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Volunteering – A Key Part Of Makkala Jagriti

Home / Blogs / Volunteering – A Key Part Of Makkala Jagriti
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Archana is a software engineer at a leading multinational corporation in Bengaluru. One Friday, she received an email. It was an internal one sent across the organisation, one from its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team. She had only been at the company for four months, and this was the first such email she received. She clicked on the link – her world was about to change.

 

It was a call for volunteers to help with an online workshop on spoken English through Makkala Jagriti. Archana had been wondering for quite a while about how children – especially from under-resourced communities – were getting access to education during the pandemic. Going through Makkala Jagriti’s website, Archana learned more about what the organization does in ensuring equitable access to education. She wrote back to her CS our team immediately, confirming her willingness to volunteer.

Santhosh is a student at a liberal arts college in the outskirts of Bangalore. Being in the final year, he had fewer classroom hours and more time for research. He found that he had a few hours to spare every week, which he wished to use productively and responsibly. While searching for the “best NGO in Bangalore to volunteer”, he hit the first link that he saw. It was Makkala Jagriti’s website. Fascinated by what he read about the organisation, Santhosh entered his email address in the place calling for volunteers. He didn’t know what he was going to do at Makkala Jagriti, but he knew that the experience would be enriching for him and the children with whom he would work.

Volunteer to NGO- Makkala Jagriti

These are but a handful of stories of several hundred persons who have spent time with us at Makkala Jagriti. Volunteering for Makkala Jagriti has been more than just about the completion of tasks – it has been about the sharing of experiences, knowledge, and lives. After all, this is the hallmark of Makkala Jagriti’s mission of creating and fostering a social movement. Having more hands and minds working together is always beneficial in ensuring a wider reach to children and under-resourced communities. This social movement comes alive when more people outside the organization are aware of the impact of the work done by Makkala Jagriti and actively involve themselves in it.

 

On the one hand, our children and communities gain significant exposure from interacting with volunteers from various backgrounds. On the other hand, volunteers get to know of challenges faced by our communities. They can propagate the story further, talking about what more can be done to improve situations. 

 

Makkala Jagriti has been fortunate to have volunteers from different backgrounds for nearly two decades now. Volunteers with varying skill sets can provide valuable input to cater to any project’s needs. Some events and workshops require the demonstration of specific skills, and this is where volunteers come in. For instance, a group of volunteers with a strong background in science will be able to conduct educational workshops in science experiments for children, thereby increasing the interest children would have in the sciences while exposing them to a world beyond their textbooks.

Online lessons at NGO - Makkala Jagriti

The team at Makkala Jagriti, too, has benefited tremendously thanks to our volunteer community. Volunteers from different specialisations have helped build the organisation’s capabilities in these same specialisations. A significant example of this was on display when the lockdown began owing to the pandemic. With face-to-face teaching coming to a halt, several teachers and facilitators had to quickly adapt to technological means to reach out to children, particularly through platforms like Zoom, WhatsApp, and YouTube. It was undoubtedly a challenging prospect. It was thanks to the volunteers who contributed their time to teaching our teachers and facilitators the basics of using a phone to communicate effectively, send messages, log into and use online meeting platforms, edit instructional videos, and so much more. Well over a year later, our teachers and facilitators are conducting their activities online with boundless confidence and aplomb, and this in great measure has been thanks to our volunteer community.

 

Play ground at Anganwadi Schools - Makkala Jagriti

Makkala Jagriti’s core organisation, too, has significantly gained through volunteer experience. Through their know-how of best practices in organisations, volunteers have helped the organisation create internal policies to ensure smooth functioning. For NGOs like ours, volunteers have formulated human resource policies, financial management policies, procurement policies, and the like.

 

From teaching children how to make a baking soda volcano to painting a lovely mural on the wall of an Anganwadi, volunteers have gone above and beyond to help us make education fun and accessible to our children. They are the very embodiment of the social movement that is Makkala Jagriti.

 

If you’d like to know more about how you can volunteer and be a part of our movement, we’d love to hear from you – so write to us at volunteers@makkalajagriti.org

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How the education of one girl can impact generations ahead

Both of Mercy’s parents worked in the unorganised sector, who could not afford her school fees. She joined Makkala Jagriti Learning Centre at the age of 11, and always found the facilitators to be warm, welcoming and encouraging. Makkala Jagriti also supported her to pursue her education.

“We had a lot of freedom to explore our interests and talents. They taught us life skills and values. It was a new world for me.”

– Mercy

Through the Yuva Jagriti career guidance programme, Mercy received the right kind of insight and encouragement that led her to pursue a degree in Commerce, that too through a merit seat. Being the first girl in her family to study that far, she set an example in her community and made choices that allowed her to move beyond the circumstances that she was born into. Mercy now works in a reputed bank and is among our celebrated many who not only made a difference in their own lives but continue to do so in that of others.

anganwadi centres

Turning a Misguided Youth into a Community Leader

Prabhu was a teenager when the old, dilapidated building in which his family lived collapsed, leaving them without a home. While they were still grappling with the situation, Prabhu lost his father, the sole earning member of the family. Unable to process his difficult circumstances, he found strength in hanging around with his friends, who often indulged in gang wars and all forms of abusive behaviour.

Prabhu was a shy yet playful boy when he joined the Yuva Jagriti centre at the age of 15. He expressed, “I feel I am at crossroads, not sure which road to take”. Following our support and guidance, he decided to pursue an internship at Makkala Jagriti. He was entrusted to work with children from Shelter Homes. Today, Prabhu is a sought-after Creative Facilitator and Coordinator at Makkala Jagriti, managing three Community Centres. A silent yet sound performer, he brings in diverse and highly creative ways to engage children and help them learn and grow.

