Small town, big dreams – Kowsalya’s story

A year ago, it was rare for girls of V.R.P. Chatram community to step out and participate in outdoor activities. V.R.P. Chatram is a semi-rural suburb near Chennai. Its residents are mostly factory or agricultural labourers who travel to Sriperumbudur everyday for work. Girls of this community would often engage with elders to understand the root cause of gender-inequity in their community, and try to subvert it; however, their efforts went in vain.

“There were guidelines set for girls at every age, and we were supposed to adhere to those. I was not ready, but I was unsupported in my quest”, reminisces 19-year-old Kowsalya. 

Kowsalya delivering a session

Kowsalya joined Magic Bus a year ago as a Community Youth Leader. She was spotted by Magic Bus Youth Mentor, Kiruba.  “Kowsalya came across as an independent, righteous girl who wanted to empower herself and women within her community. However, she had limited support from her community”, says Kiruba.

Magic Bus entered her life at a critical juncture: it gave her the platform that she was looking for years. 

“Before I joined Magic Bus, I would give out leaflets to children in my community on gender-equity, healthy practices, and education. They would enjoy reading it but would forget about it in a few days. I soon realised that there was need to reiterate the message and find innovative ways of putting it across as well. Magic Bus’ Sport-for-Development approach was the perfect combination of both”, she explains.

Sports has an easy connect with children. But, to get girls to play alongside boys is always a stiff challenge in communities where the norm is to keep girls indoors. Initial resistance to change, suspicion about Magic Bus’ activities in the community and its underlying purpose always poses a challenge. But, our Community Youth Leaders (CYLs) and Youth Mentors (YMs) are adequately motivated and convinced to take on those challenges and slowly open up the community to support girls participation in sports and activities.

Children participating in a sport-for-development session

Kowsalya overcame the resistance of her home and community. Not only did she step out of her home, but also motivated and encouraged other girls in her community to do the same. She realised that simply stepping out of homes is not enough – girls had to be made aware of the importance of hygiene, healthcare and education.

Kowsalya is studying Bachelors in Computer Science and working as an agent of change in her community.

There are many more Kowsalya’s whose story you will read about in this blog. But, we must not forget the incredible support of Asian Paints in scripting change in this particular community. Thanks to Asian Paints’ support we’re now able to work with 2400 children in this community – many of whom have unrealized leadership potential lying dormant in them.

Similarly, your donation might help more Kowsalya’s to lead change in her community. 
It simply takes Rs.1500 ($25, £15) to help more children like Kowsalya to step out of their homes and become leaders. Support them.

Magic Bus children and Matthew Spacie gets featured in Aamir Khan hosted Satyamev Jayate tele show

Satyamev Jayate (Truth Alone Prevails) is a popular social commentary show which explores crucial social issues in India, looking at individual, government, and non-government efforts to address those issues, and urges people to take action.

Since the last 15 years, Magic Bus has taken a sport-based curriculum to help underprivileged children and youth break out of poverty.

Parvati, Vijay, Ritu and Gulafsha talking to Aamir Khan on Satyamev Jayate

Sports is usually associated with action, energy, strength, fitness, and excitement. Whether it's your favourite pastime or hobby, whether you are a sports person, or, simply a viewer, these words pop up in our mind when we speak of sports.

Can sports be an answer to poverty? Can sports ensure gender equality? Can it also bring about positive behavioural change?

The third season of Satyamev Jayate opened with exploring the power of sports in scripting change in people's lives. Host Aamir Khan began by reiterating the unexplored potential of sports and requested teachers and principals to give it equal importance in the curriculum. A series of interviews with people in different age groups followed, with each story revealing the tremendous potential of sports in bringing about change.

Magic Bus' interesting journey of pioneering a sports-based approach to work with poor children and youth was a major segment in the show. Four Magic Bus children, Parvati Pujari, Vijay Gupta, Ritu Pawa and Gulafsha Khan shared their stories of struggle and hope, and how it was Magic Bus' activity-based curriculum that encouraged them to get out of their situation and get educated, instilled in them a sense of confidence and discipline, and helped them transcend the deeply-gendered public-private spaces.

