Empower Vulnerable Young People with Life Skills

Dear Donors

In this update we bring you a few moments that became milestones for the children. Thank you for helping us help them.

The following two narratives are from our Dream Adventure Program and Dream Creative Arts Program. A story of a girl-child for whom an outdoor adventure camp was an experience of realization of self-achievement, of breaking barriers, norms & rules stated by our culture, religion and socio-political set up. The second story is of an 8 year old for whom an appreciation is the beginning of his learning in building interpersonal relationships.

Nita (name changed) was one of the most active participants in camp. She showed good teamwork and took a lot of initiative. On the last day of camp at ‘Circle Time’, reflecting on her experience of having fun and learning new skills said, “Everyone thinks only men can survive hard physical work and activities that require courage. In this all Girl’s Camp, we have proven that is not true. We can do whatever we set our mind on…its just needs a little effort”. The true inner strength of this young girl was reflected in this sharing. The rest of the group agreed with what Nita had to say and her feedback was received with a thunderous applause.

Anil (name changed) was rude and unwilling to follow instructions. Midway through the sessions a breakthrough happened. In one session, the facilitator introduced the concept of geometric shapes using circles as an example but the children were given the option to use any geometric form that they wished to. Anil cooperated and painted bold squares on the sheet of paper given to him. The facilitators appreciated his work. Post the episode, Anil is willing to take instruction, sincerely paints and has fun while doing so. He still continues to talk and do mischief in the class, but is not rude.

All the children in Dream A Dream programs come from extremely vulnerable backgrounds where they have little or no exposure to a learning environment to develop life skills. The Program gives children an opportunity to discover their inner strength and a safe space to explore their skills, attitudes and overcome challenges. The personal growth they experience is something that will stay with them for a long-time and give them the strength to fight the many battles that life throws at them.

These instances also reinforces our belief that empowerment is possible when we develop life skills and life skills are needed for a wholesome approach to child development. We have great support from many people and institutions and we appreciate their contributions, time, and effort to help others. We are a team who strives to make a difference in children’s lives. Thank you for choosing to make a difference to the lives of our children. Your support is truly appreciated. We look forward to building a long lasting relationship with you.

Thank you once again for believing and engaging in our work.

We thank you for choosing to make a difference to the lives of our children. We are grateful for your support and want to share how your donation is been put to work!

June is the beginning of the program year at Dream A Dream and we look forward to children returning to our programs in life skills education. We start the year with about 1400 children coming back into our Sports and Creative Arts Programs – both programs aim at building critical life skills in vulnerable children in a fun, experiential and non-threatening environment. In addition, we hope to add another 1200 children to these programs in this year.

According to Mr Anand Kumar, Principal, Round Table School, on what makes Dream Programs relevant to the vulnerable child’s development. “The children really enjoy the sports and creative arts program…also there was a visible improvement in the academic performance of the children as they remain more active owing to the program… we are particularly happy that the sports program provides equal opportunity to our girl students. We would not be exaggerating, if we say that Dream A Dream has proved to be a blessing to the school. Thank you Dream A Dream for helping our children live their dreams!”

We are delighted to announce that Dream A Dream has recently become the 3rd organization from India to be part of streetfootball network looking to promote football amongst vulnerable children/youth across the world. This will give us access to new partnerships, curriculum development tools, training, etc.

Thank you once again for believing and engaging in our work.

Links:

• streetfootballworld