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From a 10th Std. dropout to a World Taekwondo Champion

Murali lived in Bengaluru with his brother, while his parents lived in a village in Tamil Nadu. After his 10th grade, he lost the interest and inclination to study further. When he joined Yuva Jagriti, he started learning Taekwondo at our centre, which helped him become calmer and more focused. He also showed immense capacity to work with children, especially in the areas of sports and creativity, and this landed him an opportunity to work with Makkala Jagriti. Alongside his work, he pursued Taekwondo and competed at the District, State and National levels. He won a number of Gold Medals.

Today, Murali is an accomplished Taekwondo instructor, teaching at many schools in Bengaluru. He brought great accolades to the Nation when he won two bronze medals at the World Taekwondo Championship in Korea in September 2017.

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Breaking the language barrier for migrant children

Barnalli, a seventh grade student at Government Primary School, Somasundrapalya, is a child of migrant parents from Assam. Unable to speak the local language, Kannada, she found it difficult to adjust to school and struggled to mingle with other children.

“When you are new to a place and don’t know anyone, it is hard to fit in. She didn’t have any friends in school.”

– Barnalli’s mother

Makkala Jagriti’s language development program came to her rescue.

“Although I was in a higher grade, the HDLC facilitator taught me Kannada right from the basics. The different activities and sessions helped me grasp the language easily and quickly. Over time, Kannada moved from being just a new language to my favorite subject. Learning Kannada helped me enjoy school a lot more. I became a class leader and also started representing the school in inter-school competitions!”

– Barnalli

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Equipping parents to become positive influencers

Manoj, a 12-year-old boy, hails from a family of garment workers who had migrated from Andhra Pradesh. On moving to Bengaluru in 2018, he joined the Government Primary School in Ulsoor. The drastic change in his environment and culture left him feeling withdrawn and fearful. He refused to speak or participate in any school activity. Over time, he confided in our HDLC facilitator about feeling neglected by his parents in such difficult circumstances.

Manoj’s mother was invited to participate in Makkala Jagriti’s parents’ workshop. The two-day residential workshop allowed her to reflect on her own mindset, biases and relationship with her son. At the end of it, she made a conscious decision to work on rebuilding and restoring her relationship with Manoj. At school, our facilitator noticed that this had a direct impact on his performance. He became more participative and improved in his academics. Manoj later shared with the facilitator that his relationship had become more harmonious and positive with his mother.

anganwadi school

Nammoora Anganwadi

We have seen great transformation take place when parents and community members are involved in shaping learning spaces for children and understand the importance of preschool education. The Anganwadi at Katamnallur, Bengaluru, transformed from a dull space to a vibrant and colourful learning centre, where children love to visit every day and parents and community members gather to participate in various activities.

“When we started our intervention, we saw that the environment at the Anganwadi was not safe or conducive for children. Although the community could contribute to the Anganwadi’s development, there was a major gap between the community, local leaders and Anganwadi teachers.”

– Gouri, Coordinator

Through community celebrations and fun events, we involved community members in the Anganwadi activities. As their participation grew, their understanding about the significance of early learning and development also increased and they readily contributed to the centre’s development.

“Community involvement in Anganwadi is so important. Inspired by Makkala Jagriti’s work, we saw the community, parents and Bala Vikas Samithi members come together and show greater ownership towards the Anganwadi.”

– Subramanya Swamy, Doddabanahalli Gram Panchayat Member

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A Library with Toys!

In an effort to ensure that every household in the Anganwadi community had access to child-friendly learning materials, we started a novel initiative called ‘Toy Library’, which allowed parents to borrow toys and learning resources for their children.

“The Toy Library has been very useful for children. Whatever we teach at Anganwadi, they can continue learning at home independently. Parents also feel more equipped to engage their children at home. No wonder, within just two months of its launch, over 100 toys were borrowed from our Anganwadi.”

– Bhavya, Anganwadi teacher

The Toy Library concept was welcomed by the community and the time spent on learning at home increased!

“My child always preplans what he’d like to take home from the Toy Library. He has also become very responsible in maintaining the toys because he knows he must return them! In the past 3 months, we have borrowed 20 times already.”

– Shwetha, Parent, Vijayanagara Anganwadi, Doddaballapur

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Empowered Teachers Create Better Learners

To ensure children get quality pre-school learning opportunities in the Anganwadi, we empower the teachers and helpers through enhancing their knowledge, skills and attitude towards early learning and development.

“Through Anganwadi trainings, I have changed in a positive way and gained confidence about myself – especially in terms of catering to all domains of early learning. I have even started making learning materials by myself to teach children”.

– Nirmala, Anganwadi teacher, Rojipura

We train teachers and helpers on experiential learning methods that can be practiced at their centres. We also organise Mothers’ Meetings and regular mentoring visits to provide on-the-job support and guidance to teachers. Anganwadi helpers are empowered to become co-teachers and have an important role in the children’s learning process, thereby not confining them to just cooking and cleaning.

“I was used to just cooking and cleaning in the Anganwadi and did not do much else. However, after I attended the ECCE trainings, I realized I had a lot of potential and could engage and teach the children just like a teacher. Now, when the teacher is absent, I engage children in preschool learning activities.”

– Rukmini, Helper, Jyothinagar Anganwadi

From giving little time to learning, to prioritizing pre-school learning and spending more quality time with children, Anganwadi teachers and helpers have come a long way.