WHERE YOU ARE BORN SHOULD NOT LIMIT HOW FAR YOU GO…

OUR WORK

THE NEED | OUR APPROACH | FOCUS AREAS | OUR IMPACT | COVID RELIEF HIGHLIGHTS

…HOWEVER, FOR MARGINALIZED CHILDREN WHO ASPIRE, THERE ARE MANY ROADBLOCKS TO CROSS OVER!

The Need

Children from marginalised communities are often first generation learners. They face many challenges, while lacking the support, to access quality schooling, learning support and exposure, leading to self-doubt and limitations in unleashing their potential.

Makkala Jagriti is committed is to bring back hope, self-confidence, curiosity and exploration into the learning and lives of underprivileged children and youth, to kindle their interest and aspiration to IMAGINE, CREATE, BELIEVE and BECOME.

Our Approach

Since 2003, Makkala Jagriti has been facilitating children and youth to overcome their socio-economic roadblocks and embrace their true potential by creating conducive learning environments and using a holistic approach. And this is how we do it:

Creating safe, non-threatening, conducive Learning Spaces

Working with public systems like Anganwadis, Government schools and Government Children’s Homes

Working directly with marginalised communities

Adopting a child-centric approach and experiential methodology

Involving key stakeholders – parents, teachers, department functionaries and community members to facilitate collective problem-solving

Our Focus Areas

Early Childhood Care
and Education

Programme to enhance preschool learning,
implemented at Anganwadi centres.

Holistic Development
Learning Centres

Complementing formal education using our
unique ‘S.P.I.C.E.’ Model, implemented at
Government Schools, Children Homes, and
Communities.

Yuva Jagriti

A platform to enhance life skills and
facilitate access to opportunities for youth,
implemented at our Yuva Cafes and
government institutions.

Our Impact

children & youth
touched

government schools
transformed

Anganwadis
impacted directly

districts in Karnataka

teachers trained

Our COVID-19 Response and Impact

Following the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly
adapted our programmes to respond to the new and changing needs of our
communities, while also coping with various precautionary measures and
restrictions. Here are some highlights of our Covid-19 relief programme :

Launched ‘Learning under
Lockdown’ to ensure every child
and youth could continue learning
in the safety of their homes, with
minimum disruption

Used a multi-modal approach to
reach every child (both offline and
online) through Whatsapp, sms,
phone calls, conference calls,
video conferencing, etc.

Created Holistic Development
Learning Kits, to help children
with no access to smartphones

Multiple community visits to
ensure children are learning

State-level partnership with
Department of Women and Child
Development to reach 66,000
Anganwadis and 1000+
Children’s Homes

Supported parents and teachers
through training, capacity building
interventions and regular
conversations

The lives we touched and transformed during the pandemic

15,000+

Families supported with
essential grocery kits

40,000+

Learning kits distributed
to children

66,000+

Anganwadis reached
through remote learning

1,000+

Children’s homes reached
through remote learning

200+

Government schools
reached through
remote learning

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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OUR WORK

THE NEED | OUR APPROACH | FOCUS AREAS | OUR IMPACT | COVID RELIEF HIGHLIGHTS

The Need

Our Approach