This trip was an eye-opening experience in many ways. Having spent considerable time as a volunteer and projects coordinator behind the scenes, it was an incredible experience to witness the execution front on the ground. This trip served as a personal milestone, both as a volunteer and a contributor to the program to visualise the impact. Simply watching the children benefit, expand and grow their opportunities brought immense satisfaction and gratitude. This will remain a memorable trip for life.

 The two day trip was well organized by the ILP team in India. I got the opportunity to visit various program sites in remote areas of the state. We visited anganwadis, primary, upper primary and high schools. The interaction with the students, teachers, local community elders helped me understand the challenges and how we are making progress in improving education for the children. It was reassuring to see the level of dedication and passion from the team. I have compiled a 2mins movie summarizing my experience. PC: Rajkishore Govindu

It was a pivotal moment for me to witness the impact created in the brick kiln community and how their children benefited by ILP-Integrated Rural Community Development Society(IRCDS) intervention. Though the challenges are enormous, I felt optimistic seeing the progress being made. At both these projects I saw the capacity of the people to be responsible for their own development and the level of involvement of the community itself. Meeting children who are now motivated and dedicated gave me the assurance we are on the right path.

250 children of 12 to 18yrs were gathered at the venue. Both girls and boys from diverse socio-economic background. They represented International schools to Central Board, State Board to NGO run bridge school for mainstreaming child labour. While some wore school uniforms, others were in casual daily wear. A few children with physical disabilities & challenges were also present! Heated conversation in English, Hindi or Kannada.

Uniting all of them was the one TOPIC OF DISCUSSION – OUR VOICE OUR SAFETY!

It was an exhilarating experience for India Literacy Project and 4 other Bangalore based NGOs (Enfold Proactive Health Trust, APSA, Concerned for Working Children and CRT) in facilitating the children’s workshop in collaboration with Inventure Academy. Over 250 children gathered at the Inventure School premises to participate in the consultation regarding ‘How to Make Schools Safe – The Karnataka State Policy for Child Protection and Implementing Guidelines and Operational Procedures for Educational Institutions’.

There were many interesting recommendations that emerged from the deliberations and were included in the Children’s Charter. These recommendations have also been incorporated in the Karnataka State Child Protection Policy that was notified by the Karnataka State Cabinet in April 2016, and a few key ones are:

• A zero tolerance policy must be implemented in all schools for protection of children from bullying and sexual abuse.
• A ‘Suggestion Box’ must be placed in all schools to regularly enable children to share their opinions as well as express their grievances. This Suggestion Box is to be placed in or near the toilet areas, as these are the only places where children have privacy.
• CCTV cameras must not be placed in class rooms as it invades the privacy of the students. However, all stakeholders – teaching and non-teaching staff, management, parents and students – must be enabled to be the ‘protecting eye’, preventing children from any form of abuse and safety negligence or violations.
• Senior student representatives must be included as mandatory members of every school’s Child Protection Committee (with the number of representatives proportionate to the school strength). The student representatives must also be present when the Suggestion Box is regularly opened and follow-up action discussed.

Children today are recognised as ‘subjects of rights’ and not mere ‘objects of protection’ where most decisions are made by adults without understanding children’s perspective.  Consequently, a lot of emphasis is now being placed on providing platforms for children to voice their concerns and their perceptions of safety, and express their views, opinions and suggestions on how they can actively participate to make schools and homes safer for themselves.

India Literacy Project upholds the UN Convention on the Rights of Children, 1989 and ensures that all its partners provide the space for children in schools, community and with governments to express their views and perspectives, whatever be the matter at hand. Through formation of Meena Manch/Thanda, Child Rights Clubs/Sanghas, Children’s Cabinets and other such platforms, children are oriented on their rights and responsibilities and how they can be part of initiatives on matters that affect their lives.

The collective efforts of NGOs and children’s forums across the state has resulted in the Karnataka Government passing an order for exclusively taking up children’s issues through the Makkala Grama Sabhas, wherein children are also represented. Other State governments are gradually recognizing the role being played by children as ambassadors for preventing violence against them, improving access to facilities like functional toilets, public transport in rural areas, road safety in urban centers, etc.

Children have also actively contributed their might to influence election manifestos of contending state parties, spurred by the staunch belief that who forms the government does not matter but what does is their commitment for children!

Starting January for the past 20 years or so, troops of people block out their Saturday mornings for runs and walks. One would think they are just like many others who made New Year resolutions to exercise regularly and often more. This is a very special group and the commitment does not last a few weeks and fade away into the dusk!

The Saturday morning runs start in earnest and soon a second and third day in a week are added and then a whole bunch of people join this bandwagon for regular runs and walks. The pavement and trails are pounded, sweat is wiped off the brow, shirts are soaking wet.

The activities around the training go into a major frenzy by April and culminating in the first weekend in May. Who are these people? What are they doing year after year? What motivates them to do this?

The group starting the preparations in January is a group of dedicated ILP supporters. They are preparing for The Golden Gate Relay that is held in the first weekend of May every year. Many of the participants return year after year and have done so for many years. Every year they bring more people to join them in this endeavor – friends, family, co-workers, etc. It is not just the high performance athletes that take up this challenge.

