Sport India Project #5718

Give Children Wings to their Dreams

by Dream A Dream

Project Report | Oct 28, 2019
Exploring his talent helped me to change his behavior.

By Vishal Talreja | Co-Founder

Community Cleaning Day at Byatarayanapura

Shanidevan is a 13-year-old boy studying in 6th grade at one of our partner center, Sree Sadguru Saibaba School. He was part of Dream a Dream life skill Football program since 1 year. He belongs to a middle-class family. His father works as a wage labourer (Coolie) and his mother works in a garment factory and he has 4 elder brothers working as wage labourers.

In the beginning when I first met him, he was very hyperactive in class. He used to fight a lot with the other students and wasn’t interacting much with new people like volunteers, the new teachers and girls. I observed during the first few sessions that he wasn’t participating in any of the activities and that he kept disturbing the sessions and other students. He lost his temper frequently and was very rude to his friends, resorting to speaking foul language and beating them. I discussed his behaviour with his teachers and asked them how he was in class. They narrated that he wasn’t studying well, failing in most of his subjects and refused to discuss what was bothering him with the teachers or his friends.

I wanted to get to the bottom of his behaviour and began observing him closely. I spoke to his brother who explained that they were a poor family, with everyone working long hours. They were unable to find time to interact with Shanidevan, ask him about school or to even ask how he was doing. He tries to tell us what is happening at school or with his friends but we don’t have the time to listen to him and most times, he appears angry and disappointed, even telling us what is happening at school.

Now that I understood what was happening at his home, I made it a point to talk to him more often during the sessions and soon understood that he feels alone and neglected at home, with nobody to show him love and care. His house was close to my house so I used to meet him regularly at his home and in school. One day, post the session, I started a conversation with him casually and he spoke to me for half an hour and while walking home, he began sharing what he was feeling and soon began to cry. He expressed how he got no support from his family, how they didn’t listen to him and help him with his chores or homework and how he was forced to wake up every morning and take care of himself. He had to wash his own clothes and take care of his needs, while his family was busy trying to make ends meet. He spoke about how during the football sessions, he felt happy because there was somebody who noticed him and cared for his well-being. He also spoke at great length about how these sessions made him feel good about himself and how he hoped to keep attending the classes. This talk helped me realise that all he needed was some motivation and encouragement in expressing what he was feeling.

During the next few sessions, I gave him more opportunities when he would bring balls to the session or help keep the other students in check. I took him to the Bangalore Football Stadium to attend one session where he learnt a lot of football skills and during the next session at school, encouraged him to lead, instructing his other friends to be on time and maintaining the attendance register.

He shared how he disliked mingling with girls and newcomers because he was scared his thoughts and ideas would be considered stupid and laughed at. He said that he used foul language because his friends spoke that way with him and that was the only way he knew to respond. Listening to his narration, I asked him to be calm and just mingle with everyone, including girls without thinking about what they felt. I asked him to get to know them and give them a chance to get to know him so that they can hear his ideas and appreciate them. Very soon, he began interacting with others in the group, talking to girls slowly and sharing his thoughts and ideas with everyone. He slowly started showing leadership skills when in group discussions. After the session, he expressed how he felt during the session and one day, showed me one new football skill he learnt by watching a match in the stadium. When he showed me this, I suggested that he share it with the other students in the group. He confidently showed it to all of them, receiving encouragement and appreciation from all of them.

I observed that over the sessions, he became more responsible, leading the sessions more. The biggest change in his family was when Shanidevan appeared on television along with the Bangalore Football Club players to sing the National Anthem. His family and community recognised him, feeling happy and proud of his achievements. They are still leading busy lives but pay more attention to him, noticing that he has become more disciplined and is performing better at school.

Quotes from Shanidevan-

My name is Shanidevan and my dream is to become a football player. Before attending Dream a Dream’s sessions, I had no idea of my goals and dreams because I was hyperactive and distracted. I abstained from participating in class/school activities as I felt that everyone would laugh at me. During Dream a Dream’s sessions, I got a chance to talk freely with everyone and now I am very happy. My family never noticed me before but now they listen to my ideas and encourage me to do things that I love. I will become a football player and maker others in my school and community aware about sports. I will study well and try to make myself a better person, giving a good name for my parents and teachers. Thank you, Dream a Dream!

