Reality Gives Projects...Project Front Foot Season 2012/13

In the past year, thanks to the generosity of individuals, clubs and counties, Project Front Foot and the dedicated founder Vic Mills have been able to transport 350 kilos of donated clothing and kit to Mumbai; a huge undertaking that would not have been possible without the continued support of British Airways. 

After providing kit to our U14 and U18 squads, the surplus was placed with orphanages and NGOs in Mumbai and residential schools around Maharashtra. 

To our established coaching team, Bhavana and Harshad, we were able to add the services of Pete Woolcock a sports graduate from Liverpool University who assisted Bhavana and Harshad in implementing new coaching drills and was on hand to set up and run PFF’s first ever fitness tests.  Asim, Reality Gives Community Centre manager remained the conduit between the kids, coaches and our sister NGO Reality Gives. 

The new intake of juniors reacted with energy and enthusiasm to the enhanced coaching regime. It was in the U18 squad, however, where project progress was most noticeable with ten of the 35-player squad graduating to the ranks of the Gymkhana U23s. This is the transition from junior to senior cricket we had hoped for and have been working towards for the past four years. And what better role model for the younger players of where hard work and dedication can lead. 

U14 team, enthusiastic and motivated.

Thanks to the work of Bhavana and Harshad, several of the U18 squad are themselves now working as paid coaching assistants around the Mumbai cricket scene. 

Find space to conduct the trained remained the main issue. Where once there were seven cricket grounds within walking distance of Dharavi there are now just two! A short fifteen minute walk for the children, the Indian Gymkhana Ground offers a safe haven for our teams to learn and play the game. 

The season started with a great match in November: our U14 team achieved a resounding six wicket win against Poda School U14s in the suburbs of Mulund. 

In mid-January the coaches organised an U18 trial match. From this a team was selected for its first competitive game of the season against an XI from the NGO Salaam Bombay.

The new fitness tests, developed by Pete.

In early March we were able to bolster project kit in Mumbai with Reality Gives co-founder, Chris Way, taking a further hundred kilos courtesy of British Airways. A final frosty Sunday morning repack revealed a total of 280 T-shirts, a dozen wooden stumps, eights sets of plastic stumps, 7 bats, 5 pairs of pads, 18 pairs of batting gloves, 2 cricket balls, 20 tennis balls, 3 boxes and 2 arm guards. 

In March attendance was not at its best because the kids had to study for their annual school exams. But school must take precedence as PFF encourages the participating kids to put all necessary efforts into their studies. 

April ended with the Indian Gymkhana Ex-Cricketers’ Association Awards Day. Voted the PFF Player of the Season by our coaches, Samir collected his award from a BCCI member. 

Cricket club secretary, Mr K Satya Murthy awards Samir as player of the season.

As the season wound down with children, coaches and the Gymkhana’s mali looking towards ominously rain-filled skies, the project received a timely end of term boost with Indian shoe giant BATA agreeing to provide bats, balls and footwear through their Children’s Programme for the start of next season.  

With the dust now settling on our fourth season in Mumbai, I can report that planning is already underway for the next. Chris will be taking further kit to Mumbai in early August, while Vic follow with the balance in late October. 

Project Front Foot would like to thank its generous donors and kit collectors: Lindum CC, Kent Cricket Board, Northants CCC, Collingham CC, Nottinghamshire CCC, Derbyshire Cricket Board, Yorkshire Cricket Board and the Nottingham Tennis Centre as well as St Michael & All Angels Church in Barnes, Jennifer and Jon Goodwin-Bresslaw, AkzoNobel staff via Tim Gill’s age defying Paris Marathon efforts and of course Britsh Airways. 

To read the full report visit www.realitygives.org/PFF_season_report_2013.pdf

Reality Gives Connection Projects...The Dharavi Art Room

The Dharavi Art Room has been almost established as its own brand. Every child in the by us called "papad area" (as most women living in this area produce the famous crispy papads) know the colourful room above a resident's house which is run by Bombay Underground.

Mayur painting the inside of a temple in Dharavi,

During the school vacation in April and May we have been running the art classes every day, conducting activities such as drawing and painting on canvas, wall painting, making crafts out of old plastic bottles, origami folding etc. And of course we continually do our photography workshops.

In fact the photos shot in the last year have been so amazing that we decided to organise a second exhibition at the False Ceiling Gallery in Bandra. "Mumbai 17 - A Dharavi Art Room Exhibition" aimed to break down the negative image people have of slum communities (heard that before somewhere didn't you?) by showcasing the optimistic point of view of the kids in Dharavi. The photo selection was colourful, happy and surprisingly professional (a surprise for the visitor, not for us of course).

The exhibition at False Ceiling Gallery in Bandra.

Like last year we also invited the students of the art program to Bandra to see their art hanging in the unfamiliar environment of the gallery. The kids had such a great Sunday afternoon playing housey-housey (Indian bingo) and going on Bandra neighbourhood photo walks.


