Working with the Etasha Society

Laxmikant and I are currently involved in a project with the Etasha Society. Etasha is an NGO working to change the lives of the disadvantaged youth of the country, by providing skills development and vocational training to them. This training makes it easier for them to get jobs in various industries, such as Hospitality, Retail, Manufacturing, BPOs and Financial Services. A number of young men and women have benefitted from the training provided by Etasha, and are working in positions of responsibility with a higher pay, and more importantly, a sense of pride.

In order to carry on their good work, Etasha needs as much funding as it can get. In the past, they have had tie-ups with organizations like Barclays and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to conduct workshops for the underprivileged members of society. However, these have been one-off projects. So, our goal is to come up with strategies to increase the retail funding base of Etasha by building long-term relationships with companies in different industries. We aim to make these partnerships mutually beneficial for both parties, resulting in the economic and social growth of society. For this purpose, we have divided companies into different sectors, and are coming up with different plans customized for each sector. The major sectors identified are –

§ Hospitality

§ Retail

§ Manufacturing

§ BPO

§ Design & Architecture

Generic strategies for each industry will be formulated, and implemented first for companies that Etasha has a history with. Gradually, other companies in the industry will be approached with similar plans, hopefully with the added advantage of already having successfully implemented it with the original companies.

The main attraction for companies to tie-up with Etasha is the opportunity to engage in Corporate Social Responsibility activities. Companies today are expected to contribute to society through their CSR wings, and working with Etasha, a registered NGO, would provide a platform for them to showcase these activities. More importantly, the companies can expect something tangible in return as well, as the individuals trained through their funds can become future employees of the companies. This enables the companies to advertise their contribution to society.

This is our humble effort to contribute to the change that Etasha is attempting to bring to society. We shall keep you informed about our project developments as time progresses. In the meantime, if you or your organization would like to contribute to this wonderful cause, do feel free to contact us at guptaaks@gmail.com, or laxmikantborase@gmail.com.

As a wise man once said, “in helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us”.

The Final Test

9^th October ’11,

After 3 odd months of teaching at JSS, it was time to reflect upon our as well as student’s performance. So Salil, Sagar, Varun and Priyamvada went to JSS on Sunday to carry out the tests. The test focussed on English writing and reading abilities and understanding of Mathematics fundamentals. The questionnaire was the same as given for benchmark test taken earlier. This was done to maintain the clarity in showing the improvement achieved.

A common test on basic mathematical operations was given to the children irrespective of the class in which they study. A separate test with increase in difficulty level was given to children of std. VI and above. It was nice to see each kid making efforts to complete the test correctly.

Everyone was asked to write a short composition on the topic ‘My Best Friend’. In oral test, each kid was asked to read few paragraphs of a story. The paragraph for everyone was same.

When asked about the test ‘how was it?’ it felt good to see the enthusiasm when the kids said they liked it. Significant improvements are seen in the performance by kids, in some case by more than 100%, in both English and Maths. Quantified exact improvement will be reflected in the comprehensive report being prepared.

15th August- A visit on Independence Day with a purpose

On Independence Day Sagar, Salil, Maitree,Mohit, Dhiren and many other volunteers visited JSS to administer a test for the children.

The test aimed at assessing the basic capabilities of the children in written and spoken English and certain areas of Mathematics. The assessment was to be made using some pre-defined parameters on which their performance was evaluated. For English, children were tested on parameters such as comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, with focus on algebra, arithmetic and geometry in case of Mathematics. The test was administered for nearly an hour and half.

Besides the test some of the volunteers interacted with the children on the importance of Independence Day. They sang patriotic and devotional songs, and we had a fun session interacting with everyone.

On the whole, it was a few hours spent well on the occasion of I-Day!

Teaching time at JSS

We have made a number of visits to JSS teaching the kids during last one and a half month. Brief description of the same is provided below.

On 21^st August, Varun and Mohit made visit to JSS for their session with kids.

Varun preferred to help kids with computers. He explained them about the basics of Input and Output devices of a computer. He helped them in using keyboard. Along with learning to type on keyboard, kids also enjoyed learning English. This improved the efficiency of the exercise as it served 2 purposes.

