By Ancila John | Asst. Manager- Donor Reporting & Donor Development
Name of Project: Preventing school dropout of 400 children in India
Project Period: Ongoing
Specific Objectives of the Project:
Achievements of the Project:
Number of beneficiaries: 301
Key Activities:
Challenges:
Impact Story: A change in Perspective
Each student is special in their own way. A teacher comes across students of different calibers, intellect and various interests. Similarly, in December 2020 one of our teachers met one of the boys named Yuvraj aged 15yrs. He seemed very confident and outspoken, to him life was easy going at Chembur Children’s Home.
He was greatly under the influence of Bollywood movies and to him the difference between real life and “reel life” was blur. For Yuvraj, life was also kind of a Bollywood movie wherein he was so motivated to secure marks like the movie character ‘Munnabhai’ from the movie ‘Munnabhai MBBS’. He was under the impression that it is possible to achieve success quickly if one takes the shorter route. His ambition was to be a gangster or as it is colloquially said, ‘a don’. Yuvraj wanted to be a don and acquire possessions easily.
The teacher wanted to show Yuvraj a different perspective of success. During one of the lectures, the teacher found an opportunity to talk about a great influential legend, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar who went through mountains and valleys of struggles in life to carry out his education. The teacher shared about how Dr. B.R. Ambedkar reached the peak with utter determination and commitment despite being in dire straits. This example really moved Yuvraj as he could relate to it.
Gradually, Yuvraj started taking life seriously and regularly kept asking the teacher about what should he pursue post SSC. After studying with much dedication, he has secured 54% in his SSC examination and now has been enrolled to an ITI course. Today, Yuvraj is more concerned about how he would excel in the course that he is doing and be the best in the same. He is more positive and focused about settling in life by achieving success in the right way. The boy who once wanted to be a don, has now turned into a diligent student with hopes and dreams for the future.
*Name changed to protect participant identity.
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