Parvati and Gulafsha are the first graduate within their family and community, and Parvati being the eldest at 21 in the group of four is now pursuing a professional career, and is a global fundraiser for children living in poverty. Despite their humble beginnings, each of them are leaders in their own right.



Read the stories of Parvati, Gulafsha, and Ritu.

Their confidence and fearlessness impressed Aamir and viewers alike. Their stories inspired admiration.

Next, Aamir welcomed Matthew Spacie, Founder and Executive Chairman of Magic Bus, to explain the thought behind the approach and it's early days. Matthew went back to the days he used to play rugby at the posh Bombay Gymkhana. A few boys from the adjoining Fashion Street were in charge of parking the cars of rugby players who played at the Gymkhana. Their interest in the game was evident but they could only watch it from the sidelines. One day Matthew thought of teaching them rugby.

During their training, he saw some remarkable changes in them - they had become unusually disciplined and punctual, and would try to cooperate with each other, and not fight. He also discovered that sports unified them all; in the field they were simply players and not members of different religious communities. Here was an answer to a whole host of problems plaguing Indian society!

Matthew Spacie telling Aamir Khan the Magic Bus story on Satyamev Jayate

Matthew connected the young boys to avenues of employment since most of them were from extremely poor households. But, none of them managed to hold onto their jobs. This made him acutely aware of the importance of sports early on, so that, children from poorer households could learn crucial life skills that would help them get better employment and opportunities.

At present, Magic Bus brings the transforming power of sports in the lives of 250,000 children within 20 states across India. The success of its approach is evident in the fact that 90 percent of children associated with Magic Bus are first-generation learners. 10,000 child and youth leaders in the programme work conscientiously to bring about change in their respective communities.

Find out more - www.magicbus.org
Donate - donate.magicbus.org
Volunteer - volunteer@magicbusindia.org
Jobs - www.magicbus.org/jobs
Contact - www.magicbus.org/contact

Magic Bus: Changing lives through sports

Published in IANS Live, by Santosh Rao. For the original article, click here

For Englishman Mathew Spacie it all started in the bylanes of Mumbai's Parel area in 1999. His aim was to take children out of poverty and give them a purpose in life through sports.

Spacie's love for India, in fact, began as a 17-year-old when he took a break from his studies and worked in the Howrah Leprosy Centre in Kolkata. His next port of call was Mumbai.

Playing rugby at the Bombay Gymkhana Club, he thought he could make a difference to the lives of street and slum children through sport. Fifteen years down the line, what started as a mere distraction has grown into a massive Magic Bus, an NGO encompassing 300,000 children in 3,000 locations across 19 states.

Magic Bus is now a major initiative, taking care of hundreds of thousands of boys and girls and Spacie has big plans to convert his dream project into a sports-based volunteer force to work among the needy children in various countries.

Magic Bus' curriculum on sport for development has won national and international recognition - the latest being the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Award, which it received from President Pranab Mukherjee last week on National Sports Day. It came within five months of the organisation winning the Laureus Award, the first Indian entity to get global acclaim.

After receiving the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Award from its chairman and champion hurdler Edwin Moses in Kuala Lumpur in March, Spacie in his acceptance speech said: "Fifteen years ago the Magic Bus was started because outside my office there were 15 street boys who one day decided that they wanted to change their journey in life.

"It is now an organisation which has 300,000 children every single week attending our programme on this amazing journey from childhood all the way to livelihood and out of poverty."

The small, humble beginning has grown into a multi-discipline non-profit organisation where the target children engaged in personality development through structured play sessions, which sought to draw them towards issues of social relevance.

