Unlock Smiles

Dear Co dreamers,

We are very happy to share you our journey of first quarter of the year 2014-15. The main highlight was we participated in TCS World 10K Bangalore 2014. State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), a reputed multinational company come forrward to run supporting Dream A Dream.  

Along with this report, I want to share with you a story of two of our graduates who selected for a scholarship programme to study in the USA, followed by a few highlights of Dream A Dream programme. 

Overcoming modest background, two graduates of our programme  are all set to take the long flight to America. Girish and Mahesh  will fly on July 18^th 2014 to the US on a fully-paid scholarship to do a one-year certificate programme in Business Management/Administration and Early Child Education respectively at Mesa Community College in Arizona. 

20-year-old Girish, a second-year B Com student at Vijaya College, comes from a modest background; his father is a car driver and his mother a maid. He also works as a life skills facilitator at Dream A Dream.  Girish said, "I wanted to study business administration because I want to set up my own business in the future. I still can't believe that I cracked the scholarship." 

Mahesh, a second-year BA student at Vijaya Evening College, who works as an art skills facilitator said, "I get to work with children aged nine and above. I wanted to pursue a course where I would get to teach children from three years on." 

They plan to come back to Bangalore once they complete their courses to finish their course at Vijaya College. Girish said, "We couldn't have got through if we were not in the middle of our course. Our family was worried that we might not complete our studies because they have saved on our college fees. But we, with the help of colleagues at Dream A Dream, managed to convince them that it was for our own good. Our college principal, too, had to call our parents up to convince them." For the proud, hard-working parents, it's a huge moment. 

Mahesh's mother, a housewife, said, "I cannot believe our son is going to America. Everybody dreams of going there one day, and my son is actually going. We are very proud of him, but I am equally sad because this is the first time he will be staying away from us for a year."

• Dream A Dream, the only NGO from India to be selected for the FIFA football for Hope. 6 young players selected. 
• Dell International, one of the long standing partners of Dream A Dream, initiated a month long campaign entitled “Ignite Youth Learning” to engage employees to volunteer at Dream A Dream.
• Our Co-founder Vishal Talreja was invited for a talk at TedxBangalore.  https://campusdiaries.com/stories/tedxbangalore-campus-with-vishal-talreja
• Participated in TCS world 10K Bangalore 2014. SSGA Ran supporting Dream A Dream.
• Dream A Dream held a two day annual retreat for its employees at the Elim resort located at the outskirts of Bangalore. 
• Dream A Dream was the official charity partner for the karaoke night event 'Kroak for Fund' at OPUS Sankey Road for all 4 Wednesdays in the month of June.
• Dream A Dream was the official charity partner for the first ever vertical race in Bangalore called Skyscraper Dash held at the World Trade Centre, Bangalore.
• 3119 young people enrolled in our life skills programmes – 1195 in Life skills through football and 1924 in Life skills through Arts.
• 160 batches run across Bangalore partnering with 24 schools/NGOs - 92 batches in Life skills through Arts and 68 batches in Life skills through Football.
• Each batch engages25-30 young people in the life skills development programme.
• 3 Outdoor Experiential Camps completed engaging over 102 young people and 19 volunteers.
• Teacher Development programme completed Life Skills Facilitation training level 1 and level 2 for 4 partners engaging 49 teachers. Completed Life Skills Facilitation training level 3 and level 4 for 5 old partners.
• 8 young people participated in SPT tournament held in Bangalore.
• 8 graduates participated in a tournament held at JP Nagar Bangalore.
• Completed 1 mentoring Cycle – 25 mentors trained & 25 young people matched.
• Engaged 454 young people in career awareness programme; 223 male and 231 female.
• 551 young people engaged in skill development programme at the center; 194 male and 357 female.
• 1038 young people enrolled to the Last Mile Support programme; 489 male and 549 female.
• Received 196 applications for scholarships and 128 applications have been granted for scholarship.
• 5 young people got placement.
• Engaged 757 volunteers clocking 7182 volunteering hours.
• Conducted 14 fundays engaging corporate employees.

Please scroll down to see a few pictures from the programme. We look forward for your continued support and an enduring relationship.

With Gratitude,

Links:

• Coverage on Football For Festival 2014 Trip