Reinventing myself - again

Goodbye Lincoln - Hello Bangalore!
When I came back to live in Lincoln in 2012, after four years in the Italian countryside, I started nesting again; stamping my style and preferences on my spectacular bachelor pad in Minster Yard, with its awe-inspiring view onto the East front of Lincoln Cathedral.

The view from my front door

For six years I have pandered to my quirky taste and passion for unusual decor. I covered one wall with wooden spoons from around the world, and I filled my kitchen cupboards with rare cookware.

I have a dozen tiny condiment dishes to contain aïoli for fish soup, and a dozen miniature leCreuset cast-iron casseroles, that would - I decided - be perfect for an exotic dinner-party starter. . . . but I never made that fish soup, nor that miniaturised Cassoulet to serve in those colourful cast-iron leCreusets. So now I am leaving behind most of the design and decor that I have so painstakingly created, and I am going to live in India. 

Reinventing myself
I am at it again; reinventing myself; this time into a volunteer management consultancy with the Indian project for which I set up my UK fund-raising charity, Escape from Poverty. 

Some of the children whose education is funded by Escape from Poverty, together with their parents (all in their Sunday best for the photograph!)

In order to get a good education in India, a child needs to be basically numerate and literate by age six, with some basic knowledge of English in addition to their own mother-tongue. This means that they need to start school some time between 2yrs 6 months and 3yrs 6 months.

There are very few government-funded preschools, which means that children from poor backgrounds stand very little chance of gaining a good education. Building Blocks is an Indian charity which operates free pre-schools exclusively for children living in the slum districts. In addition to a wide range of academic subjects, the curriculum focuses heavily on building self-esteem, encouraging self-confidence and stimulating creativity. 
Escape from Poverty raises 10-year scholarships to support children from Building Blocks when they move on to Primary and Secondary schools, from age 6 to 16. 

My task in Bangalore is to work with James Ambat, the founder of Building Blocks, to define a clear, long-term Vision and Mission for Building Blocks and translate this into a pragmatic 5-Year Strategy.

Right now, my personal   strategy is a matter of auditing every item of my possessions and taking the heart-rending decision as to which items I take and which items I must sadly leave  behind. 

Since my Lincoln apartment is rented, and storage costs are prohibitive, most of my furniture is destined for the charity shops whence it came six years ago. However, it's the low-cost / low-value items with great sentimental value that are the most difficult to part with. 

What to take: what to leave: what to sell: what to give away?

As the Everly brothers used to croon in the 60s "Packing up is so very hard to do-o-o-o-o-o." However, none of these practical hurdles will prevent me from fulfilling my dream of working on the Building Blocks project in Bangalore.

Finding a New Home
My colleagues in Bangalore are finding me a 2-bedroom apartment located near the Building Blocks offices, and in less than a month I shall be personalising it with some of the possessions (and maybe a few wooden spoons) that I am taking with me from Lincoln. However, what matters is not whether I can get QI and The Last Leg live from Britain on my computer, what matters is how James and I, - and all the team - are going to give kids from the slums the opportunity to break free of poverty and really believe in their own future.

I know we can achieve that, because I know the kids can.

6 year-old "graduates" from a Building Blocks Preschool, April 2018

A Building Blocks Success Story

Our aim at Building Blocks is not to teach only the basics; we want our students to excel, and to know that they can achieve whatever they desire if they work hard at school and focus on their dreams

This four-year old has everyone believing that he can alter his own destiny!

An article about a Building Blocks student, contributed by 

Sharanya Hariharan an online journalist based in Bangalore

A narrow lane with more sheds than it can hold.

Women, children and dogs clustered in and around each house.

The lane filled with vessels to be washed had someone bathing, someone cooking while another ironed clothes.

Music from a nearby shop, the rattling noises of domestic activities and people talking: - there was much life bustling along this lane.

Who would have thought that this lane hosted a bunch of first generation learners who would choose to study amidst such distractions?