We also invited supporters and volunteers to join the photo walks. One of them was the expat blogger Bombay Jules who had such a great experience that she shared it with her fans on her blog and requesting them to donate their old cameras. She collected nine cameras within a few weeks.

The 'great wall of Dharavi' in the Dharavi Art Room

We also got very good press coverage this time. Besides others Mumbai Mirror, Midday, Afternoon and Indian express covered our exhibition as well as the Dharavi Art Room story in their papers.

End of May we also exhibited a smaller selection of photos at the Breakfast Club Bandra.

All in all we were so happy with the program development in May that we continued with the daily classes in June. Due to the rains and the start of the school year less kids joined during the week so from July onwards we will only have whole-day programs on Saturdays and Sundays. We are very happy that a lot of volunteers recently supported the activities and bring new fresh ideas into the program. 

Find photos of the art room activities on our Facebook page, the official Dharavi Art Room facebook page and the Dharavi Art Room Blog.

Reality Gives Projects...Parents meeting at the English Language Support Program

After the first two weeks of school, the teachers and program manager Lakshmi felt the importance to meet the parents in a first introduction meeting on Saturday, June 29th. There were many reasons behind this decision:

First, the necessity to create a dialogue between the community and the school – one of the major objectives of the project. In our vision, families and school should cooperate in all aspects regarding the children’s lives.

Second purpose was to explain the reasons behind our different educational approach, which is based on an active, group-centred and child-focused learning.

Some parents were already asking: “Where are the books? I cannot see any homework on my child’s notebooks! What kind of classes are you offering?” We are happy that the parents noticed that our approach is significantly different. Now it's our turn to show them that it can work!

In order to ensure clarity and to involve parents in our project, we divided the parents in three big groups: parents of first standard, senior kindergarten and junior kindergarten students. Every group of parents had the possibility to explore the classroom set-ups, interact directly with the teachers and to see the notebooks of their children and all the activities, which were conducted in the first two school weeks. 

After the tour, Lakshmi and the teachers formally explained the origin of the collaboration between Reality Gives and the Royal City School and the values we stand for. The teachers as well as our teaching methods were introduced. Lakshmi also explained the importance of English, taught through interactive activities created to connect with the daily life of the children. They will learn every subject not through books and the teachers' monologues, but through games which associate with their experiences outside of the school.

“Writing will be the last thing that they will learn. First, we care about their comprehension. We deeply care whether they understand the meaning of words and the contents we teach. Once they get the meaning, they can start write. Otherwise, it will be just a senseless exercise" explained Lakshmi.

After that the parents were encouraged to ask questions and express their concerns. Some of them were happily impressed by our care and way of teaching. Others were asking if there was a need for tuitions after school. The entire team assured them that there is no reason to pay for additional education as the school time should ensure that all educational needs are met. Some parents were still concerned and sceptical. It will be our aim to convince them in the following months.

More than 175 parents attended the parents meeting. The debates were passionate, parents and families continually tried to communicate their different opinions. We know it is a long and challenging way, but we also think that this meeting was the real beginning of a community involvement. 

Reality Gives Projects...Lakshmi explains the English Language Support Program

Lakshmi with the students of the Royal City School in Dharavi doing an action song. The students are not used to it yet as it is their first week back in school.

Last week we blogged about the inauguration of the new English Language Support Program at the Royal City School in Dharavi. To make you understand the whole project a little bit better we have interviewed the ELS Program Manager Lakshmi Vishwanatham who has been with Reality Gives since three years. 

Why do you think is the community of Dharavi is in need of an English Language Support Program?

The community looks at English as a career defining path where their children will have access to job opportunities, not just on the domestic but also the global market. Parents of students at vernacular schools hope that their kids also get a chance to compete with students from English medium schools as they aren't able to afford the higher school fees.

Lakshmi chatting with a student.

Who runs the project?

The staff who conducts the program are from the community and exclusively trained in a child-centred learning approach of Muktangan. Their origin makes it easy for them to be in direct contact with the parents which gives them the opportunity to understand the children, ethos and culture of the community fully. 

What makes the program special?

Reality Gives does not just dole out the program mechanically. A lot of effort goes into connecting with the community. Also we give a significant important to the E.Q. (emotional quotient) rather than I.Q. Learning is child centred , group centred and joyful. 

What was the biggest achievement of the program since you started in 2010?

While supporting the grades 1, 2 and 3 at the Marathi medium school in Dharavi, the teachers conducted a project on animals and greenery. It showcased the talents of the children using the medium of active experimental learning in role plays, drama, action songs, group and individual activities. It was a treat to watch the children in their elements, totally confident and using English to communicate to the guests that have come for the presentation. 

Lakshmi and the teachers explain the action songs.

How will the future of the program look like?

