Children's Day 2018

In India, Children’s Day takes place in mid-November every year, and last Saturday was the occasion of the Building Blocks Children’s Day Festival. 

Final-year children from BB and those who are now at "Big School"

It’s a lively and entertaining occasion, with the children’s performances divided into two sessions.

Lots of smiles and all full of fun

They seem to be natural performers

First there is a programme from the children in their final year at BB.

They are full of confidence and there is no sign of shyness or nerves.

They are all 5 or 6 years old and most will be leaving Building Blocks next April
to continue their education in good primary and secondary schoolsto age 16.

In the second session of the concert, it was the turn of the older children who have “graduated” from Building Blocks and are now moving on towards their teenage years. Most of their performances were backed with Bollywood hit tunes and delivered with great energy and obvious pleasure.

These kids need scholarships to age 16

Standards have been rising steadily at all of our seven learning centres.

Most of the 130 children in this age-set will be eligible for places in good “English-medium” schools when the next academic year starts at the beginning of June. 

Over the coming months, it is up to Escape from Poverty in the UK, and other fund-raisers in India and around the world, to continue to raise the finance to support the ongoing education of these promising children.

No longer singing Bah, bah, black sheep

One day they are shy and hesitant infants, and a couple of weeks later they are self-confident, boisterous boys and girls. 
They are up on the stage, dancing and enjoying themselves, and entertaining their peers and the audience. Suddenly, Chaitra - the schoolgirl I sponsor personally - is much less of a child on this occasion, when she is performing in this year's Children's Day Concert.
Of course, every teacher is familiar with such changes, and knows all about it almost from Day One of their career. But I’ve never worked with children over any length of time, so it’s a new experience for me, (even after my own tribe of children and grandchildren,) - and, of course, it seems to happen almost overnight. 

My girl Chaitra

When I watched Chaitra dance, and when she chatted to me in her rapidly-improving English, I knew that the pound-a-day I invest in her education since I signed up to sponsor her, is one of the best investments I have ever made.

And I reflect on how different things might have been if James Ambat had not seized his dream and founded Building Blocks.

We are going to need a massive increase in funding as our schools continue to produce bright and intelligent children who deserve to continue their education in a good school where they can build on what BB has taught them.

If you could spare a few pounds a month it will help secure their future – and YOU will be a part of the change: part of making the world a better place.  

A few clicks and a piece of plastic is all you need.

Give a kid from the slums of Bangalore 

the ultimate Christmas gift of a good education.

https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/escapefrompoverty   https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/escapefrompoverty

   

November Newsletter from the team in Bangalore

Here is the November Newsletter from the Head Office of Building Blocks in Bangalore. We've had a specialist teacher-training programme, important updates with parents on their child's progress and a great excursion to the park for the children.

Next week I'll be blogging about the Indian National Children's Day celebrations and a special celebratory concert from the children.

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Greetings and welcome to the November issue of the Building Blocks newsletter. We are so happy to see the development and growth of the children from the activities and learning experiences they receive and we are eager to share them with you. Read on so you can experience the excitement and joy along with us.  Teachers' Training Program Teachers' Training Program This month the teachers donned the role of students when they took part in an inspiring and interactive training program called “Creating Futures”.  Creating Futures is a registered non-profit organization that aims to train and create employment opportunities for educated rural and urban youth. They run a variety of programs. For Building Blocks they are conducting a teaching development program. They conducted various activities on team-building and leadership development for the teachers and managers of Building Blocks India. All together there were 14 staff members who participated in this program . and all benefited greatly from the collective exchange of ideas and the training content.

Trip To The Park An Excursion To The Botanical Gardens As a part of outbound learning, the children had the wonderful opportunity to go to Lal Bagh, a beautiful park. It was a time to let loose and enjoy nature! With lush greenery, lots of play time along with an informative nature walk, this excursion was a great success. Kudos to the volunteers, teachers and staff who helped make it an all-round enjoyable time. Parent - Teacher Meeting Parent Teacher Meeting This month after the Term-1 Evaluation had ended, we conducted parent-teacher meetings throughout all our centres. A simple one-on-one meeting to bring the parents up to speed on the progress and standing of their child. They were presented with the child’s test papers and grade sheet, followed by a discussion on the child’s presence and behaviour at school. We are happy to report that overall, the parents are happy with their children’s results. We will do our best to ensure  that this positive trend continues. Wishing You All A Wonderful Month Ahead! Thank You So Much!  Our mailing address is: 34, Hanumanthappa Road, Soonangi layout, Nagama Nilaya, R.S.Palya Kamanahalli, Bangalore, Karnataka, India unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences       Share Tweet Forward

Keeping a Balance: Beggars and Homelessness

No longer quite so sprightly!