A mother, Ponnamma, was speaking about her son, Bheema Shankar, and his learning at Building Blocks Preschool.

Student Bheema Shankar

Ponnamma stepped out of her humble shack to express her joy in enabling her son to study. She said, "I don't know what subjects he learns, nor can I help him study. But seeing his notebooks makes me proud!" 

Both being uneducated, she and her husband, Aiyyappa, decided to have their only son enrolled with Bluebells, one of the  BuildingBlocks preschools. 

In less than a year of being in school, four year-old Bheema Shankar had shown much interest towards learning in general. Although Ponnamma spends her waking hours around her son, she can barely help him with his homework. She understands that he learns many subjects in school, but she recognises only English, Kannada and Maths. Yet, when Bheema shows his notebook to her, she knows he is doing well and takes pride in his merit marks.

At home, he is the first to rise and step out ready for school. He insists on being punctual; and is sometimes known to check a teacher who may walk in late, a couple of minutes after the bell! Little Bheema is spotted questioning about every event, or any object placed before him. He is often caught trying to frame sentences in English or seen teaching his friends to count. "Bheema is attentive and brilliant. He is quick to grasp new concepts and is always eager to learn." said Asheena, School Manager at Bluebells. For being just about four years old, he is immensely self-motivated and is noted for being helpful with his classmates.

In a conversation with Bheema in his playtime, he indicated that I see his notebook, left behind at school. On reaching his school, I sought help to find Bheema's notebooks. The book he indicated had it all. Page after page, were ticks, appreciation stars and full marks given out to neatly spelt three-letter English words, or Kannada alphabet, one or two-digit numbers, or parts of plants and animals, or days and months in a year. From all the drawings to his midterm results, this notebook demonstrated Bheema's potential to achieve academically. Bheema Shankar stands as one of the top students in class, scoring 100% results across all subjects in all his tests and exams so far. Bheema Shankar's innate quality to learn and excel is promising; he seems to be on the path to a bright future.

Ponnamma and her son Bheema

 When asked about aspirations for him from the family, Ponnamma replied, "All we want is to educate him, for we are no one to make career decisions for him. We are sure Bheema will grow up to be ambitious and make us proud."

This article first appeared the online publication Young Spark: ( http://youngspark.in/#/)

Clamouring for Education

When the word gets around that the local Building Blocks Preschool is interviewing for admissions for the new School Year, residents from the local community pack the crowded meetings to learn more. 

The main qualification for admission to a Building Blocks preschool, is poverty. 

We are looking for cases of genuine need. We have had cases where parents have hidden their possessions with neighbours, before a visit from our social workers. This way they tried to disguise their true financial situation and have Building Blocks educate, feed and care for their child, free of charge, every day.  

Just as in Europe and America, many preschools in Indian cities are established mainly to look after children so that the mothers can get back into work. However, this is far from the principles on which Building Blocks operates. The objective of Building Blocks is to give slum children the opportunity to Escape from Poverty. 

This means that we must be sure that the parents will support their children, give them encouragement with homework, take an interest in what the child is learning, and praise the achievements that are listed in their 6-monthly school reports. 

After drawing up an initial list of children who could qualify for preschool education at Building Blocks, we then set up a schedule of interviews when we learn about the family, their situation and their attitude to their child's education.

This is a gruelling process, and we hear some heart-rending stories of the hardships that many slum-dwellers face in raising young children in a tough and impoverished environment. 

By the end of the day, our team are emotionally drained and exhausted, but they love the challenges and rewards of a job which truly changes lives.

I set up Escape from Poverty in 2017 to fund the ongoing education of kids in Bangalore after they've completed three years at a Building Blocks Preschool.

We are already funding 14 children. Some are sponsored by individuals, three by a school in Devon, others by groups of friends and others are crowd-funded by direct donations to our Scholarship Fund.

It costs less than £1 per day and, - apart from bank charges, - every penny goes to fund the education of kids from the slums of Bangalore . 

