Bella Jaisinghani | TNN
In this long narrow alley lined with hutments and paan shops, it is tough to identify a proper landmark. The Teach India volunteers ask you to wait at R K Studio at Chembur, and walk ten minutes to fetch you from there.
It is here, in this most nondescript of neighbourhoods, that the campaign is making a mark thanks to the combined effort of partner NGOs and volunteers. The Sondhis are a young couple with a shared interest in social work. Tanvi Sondhi is a 29-year-old human resource professional while her husband Vikram, who is a year older, is a chartered accountant. Both work with the Aditya Birla Group which has given a number of volunteers to Teach India.
For four hours every Saturday, the couple teaches slum children in a little room in an SRA building in Chembur. The semi-formal school is run by the Thane-based REAP Foundation. “Both of us wanted to volunteer with an NGO that works for children and had been calling helplines for names and numbers,’’ says Tanvi. “But the NGOs all requested money. This was something we disagreed with. Most people give money anyway, so we felt this would duplicate resources. We wanted to give of our time to make it more personal.’’
The couple found the right match in Teach India. The Panjrapole centre they have been allotted is a five-minute walk from their house, and the afternoon timing suits them well. Vikram is off on Saturday, but Tanvi is on call and sometimes has to rush all the way to office in Andheri east. “Thankfully, my husband is with me in this, else it would have been tough,’’ she says.
The 20-odd children from impoverished Muslim families live in the nearby colonies of Gautam Nagar, Rajiv Nagar and Bhole Nagar. The few Hindu students have skipped class that day to go pandal-hopping. Most of the children’s mothers work as housemaids or ragpickers while the fathers drive autorickshaws or do odd jobs. The parents dislike formal schools that tie the children to attendance sheets and exams. “Most of the kids have younger siblings whom they look after,’’ says REAP’s regular teacher Jyoti Pawar, who runs these classes in her small apartment. “In fact, few attend class for four hours at a stretch. They have to go home in between to check on the little ones and fill water.’’
Vikram and Tanvi soon learnt that informal was best. “During lessons, the kids break into an impromptu dance or get into a rough and tumble over a perceived slight,’’ says Tanvi, who sometimes packs a treat for the kids, not that she needs to break the ice. “The first time we met them they grilled us in a fulllength interview,’’ she laughs. “They wanted to know who we were and why we were there. But once satisfied, they happily allowed us into their world.’’ Chocolate is a temporary attraction—nothing binds the children like Vikram’s laptop, which they first mistook for a TV. The unruly bunch is absolutely riveted by the moving images of dogs and cats padding across the screen.
“We decide upon a theme the day before class, say the four seasons, or fruits and flowers, and then download study material from the Internet,’’ says Tanvi. “But much of the stuff is typically American or British, so we have to narrow our search to include only those items relevant to India.’’ Now and then Vikram tests their memory by making an animal sound and then asking them to identify the animal—in English. In his haste to be first, the class clown Naushad identifies a “bow-wow’’ as a “c-a-t, cat!’’ and is deeply embarrassed when his friends burst out laughing.
The Sondhis also impart lessons in etiquette. To the kids’ credit, it must be said that they now have the grace to blush when they are caught using swear words. “Shut up!’’ is all the English they knew before. Now “Thank you’’ and “Good afternoon, teacher’’ have softened their vocabulary.
REAP
Reach Education Action Programme is a mass literacy movement run by Fr Trevor Miranda from Thane. The aim is to take education to the doorstep of marginalised people, wherever they may be. The organisation has a network of 350 non-formal education centres in Mumbai and the surrounding areas upto Nashik. Each year the NGO’s Footpath University covers more than 10,000 students. REAP also runs 140 self-help groups for women’s empowerment, a boarding school for tribal girls in Dolkhamb, Shahapur district and nursing and beauty courses for female dropouts.
It is here, in this most nondescript of neighbourhoods, that the campaign is making a mark thanks to the combined effort of partner NGOs and volunteers. The Sondhis are a young couple with a shared interest in social work. Tanvi Sondhi is a 29-year-old human resource professional while her husband Vikram, who is a year older, is a chartered accountant. Both work with the Aditya Birla Group which has given a number of volunteers to Teach India.
For four hours every Saturday, the couple teaches slum children in a little room in an SRA building in Chembur. The semi-formal school is run by the Thane-based REAP Foundation. “Both of us wanted to volunteer with an NGO that works for children and had been calling helplines for names and numbers,’’ says Tanvi. “But the NGOs all requested money. This was something we disagreed with. Most people give money anyway, so we felt this would duplicate resources. We wanted to give of our time to make it more personal.’’
The couple found the right match in Teach India. The Panjrapole centre they have been allotted is a five-minute walk from their house, and the afternoon timing suits them well. Vikram is off on Saturday, but Tanvi is on call and sometimes has to rush all the way to office in Andheri east. “Thankfully, my husband is with me in this, else it would have been tough,’’ she says.
The 20-odd children from impoverished Muslim families live in the nearby colonies of Gautam Nagar, Rajiv Nagar and Bhole Nagar. The few Hindu students have skipped class that day to go pandal-hopping. Most of the children’s mothers work as housemaids or ragpickers while the fathers drive autorickshaws or do odd jobs. The parents dislike formal schools that tie the children to attendance sheets and exams. “Most of the kids have younger siblings whom they look after,’’ says REAP’s regular teacher Jyoti Pawar, who runs these classes in her small apartment. “In fact, few attend class for four hours at a stretch. They have to go home in between to check on the little ones and fill water.’’
Vikram and Tanvi soon learnt that informal was best. “During lessons, the kids break into an impromptu dance or get into a rough and tumble over a perceived slight,’’ says Tanvi, who sometimes packs a treat for the kids, not that she needs to break the ice. “The first time we met them they grilled us in a fulllength interview,’’ she laughs. “They wanted to know who we were and why we were there. But once satisfied, they happily allowed us into their world.’’ Chocolate is a temporary attraction—nothing binds the children like Vikram’s laptop, which they first mistook for a TV. The unruly bunch is absolutely riveted by the moving images of dogs and cats padding across the screen.
“We decide upon a theme the day before class, say the four seasons, or fruits and flowers, and then download study material from the Internet,’’ says Tanvi. “But much of the stuff is typically American or British, so we have to narrow our search to include only those items relevant to India.’’ Now and then Vikram tests their memory by making an animal sound and then asking them to identify the animal—in English. In his haste to be first, the class clown Naushad identifies a “bow-wow’’ as a “c-a-t, cat!’’ and is deeply embarrassed when his friends burst out laughing.
The Sondhis also impart lessons in etiquette. To the kids’ credit, it must be said that they now have the grace to blush when they are caught using swear words. “Shut up!’’ is all the English they knew before. Now “Thank you’’ and “Good afternoon, teacher’’ have softened their vocabulary.
REAP
Reach Education Action Programme is a mass literacy movement run by Fr Trevor Miranda from Thane. The aim is to take education to the doorstep of marginalised people, wherever they may be. The organisation has a network of 350 non-formal education centres in Mumbai and the surrounding areas upto Nashik. Each year the NGO’s Footpath University covers more than 10,000 students. REAP also runs 140 self-help groups for women’s empowerment, a boarding school for tribal girls in Dolkhamb, Shahapur district and nursing and beauty courses for female dropouts.
A NEW BLACKBOARD: Nothing binds the children like Tanvi and Vikram’s laptop, which they first mistook for a TV. They are riveted by the moving images of dogs and cat.
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