I am glad I brought a good, solid walking-stick with me to India. As I move towards my mid-70s, I am aware of a decline in my ability to balance. I first noticed it after my hip replacement. I was lazy, and I never really followed on with the exercise sheets and walking regime as I should have done. Now I pay the price every time I face a staircase, whether I am hauling myself up with the handrail, or trying not to miss my footing on the way down.

Earlier this year, I blamed my new glasses, and there is an element of truth in my belief that the varifocal lenses made me slightly giddy. But I refuse to wear glasses all the time, because I can stroll down the street, or work happily on the computer without them. (If I strain to read the text, I just adjust the view on the screen to 150%.) I can shop in the supermarket, but if I am wearing my varifocals, and I need to read the microscopic print on a label, I have to nod up and down till my eyes align with the right bit of the varifocal lens. So instead, I don’t bother with always wearing glasses, and just stick my reading specs in my breast pocket for when I want to verify a sell-by date. That works fine, unless I forget to take them off again, and walk around town, wondering why everything is a bit fuzzy.

Four legs are better than two

Striding Out

I never really thought about why old people use a walking stick. Now I know. It’s a stabilising third leg. And in Bangalore, it works like crampons and carabiners on a glacier, the former stop you slipping and the latter provide a sense of security. Which is what you need when road repairs mean digging a hole, but not necessarily filling it in completely, and when a kerb at the edge of the pavement is up to 25cm high, (about 10 inches, in old money.)

A splash of local colour

If my taxi is stuck at traffic lights, a sad widow will tap on the window, hoping for a few rupees. 

India's legally recognised third gender

Sometimes a group of hijras will lobby the motorists. Hijras are people born male but who dress as women and identify, under Indian law, as belonging to a third gender. Like London drag queens they are often glamorous, and sashay between the cars at road junctions, scrounging for small change. Like gypsies in Europe, they are considered to have the power to curse those who treat them badly, and hence their begging tends to be very successful.

It's another splash of local colour, and there are other surprising differences between strolling along the pavement in Bangalore, as opposed to Birmingham. 

The biggest shock is very sobering, and makes me reflect in a sobering whatever-happened-to-Blighty sort of way. 

Rough Sleepers

Most British cities have their quota of homeless people sitting on the pavement with their dog for warmth and company, and their paper cup for the occasional donation. 

Homeless in central London

This is not something I see in Bangalore. Although there are well over 1.7million officially homeless in India (2011 census) this represents just 0.15% of the population. By comparison, Shelter estimates that there are currently 600,000 homeless in the UK – a staggering 0.9% of the population. This reveals a proportion of homelessness in Britain which is six times greater than the percentage reported in the last Indian census. It is probably true to assume that there are differences in the definitions of “homelessness” between the two countries, but by any stretch of the imagination and even allowing for creative massaging or distortion of the numbers, this is a frightening statistic.

A bed in a night-shelter

In India, rough sleepers are chased out of doorways and sent on their way, but there are hostels and night shelters that provide some basic hospitality.

The UK statistic haunts me: almost one percent of the population statistically “homeless.” The reality is that the UK's biggest problem is in thinking that homelessness itself is the problem. 

Homelessness is not the problem, it's a symptom of a far greater problem, and it will take much, much more than soup kitchens and night shelters to solve it.

Working towards a better future

One of the greatest attractions of living in India, is to know that there is an underlying optimism throughout Indian society. The most important thing that Building Blocks teaches, right from Day One, is that our students create their own future, and their past need not limit their opportunities.

They have an opportunity that their parents could never dream of

I cannot remember the last time I felt this spirit of positivity in my local environment. It was not much evident in the community when I lived in Lincoln. Prior to that I had lived in Italy for a few years and discovered that Italians loved communities – but only their small, local community: nothing bigger than the village, or a small zoned-off quartiere of their birth-town. 

