Educate 2000 Underprivileged Children In India

John is 12 years old. The first time Jeevitha, a U&I Teach manager met him was at Ashwini Charitable Trust. John is one of the 44 children that come to ACT for English classes. Looking back, the first interaction that she had to have with John was an unpleasant one. The volunteers who taught him complained about his behavior. John was a handful to deal with during class. His constant interruptions and attention seeking tactics were not received well by the volunteers. Being a teach manager, Jeevitha took responsibility for him. She took personal interest in his work and started to sit in on his classes.

U&I uses flippen tools in all our classrooms. As part of that culture, it was time to pick a child to end the class with a launch. John was her first choice. However, he declined every day. He would see Jeevitha at a distance and bolt in the opposite direction. After much coaxing and pleading he finally agreed to do the launch. John talked about honesty. He believes that honesty is the key to a successful and happy life. He encouraged everyone to be honest because he saw no other way of life.

A highly valued partner in the U&I Teach programme this year is the Flippen Group. Established in 1991, the Flippen Group is the largest educator training organisation in North America today and has been working in countries across the globe, changing the learning environments in schools and learning institutions. We have been immensely blessed to have trainers from the Flippen Group work with us to customise classroom management tools to fit the needs of our Learning Centres. They also conducted a 2-day training session for all the volunteer leaders and staff and we have since then implemented these tools in all our Learning Centres.

Flippen tools have impacted the U&I culture in a huge way. The children, volunteers and staff have incorporated it into their lifestyle. We hope to spread this culture across India. It is your constant support and belief in us that allows us to make this kind of impact. Thank you for your help and dedication. 

Kavya, Auxilia, Netra and Sneha are 10th grade girls from one of U&I’s Learning Centers. They are at a crucial stage of their lives because of the academic pressure kids face in India during the 10th grade. Amidst the fear and anticipations they say they are having fun in 10th grade. Auxilia said “Homework and projects have multiplied this year compared to 9th grade, but the feeling of being seniors, in the highest class of our school is lovely.” Their common problem is with Hindi. Sneha said, “We are just focused on graduating. Hindi brings us nightmares, if we can’t understand simple words, then how can we write essay type answers?”. When asked how they are managing, Netra said “The countdown has already begun in our school- 8 months more, 6 months more... fast moving days worry us”. The year is almost wrapping up for these girls and their reasons for graduating the10th grade was eloquently put across by Kavya, “I am desperate to just pass this exam in order to get a degree. I only want to work and support my family and nothing else.”