Teacher's quotes -

We see his behaviour changing in the class. Before, he was not interested in studying, behaved badly with his classmates, not interacted with girls and used foul language. He was never regular to school and he had no support from his family. Now, we see him taking leadership to make a line in the prayer hall and during lunch time, he serves food to his friends and juniors. He comes to school regularly and is much better in studies. His parents have begun to taken an interest in his progress and are showering him with love and care. He seems very happy and he has become a skilled football player, which will help him get a good life.

Facilitator feedback-

I can see changes in him. By showering him with love, care, encouragement and a little motivation, he has begun to display positive changes. The safe space that he had to speak to someone and explore his talents has helped him change his behaviour towards his friends, family and life itself. He is leading his friend down the same path by encouraging them and taking responsibility for his actions.

Dream Outdoor Experiential Camp

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Aug 2, 2019
An own goal we are proud of - August Newsletter

By Vishal Talreja | Co-founder, Dream a Dream

Satish Proud of His Own Goal

After failing his class 10 examinations, Satish dropped out of the low-cost private school he was attending in Bengaluru, disillusioned and unmotivated. The only thing that saved the teenager from giving up on his future altogether was his passion for football.

Satish was just 12 when he first became acquainted with the beautiful game as part of Dream a Dream’s after school life skills programme. Eight years later, the 20-year-old is representing India in the Homeless World Cup currently underway (July 27 - August 3) in Cardiff, Wales.

This football tournament, with its own set of rules, has been part of the global sports calendar since 2002, drawing crowds of 80,000 and watched by millions online around the world. The Indian team will be one of over 50 others comprising hand-picked individuals from communities in adversity.

Chosen for his speed, behaviour on the pitch and great technique, Satish says: “If you fail in exams and drop out of school, people will look down on you. I wanted one chance to prove that I can work hard to achieve my goals. Reaching where I am today, despite family apprehensions, has been a big achievement. It is a big honour for me to represent my country.”

Fun and Games

Most often it is difficult for outsiders to understand what it is we do, till they get their hands - and feet - dirty!

Volunteers from our partner organisation Standard Chartered GBS recently participated in one of our After School Football Life Skills sessions and experienced what the children do. Responses from a few of them are telling:

“The activities done today were really helpful in bringing energy to the children and volunteers. It also provided the chance for the student to know about corporate culture and areas to look at to build careers.”

“I felt I was back to my childhood!”

“It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm in the children and how open they were to interact with us. I got reminded of my school days.”

Project Thrive Goes Live

Our end goal has always been to see the young people who engage in our programmes thrive. But what does thriving look like? How do we know if our life skills programmes have had that desired impact?

To better understand the behavioural and social indicators of ‘thriving’ - and its nuances - among young people disadvantaged by adversity, we commissioned a research study which has just been published and can be viewed here.

It proves what we have believed all along - that life skills indeed are the essential ingredients for thriving.

Satish at the Homeless World Cup

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Jun 20, 2019
Life Skills helps Saif Ulla to overcome failure...

By Vishal Talreja | Co-founder

Paintings by Saif Ulla

"I used to be unruly and disrespectful towards my teachers and never pay attention in the class. I used to often get into fights and arguments with my friends or bully them......today I listen to and respect what my teachers say, and my friends too respect me and that is making me proud about myself" confesses 15-year-old Saif Ulla.

The amazing transformation in Saif Ulla has been due to the Life Skills interventions under the After School Life Skills Programme of Dream a Dream using creative arts.

Saif Ulla studies in the 9th grade of the Florida English School a low-cost private school located in the suburbs of Bangalore city. His father was a sales man and mother a house wife. He has an elder sister and a younger brother. Coming from a lower income group, life had its own challenges for Saif Ulla from very young age.

At school Saif used to constantly get into trouble with his teachers and fellow students because of his bad behaviour and disrespectful attitude. He was unable to concentrate on his studies nor pay attention to what his teachers were teaching. In the company of his friends, he used to pass unnecessary comments and at the encouragement of his friends do things that eventually landed him in trouble with others and the school teachers and authorities. He realized that his friends always escaped being punished by passing on the blame entirely on him. This made him feel very bad and started to avoid their company and started to remain alone and aloof.

His facilitator noticed this change in him and had a long conversation with him. She told him to not to be aloof and be in the company of his fellow students. She knew that from her interactions with Saif’s teachers that he had a very creative bent of mind and was exceptionally good in drawing and painting.

