City-based NGO, the GREAT Foundation, recently bagged two Apeejay Volunteer Awards for its work with underprivileged children
Twenty-six-year-old financial analyst Jaslene Bawa began volunteering for the Global Research Education and Training (GREAT) Foundation in 2008. She volunteers every Saturday at the schools suppported by the NGO and teaches spoken English to children of low means. The over three years of experience has accorded her with a vantage position to view the growth of the organisation . “We started with six volunteers in 2008, now we have close to 35. The students earlier were very biased against girls, they were of the idea that they should not surpass the boys in the class. There were even instances when the boys would tear up the homework sheets of the girls. That has changed, they now accept that the girls can excel too,” says Bawa. Her dedicated volunteering fetched her an award recently. Bawa was the regional (Western India) winner and was on the national shortlist of the Apeejay Volunteer Awards that were conferred this September in New Delhi. The award recognises volunteers who have provided sustained support to an NGO, with no ulterior motives involved.
The GREAT Foundation also won a trophy on account of being one the regional finalists for the 'NGO of the Year' award. The idea for the foundation was conceptualised by Dr Viney Kirpal, inspired by her tenure as a professor at IIT-Mumbai, where, complying to a government stipulation, she and other teachers conducted classes for students from the SC/ST backgrounds. “It was a real culture shock for me; I had never understood that there was such an underbelly of society,” Kirpal recalls.
Over the years, she got closely involved in the lives of some of the students, often even writing about their situation. She left her job 14 years ago and founded GREAT Foundation in 2002. The foundation started with teacher training in cantonment board schools, and today has shifted its focus to close to 5,000 students studying in nine schools. “We had first approached Mahadji Shinde School in Wanowrie, but we were suggested to adopt all nine schools under it,” recalls Kirpal.
The NGO conducts English and Math classes for children from standard VIII to X, peppering the teaching with games, etiquette classes and public speaking sessions. Depending on the donations, it provides stationery material to them and also helps them with SSC form fees. Last month, a meditation programme was initiated, which is effectively being followed by the schools every morning. There is a tie-up with Toy Bank, which has inspired an idea for a toy library at a Ghorpadi school. Soon to come is a teacher-training collaboration with the Azim Premji Foundation. “Everything is volunteer-driven, I work myself to death,” confesses Kirpal. “It is difficult to engage a core team because the donations are so low. But we do have trustees and a board which gives suggestions.”
Understandably, people like Bawa keep the mission afloat. “The students follow our example. It's not just the subjects, it's a gamut of things that they learn about cleanliness and general behaviour,” says Bawa.
Twenty-six-year-old financial analyst Jaslene Bawa began volunteering for the Global Research Education and Training (GREAT) Foundation in 2008. She volunteers every Saturday at the schools suppported by the NGO and teaches spoken English to children of low means. The over three years of experience has accorded her with a vantage position to view the growth of the organisation . “We started with six volunteers in 2008, now we have close to 35. The students earlier were very biased against girls, they were of the idea that they should not surpass the boys in the class. There were even instances when the boys would tear up the homework sheets of the girls. That has changed, they now accept that the girls can excel too,” says Bawa. Her dedicated volunteering fetched her an award recently. Bawa was the regional (Western India) winner and was on the national shortlist of the Apeejay Volunteer Awards that were conferred this September in New Delhi. The award recognises volunteers who have provided sustained support to an NGO, with no ulterior motives involved.
The GREAT Foundation also won a trophy on account of being one the regional finalists for the 'NGO of the Year' award. The idea for the foundation was conceptualised by Dr Viney Kirpal, inspired by her tenure as a professor at IIT-Mumbai, where, complying to a government stipulation, she and other teachers conducted classes for students from the SC/ST backgrounds. “It was a real culture shock for me; I had never understood that there was such an underbelly of society,” Kirpal recalls.
Over the years, she got closely involved in the lives of some of the students, often even writing about their situation. She left her job 14 years ago and founded GREAT Foundation in 2002. The foundation started with teacher training in cantonment board schools, and today has shifted its focus to close to 5,000 students studying in nine schools. “We had first approached Mahadji Shinde School in Wanowrie, but we were suggested to adopt all nine schools under it,” recalls Kirpal.
The NGO conducts English and Math classes for children from standard VIII to X, peppering the teaching with games, etiquette classes and public speaking sessions. Depending on the donations, it provides stationery material to them and also helps them with SSC form fees. Last month, a meditation programme was initiated, which is effectively being followed by the schools every morning. There is a tie-up with Toy Bank, which has inspired an idea for a toy library at a Ghorpadi school. Soon to come is a teacher-training collaboration with the Azim Premji Foundation. “Everything is volunteer-driven, I work myself to death,” confesses Kirpal. “It is difficult to engage a core team because the donations are so low. But we do have trustees and a board which gives suggestions.”
Understandably, people like Bawa keep the mission afloat. “The students follow our example. It's not just the subjects, it's a gamut of things that they learn about cleanliness and general behaviour,” says Bawa.
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