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Vivek and I (Steffi), are pursuing a Fellowship at Teach for India, teaching and learning with our 48 enthusiastic 5th graders at, a low income school in Ahmedabad.
Yogini says, “Didi, some kids who are not very good in studies, are always criticized by other elders for their marks. I don’t like when they are talked to disrespectfully. So I teach them every day under the tree outside my house and all children love coming there.” Sakshi shares, “There is a girl near my house who has never gone to school. We talked to her parents, but they are physically challenged and so have their own reasons of not being able to send her to a school. Now, she comes to learn at our place with full excitement and never misses a day!” Vandana tells to her mother, “I want to gather all the children roaming around on the streets and surround them with a world of story books. They’ll surely learn something, like how we have learned from books in our classroom!”
Since August 2018, these children have together set up Library spaces, accessible at no cost for all the children in the community, irrespective of their age-groups and academic or social background. They have experienced the magic of having a classroom library and now want to spread this magic to those who do not have this privilege. They envision that One day, All the children in their community will have access to child-friendly libraries, creating Readers and Leaders.
These are our Student Leaders, who lead the community in different ways that they can. Their dreams are big and so are the hardships in the path. Most of our students come from socio-economically marginalized families where parents struggle to make ends meet. Though these challenges limited them to some extent, it could not stop them from turning their dreams to reality. They are our Bunch of Believers, who believe in themselves and in the world.
Here is your platform to do good for the world and empower the next team of heroes and leaders.
The funds raised by you and us together, will be used towards the following and much more-
Yogini says, “Didi, some kids who are not very good in studies, are always criticized by other elders for their marks. I don’t like when they are talked to disrespectfully. So I teach them every day under the tree outside my house and all children love coming there.” Sakshi shares, “There is a girl near my house who has never gone to school. We talked to her parents, but they are physically challenged and so have their own reasons of not being able to send her to a school. Now, she comes to learn at our place with full excitement and never misses a day!” Vandana tells to her mother, “I want to gather all the children roaming around on the streets and surround them with a world of story books. They’ll surely learn something, like how we have learned from books in our classroom!”
Since August 2018, these children have together set up Library spaces, accessible at no cost for all the children in the community, irrespective of their age-groups and academic or social background. They have experienced the magic of having a classroom library and now want to spread this magic to those who do not have this privilege. They envision that One day, All the children in their community will have access to child-friendly libraries, creating Readers and Leaders.
These are our Student Leaders, who lead the community in different ways that they can. Their dreams are big and so are the hardships in the path. Most of our students come from socio-economically marginalized families where parents struggle to make ends meet. Though these challenges limited them to some extent, it could not stop them from turning their dreams to reality. They are our Bunch of Believers, who believe in themselves and in the world.
Here is your platform to do good for the world and empower the next team of heroes and leaders.
The funds raised by you and us together, will be used towards the following and much more-
- Books for classroom and community libraries- To build their love for reading, encourage curious minds, impart necessary skills for reading comprehension have monthly subscriptions to books like National Geographic for Kids and children's newspapers.
- Educational Toys- Fun and creative board games and puzzles will not only boost their learning but also challenge them academically and socially. These would be used in the classroom by these 5th graders as well as at the community libraries by all the children accessing the space.
- Stationery - Managing the Community library with systematic records of the story books, details of issue / return of books by users and making the room a child-friendly space with charts require some basic stationery supplies.
- Furniture- A cupboard or open holder for storing books, games and stationery, mats for the students to sit on and some benches.
- Visits and Excursions- Trips to museums, libraries, book fairs, science centers, and community centres would be experiences that will help them in learning how to manage a library in a sustainable manner.
- Writing and people resources- Workbooks and worksheets to improve their writing abilities. Along with this, it would be of a great impact to hire and invite skilled professionals to our classroom and community libraries to conduct workshops catering to specific needs to build awareness and to enhance understanding.
