By Vishal Talreja | Cofounder & CEO
Ramya (Name changed) is a 12 year old girl studying 6th Grade in Sadguru Sai Baba School in Bangalore, India. She comes from a family of 4 members. Her father is an auto rickshaw driver and mother a daily wage worker on construction sites nearby the community they live in. Ramya also has an elder sister.
Ramya always felt she had the potential to transform herself and perform better in school, but did not have a platform to express her talent albeit. This was when she was introduced to Dream a Dream’s After School Life Skills Program in the Medium of Arts at the age of 11. In the beginning days, Ramya was hesitant to interact with her friends and classmates. She would not say more than 3 to 4 words to anybody around her due to her fear of getting teased. Hence she was reluctant to attend Dream a Dream’s sessions too.
In the first session conducted by Dream a Dream, Ramya stuck to her friend Lakshmi and was content interacting only with her friend. The same pattern continued day after day. Observing this, Dream a Dream’s Life Skills facilitator spent a few minutes with Ramya to understand her better. Through the conversation with the facilitator, Ramya opened up and explained about her fear of interacting with people. The facilitator then understood Ramya’s issues and keeping them in mind, came up with an activity called “The Tom and Jerry Game” in which young people in the session move around to mingle and know each other in an interesting manner. That day for the first time Ramya responded in the session. She moved around and interacted with the other girls and boys in her class. In the next sessions she herself willingly came forward into the reflection circle and shared her thoughts.
After joining the Dream a Dream’s After School Life Skills Program, Ramya could measure the changes in her life. A few months after joining the program, she gained the confidence to interact better and also started coming forward to initiate the activities. It has been 3 years now and Ramya enjoys being a part of the sessions. Ramya says Dream a Dream’s facilitators are always supportive and create a safe space for her. She feels people around her now understand her emotions.
Dream a Dream believes that every young person is unique and responds to a caring and compassionate adult in their life. With this intention every facilitator in Dream a Dream works to create a safe space for young people coming from vulnerable backgrounds to attend Dream a Dream’s programs. We have till date impacted more than 60,000 young people each year through our programs. Thank you for being a committed supporter. We invite you to join us by becoming a regular donor by signing up for the monthly donation options presented by Global Giving.
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