She says, “So after attending the Life Skills through Creative Arts sessions continuously, he was started to involve himself more in activities and tried to mingle with others. I could see the small-small changes in Saif Ulla. He started to listen to the instructions from his teachers and me and putting the effort to give respect to his fellow students, teachers and friends. I know he had a passion for drawing and soon enough in the drawing sessions he was not only enthusiastic but started to teach and support his friends as well”.

“In one of the Creative Arts sessions, I created few groups of students and gave the task to draw on ‘festivals of India’. On that day Saif Ulla took the initiative of leading the group and started to give ideas and guidance to his group. He and his team came up with the idea of drawing on the Ramzan (is a festival celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of fasting) festival and made very beautiful paintings. Saif Ulla friends and teachers not only admired his work but encouraged him to continue painting. From that day onwards, he started to change some more in his behavior and started taking initiative in every activity and become friendlier and more respectful towards his fellow students and teachers.

Saif Ulla has a very beautiful dream of becoming an “Artist”, he also aspires to be a police officer. To make his dreams grow the facilitator started to give extra attention to him, and also gave him new and challenging ideas, drawings etc. to improve his skills. One day the facilitator organized a drawing competition. Saif Ulla took the competition seriously and painted many beautiful pictures, for which the facilitator gifted him a drawing book.

Saif Ulla says, “I love Dream a Dream class, and the activities conducted by Leela mam (the Dream a Dream facilitator) is very nice. In the class I get the space to talk openly with everyone, and I am also trying to talk with girls. I started to respect teachers and trying to listen to their words. My friends also started giving good respect to me, all this is making me proud of myself.”

This is what his class teacher Ms. Nagin has to say about Saif Ulla’s transformation - “In a Dream a Dream session I see big smiles and energy on everyone face. Saif Ulla in the beginning was one of the slow learners in the class, he was not having any interest in any subject, he and his group of friends used to constantly create mischief and pass comments in the class but now a days he has started to listen to the teacher’s instructions; and his way of communication has also improved. The very pleasant change in him is that he has started making beautiful paintings and at the same time has started taking initiative and helping others. It makes me so happy when every time he paints something he would enthusiastically show it to me. I am happy to say that he is one of my best students in the class”.

Some of the paintings by Saif Ulla is attached separately.

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 10,000 young people a year through our two innovation labs – After School Life Skills Programme and Career Connect Programme, have trained over 7,700 teachers/educators from 206 partners impacting over 192,500 children and have impacted over 1 Million children through strategic partnerships with state governments in Delhi and Jharkhand. We work on a strong collaborative approach with local charities, corporates, volunteers, governments, expert consultants and a host of national and international strategic partners.

In our After School Life Skills Programme, we use creative arts and football as mediums to engage and develop critical life skills among young people between the ages of 8 to 15 years. This programme is an innovation lab where new approaches to life skills development are introduced, demonstrated, documented, evaluated, and fed back into a larger framework for re-imagining learning for young people in the country. To measure the improvements in life skills amongst the young people, we use the Life Skills Assessment Scale (LSAS*). In our After-School Life Skills Programme, we use creative arts and football as mediums to engage and develop critical life skills among young people aged 8 to 15 years.

*Dream a Dream’s Life Skills Assessment Scale was selected as one among hundred inspiring innovations that are changing the face of education across the world at the HundrED Education Summit in Finland. This is a recognition of over 8 years of research that we put into establishing a first of its kind, standardised, validated and published scale to measure the impact of Life Skills on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The published paper has been downloaded over 4500 times and is being used across the world. For moreinformation visithttps://hundred. org/en/innovations/dream-life-skills-assessment-scale-dream-a-dream

You can read about the scale here - http://dreamadream.org/the-urgency/item/362-dlsas

(Please copy and paste the link on to your browser to access the same)

Impact of our After-School Life Skills Programme:

Overall enrolment in the programme for the FY2018-19 was 5658 students
Total of 3275 students opted for Creative Arts and 2,383 opted for Football
The programme achieved a healthy balance in terms of gender participation where 48.63% participants were female
The average attendance rate was 89% and the average retention rate was 94%
96.8% of the tracked participants 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
96% of the participants have seen a positive change after 2 years of reengagement

As always “Thank you for your generous contribution and giving our young people #aChanceToThrive!”

A young person painting a wall - #achancetothrive

Community Cup football tournament in progress

Football clinic at the Bangalore Football Club

Paper Fashion Show by the young people

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