Reality Gives' Programs - Meet Viji

Vijaya Kumari, 33, is a recent graduate of our Youth Empowerment Program (YEP). As a mother of three and having only had the opportunity to study until 8^th Standard, we sat down with ‘Viji’ to understand some of the story which led her to enroll.

Viji’s journey with Reality began when her daughter saw a pamphlet (distributed by Reality staff amongst the communities we serve in Dharavi). Her daughter convinced her to enroll, telling her it would help children with their homework (all attend schools where the curricula are taught in English) and give her confidence in communicating with all kinds of people. She tells us, “education is the most important. My children want to be educated; they have dreams. For them to complete their dreams, that's why I work hard for them”.

Over the 15 weeks Viji flourished. Picking up new concepts and ideas quickly,

“I liked the teachers who were very friendly” she shares, “they made me feel as a family with the other students. It is a new life, I made new friends, and I got a new chance here”.

“YEP has been helpful in both my personal and professional life” Viji continues, “I want to be a fashion designer. [Since graduating] I got the chance to study in a college that specialises in tailoring and fashion designing. The YEP was helpful in that I was more confident and English was useful to get admission”.

Confidently looking ahead to the future, Viji informs us that “after one year in college, my ambition will be completed - I’ll be a fashion designer”.

Reality Gives at Royal City School - “Thursday was the first day I have ever felt like I was important, and that my families’ happiness and learning mattered”

Last week Reality Gives staff, volunteers and supporters joined forces with an incredible team of India First employees, and 8ft ‘Doreamon’ and ‘Chota Bheem’ mascots (popular children’s cartoon characters), to deliver Royal City School’s first ever annual sports day.

"Our children got an annual sports day as any child should deserve to have"

With races for children from Kindergarten to Standard II and even the mums and dads competing, it proved to be an incredible experience for all involved. Reflecting on the day Letizia De Martino, Reality Gives Executive Director shared, “In our vision we say that we want to build a world where underprivileged communities have equal access to opportunities and resources. I think today we did it! Our children got an Annual Sports Day as any child should deserve to have”.

Over at the school, the children are still grinning from ear to ear - “I like it because I can run” Standard II student Vikram told us “I have never seen so much space”. Fellow Standard II student Sanjana told us, “The ground was very big and nice. I loved it. It was too huge. I loved passing the pipe (the relay) and the medals and the running” whilst her classmate Vivek told us “I didn’t win a medal. My mother did. My mother won a gold medal for running. I feel happy”.

The races weren't just for the kids!

“It was such a good experience” Sujatha, one of our senior teachers told us, “The best day. The organisation. The parents’ preparation Everything. The mothers ran so fast. ‘How do you run in a sari’ I asked one. ‘Just watch. It is no problem’ she said!”.

The day was a great example as to what can be achieved when great organisations come together. Thanks so much to India First for funding and facilitating the event!

The parents too are still abuzz with the thrill and excitement of the day. One father shared with our Quality Improvement Director, Annabelle “Thursday was the first day I have ever felt like I was important, and that my families’ happiness and learning mattered. Thank you, it is a day we will never forget”.

Thanks so much to the team of staff, volunteers and other dedicated individuals who made this day so memorable for so many. Special thanks to India First Life Insurance, without their funding, organising and boundless energy this dream event would never have come true!

To help us continue to give these children the opportunities and 

experiences they deserve, click here.

Reality Gives Events - “a woman has so many things in her heart, but does she ever get to share it?”

This previous Saturday people across the world came together to mark International Women’s Day and here in Dharavi it was no different.

At the Community Centre our Youth Empowerment Program students presented speeches, posters and plays about influential women (ranging from hockey players to astronauts and politicians), on the football field the Dharavi Girls Football Program got together to send a message out to the world and the Reception Centre hosted an exhibition of photographs taken by five women from Dharavi, whom were unequivocally, the stars of the day.

Can you work out what the Girls Football Team is spelling out? Keep in mind the acronym of the day and kindly forgive Marketing and Fundraising Director, Joe, for not climbing a higher wall to get the picture!

These five women, Amrita, Anuradha, Kaveri, Nirmala and Shobha, are graduates of ‘Ladies Only – Stories For All’, a five week photography workshop by Dharavi Art Room which is a collaboration between Reality Gives and Bombay Underground. This workshop was conceived when on a field trip one of the young students told Bombay Underground social worker, Aqui Thami “my mummy never leaves the home”. From this offhand statement, through in-depth interviews with women in the community an idea percolated and a program was born with the aim of showing Dharavi through a woman’s perspective. 'Ladies Only - Stories For All' was charged with ‘celebrating womanhood and claiming a space not just for surviving but for being’. With Dharavi so often shown through an outsider’s or a male’s point of view, this program aimed to show an altogether different side by giving the women the skills and the forum through which to tell their own stories.

Jyoti (left) our Community Centre Manager introduces the women to the audience

Reflecting on the program, Kaveri says “I come to the art room to learn photography and it’s also an escape from all the work at home” whilst we’re also told “when I see my friends here and when I hold my camera I forget all the pain, all the bondage, feels like I am young again”. The affect on the women has been palpable.They stand tall, shoulders back, head up. They're confident and engaging, enthusiastic and hopeful about the future. This newly realised sense of purpose is also affecting their families as they tell us, “I could not go to school but why should that stop me from sending my daughter to school. She will learn. As long as I am here she will go” and that “If worse comes to worse I will sell off all my jewellery but will not stop sending my kids to school”.

So, as they stood with in front of 40 members of the community (including many of our YEP students), people listened. Comfortable in front of this crowd of community members they spoke passionately about their experiences and how the program had empowered them. They told us how they are now pursuing other opportunities to develop their skill sets and learn. With determination and focus they asked us, “when can we do more!?”.