A private but government recognised school has approached Reality Gives to bring improvement in the existing school system.  In the school year 2013/14 we will teach 240 students in pre-school and first grade. We are especially happy to be able to have an impact on the children in their most impressionable years of preschool. Every year we will add one more grade. We have the ambition to involve the new community into other community projects run by us and other organisations. 

Reality Tours and Travel News...Our intern Nieck

In today’s blog I would like to introduce myself to you. My name is Nieck Slikker, I’m a 26 year old student at Stenden University (city of Leeuwarden) in the Netherlands. As of the 8^th of June, I am the new addition to the Reality team here in Mumbai, although it will be for a short period of 4 months. I am what they would call ‘the intern’. Other titles I carry are ‘Chief Coffee Distributor’, ‘Senior Executive of Interior Cleaning’ and ‘Head Greeter’.

I’m joking of course! The main task I have throughout these 4 months, is to conduct my research for my dissertation. After this I will be finishing up my thesis. In other words, this internship is my final placement which concludes my BBA and Tourism Management.

Within Reality Tours and Travel my responsibilities will mostly consist of assisting the management team (Adina, Stephanie and Asim) with their duties; the main focus being on marketing and product development. I’m very happy that Reality has granted me this opportunity and I am aiming to be of great added value to the organization. If you would like to read more about me or my experiences here in Mumbai throughout this period, feel free to check out http://nieck.weebly.com

Best regards,

Nieck

Reality Gives News...Our new English Language Support Program at Royal City School in Dharavi

We are very sorry that it has been silent on our blog for such a long time. As you might have read on our facebook page Summer, our Executive Director left Reality Gives due to unfortunate circumstances.  

But of course we would like to inform you also about some positive change within our organisation and certainly the biggest recently has been the ones for our English Language Support Program.

In the past three years ten female teachers from Dharavi and the program head Lakshmi have been working at the local municipal vernacular Kala Killa school to teach the first three grades in English language. We have used our child-centred approach according to the Muktangan teaching methods for around 500 students in three years. It was a great time but we always had trouble conducting our programa and specific projects due to the high-standard bureaucracy at municipal schools.

All teachers involved in the preschool and first standard program at the Royal City School.

Therefore we were very happy when the private but government recognised Royal City School in Dharavi approached us to teach at their school. A plan was made to create a synergetic team between teachers of Reality Gives  and Royal City School in order to renovate the educational methods for the pre-school and 1st standard at the school. Thirteen teachers - three new teachers joined the team after being trained by Muktangan in the past year - will mentor and support six existing teachers. The training started before the school began and will last till the end of the academic year. 

Mothers from Dharavi checking the timetable of the preschool at Royal City School.

In the subsequent years the vision is to move up the standards with the students. That can mean that by next year we might be able to reach out to even  more students in the second standard and by 2015 to the third standard and so on. 

But that's not all: besides teaching English the teachers will also take on more subjects such as Hindi, Marathi, maths, physical education and story-time. They will be teaching the junior and senior kindergarten and 1st standard in two shifts every day. All together there will be around 250 students in the first year. The school provided four big rooms which our teachers , Lakshmi and our new volunteer Cecilia could decorate and design according to the curriculum and their individual ideas. 

New and old teaching materials combined for the inauguration ceremony. 

Furthermore, parents involvement will be an important landmark: Reality Gives is willing to empower and impact the community by creating a significant relationship with the families. That’s why the project wants to involve the parents in the kids’ education path, creating a stronger awareness of the importance of learning. Also there will be many more additional projects we want to establish within this new community as our art program with Bombay Underground or a new waste management program conducted by a volunteer of Reality Gives. 

From left to right: Lakshmi (program head), Liz and Sunil from Muktangan and the reverend of the Royal City School. 

The school year 2013/14 started yesterday with a big inauguration ceremony at the school. We have invited Liz and Sunil from Muktangan to give them a on-site insight of the impact their great teachers training can provide. They were happy to meet parents and the new students as well as to meet again their freshly graduated teaching students Farin (19), Akali  (25) and Krishna (24). All three of them are very excited to finally get involved in the program.

The three freshly graduated teachers Krishna, Farin and Akali (from eft to right)

Lakshmi have a long speech where she thanked the reverend and managers of the Royal City School for their continuous and generous support in establishing the program at their school and of course also Muktangan for their great training since more than four years now. We are very happy to have found such great partners who are willing to support us in creating a change for our communities. 

Finally we would like to thank Lakshmi who worked on this opening throughout her whole vacation in May as well as Cecilia, our new volunteer who supported Lakshmi within the last two months. Great work and well done!

Next week we will share a reflection by Lakshmi, program head of the English Language Support Program about the implementation of the program, the work with the teachers and her insights of the community. Also we will share soon more about the training of the teachers from Dharavi - stay tuned!

Find more pictures on our facebook page.