"My father didn't get the salary, I can't buy the textbooks", said Aziz.
"Ghouse ku toh college karana hai, Saniya ka kya hai? 10th ke baad bas....", said the siblings' father. "Bhaiyya, can you talk to the boys? They are teasing me" said Juveriya.
"You are the first to solve this sum! Can you solve it on the board for the class?" "No, bhaiyya" said Pavani.
Welcome to a few of the many classroom conversations in the budget private and government schools of Hyderabad. These are the kids that dream of becoming pilots, engineers, and doctors. These are first-generation learners who dream of shattering the ceiling and flying high. These are the ones that get bogged down by the pressures of the society, by the shackles of patriarchy and misplaced religious biases.
To give every Aziz, Ghouse, Saniya, Juveriya, and Pavani out there the confidence, courage and strong self esteem to face the dire reality that stares in their face, Dramebaaz serves as a platform.
Dramebaaz is a Teach For India(TFI) fellow initiative which aims at building self-esteem, collaboration, confidence, and problem-solving skills in kids from government and budget private schools through drama. From identifying a social issue to brainstorming a solution to preparing a script to enacting it out, the 7-year-olds to the 17-year-olds, they try it all. This journey of growth is celebrated with a grand showcase.
The showcase is a day-long event where around 4500 students unleash their potential in front of a huge audience comprised of their parents, peers, teachers and well-wishers. The beaming smiles across the faces of these students as they step off the stage having executed, brilliantly, months of hard work is what we, the TFI fellows, work for.
To put together this showcase we seek help. The finances for the day look like this:
Food, for all the participants, judges and the support team: 55,000
Transport for the participants and judges to and from the venue: 30,000
Venue: 25,000
Stage: 15,000
Sound System: 15,000
Trophies, Certificates, and Medals: 10,000
For every contribution made, there is going to be a shift in the life of a child! Help us give them that opportunity. :)