also come across someone you have grown to admire?
Please consider collaborating with us! We welcome visitors, volunteers and anyone who can give us advice on how to improve our practices and processes. Check out our Facebook page for information on the events that are held at Project Why.
You can also support Project Why through a small donation.
I realise today that with every story she shared she was imbuing me with her love for learning and crafting the person I would become as well as paving the road I would walk on. I often tend to forget how much I owe her and how much she has influenced the way Project Why has gone. It is her never-say-die attitude in the face of adversity that propelled me to never give up even if the challenges were daunting. I knew there was always a way, you just had to find it or simply create it.
In the wake of the present education scenario, the work we do at Project Why is still very relevant as children have to pass their examinations with good marks in order to get access to higher education and we need to work within a system that judges a child by the marks s/he gets in a school examination. Our effort is to try and weave in as many ‘other’ skills as we can in order make them ready for the world that awaits them.