Please click on this link to go to our fund-raising page on My Donate

End of Term

Proud Mums, a proud teacher and excited children

Ilsham Academy in Torquay supports  Angel, Taraswin and Saliha

All the mums were in their "Sunday best" outfits last Friday, to see their children receiving their end of year school reports on their last day at Building Blocks Azalea Learning Centre.

These three bright children  have all gained places in good Grade schools and are financially supported through Escape from Poverty by Ilsham Academy in Torquay, where the pupils have guaranteed to subsidise the fees and pay for extra coaching and mentoring for the first year of their education in their new school.

The children dressed up with gown and mortar-board to have  their photo taken with their class teacher, Shehanaaz.


She was also smiling at the weekend when the news came through that she had achieved First Class Honours in the diploma examination she had been studying for part-time, while continuing to teach the top class at Building Blocks Azalea.

It was a very moving occasion to see the Mums arriving at the school, with their faces gleaming with pride at the achievements of their children.

The children all went home with a graduation gift of a "SpongeBob - SquarPants" backpack, ready for their first day at their new school, in June in a few weeks' time.

 When you meet a 6-year old like young Epsibah, brimming with confidence and full of joy, it is impossible to imagine that lively young girl lives in poverty at home in the slums.


Building Blocks takes children who have nothing and gives them pride, confidence and self-esteem.
These characteristics are at least as important as the literacy and numeracy that they learn in their lessons, - and they take these behaviours back to their modest homes in the impoverished slum communities.

Education : Education : Education.

Is it Aitch or is it Huh?

Most children in India learn at least a couple of alphabets, and seem to do so with an infant agility that makes parents and grandparents like me realise how old we are. The next stage is to translate the squiggles into sounds with meaning, but educationalists in any language argue about whether the children should be taught to decipher the squiggles into sounds by recognising the shapes and sequence of the letters, or by sounding out the noises that the letters represent. 

Is it Aitch or is it Huh?

The Building Blocks preschool Learning Centres have prided themselves in the way that they have been using Phonics, which is now taught in over 100 countries around the world, in many of which it is established as the official government teaching standard. 

Building Blocks uses both Phonics and Word-Recognition to achieve high standards of literacy in both English and Kannada by the time pupils are in K5 at the age of 6.

A is for APPLE

The teachers in all seven of the Building Blocks learning Centres are a formidable group of ladies with a positively evangelical fervour for their profession. 

Like James, they are dedicated to helping children to LEARN, which is sometimes not the same thing as TEACHING.

Planning new Projects

Next week I fly to Bangalore, escaping the cold and rain, fleeing the politics of Brexit and returning to working with James and the team, - and the children who love to learn and the teachers who love to teach. Once again I shall come to grips with the complexities of an organisation that offers slum kids the unheard of luxury of a clean schoolroom, running water and a healthy lunch. 
My main task will be working with the founder, James Ambat on exciting new expansion plans to double the size of the operation by 2021.

Funding their Future

https://mydonate.bt.com/events/escape-from-poverty

A secure future for these 12 children

The education of the 12 children pictured here is being funded through "Escape from Poverty" - the charity I set up 11 months ago.
Five students are sponsored by individuals, three by a school in Devon, one by a group of friends in Lincoln and three by crowd-funding through a steady flow of donations to the BT My donate website - which accepts both single donations and monthly standing orders.

Less than £1 per day

The Project + Ten Sponsorship scheme supports children for the vital 10 years from age 6 to age 16, funding 80% of school fees and providing ongoing mentoring and coaching to ensure that these children do not fall behind in the achievements of children from more privileged backgrounds. 
It costs £30 per month for one child - less than a pound a day.
Today there are children who are now in their final month at Building Blocks who have places on offer at a good High School, but who urgently need financing so they can take up places in their new schools in a few weeks' time. 
Email me at mail@bobharvey.co.uk if you are interested in supporting a specific boy or girl and I will send you photos and details. Alternatively click the link below if you would just like to be part of the change, and help to crowd-fund a student.

