Reality Gives Heroes...Meet Vic

The story behind our cricket program is one of the most inspiring we can share and shows perfectly how a customer of a slum tour can start something big and powerful. 

It all started with Vic Mills from the UK who has spent much of the last thirty years overseas watching, playing and writing about cricket. Having cut and run from the legal profession after graduation he followed the sun playing cricket in England during the summer and then heading downunder to play in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. During these jaunts he played for the Australian Embassy in Manila, and in Australia for, amongst others, the Victorian Bar, the Melbourne Bar & Bench, the Gentlemen of Ballarat, and the NSW country town of Yass. When not playing he found time to write for Wisden Cricket Monthly, The Times of India, and Jakarta Post.


Vic Mills took some time during his last trip to Mumbai to write his story down for our blog. 

Vic Mills, doing what he loves: playing cricket.

Mumbai in early February 2009 – ten weeks after the terrorist attack – was a city on the edge. There to research a writing project, the plan was to work, stay healthy, and get the hell out! Other than a few coins here and there, charitable deeds were not on the agenda. Based in Colaba, my first job was an afternoon in Dharavi. During the visit, conducted by Reality Tours & Travel, we stopped in a school yard to escape the sun and take on water. Our arrival brought a halt to a game of barefoot cricket; the dozen or so kids sidled over.

  

I managed to catch the eye of one and a five minute net session ensued. Amid much laughter and high-fiving we took our leave, but the images remained; not just the kids and the fun, but the bat! Full size, it had quite literally been worn down to half its original size. Not cracked, taped, and taped again, but simply worn away! Five years on, this bat remains at the heart of the project. Barely two minutes back in my hotel room that evening, before even a much needed shower, I had the name: Project Front Foot. All I had to do now was figure out the rest.

The following day I emailed Chris (Way) at Reality Gives. We met at a Leopold’s Cafe that still bore the aftermath – gun shots to walls and glass panels – of the terrorist attack. Used to well-meaning folk with ideas (who end up doing nothing) his advice was to go away, do it, and then get back in touch. During the spring of 2009 I emailed the living daylights out of cricketing friends and contacts in the UK. Interviews with BBC local radio and various county newspapers brought early publicity. It also brought IT guru, Neil Smith, who agreed to set up and manage the project website. We were up and running. And the kit started to roll in.

The collection of kit back in UK.

                               

It was not until September that I turned my thoughts to actually getting the clothing and equipment to Mumbai. A modest business plan was compiled and emailed to a dozen airlines flying the London-Mumbai route. To their eternal credit, and despite difficult times, British Airways called within a week offering six checked bags (or 150 kilos) free of charge. With still no more than a vague idea of how the project would work, the kit and I arrived in Mumbai mid-October 2009. There still remained the small matter of a ground. If the link with British Airways was the first stroke of luck, then an earlier chance email to Mr P R Subramanian (Suby) in Mumbai was undoubtedly the second.

I contacted Suby my first evening in town enquiring about grounds. He was a member of the Indian Gymkhana at King’s Circle and quickly teed up a meet with the Cricket Club Secretary and President. Forty-eight hours later we had our ground for three mornings a week from October to May. A fifteen minute walk from Dharavi, the ground was perfect. The 2-hour morning sessions were divided between the U14s (Tues & Thurs) and U18s (Fri). Thirty boys attended initially, with the numbers growing as word spread.

The Project Front Foot Cricket team in Mumbai,

I coached the early sessions before handing over to staff from Reality. This Stay Calm & Carry On approach saw us stumble through the first two seasons, but it was far from perfect. We had the kids, the kit, and the ground, but volunteer coaches were proving hard to find.

If coaches were a problem, this was not the case with kit donations. Summer Kit Appeals saw links forged with Trent Bridge, Headingley, and Cricket Wales at the Swalec. There was kit too from Cricket Boards’ as far afield as Cornwall, Kent, Worcester, Yorkshire and Derby. And an entire transit van of clothing from MKK Sports in Eastbourne.

In the autumn of 2011, Project Front Foot became a UK Registered Charity. In light of this, we took the decision, in partnership with Reality Gives, to employ two coaches. As befits a progressively-minded project we appointed, in Bhavana Patil, a female Head Coach. She, alongside colleague, Harshad Bhojnaik, started their third season with the project in November 2013. Established coaches within Mumbai cricket, Bhavana and Harshad, along with assistant coaches Jigar and Dilip, and Reality Gives new Director of Sports Programs, Peter Woolcock, have brought structure, energy, discipline, and no little fun to the project.

