Give Children Wings to their Dreams

       An energetic and talented 16-year-old, Joshve is currently studying in 10^th standard in Ambedkar Nagar Govt School. He is from a lower-middle-class family and is the eldest child in a family of migrants from a nearby town called Kolar. His father is a mechanic at a public transport bus depot while his mother is a homemaker. Joshve’s father is the sole earner of the family and works hard to support his family and pay for Joshve’s treatment. The family shifted to a new place for better education for their children and job opportunities. Joshve has been part of Dream a Dream’s After School Life Skills through Sports Program for the past 6 years.

 Joshve is specially-abled since birth. His parents relentlessly tried to save him from an illness that affected his physical growth severely. While in school, he tried to engage in multiple activities. However, his peers often mocked him as he struggled while performing the activities. Eventually, he lost confidence and stopped trying, eventually, he stopped getting involved in games or befriending anyone. As a result, he became aggressive and would get into fights, and use foul language frequently.

 He doesn’t like being treated as a person with special needs and gets upset and aggressive when people show sympathy towards his condition.

 During the life skills sessions, Dream A Dream’s facilitator, Geetha, observed the challenges that Joshve faced during the sessions and how his peers treated him. She often found him depressed and aggressive, and he would regularly fight or use foul language, and he did not respect anyone. He also didn’t participate in any activity and didn’t speak up during reflection. He stayed alone, gradually lost interest, and stopped coming to the session altogether.

After speaking to Joshve’s parents and teachers, Geetha realized that he had similar behaviors at school and at home. Concerned for his growth, she started observing him closely and arranged more 1-on-1 sessions with him. As Joshve realized that Geetha cares for his welfare, he slowly started opening up to her. He shared how he didn’t like being treated as a special person.

 Having understood his concerns, Geetha realized that she needed to engage him in sessions focused on acceptance and managing conflicts.

Through the “Tag and Catch” session, Geetha created activities that were easier for Joshve, but difficult for his classmates. Joshve was able to finish the activities quickly whereas the others struggled. This made the others realize how regular activities are difficult for Joshve, and they started respecting and empathizing with him. Joshve also felt confident as he had managed to complete his tasks and his friends had started approaching him. Slowly and gradually, he learned anger management, started respecting and supporting others.

Joshve’s class teacher, Bharathi ma’am says Joshve is a brilliant student but never used to play with others. He used to be alone, and I almost always found him aggressive and watching other children play. His mother shared how he fought with his younger brother, and never respected his elders, which is why I reached out to Geetha. I have observed him develop into a more confident person and he has been able to manage his anger well.

 Johsve’s parents remember how he was different at a younger age and had become aggressive and kept fighting with his siblings. Says his parent. ‚He would not listen to even us. I had discussed this with Bharathi ma’am. We had discussed this with Dream a Dream facilitator as well and requested her to help our son. His behavior changed after he started attending Dream a Dream sessions. He now respects elders, spends more time with his brother, and teaches him new things. I am very happy and thank Dream a Dream for this change.

 Best moments of Joshve

I am playing in Dream a Dream since last year. I love the game tag and catch. It has helped my friends understand my perspective and I feel very happy because everyone started respecting me and started including me in their team.

Dream a Dream is a registered, charitable trust empowering children and young people from vulnerable backgrounds to overcome adversity and flourish in the 21st century. 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 9,828 teachers/educators from six states and including 19 districts in Karnataka impacting over 2,45,700 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. Over the last 20 years, Dream a Dream has helped close to a million children overcome adversity via life skills.  

Our project the Happiness Curriculum, conceptualized and executed in partnership with the Delhi Government, has been selected among the 2021 WISE Awards finalists! We are one of 12 global innovative educational projects to be selected. It further validates our belief that the core purpose of education is to help every child learn to be happy, help others be happy, and learn to Thrive.

Dream a Dream was also the proud winner of the ‘Football for Good Award’ at the 2020 World Football Summit (WFS), presented by Common Goal. For the third time in a row, HundrED’s annual Global Collection has recognized our work as one of the leading innovations in K12 education. Over the last 20 years, Dream a Dream has helped close to a million children develop the life skills to thrive through our award-winning approach.

As we slowly recover from the aftermath of the pandemic and move forward to the new year, we take a pause to remember the unnerving months that have come to pass. While we witnessed communities reel in the brutality of the pandemic, we are grateful that we could mobilize our COVID-19 relief team to help young people and their families. We also witnessed the resilient and compassionate spirit of our young people despite their own economic and emotional fallouts. As they return to the new normal, we know that there can be no better time than now to reimagine the purpose of education. And it is with that intention that we have partnered with the State Government of Delhi and we are proud to share that Delhi’s Happiness Curriculum was the WISE award winner for its innovative and groundbreaking approach to include Social Emotional Learning as a part of curricula in Delhi government schools. We were also recognized as one of India’s best workplaces for women in 2021 for fostering a sense of equity and equality in the workspace.

Insights from our COVID-19 response-

Despite the economic and political fallouts of the pandemic, our alumni and young people who were a part of our programs displayed skills they had developed to navigate our interconnected, complex world which was in crisis. From helping migrants with rations to volunteering towards COVID relief work to becoming entrepreneurs to support their families, our young people found their own unique solutions. 

We are also supremely proud of our team who worked tirelessly to help our young people and their communities. Young people are also excited to be back in schools after the prolonged closures. Read more about their work https://dreamadream.org/dream-a-dreams-frontline-warriors-response-to-the-devastating-2nd-wave-of-covid-19/.

Play for Resilience

Dream a Dream organized a one-day sports event -  Play for Resilience on 5 October 2021 where 70+ children from our partner schools in Bangalore joined us as we advocated the importance of playing for better mental and physical health. Watch a glimpse of the event https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6866330324192907264

Art for Resilience

Dream a Dream organized a one-day art event  'Art for Resilience' for young people from our Bangalore partner schools with the intention of helping young people cope with their emotions as they transition from online mode to offline mode learning. 72 young people from 14 partner schools from Bangalore participated in the event.  The event also gave them a platform to express themselves and interact with other young people.

Dialogue on the way forward for children's education

Suchetha Bhat shared her views on reopening of schools amid COVID-19, the challenges, and the way forward for children’s education at  Education Dialogue - National Education Policy: Looking Through the Lens of Repurposing Education Towards Thriving for Every Child, organized by Center for ICT for Development (CICTD) and Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI). Watch the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xahRbm-WXY&list=PLhaFIBbDLKQaNOse9Ilmln8OXuV94-Uvb&index=26

Testimonials from the Programme

 “I never thought I could learn football online; with schools closed and not being able to meet my friends. The online football sessions kept me active and happy. They helped me make more friends, built my confidence and my communication skill. I was able to express myself to others when I was feeling alone and my facilitator listened to everything and comforted me which made me feel happy”- Ajay R 13 years old After School Life Skill Programme Graduate.