"Our motive has always been to take these children away from their under-privileged lives and use sports to instill values and influence behavioural and social changes," Magic Bus CEO Pratik Kumar, who has over 24 years' experience working with the United Nations, Government of India, International NGO and private sector, told IANS.

"Sporting activities and games are structured into each session to make them fun and appealing. There are specially designed sessions to represent real-life situations and challenges so children are able to relate these back to their daily lives," said Kumar, who joined the Magic Bus in 2009.

Kumar thanked the volunteers, who he said were the actual heroes of the organisation.

"Magic Bus works with close to 8,000 trained volunteers. Community youth leaders are trained and mentored to lead young children and through these volunteer-led programmes, we have been able to expand our reach," he said.

Kumar moved quickly to quash any comparisons to Physical Education (P.E.) classes in schools.

"Yes, we do indulge in physical activity, but this is very different from P.E. classes. We use sport only as a developmental tool, a metaphor, to deliver our message of development to kids."

"Through sports we try and bring kids together and then impart lessons on a wide array of subjects, from hand washing to gender equality and more," said Kumar.

One of the biggest successes has been 'Connect' -- a supplementary programme that provides livelihood options to grown up children.

Through this programme, Magic Bus offers leadership and employability skills training as well as counselling services to help them decide on their next steps. They are then linked to further education, vocational courses, and entry opportunities into the job market.

But not resting on their laurels, Kumar wants to take the number of kids to a million in the next two/three years.

"So much more has to be done. Our ambition is to reach one million children. We have started programmes in Britain, Nepal, Singapore, and Sri Lanka and we want to grow further and do much more," said Kumar.

A historic time for sport for development in India

From the desk of Magic Bus CEO, Pratik Kumar

I am very happy to share that Magic Bus has been awarded the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar (National Sports Promotion Award), by the President of India, Hon. Sri Pranab Mukherjee, at his official residence, the Rashtrapati Bhawan, on 29th August 2014. The award recognises corporate entities, institutions and individuals who have played a significant role in the area of sports promotion and development. It is the first time that an award has gone to an NGO for promoting Sports for All and using sports as a tool for achieving serious development goals.

We believe that this award is a strong endorsement of our internationally recognised curriculum and methodology of using sports as a tool for bringing about social development. It is a recognition of our tried and tested 15-year old approach where we train local young volunteers to deliver our unique activity-based programme to children by becoming role models and mentors to them. Sports acts as the perfect hook to keep children and communities engaged in our programme as we embark on a long journey of bringing about changes in behaviours and practices in the areas of education, health, gender, nutrition, sanitation, leadership all the way to livelihood.

President of India, Hon. Sri Pranab Mukherjee, presenting the Award to Pratik Kumar, CEO, Magic Bus

The national award comes within months of Magic Bus winning the prestigious international Laureus Sport for Good Award, the first Indian entity to win this global recognition.

I believe that this national recognition will be a turning point in our history as we poise to take the next big leap in our endeavour to make a positive difference to the lives of a million children and youth in India and across the globe.

We are very grateful to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, for their recognition of our work and approach, which is today changing more than 260,000 lives in 19 States across India. We are also indebted to all our supporters and partners who have believed in us and been a part of this wonderful journey.

Find out more about our work at www.magicbus.org.

Pratik Kumar, CEO, Magic Bus

Magic Bus breaking the cycle of poverty, one child at a time

By Nidhi Singh, Guest Author at YourStory

The true potential of mankind is an unimaginable force that can do wonders if harnessed. As rightly said by the first African American President of the USA, “It’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself, that you realize your true potential.” And that is what Magic Bus is all about. It is about breaking the poverty cycle, one child at a time, and helping children transform the world around them. It is about catalysing change in communities and children. It is about creating ‘magic,’ as the name suggests, all across the nation.