Help to Crowd-fund a child to take up a place in a good High School

Please share the link and spread the stories

https://bobharvey5.blogspot.co.uk

Back to Bangalore

It was very embarrassing!

When I went back to Bangalore, just four months ago in November, they surprised me at the Children's Day celebrations by presenting me with flowers, garlands and an engraved plaque. It was all very embarrassing, but it made me reflect on how a small contribution can make a significant impact, and it is most gratifying now, to start to see that we are making an impact.

In less than a month, I shall be back in Bangalore, working on various new projects that create educational opportunities for children living in poverty.

I love doing what I do and find it hugely rewarding to be able to channel the generosity of friends in Lincoln into providing a good education for children who live in the squalor and deprivation of the slum districts of Bangalore.

So, why do I do what I do in England?

A prospective pupil for Building Blocks 

It all started when I was in India two years ago and saw the Building Blocks pre-school projects set up in the slum districts of Bangalore.
I asked James Ambat, the project's founder if I could set up a fund-raising operation in the UK. He readily agreed, and it then took me12 months to establish  "Escape from Poverty" and gain charitable status so that I could recover tax on donations.

We now have a dozen children who receive educational funding through Escape from Poverty, and James and I are working on proposals to double the size of the operation over the next three years.

What is different about Escape from Poverty?

Our students are ambitious

Some charities work in response to critical situations, like relief from floods and famines, while other charities work to resolve on-going challenges, like disabilities and medical research. Escape from Poverty has a different kind of objective. 

In conjunction with our colleagues in Bangalore, our purpose is very much focused on achieving long-term, sustainable results, taking children from subsistence to success, and choosing a career rather than just taking whatever work they can find.

We want our children to have big ambitions, and if we were to concentrate simply on basic numeracy, these children would end up in menial employment as pedlars, street vendors and day-labourers. 

After three years with Building Blocks, our pupils are numerate, they know their times-tables, and they are basically literate both in Kannada - the local vernacular - and in English. This qualifies them for a place in a good school because much of secondary education in India is taught in the English language, so a good working knowledge of English is essential for academic progress.

Why don't Indian people look after their own?

Oh, but they do! 

In Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities philanthropy is central to social behaviour. I saw this from Muslim colleagues when I was working with refugees in Athens when Muslim colleagues could raise hundreds of euros for refugees with one simple email to their mosque back in Britain. 

The British Sikh community is another humanitarian example, feeding thousands of homeless people from street kitchens in British cities. (Guru Nanak's Free Kitchen.)  

For many modern Indian Hindus and Christians, the achievement of wealthy status comes with an expectation to support those less fortunate. Furthermore, this is encouraged by tax incentives and legislation that directs all businesses to donate a portion of their profits to charitable causes. 

The Building Blocks pre-schools are mainly funded by local companies or individuals, and most of the sponsorship for Building Blocks' children's ongoing education comes from Indian individuals or families, some locally based, and some who are NRI (non-resident Indians) living in America or Europe.

What have we achieved in our first 12 months?

After less than 12 months in operation, "Escape from Poverty," now supports a dozen children who have moved at the tender age of just 6 years-old from Building Blocks to their English-medium primary/secondary schools. Here a video made to introduce the latest pupil to be sponsored by a group of people in Lincoln, England.

Not everyone can fund a 10-year scholarship to secure a child's future, but everyone can be part of this project. You can donate towards crowd-funding scholarships for children who will start their new schools in June, with VISA or Mastercard.

Perhaps you have a group of friends who would like to pitch in together to fund a child's future. We already have three children who are supported by a school in Devon, and we provide marketing support with leaflets and videos. A year's support with subsidised school fees and after-school coaching and mentoring costs less than £1 per day.  

This is a chance for you to be part of making a real change to the lives of some great kids who deserve this opportunity and have proved that education and serious study can be their Escape from Poverty.