Many of the runners are casual runners and then train hard to participate in the relay. Some of the walkers have never walked more than a couple of miles, but with practice and coaching they too are able to handle the course set for them. These are the people that believe in the ILP cause and strive to make a difference in education in India – one step at a time. Their only motivation is to support ILP in its mission.

The Relay is organized by Organs R Us – an organization that promotes the need for organ donors. Through walking and running, transplant recipients, candidates, organ donors, donor family members and others have generated many millions of dollars for publicity promoting organ donation. Through participation in athletic events selected for maximum publicity and fun, this group showcases their fitness proving that organ transplantation saves lives.

Thanks to Organs R Us, ILP has been able to field teams and participate in this amazing event every year raising awareness for organ donation and supporting education in India.­­­­

The Relay involves teams running a 190 mile course from Napa to Santa Cruz or walking 130 miles from Petaluma to Santa Cruz. Each team is made up of 12 participants. The participants walk 2 legs or run 3 legs: each leg is approximately 6 miles with varying degrees of difficulty allowing participants of various degrees of fitness levels to participate comfortably.

The race route meanders through 36 counties in the San Francisco Bay Area through the most scenic of routes: through redwood forests, along stretches of the Pacific ocean, via the calmest of residential neighborhoods, by a cemetery in the dead of night, on dark lonely roads and highways and busy streets, up a quarry in the hot afternoon sun and through narrow shaded bike paths.

The crown jewel of this race is crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Relay is one of ILP’s major fundraisers of the year. We strive to raise between $220,000 and $250,000 every year. All the participants are committed to raising at least a minimum for the relay. As the participants reach out to a wide audience, more and more people become aware of ILP’s mission, goals and accomplishments in the field of education in India. Each year ILP fields between 15 and 20 teams or between 180 to 240 participants.

The runners and walkers start their training sometime in January and continue till the last week of April. It is a huge time commitment to block out weekend mornings in order to train. ILP has a focused training program for running teams that concentrates on good form, strength and speed – all lead by a dedicated volunteer. Each training week focuses on a different element to ensure the runner can run assigned legs in best form without injuring themselves. Walkers are trained to walk different terrains at different times of the day to get them acclimatized to race day conditions.

The participants not only are committed to training but they are also committed to raising funds for ILP. Some of the people who sign up would prefer to just run or walk, but they completely step out of their comfort zones to ask for and raise money. For many asking for money is extremely hard and uncomfortable and something they would rather not do. Most participants put aside their reservations and take that step and ask for donations – all for a great cause.

The Relay is a massive undertaking that involves managing logistics and the course set up. Organizers need to be able to handle about 200 teams each with 12 members. Runners and Walkers are not the only ones spending countless hours preparing for the relay. ILP’s volunteers spend a lot of time working with Organs R Us to make the Relay, an unforgettable experience for the many teams that ILP fields. Work on the relay starts way before the participants start their training in January. ILP volunteers start their activities in November to set up registration forms, fliers, automating fundraising page and PayPal links, and discussions with Organs R Us.

The team of unseen volunteers spend a lot of time from November through June handling the ILP web site, interfacing with PayPal, coordinating van rentals for the team, setting up the pre-relay lunch, ensuring each van is stocked with essentials for the relay duration etc . ILP Support staff are available through the entire race weekend providing food along the way, accompanying walkers through their legs if needed and checking in on various teams at various locations to provide any additional support. Volunteers also support the participants by answering a multitude of questions regarding fundraising, relay weekend logistics, company matching funds management.

The backend heroes support the participants in such a way that they only have to concentrate on fundraising and actually running or walking.
The relay weekend is one of sheer joy, focus, patience, fatigue, energy, sweat all rolled up together in the pursuit of completing the 130/190 mile relay in under 30 hours. Relay playbook, food, water and bags are packed and the vans are decorated. Teams leave their homes before the crack of dawn to get to the starting point, The relay is flagged off at 8 am on the first Saturday in May in Petaluma or Napa. Team members take turns walking or running continuously from the start till they cross the finish line in Santa Cruz. Exchange of the baton between team members is symbolic of organ donation.

      

The months of training and preparation culminate in the team crossing the finish line in Santa Cruz. Teams walk together crossing the finish line – one step at a time with the hope and dream of an educated India – one child at a time.

ILP drives a wide array of efforts to enable children’s education from preschool to high school and beyond. In an effort to quantify our efforts ILP has designed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that provide objective and real-time view of progress to us, and to our NGO partners.

These KPIs help ILP to objectively evaluate the impact that we are making to improve the schooling, learning outcomes, and to provide career guidance and more.

ILP collects data from the field using custom-designed surveys in a mobile-app called Collect from Atlan. This enables ILP to create actionable analysis to refine and enhance our plans of action.

Defining the data to be collected, the frequency of collection, and finally using technology to capture and analyze this data has improved our ability to get an accurate picture, easily identify issues, and improve outcomes.

Some of our KPIs are: 

• Schools Infrastructure & Services Improved
• Children Enrolled & Re-Enrolled
• Student Attendance Increased
• Learning Levels Increased
• Community Involvement Increased
• Career Guidance Provided

In future issues we will delve into each of these topics, how we collect information to facilitate evaluation and what improvement means to us for each of these KPIs.