How it all started 

A young player from India’s National Rugby Team, Matthew Spacie, used to practice daily opposite Mumbai’s famous Fashion Street, a hub for street children. Being the warm-hearted man that he was, he couldn't resist inviting the Fashion Street boys over for a game. As time passed by, Matthew began to notice positive behavioural changes in the boys — a direct result of being part of a team and overcoming challenges together. These boys, who had grown up on the streets, became more goal-oriented and wanted to improve themselves and their attitudes towards others.

Matthew discovered that the growing influence of this approach not only helped them transform their attitude towards life, but also taught them how to challenge their current realities and overturn their obstacles into a route towards well-being and success. Over a period of the next 10 years, this crystallized into a formal pedagogy that is now known as the Magic Bus Sport for Development curriculum. An approach that would go on to redefine the lives and destinies of many.

How it works

Magic Bus started in the year 1999 and has now expanded to 250,000 children as well as 8000 youth in 19 different states across the country. Supported by Cox and Kings and Cleartrip enabled an academically grounded ‘sport for development’ curriculum to be established.

By training local, community-based young people to deliver long-term programmes that focus on education, health and gender equity, Magic Bus enables children to have more choice and control in their lives to bring themselves out of poverty.  A comprehensive curriculum that uses activities and sport and a long term-engagement are delivered through a child-friendly mentoring approach. At periodic intervals, the mentor provides constant feedback, and monitors the child’s behaviour to bring about proven behavioural changes.

When the child grows up, she or he has the choice of joining Connect, a supplementary programme that links young people to higher education or job opportunities. As a result of this marvellous work, more than 250,000 children and youth have access to better education and improved health as they work towards strong livelihood options for themselves as adults.

Magic Bus uses its concept to not only pull children out of poverty but also to change the mindset of their parents and families. For this reason, the World Bank Development Marketplace Award was presented to the NGO during its formative years.

How obstacles are tackled

Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. When a stranger enters a community where all is unknown and throws a ball in the air, everyone gravitates towards the ball. That’s the power and attraction of play. Despite this, the attitude towards girls remains a hurdle across geographies and regions. Getting girls out of their domestic duties and into the public sphere is a hurdle. To avert this in the best possible way, Magic Bus makes use of advocacy tools and tactics, including parents’ meetings, door-to-door campaigns and community-level tournaments to gain support for the intervention, and bring all stakeholders together to build a community that is gender-equal and child-friendly.

I left my old perception to think afresh and hopefully I can do a thousandth of what Magic Bus does to change my Motherland, my home — the nation of many with all hearts beating as one — India.

Original Article by Nidhi Singh at Your Story. Edited for this blog by the Magic Bus Communications Team.

"Nidhi Singh is a Computer Engineering student at NTU Singapore & a Global Evangelist at YourStory.com. She has a passion for cars, non-fiction reads and music. Her hope is to create a dent in the universe, in her own way, some day. When she is not trying to find more opportunities to lay her hands on, you can find her writing, traveling or gorging on chocolate and cheese. ... read more on social.yourstory.com."

Magic Bus Children attend 'Know Your Museum' Workshop

National Museum, New Delhi, India's largest museum, became a learning hub this summer. 360 Magic Bus children along with a group of our Community Youth Leaders (CYLs) and Youth Mentors (YMs) got the opportunity to participate in 'Know Your Museum', a workshop for children aged 11-16.

The workshop focused on developing children's critical thinking abilities and creative expression through art and craft. They learnt through activities such as clay modelling which require brain storming, and other creative group work to build self-confidence and a positive attitude.

The main objectives of the various workshop were:

• To acquaint children with India's rich cultural heritage
• To create awareness among children about various traditional arts and crafts
• To motivate children to preserve and conserve their heritage and join hands in restoring some of the dying arts and crafts of the country

At the workshop, children were divided into 3 groups to participate in 3 different activities:

• Clay Modelling
• Paper Toys/Mask Making
• Madhubani Painting

The workshop began with an introduction and captivating guided tour around the Museum. Children learned about the various collections of the National Museum such as Sculptures in Stone, Bronze and Terracota, Arms, Armour, Decorative Arts, Jewellery, Manuscripts, Miniatures and Tanjore Paintings, Textiles, Numismatics, Epigraphy, Central Asian Antiquities, Pre-Columbian American and Western Art Collections. Gasps and moments of awe were heard coming from the children as they appreciated the work in front of them.