The sheer volume of donated kit has enabled us to move beyond Dharavi and place clothing and equipment with four orphanages in Mumbai, numerous schools in and around Maharashtra, three football foundations, the NGO Salaam Bombay, and the Indian Gymkhana U23 side. While in the UK, Project Front Foot has turned donor with surplus adult clothing going to charities for the homeless in Oxford and North London.

Kit distribution at the Reality Tours Reception centre.

Despite the need to seek new homes for our surplus kit, Dharavi remains at the heart of Project Front Foot. There is no better illustration of this than with our annual early season Kit Day. For a couple of hours Reality’s Reception Centre is transformed as excited chatter vies with the frantic fitting of shirts, flannels and boots; for the majority, their first kit of any description.

PFF team for season 2013-2014 L-R: Jigar, 

Bhavana, Peter, Harshad & Dilip

Look the part, feel the part, play the part: the Dharavi kids stand testimony to this as over a dozen have graduated via PFF into the longer version of the game with appearances for the Indian Gymkhana U23 XI. Two of our older boys, Jigar and Dilip, have further taken on the role of assistant coaches for PFF and at other clubs in Mumbai. Encouraging signs for Project Front Foot in general and the new season in particular.

Reality Tours & Travel News...Nieck's research outcome

Nieck has been our first-ever intern with Reality Tours & Travel. Despite some serious health issues he managed to interview 74 Dharavi residents about their perception of slum tours in their communities. His thesis will still take some more months so we will need to wait for an overview of his results. But he has been so kind to write about his personal experience for our blog:

Back in the Netherlands as I transcribe interviews and read through all of the information I have gathered, it makes me think a lot about what I have experienced. With help of three fantastic guides, I was able to have a very personal conversation with the people of Dharavi. Their stories have touched me, surprised me and have also caused me to reflect upon our own safe, comfortable and judgmental Western lives.

My research had to do with how the Dharavi community members feel about the tourists that Reality Tours & Travel brings into their community. After carring out in-depth interviews with 74 Dharavi community members, I can confidently say that many are happy to see tourists. A lot of interviewees have summed this up in saying, “They have come from so far to see how we work and live. I’m happy for that”. On the other hand, the reality is that these people are too busy with their work and daily routine to be too concerned about our intentions. I’ve come to realise that as long as Reality operates its business with good intentions and the tourists respect their culture and the living condition of the people, it seems, according to those I interviewed, to be perfectly acceptable for the community.

Quite a few interviewees mentioned that “I think the company should help the community more”. After telling them about the company’s relationship with Reality Gives, literally all interviewees showed nothing but respect and gratefulness for the organisation’s intentions and efforts. I would recommend the Reality Group to distinguish themselves more by promoting their efforts more within the community, as many respondents were unaware of the organisation’s initiatives.

I firmly believe in the positive effects  Reality Tours & Travel and Reality Gives  can have on this community and so I wish them all the best with their future efforts. They are the perfect example that tourism can also leave a positive footprint and I was happy to be a part of that during my five months in Mumbai.

Thank you Nieck for your hard work and great input. We will miss you here in Mumbai!

Reality Gives Connection Projects...Hearing aid distribution thanks to YOU!

Kids spending their afternoon at the CORP centre for disabled children in Dharavi. 

As we entered into the main room of the Reality Gives supported Community Outreach Program (CORP) Shalom Centre, a daycare centre for disabled children, we were greeted with smiling, eager faces. Five days a week, from 4:00 to 6:30, a regular crowd of around 15 children spend the afternoon at CORP Shalom Centre. On Saturdays, these children spend the entire day at the centre, benefiting from special activities such as music and art classes. Using donations, Reality Gives already provided eight hearing aids and two calipers for physically handicapped children from Dharavi.

The lives of the few children who already received hearing aids from various funding sources changed drastically with the new devices. Before, they wore a cumbersome voice box over their chest with headphones in their ears. In order to properly utilise these old aids, speakers must lean in and talk directly into the box. The children’s disability was not only disabling but also outwardly visible. Their difficulties extended into their daily routines as well. A task as simple as walking on the road proved difficult because the hearing impaired children had trouble hearing oncoming traffic. In the evenings, they had trouble enjoying a TV show with their families because they could not comprehend the full story.

Sameer just hearing for the first time with the new device.
His mother in the background is also happy for her son. 

