ࡱ > 7 %# bjbjUU %. 7| 7| % l ~ r $ # # A 8 A A A A A A 0)A{ $ N 0 ~ ^ A Site visit report Project Name: Uncle's Classes, Vikas Adhyayan Kendra, Jogeswari, Mumbai Asha- Mumbai Volunteers - Murali, Shrikant, Karpagam, Nikhil, Soorya & Manish Date of Visit: 12th May 2005 Organisation History and description Vikas Adhyayan Kendra, established in 1981, is a secular voluntary organization engaged in the study and research of contemporary social issues in the context of Indian reality. One of the projects which VAK has been involved in is that of providing free tutorial classes to children residing in the slums of Jogeswari and other nearby suburbs. History of Uncles Classes The project Uncles classes was started in 1997 by Mr. Syed Firoz Ashraf, founder trustee of VAK. When Mr. Ashraf shifted his residence to Jogeswari, a predominantly Muslim dominated suburb, he was shocked to see the pathetic condition of poor children, majority of who were not getting any school education. Poverty, ignorance and non-availability of basic facilities were main cause for their plight in the field of education and health care. But their (parents / children) desire to change the situation motivated him to do something for the underprivileged children. So, he started this in 1997 in a small way and has gradually grown it. Today, after 8 years, the area still remains predominantly a slum and there is not much difference in the living conditions of the people. Girls still get married at a very young age (17-18 years) and then have to take on the burden of looking after two households that of their parents & in-laws. But there is certainly hope for children who want to pursue education & career. Over the years, a strong sense of need for education is slowly developed among parents. There are about 300 children who are being benefited by the tuition classes and more importantly the girls who are teaching in these classes get to earn a modest sum of money which goes a long way in boosting their confidence and making them independent to pursue their dreams, although for a short while before they are married off. It is hoped that at least a few might break away from this vicious cycle and the entire effort is worth of that sake. What is certain is that these girls will ensure that their children get the best of education opportunities. The visit: We met at Uncle Firoz Ashraf's place very close to Jogeshwari station. It being the summer vacation time, no classes were going on. Mr. Ashraf had invited some of his students (girls) to chat with us. Most of the girls had been beneficiaries of the tuition classes for some time, and most of them were in Junior or Degree College. These girls, now, have in turn taken up teaching at Uncles teaching centers. Classes are run at various locations close to the slums in Jogeshwari, Juhu galli areas. Small rooms, mostly at the teachers residences are used as venue for conducting the classes. These places are also convenient to attract the children, as they are just next-door. At two places, rooms are taken on rent to conduct classes as well as to be the study rooms for senior children. The classes provide extra help to the students, to supplement the schools that the girls go to. About 300 children (predominantly girls) are currently enrolled with the classes. Teaching is carried out by the senior girls who get paid honorarium for the same. The honorarium money is used by them to partially pay for their own college education. We had an informal chat with the girls, talking to them about their aspirations, the problems they face. These girls go to the only college (Md. Ismail Yusuf college) that is available in close vicinity of the slums. They would not be allowed to go any farther than that. In spite of having gone through schooling and college in Urdu medium, they spoke decent English. They spoke about their aspirations/ambitions/dreams, the problems, they (& girls in general in their community) faced at home and in the community, and how education is given the lowest priority especially for women. It was therefore very heartening to see the confidence, and enthusiasm the girls shared about being in college, wanting to learn English. Their career ambitions were interesting one wanted to become a teacher, nurse, journalist (drawing inspiration from Mr. Ashraf who is a journalist himself and a great conversationalist). One of them had done web designing and was looking to pursue her career in that field, another visual basic! Basically they are not thinking about a career that is too ambitious but something that they can relate to & believe that its possible to achieve. This is the most important difference Mr. Ashraf seems to have made in the lives of these children. There was one girl who, with her sister, ran tuition classes for almost 40 other children. We visited one of the rooms where the classes are conducted. The room is rented for a sum of about Rs1000-1200/- pm. The room was very small 12'X15', but functional, and provides a shelter of sorts where the students can study and work together. Typically they dont get the privacy to study in their own homes. Mr. Ashraf also facilitates the vocational training sessions in nursing, data entry, beautician classes etc. In the summer holidays, he and his wife conducts English coaching classes for teaching basic grammar principles. These classes serve the fundamental purposes of removing the fear of English in the children and also give them enough confidence. WAH Project One years running expenses of the above tuition classes (honorarium of the teachers (40%) / rent & other incidental expenses) is the WAH project. The budget seems reasonable. Observations: Mr. Ashraf is assisted by his wife and daughter. As we were walking from his apt to the classroom, it became obvious that he is well respected in the community. Infact, it would be impossible to do what he does without the tacit support of the people that live close by. In addition to these classes he tries to support every child in whatever way possible like getting a computer donated / bought at a cheap rate for some of his girls to practice. He has got couple of them enrolled in nursing courses and one of them has completed the training and is now employed in a hospital nearby. He is an influential person in the community and so tries to get the above done through his contacts. The positives: The obvious dedication of Mr and Mrs Ashraf, and the involvement of the girls. They definitely felt that they had benefited from Uncle's efforts. Concern: Lack of a secondary rung of leadership. Even the senior girls that we met would be a little overwhelmed by the effort required to run the project. The most important ingredient for the success and continuation of these efforts seems to the encouragement provided by Mr. Ashraf and his adamant enthusiasm to fight it out with every parent for the sake of the future of every one of his kids. Its not just running these classes but observing the progress & interests of every child and planning of its future software / nursing / teaching etc. Mr. Ashraf needs to find people to delegate authority to. However we don't see this as a no-go situation. Such leadership cannot be exactly planned and needs to evolve and we do hope that it will. (Please note that the funding requirements include salaries for two project coordinators, he is planning to recruit). We have suggested to him that a couple of senior girls can be groomed to evolve into project coordinators. The ground reality is that the current generation of girls is still not going to break out of the current problems to significantly improve their quality of life. All their dreams are not going to become true. However, there is a significant possibility that they will encourage and insist that their children get good education and therefore get access to better opportunities. Note: We didnt take the camera and the photos are from Mr. Ashrafs album ! [ r D E F a t j w ) 7 " ョ؎mm #56>*CJ OJ QJ \]^J aJ jY CJ OJ QJ U^J aJ 56CJ OJ QJ \]^J aJ j 5CJ OJ QJ UaJ j 5CJ OJ QJ UaJ 5CJ OJ QJ aJ ^J CJ H*OJ QJ \^J aJ CJ OJ QJ ^J aJ CJ OJ QJ \^J aJ 5CJ OJ QJ ^J aJ >*CJ ) [ E F a $d x x 7$ 8$ H$ a$ $d x x 7$ 8$ H$ a$ $d x x a$ $d x x a$ d x x 7$ 8$ H$ d x x %# x t j k w ( ) 7 F " %# d x x d x x 7$ 8$ H$ $d x x 7$ 8$ H$ a$ " " $# %# 6CJ OJ QJ ]aJ 56CJ OJ QJ \]aJ # 0 P / =!"#8$% D d -V H C $ A V A K 0 3 R c 3#" ? D F7 3#" JFIF LEAD Technologies Inc. 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