After the tour the children were taken to the Creative Work Gallery where they were divided into three groups for a skill building workshop. The primary goal of the workshop was to inspire interest in archaeological artifacts and Indian history. They were introduced to exploring, experimenting and expressing themselves in the form of art and craft, and constantly guided and helped during the workshop.

At the end of the workshop children thanked the National Museum workshop staff. They left with significantly greater knowledge about the importance of Indian history, arts and culture. Just like in their sport for development sessions, this experiential learning workshop has given them a platform to build capabilities in active engagement, motivation and depth of learning.

To find out more about Magic Bus, please visit www.magicbus.org

Letter from 16-year old Magic Bus volunteer

Slums in growing mega cities have drawn various responses from onlookers; from outright anger and disgust to passing nonchalance or complete resignation to their inevitability. We have found their inhabitants to be an object of our sympathy, a subject of our idle solution-rich, tea-table conversations, and a protagonist to numerous Bollywood and Hollywood inspired rags-to-riches stories.

How many of us have ever looked at them for inspiration? How many of us have ever thought that there is a lesson or two we could learn from them?

Here is a letter from a 16-year old whose life took an unforeseen turn when she decided to volunteer in one of Magic Bus' intervention areas.

Dear Mr. Thomas,

I would like to thank you for giving me this incredible opportunity. My time at Magic Bus was an experience of a lifetime. I felt like I was a part of something that mattered, that was meaningful and gave me perspective to be a better person.

The enthusiasm and positive outlook of these children gave me so much to think about. They knew how to experience joy from the common pleasures of life like being with others and participating in play. Even though we come from such diverse backgrounds, we still had so much in common. We were all kids with dreams and aspirations for our lives. 

Initially I was nervous that I might feel guilty for having the life I did and that they would judge me for that, but the warmth and excitement that they welcomed me with took all that nervousness away and made me very comfortable in their surroundings. Infact, they were all quite fascinated about me being from America and wanting to spend time with them.

It was so touching to learn that some of the mentors were people who had grown up on the Magic Bus programme and now wanted to give back to the community in whatever way they could. 

This was an India I had never seen before and I must admit I was a bit scared. After my time at Magic Bus, not only have I widened my horizons but I have also learnt that it is important to enjoy the simple things in life and appreciate whatever it is we have. These kids taught me more than I could ever teach them. I only wish I was there longer to continue working with them. 

Nevertheless, I will certainly remain a part of Magic Bus here in New York.  I would love to help promote the organization and I hope to see you and the children in the near future when I return to India. 

Please give my thanks and appreciation to Prachi and the rest of the Magic Bus team. 

Sincerely,

Arya Bhalla


Would you or anyone you know like to volunteer with Magic Bus on exciting upcoming events and projects? Contact volunteer@magicbusindia.org.

Case story > Magic Bus Programme > Ritu Pawa, Girl, 14 years

Ritu exchanges traditional roles for girls with her friend Tanu 

from the Magic Bus Tughlakabad community.

About Ritu's family and her community

Ritu shares her small home in the slums of Tughlakabad with her 7-member family. Like all their neighbour’s homes, theirs too is a makeshift structure pulled together using plastic sheets and cement. Given the family's financial situation, that is all they can afford. Her father is working as a driver and mother works as a maid.

How did Ritu become a part of the Magic Bus programme?

Ritu was one of the community’s girls who are traditionally discouraged from going to school. Consequently, the child was mostly left to fend for herself. “At first glance itself, you could make out that Ritu was not very well taken care of. She was dirty and unkempt, one of the hundreds of girls who grow up with no future,” says Niraj Kumar from Magic Bus. “As an unschooled girl, she was fated to follow in the footsteps of her mother and become a child bride.”