Since receiving new hearing aids, their challenges have lessened immensely, and the aids have even enabled the children to carry out a normal life. These children can hear their teachers, and several of them affirmed that they are now able to learn more. All commented that new hearing aids have facilitated confidence. Indeed it has because four recipients of the hearing aids have since passed their Higher Secondary Education (HSC), two years beyond the required education. After their schooling, the children aspire to become everything from a cricketer to a teacher to a shop owner to a guitarist. 

Knowing this, we were happy to hand out two more hearing aids that were entirely funded by the donations we received from the Reality Tours & Travel's customers after the Dharavi Slum Tour in our Reception Centre. This time Sameer (12) and Shabanna (13) were the lucky ones. 

Sameer learning from a friend who already
uses a hearing aid device.

Sameer is a very cheerful young boy who enjoys using the computer and who wants to become a tailor, just like his father. He is very keen on passing the 10th standard and to go to college afterwards but he is also aware that he will need to work at the same time to contribute to his family's income.

Shabanna opening the box with the device together with her friend Triveni,
who also received a hearing aid thanks to the raised funds of Reality Gives.

Shabanna is very shy but the teachers say she is very smart and hard-working at school. At the same age she is already three grades ahead of Sameer and also very keen to pass the 10th standard to join the college afterwards although she doesn't know yet what she wants to do afterwards. She has three brothers of which one is also hearing disabled. She shunne the attention she got on the day of the hearing aid distribution but now she is looking forward to using the new device to learn even more at school.

The experience observing these kids using their new devices for the first time was incredible. Other children with the same devices helped them to install and adjust them and then the moment came when they could suddenly hear their friends and teachers properly for the first time. A big smile arose on their faces and we left with a warm and truly meant "Thank you". 

Chris Way, Founder of Reality Gives, who was at the centre for the distribution centre, said, “I’ve been in Mumbai for over 8  years now but seeing the kids put on the new devices and seeing their reaction, as well as of those of their family, was one of my most humbling experiences since I have been here.”

The kids find the outside world is different than the comfortable, welcoming rooms of the centre. At CORP’s Shalom Centre, the children acknowledge that they are understood. With the help of Reality Gives, however, the new hearing aids have made the outside world a bit less frightening.

If you want to help too donate today on www.realitygives.org/corp . Thank you for your support!

Thanks to our volunteer Aliza for her help contributing to this story during her visit to Mumbai.

Reality Gives Staff...Meet Jonny

Today we would like to introduce you to Jonny who just spent three months working with the Reality Gives Community Centre team on project management and curriculum development. He isn't actually new at Reality Gives. In 2010 he was part of the team that created the Youth Empowerment Program and since then he has been involved with Reality Gives in a variety of ways, his main passion being the curriculum development projects. 

So Jonny, you've been in Mumbai quite a few times now. What do you actually do?

Good question! My main remit is to develop the education programs. This involves a bit of trouble-shooting, some training and a lot of resource development. Thanks to my degree in Business and my friendship with Chris (Chris Way, Founder), I also help with a lot of the strategic thinking and looking at the 'bigger picture'.

Sounds good, what do you enjoy most?

I enjoy it all really. I know the value of having a good 'sounding-board' and a second opinion so I'm happy to be able to play that role. I also love teaching teachers and training staff so that they can go forward and do their jobs even better than they already are. My main passion, however, is the curriculum development project. Since I first came here that has been what I have wanted to crack; a set of culturally appropriate, easy to follow materials all taught by confident, well-trained teachers that empower young people to go forward and achieve their goals.

What changes have you seen since you started working with Reality Gives in 2010?

Loads! I was heavily involved with planning the expansion of Reality Gives, when we started to address more than just 'classroom' education, so seeing it in practice now is very exciting. If I think back to when I first arrived and we were just starting to design the Youth Empowerment Program we've come such a long way! Seeing all of the different programs in action now is simply excellent and the future potential is incredible.

Finally, what's next for you?
I feel that the work I've done over the last few months here in Mumbai with Chris, Jyoti (our new Community Centre Manager) and the rest of the Reality Gives team has helped to consolidate our position and has got us ready to move forward. I'll be heading back to London soon where my plan will be to lock myself away and work at improving the three different components of the Youth Empowerment Program; Computers, Soft Skills and English. I'll be liaising online a lot with the teachers to get their input and feedback and I'm sure Chris and I will have a few Skype meetings too!