Mohit took care of solving their doubts in Maths. He took a session of whole batch on Algebra dealing mostly with Squares and Prime Numbers.

With these 2 sessions, the day ended with adding value to these kids.

Next week, on 28^th August, Maitree and Sagar went to JSS for their session with kids.

For their convenience, they divided the batch in two groups such as kids of 4^th and above in one group and rest in other group. They took turns to teach them within their limited time frame.

Maitree took English as the agenda for the day. The focus was on three aspects of English language – grammar (noun and verb), vocabulary and pronunciation- by means of involving the children in a story exercise. She took a small story with the senior kids, working on the three aspects as she went ahead with the story. A similar exercise was followed with the junior children as well.

Sagar took up computer and made efforts to make kids comfortable with the components and basic concepts of computer and how input/output devices work. For the group of junior kids, he tried to make them acquainted with the keyboard by asking them to type their names. While for senior group, he extended the exercise by asking them to write the story they studied in the session with Maitree.

The following Sunday i.e. 4^th September, Salil and Priyamvada visited JSS for the session.

Priyamvada took English class with children this time. She preferred to teach them the topic which was coming for the students of 5^th standard in the exam they had next day. She read out few lines from the story given in their English book and made them read it aloud. She also further explained them the meaning of the sentences word by word. Since Maitree taught them Noun in the last session, she asked them to identify noun in the sentences. She helped them identify if they failed to. She also introduced them with the idea of pronouns and verbs. Thus children did split the sentence in the noun, verb and the few adjectives present in the sentences.

She also separately taught 5^th standard students about letter writing since it was coming in their exam. The response of the children was good. They enjoyed studying story, would follow the pattern most probably.

Salil taught Computers in the meantime. All the students up to class 5^th were made accustomed to mouse and keyboard. They tried to type anything they like for a span of 5 minutes. Also they made merry working with the mouse for the first time. Some students had nice control and could paint in MS- Paint while others did find it difficult and required some help. The enthusiasm and confidence of all the students were worth applauding.

Next Sunday i.e. 11^th September, Varun and Maitree visited JSS for the session.

Maitree proceeded with her English as agenda for the day. This was in continuation with the previous session on 28^th of August. Similarly, the batch was again divided in two groups-Seniors and juniors.

She focused on same three aspects of English language – grammar (nouns and verbs), vocabulary and pronunciation- by means of involving the children in a story exercise. She took a small story with the senior kids, working on the three aspects as she went ahead with the story. She also indulged junior kids in an exercise involving story building with animals, where she emphasized on nouns and verbs using their own choice of animals.

Varun again took Computers at hand to make kids comfortable with the use of keyboard. Using the same method as before, he continued with the teaching.

This session turned out to be the last session before out End-Sem Exams. We continued with our sessions after the exams from 2^nd October.

This day, Maitree and Sagar went to JSS. Maitree took up the task of teaching Computer skills to 40-odd children. Keeping in mind the differing comprehension and ability of the kids, divided them into seniors(class 4 and above) and juniors (class 3 and below).She took up typing specifically as agenda for the session .Starting with the senior children, she gave them a small typing exercise involving words, punctuations and special characters. The children attempted the same on her laptop one by one and by the end of the session were able to identify some of the keys apart from the alphabets. She repeated a similar exercise with the junior kids and by the end of almost two hours the children were able to recall some of their learning during the session.

Sagar took session on maths covering aspects of algebra and basic arithmetic. Students showed interest in learning and their doubt clearance even pushed the class beyond its stipulated time.

Yet again!

It was yet another set of experience to add to these resources, a new day to begin with the kids. As usual eager enough to absorb the positive energy flowing around them and enthu to respond to us. Today was yet another day, got to check the retention power of the small 4th standard kids and you wont believe it they had everything intact, right in the way expected. All set to show their tasks and ask questions on why this n why not that...oh!  another lecture for us!!...this time not for us but definitely by us..:)

Good to see them answering my tests well...the plural form of words(in Hindi). Now was the time for initiating today's lecture-English class. " The Lion and The Rat " ...it was great recalling that story and the students enjoyed reciting the same I believe. A little bit of basics, as in what is a letter, how to form a word and then finally how to frame a meaningful sentence.Tried my maximum to give them an insightful analysis of things they have probably studied earlier also in their respective schools, just to cover up any gap which was left unfed.