When Magic Bus started sessions in the area, Ritu was among the group of children who would stand on the sidelines, watching. She soon picked up the courage to talk to the volunteer running the programme here. “I told Bhaiya that my parents will not allow it, but I wanted to be part of the group that seemed to be having so much fun together,” she recalls.

Magic Bus’ staff approached the parents and held meetings to explain that girls playing and studying is not a bad thing at all, in fact, as a child, Ritu’s right is to learn and grow as well as any boy.  Her parents eventually agreed, but on one condition: there should be separate groups for girls and boys.

What impact has the programme had on this individual young person's life, and also on the lives of other young people in that community?

“One key takeaway for children in the Magic Bus programme is that girls have the same abilities as boys. This was a lesson Ritu learnt herself, as part of the Magic Bus sessions. Within as little as 2 months, she decided to call for a boys-vs.-girls match, at which she invited her parents too,” says Niraj about impact created on Ritu’s life.

“Watching all children together on the ground went a long way towards breaking age-old stereotypes about divides along gender lines,” says Niraj. “Ritu explained to her family that nature had not meant for girls to be “the weaker sex” and that given a chance, she could do as well in life as any boy. Her new found confidence was visible to all, not just her parents but her entire community.”

Soon, Ritu became a regular school-goer and an avid learner. With health tips from her Magic Bus mentors, she learnt to take care of her own health and hygiene needs, including basics such as bathing, cutting nails, wearing clean clothes.

Ritu is now part of an advanced development programme at Magic Bus that teaches her English language and computer skills. She continues to be a keen footballer.

Insights into a Youth Development Camp

A Youth Development camp was held for 100 Community Youth Leaders (CYLs), who volunteer to deliver our Thane programme in Maharashtra. The camp took place at our Magic Bus Learning Centre on the outskirts of Mumbai.
  

The primary objective of the camp was to allow our CYLs to focus on issues relating to youth development and career planning in a concerted and uninterrupted manner.

The topics covered over the 3 days included:

·         personal and social development

·         individual and group values

·         managing one’s strengths and weaknesses

·         various dynamics of leadership

·         career planning

The first four modules created a sense of self-awareness, a pre-requisite for the concluding topic of career planning.  The methods employed to help us reach this goal was not that of a lecture, but activity-based. This provided an impetus for the CYLs to express their ideas and understandings. The emphases of these activities were to allow the CYLs to vigorously debate the philosophies that resulted from the introspection drawn on the topics discussed.  Packed with interactive outdoor exercises and role plays the programme provides experiential learning on the challenges of leadership, prioritisation of values, and assessment of one’s strengths and weaknesses.

One could visibly note the behavioural change the CYLs went through over the three days. They learned to develop an inherent sense of responsibility, team spirit and understood what it takes to be a leader. They also further developed abilities of how to communicate effectively, think strategically and solve complex problems. The distinction in the responses provided by the CYLs in the pre- and post-assessment forms of the topics covered indicated maturity and understanding of the topics.

Recognising the importance of career planning, the CYLs formed area-specific youth committees. The objective of these youth committees is to create a grouping for the CYLs to collectively voice their career requirements and to create a sense of ownership of the youth development programme.

The youth development camp is an important step in allowing the CYLs to single-mindedly deliberate on their personal and professional growth. The ideas expressed by the CYLs formulate the core and direction for the Magic Bus’ Youth Development programme, ensuring orientation with their requirements.

• If you'd like to know more about the Magic Bus programme, visit www.magicbus.org
• To sponsor the training of a Magic Bus Community Youth Leader (CYL) to become a change-maker in a poor community, visit www.magicbus.org/donate.

Ek Chhaap Badlaav Ka (A Handprint For Change)

Ryan Ballard reports AIF Clinton Fellowship and Magic Bus display at 2012 Mumbai Marathon.