Reality Gives projects...The dance class at our community centre

It is a such a treat to witness the Reality Gives dance class on a Sunday morning. The Ashayen Community Centre is packed with more than forty enthusiastic dancers. Ranging in age from 3 -15, they have memorised lyrics and moves to the Steps song '5-6-7-8' with impressive commitment and enthusiasm. Leading the way are Deshna and Sasi, volunteer dance teachers who trained at the Danceworx Mumbai. They are bursting with energy and full of creative ideas to put Dharavi's young dancers through their paces.

Originally led by Maria, a professional dance instructor, the Reality Gives dance program has been running for about one year. Maria has returned to the US to continue her studies, but Deshna and Sasi, who were already supporting Maria's classes, have now stepped into the breach.

"The students are really enthusiastic and they pick things up very quickly,"  Deshna says. "We didn't think they'd remember the dance from last week. We expected to reteach everything, but we'd put the lyrics on the board in the community centre, and when we arrived this morning it was clear the students had been learning and practising the song. They are really committed." And the popularity of the dance program is growing so much that it's now necessary to split the dancers into two groups. From this week, there will be a beginner group, in which the emphasis will be on consistency, discipline and basic positions, and an advanced class for the more experienced dancers.

Deshna and Sasi want to work on the dancers' posture, discipline and calm. They are trying to teach students to be more conscious of the rhythm of the music. "It is a new challenge for us" Sasi says. The two young instructors are used to teaching in English and so the mix of English, Hindi and Marathi they use in Dharavi is helping them learn new expressions and trial new teaching techniques.

The group is already very familiar with Bollywood music, so Deshna and Sasi hope to expose the growing number of young dancers to a range of dance styles. Deshna is a jazz dance specialist and Sasi's background is in ballet, and at the end of each session they show students a YouTube video of a different type of dancing to raise the students' awareness.

Further down the line, Deshna and Sasi would like to arrange a chance for the students to perform to their families and the wider community. "We just need to build their confidence a little more," says Deshna.

There is also an exciting opportunity to offer talented young dancers a scholarship with the Danceworx in Bandra. Deshna and Sasi agree that dancing is a wonderful opportunity to get young people together - irrespective of their background - to learn and grow together.

Article researched and written by Laura Hakimi, volunteer of Reality Gives on and off since 2012. 

Reality Gives Teacher's Report...Youth Empowerment Program Trust Walk

Today we are very excited to post an article by our soft skills teacher and Community Centre Manager Jyoti. Up to now, we never actually published anything written by one of our teachers. We hope that you find it very interesting to read, and this is something that we plan on doing in the future.

Trust is a base from which you build confidence. Having Trust in yourself and then in others is very important for the growth of a person.The 'Trust walk’ is one of the most important lessons of our Youth Empowerment Program (YEP).The objective of the YEP is to build the capacities of the youth from Dharavi so that they will be able to face the challenges of life with confidence, rejoin their studies, or find better career opportunities for themselves, and the ‘Trust Walk’ lesson plays a vital part in this.

The activity was conducted on 24th August 2013 with 30 students at a park called ‘Five Gardens’ in Dadar, Mumbai. The students were divided into pairs where one was blindfolded and other wasn’t. Then we made them walk around the park crossing many obstacles on the way; going under the slide, walking down the steps, standing on the roundabout and much more. The rule was that the lead partner had to keep their partner safe but was not allowed to guide them verbally. When the activity was over, the same activity was repeated but the blindfold was switched.

The students liked the place and enjoyed the activity. When they had finished we came together as a class and they shared their experiences about when they were blindfolded.

Some of the things we discussed were:

• Were they comfortable when blindfolded?

• Whether they had trust in their partner that he/she would take care of them

• Whom do they trust in their personal life?

• Why do they trust that person?

• When they were in a pair with the opposite sex, how did they feel?

• Why is having trust in people important?

• ·Trust is very important for the growth of a person.

• Things which are important to build trust include; knowing the person very well,  confidence that the person will always be there to support, will never ditch, will maintain confidentiality, will protect each other, will never take advantage of each other

• When you trust someone and he/she does something which is disrespectful to you, you should be able to say ‘No’ and stop that person.

• Men and women can be friends but there should be border which they should not cross.

The points highlighted after the discussion were:

The activity was very popular and very useful to understand the concept of trust and to understand the importance of it. At the end students were told to try and build trust among themselves, keeping in mind all the things which are needed to develop trust.  We are sure that the activity will definitely help in developing good relationships among students and help them in future scenarios.