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.

Inauguration of Youth Development Centres for our Karnataka programme

Our world is fraught with social, cultural, political and environmental challenges. This scenario is an opportunity for societies to transform their value systems and create a more sustainable and equitable present and future. In this context, the role of youth is of critical importance, as young people are the most important building blocks of a society: They are an important source of creativity and enthusiasm, and are drivers of social change.

Towards this, Magic Bus, through nurturing one of its impact areas – livelihood, is striving to improve disadvantaged youth’s economic and social well-being by empowering young people to identify their targets, develop themselves personally and professionally, and ultimately take up and sustain employment.

The Magic Bus programme in Mysore has around 650 Community Youth Leaders. In light of this, a youth development programme was required to help young people visualise and achieve their goals, and move into employment, training or higher education. Taking this into consideration, two Youth Development Centres were inaugurated in Mysore on March 8 and 9, 2014, in Shanthi Nagar and Haleem Nagar respectively.

MV Krishnan from Vodafone, in collaboration with Magic Bus, supported the centres with computers and furniture. Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) extended their support by engaging their trainers who will train enrolled youth in spoken English and basic computer skills. Roshan School and Milath Trust provided space for the youth development centres in the two communities.

The programme in both communities started with cultural performances by children, which included singing, a fancy dress competition, group dances, quawwali performances and skits on the importance of education.

In their speeches at the inauguration event, the guests mainly emphasized the need to empower and create a group of youth leaders who can positively explore themselves and are commit to making changes in their community. Guests also pointed out that youth need a positive and constructive environment where they can develop themselves socially and economically, and can ultimately lead successful, independent lives.

Youth Development Centre – Shanthi Nagar
The inauguration programme started with a great buzz in Roshan School, where 120 children, 80 parents, 60 youth and 20 teachers participated.

Inauguration event guests included Ayub Pasha, Corporator, and Raju Desai from Ace Foundation, and Amith, Aafaq and Chandini from Hinduja Global Solutions

At the opening of the Youth Development Centre in Haleem Nagar, around 150 children, 80 parents and 60 youth participated.

Guests at the event included Nagraj, Secretary of MESCO School, Shafi from Milath Trust, Shree Krishnan from the Vodafone Foundation who played a vital role in making it possible to open the two centres, and Kusum Mohapatra, State Head for the Magic Bus' programme in Karnataka.

Children, youth, parents, teachers and other community members came forward and supported the inauguration of both the youth development centres. The event was solely supported by the communities.

Thank you to all that made this happen!

To find out more about Magic Bus and how you can help us to make changes in communities like these, visit our website at www.magicbus.org/donate

Case story > Magic Bus Connect Programme > Pardeep Kumar, Age 20

Pardeep Kumar
(Photo: Heena Patel)

Pardeep lives with his parents and four siblings in a single room in JJ Colony within one of the largest resettlement slums in Delhi, Bhalswa. This 14-year-old community is mainly inhabited by migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Although they live in concrete homes which usually consist of 1 small room, they are in close proximity to a landfill area which creates a significant health hazard. To make things worse, the community is forced to use open spaces as their chamber pots. The drainage system is ill-maintained with open manholes, which carry risks for people living in that area.

Lack of cleanliness and stagnant water in Bhalswa breeds bacteria and spreads disease

Many children work as rag pickers helping their families to earn a meager sum of Rs.100/$1.5/£1 a day, which can barely provide a family of 4 with 1 meal a day.  Employment opportunities in Bhalswa are limited and most men are involved in manual, daily wage labour at the construction sites and nearby wholesale vegetable market. Women in this community support their families by working as domestic maids in nearby houses. 

Pardeep’s mother is a homemaker, and his father is a daily-wage earner who just about manages to make ends meet.

In 2010, when Magic Bus first set up a programme in J.J. Colony, Training and Monitoring Officer (TMO) Santosh Gupta noticed Pardeep, who came across as bright, positive and eager to make a difference to his community. He stood apart from other young boys in Bhalswa who tend to have little direction or guidance in life, and often fall into the trap of drug addiction and substance abuse.

Santosh asked him if he wanted to join Magic Bus as a Community Youth Leader (CYL). Excited at the opportunity to bring about change, Pardeep accepted. In October 2010, he completed his CYL training and started conducting Sport for Development (S4D) sessions for younger children in his community.

A young girl on the Magic Bus programme in Bhalswa, who also helps her family pick rags for a living. Pardeep works to educate and empower such young girls through the Magic Bus curriculum.
(Photo: Heena Patel)

Pardeep enjoyed his work, and the fact that children and parents in his community started to look up to him. However, after a short phase of excellence as a Youth Leader, Pardeep’s enthusiasm and energy levels dropped. Over time, the situation became worse. Local youth had to request him to be prompt and active at sessions, but he retaliated, got angry and often argued with them. He also stopped communicating with his CYL co-workers.

When Santosh, his Training and Monitoring Officer (TMO) asked him why he was distracted, he would get irritable. Pardeep’s behaviour at home changed too. Pardeep’s friends and parents also tried approaching him about his changed attitude, but he said nothing. Soon, Pardeep stopped relating to the children in his sessions, and the programme altogether.

As a way to address the situation, he was asked to take part in a Community Youth Leader Refresher Training programme. Santosh thought this might help Pardeep relate to his goals. During the training, Community Youth Leaders were encouraged to share any experiences they had whilst conducting Sport for Development sessions, advocating for children’s rights with parents, and negotiating with the community for support. They also talked about life in general—both on and off the field.

During his counselling session at this refresher training, Pardeep admitted that he was facing a lot of pressure at home: “I will be finishing my degree this year. My parents keep reminding me that I must get a job, but there seems to be no opportunities out there for me.”

He was told about Connect, Magic Bus’ Livelihood Programme, where youth are trained to become job-ready. Through this intervention, Pardeep was able to improve his spoken English, IT and soft skills, and develop interview and job-readiness skills.

On completing the course, Pardeep was offered a job at the Government’s Income Tax Department in New Delhi at a salary of INR 8,000 (80 GBP/$100) per month. To supplement his income, Pardeep also started to run extra-curricular tuition classes for children enrolled on the Magic Bus programme.

As an incentive for CYLs to share and improve their communication skills, Magic Bus has a peer-sharing, feedback and recognition process. As a part of this process, Pardeep was named ‘CYL of the month’. At this point he realised he played a significant role in helping to build a brighter future for his community. With renewed enthusiasm, he started conducting Magic Bus sessions for children in his community once again.

Magic Bus session in progress, Bhalswa

Today, Pardeep is a changed young adult. He is looked up to as a smart, understanding, caring and responsible person, and someone who has the potential to make a significant difference in his own life as well as his community, and his family.

He is on track to graduate from University with a Bachelor’s degree, and is still employed by the Income Tax Department, a job which he takes seriously and enjoys very much. During his free time, Pardeep continues his commitment as a volunteer Community Youth Leader with Magic Bus, delivering vital life-changing lessons to children in his community, coaching them to complete their education and build a stable livelihood - empowering them to break out of poverty.

Pardeep reflects on his experience, “Magic Bus has been my best friend. An educated person is respected and better able to make changes in his/her own life and the lives of others. I have learnt this through the programme. It is important to make sure children grow up to be responsible and independent citizens."