Well it seems they were excited to read the story and mostly hear it in a fully charged environment around them....young elated crowd of competitors and friends. Ohh!  got to meet them soon again.................hope to make it !!!!!.....God bless the kids!!!

Philanthropy: A new chapter in B-Schools

Who had thought there would be lessons to teach the humane aspect of mankind.This life full of materialism and high on speed did not suggest anywhere that we would look back to promote human welfare at the cost of our own time and resources.Still, this love for humanity has come, be it in the form of,corporate social responsibility or corporate governance.A separate field of education has altogether come up to study the social aspect of the course of business and society. B-schools MBAs are taking immense interest in weaving philanthropy into a social-enterprise course catering to the increasing realization and demand for social management instead of a capitalistic approach to problem-solving.This affinity is also a by-product of the urge of students to register their presence outside the academics, to create a valuable impact, to practice active learning and to serve the society at the other end. The ones who ultimately are desirous of serving on the boards of non-profits or to embrace philanthropy as a career are passionately coming up to join hands with various trusts and organizations. As a member thereof, they are also actively contributing in the raising of funds and simultaneously ensuring that these rare funds are invested in the most productive activity amidst huge competition for the scarce resources. Wise decision is to be made by the allocator owing to the priority and rarity of the situation.

There comes the importance of a proper structure to be brought in place to develop the students socially aware and responsible. Philanthropy as an academic subject has been designed and adopted worldwide with strong likes(as in social networking) and some 36  B-Schools have floated about 100 courses including those  at undergraduate levels.An appealing term for the business students, philanthropy is imbibing in them the essence and art of giving and sharing. Business students grab this as an opportunity to create an impact on their community voluntarily.They can actually implement what they have learnt and make a difference to the world around them and this is what drives them to an effort and then to a goal, big enough to earn smiles for many.

Pay It Forward, a U.S. University philanthropy program in 33 college campuses of Ohio,Michigan and Kentucky offers each selected course a certain sum of money-$4500 annually for the past 2 years. Students need to rationally allocate the money to local non-profits and devote 15 hours minimum serving one. At some institution. they spent a whole year researching how best to divide the funds after a proper evaluation of the quality and financial health, analysis of tax filings and systems of operation of other charity organizations.The students selected from among so many options to finalize the institution in Columbus called Directions for Youth and Families,whereby the funds hired a dance trainer who would train students to maintain their energy level and engage in some activity after the classes.

As an MBA student they have the eagerness to become better-educated and savvier philanthropists,they need
to assess how good can they do with the given sum, a strategic issue which calls for application of business skills and thus an enhancement of the present skills.In the quest of creating a direct impact they go for a hands-on experience in serving the needy.

The experienced say “It really drills down into your belief system and helps you discover what you believe is an effective strategy,” You get a holistic view of the philanthropy field  and as a result you feel more effective at your job.“It just gives the students a taste of what they would be doing later.”

Ch. Lakhiram Arya Anathalaya

Aug 21,2011

This was the day when our journey with Ch. Lakhiram Arya Anathalaya gained momentum. When we reached there early in the morning, the children were busy playing and we thought it would naturally be a tedious job to make them sit and study. The first thing was quite true but they proved our second assumption wrong by the great interest they showed in learning. We started our mission with each one of us handling a particular class of students. We had to get back to our school days to explain their lessons. It was interesting and at times challenging too when they asked questions which sounded simple but needed some extra effort to explain them in the simplest form which they can understand.

One of the interesting things was we had to teach even English in Hindi!! It was a real challenge to Krishna and me as we don't know Hindi. It was a good experience. When the kids learnt English, we learnt Hindi from them by the way.The classes went so interesting to the children and us as well that we realised very late that we had to leave.There came a touching moment, when we were about to leave the place, two kids came running with their books and were pleading to teach their next lessons too.We were dumbstruck and then somehow managed to do some part of the lessons which the kids asked for.

It was a great experience which gave us that feel of contentment and complacence. Not only the kids, even we are eager and excited awaiting our next class....