India has its divisions: its castes and classes, its languages and religions, but there is national pride in being one sixth of the world's population, all under one flag. If only Britain-in-Europe had grasped the opportunity to be a dynamic part of a greater community . . .

But Britain has never shown any passion for being an active part of Europe, and working together to build a better Europe. I sometimes feel that once Britain saw the acronym EEC they decided instantly that they certainly did not want to be a part of anything that called itself a Community. When it morphed into EU, the word Union was just one step too far.

Which is why I am here. 

India wants to succeed and I want to help their next generation achieve it with a focus on community: an emphasis on the many not the few ( - a phrase so very relevant in 21st century politics, on both sides of the Channel and both sides of the Atlantic.)

Sadly, I cannot imagine returning to life in England, with its suffocating fog of negativity. For the rest of my span on this Earth, I want to stay as motivated as the 8-year old BB graduate who lives in the squalor of the Bangalore slums, but has set her sights  firmly on becoming a Bank Manager. What a privilege it is to be able to help children like her, - and so many others who proudly flaunt their ambitions!

Little girls, big ambitions.

No matter where you are in the world,you can help our hard-working children achieve their dreams. A few pounds a month funds all kinds of extra-curricular activities; a scholarship through from age 6 to age 16 costs less than £1 per day. 

Debit or credit cards with the VISA or Mastercard logo are gratefully accepted:
  Just CLICK HERE  

Games for Teachers and Training for Parents

Here is the latest newsletter from Head Office of Building Blocks in Bangalore, where the teachers were on the receiving end last week when the children ran special activities for Teachers' Day. 

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Greetings! We would like to dedicate this month's news to appreciating our wonderful teachers who make everything possible by their selfless service for our children. We have also embarked on a new training program for the parents of the children coming to Building Blocks India. Read on to catch up on all the details and pictures of all the excitement and progress for this month. Teachers' Day Celebrations We are not Just teachers. We are the managers of the world's greatest resource: Children The most important person in the lives of the children other than the parents is a teacher. They play a vital role in the making of a person. We in Building Blocks India are blessed to have a lively, dedicated, inspired, patient, sacrificial, loving and caring team of teachers who relentlessly pour into the children each day to mold their little lives. The teachers faithfully follow a curriculum, engage the children in fun activities, play with them,  listen, care and attend to their little cries for the three years that they are with us. Hats off to our teachers who make a lot possible and keep the engine running. It was a special time for all our teachers. They were treated to some fun activities and lots of appreciation from the children for all their hard and sacrificial work. It was indeed a memorable day for them.

Community Project: Training Program As a part of our community services Building Blocks India hosted a unique training program for parents and youth from the slums where our children come from.ANTS Joining hands with Building Blocks India has taken up the cause of training and creating job opportunities for the welfare of the community people which will spread across all our 7 learning centers benefiting the parents of our students. At ANTS they train the youth to meet the challenges that they may face along the journey of life. They have developed a training model that has been adapted with a broad range of teaching techniques. The model is learner-centric, focusing on transfering of skills and ideas to the participants. Since the members of ANTS come from diverse backgrounds they view each individual as an independent individual who brings a unique set of experiences including dreams and fears, aspirations and motivations. They begin by assessing who they are, how they work, what motivates them and where their skills can be best utilised. The goal is to offer them a path full of opportunities to accomplish their dreams. To make skills-training conducive to the participating group, they ensure interactivity, linkages with practical application and encourage curiosity because that helps to keep them engaged. Therefore, the model is based on 30% theory input and 70% application-based learning. Certification On completing the course, each individual receives a certificate of attendance. Placement Placement is the second most important link of any student undergoing skills training. ANTS believes that, it is our sole responsibility to ensure that students trained and certified by us, should be placed by us. While their trainers ensure that training outcome is the best in the industry, the placement team simultaneously works on the placement front. They believe in providing placements in line with the aspirations of the trainee. The central placement team based in Bangalore is responsible for links with pan-India organisations for placements. This is to ensure that students with high aspirations are provided with successful placements. The central team also maintains a real-time database on placement activities across all our centres. Wishing You All A Wonderful Month Ahead! Thank You So Much!