Empower Vulnerable Young People with Life Skills

About us…

Dream a Dream is a registered, charitable trust empowering children and young people from vulnerable backgrounds to overcome adversity and flourish in the 21^st century using a creative life skills approach. Currently, we work with 10,000young people a year through our innovation labs - the After School Life Skills Programme and the Career Connect Programme. We have trained over 5,500 teachers/educators from 157 schools impacting over 137,500 children and young people people and sensitize over 2500 volunteers through our unique Life Skills Development model. We work on a strong collaborative approach with local charities, corporates, volunteers, governments, expert consultants and a host of national and international strategic partners.

Recognized and Awarded for Innovation, Transparency and Accountability over the years by Ashoka, GuideStar, GDN, Harvard, Rockefeller Foundation, Resource Alliance and others 

Our strategic intent is to build a supportive community -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEgEkO8VxKM) that equips millions of young people from vulnerable backgrounds with life skills to overcome adversity and flourish in the 21st century. By 2021, we aim to scale the impact of our work to over 500,000 young people in India.

What’s new…

In honor of India's Joy of Giving Week, Dream a Dream has launched a fundraising campaign called #aChanceToThrive. Through this campaign we are hoping to raise Rs. 1,500,000 (~ USD 24,000) to support 600 young people in our programmes for the next year. 

The Joy of Giving Week begins on October 2nd and serves as an opportunity for everyone to give back to those around them. We are running this campaign through the platform, GlobalGiving, and during this week, they will provide matching grants to every Indian NGO that raises money. The top 20 NGOs to raise the most money will get matching grants. This is where we need your help!

In the first two weeks of our campaign, we have already raised nearly Rs. 400,000 (~USD 6,152) from both India and abroad.

The campaign saw people from all walks of life and economic backgrounds join hands to donate - Some of the highlights of the campaign have been:

1. Young people at Dream a Dream came up with interesting campaigns such as ’Chaat’ (a spicy & tangy Indian snacks) counters, art sales, etc. to raise funds. They have also kept a piggy bank at our youth centre and are putting in small change to raise funds. Collectively, they have raised and donated over Rs. 10,000 (~USD 154)
2. Redamma, who has worked as domestic help at our centre for two years, donated Rs. 500 (~USD 7.69) from her earnings to the campaign because she is so inspired by our work
3. Our office landlord donated Rs. 25,000 (~USD 350)
4. Vaibhavi, a young girl of 12 years, made earrings and other trinkets sold them at a weekend stall and donated all her profits of Rs. 500 (~USD 7.69) to Dream a Dream.

More than the amount raised, it is the idea that anyone, irrespective of their background, can donate or raise funds for a cause. This has most inspired us and we want to honor these donors by making a sincere effort to reach our target. 

We need your help in order to reach this goal! My sincere request to you is to donate to Dream a Dream as I know I can count on you. Help us be No donation is big or small. You can make your donation at https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/achancetothrive/.

Our young people need your support now more than ever. We urge you and your network to join in the Joy of Giving. Become a Changemaker and give our young people #aChanceToThrive!!

Lokesh found his confidence….

Nine-year-old Lokesh comes from a lower, middle class family. His father, Ramesh, works in a garment store as a tailor, while his mother, Malika, is a house wife who looks after Lokesh’s younger brother, Eshwar. Lokesh is physically challenged and has always been very quiet and shy. In school, he never spoke to anyone and always sat alone. He wouldn’t even speak to teachers and if they scolded him for being quiet, he would cry. 

Dream a Dream partners with Lokesh’s school for our After-School Life Skills programme, so last year, Lokesh joined the Creative Arts session. Though he did not willingly share his thoughts, Lokesh always performed well in activities and understood all instructions during Life Skills sessions. To understand the root of Lokesh’s shyness, our facilitator, Parimala, sat with him each day and learned about his family, his daily activities, his likes and dislikes. 

After a few weeks, Lokesh finally confided in Parimala that he wanted to talk to others and share his feelings, but he was afraid that everyone would tease him for his disability. The following day, Parimala, asked Lokesh to share his thoughts in the ‘reflection circle’ and assured him that she will be there to support him. Lokesh gave a great response and all his peers encouraged and applauded him.

His mother shared with us that, now, after returning home, Lokesh always shares stories about his day and what he learned, and he also revealed his dream of becoming a police officer. His mother is so proud to see him more empowered and self-assured. After just one year, Lokesh has cultivated enough confidence to participate fully and ask questions in our sessions and in his classes.

Impact in our After School Life Skills Programme:

• 96.8% of the tracked young people were more focused and willing to complete studies and achieve their Dream goals 
• 96.9 % of the participants had an end line score above norms and thus improved their skills to deal with challenges using an in-house, first of its kind The Dream Life Skills Assessment Scale (DLSAS), it is a published and standardized scale that is being used by NGOs/Schools to assess improvement in life skills - http://globaled.gse.harvard.edu/files/geii/files/dream_life_skills_assessment_scale_final_2.pdf.
• 96% of the young people have seen a positive change after 2 years of reengagement 

Links:

• Visit this site to learn more about our campaign!