Click on this link to support a crowd-funded scholarship

A Widow and her Three Daughters

Sometimes my work brings tears to my eyes.

Today I have been working on a document (reprinted below) which has gone out to a group in America whom we have worked with in the past. When I read the information they sent me, I just wanted to reach for my cheque-book, but to do so would have deprived an American group of the opportunity to be part of the answer.

And that readers, is what true charity is all about . . . it's the opportunity to be part of the answer.

If you would like to contribute to the Escape From Poverty Scholarship Fund, you can do so with VISA or Mastercard through this link or through the link at the foot of this post.

Do you know someone who might help?

I am writing to you about a family of three young women and their mother, whom we would like to help, and for whom we are seeking financial support

The family members

Sabamma is the mother of three beautiful girls. The eldest girl is Ayyamma (17) Her sister is Basalingama (16), and the youngest is Renuka (12.) They originally came from Gulbarga district, an interior village in the rural part North Karnataka.  The head of the family, Marilingappa, passed away due to health issues when the girls were still young, and the family has always had financial challenges.

Family History

As a single mother, Sabamma has had to take on the responsibility of bringing up her three children. She is not an educated woman, and moved to Bangalore in 2007, with her three small children in the hope of finding a livelihood for the family. They settled in the Gulbarga Roopena Agrahara slum in Bangalore, and as the only breadwinner of the family, she has had a tough life, facing hardships and a constant struggle to make ends meet. In the past eleven years, she has worked as a coolie (general labourer,) housemaid and various other jobs. As the children grew up, she knew that they needed to be educated.

Building Blocks Initial Involvement

In 2009, the Building Blocks social workers came into contact with this family during one of their regular visits to the slum. We acknowledged their situation and were glad to support the education of the youngest girl, Renuka, who successfully completed the initial 3-year syllabus at Bluebells Learning Centre.

Thanks to the encouragement and support of her widowed mother, Renuka fared extremely well in her studies and on graduating from Bluebells she was funded through our Project Plus Ten programme to continue her education in Reddy Janasanga English-medium school for the next 4 years.

A Foster Home for the Youngest Daughter

The slums are a dangerous environment for young girls growing up and a couple of years ago, when Renuka was 10 years old we placed her in a good foster home run by Dream India Network at Hennur Bande, Bangalore. From this safe and caring environment, she has continued her education at Yuvalock School and is presently in class 6.

Support from the Netherlands

We gratefully acknowledge and appreciate the constant financial support of Renuka’s wonderful sponsor, who is a private individual living in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. He has funded Renuka’s educational expenses from the beginning, through Building Blocks, and continues to follow her growth and educational achievements, year on year. She is developing into a fine young woman, building on the secure start that she had in the Building Blocks system

Help for the older Siblings

Ayyamma is the eldest (17) and is currently in class 12 (2^nd P.U.C). She is a commerce student at Government College, Bangalore. Thanks to the encouragement and support of her mother, she has reached this stage of her education despite her tough background. She is a straightforward, mature, efficient, hardworking and responsible girl.  She seems to be very good at her academic studies and is gifted in Singing, Dance, and Creative Writing. She is very good at the Kannada language. Ayyamma has a passion for education and a deep desire to be a teacher in the future. Her own background has given her a heart for the needs of others, and she strives to serve underprivileged children, starting from her own village. Being aware of the family background and circumstances, we want to uphold her dream for a meaningful and positive future and are now looking for people who will provide the financial support to secure Ayyamma’s future.

Baslingama (16) is the middle sister of the family, who is studying in class 10 in Vidya Jyothi Kannada-medium School. Baslingama has a dream of becoming an engineer and is doing well in both curricular and co-curricular activities.  We have great admiration for her mother, Sabamma, the simple and determined woman who has encouraged and supported her second daughter throughout her education.

The Cost of Support

We are looking for financial support to secure the ongoing education of both Ayyamma and Baslingama. We would like them to be able to focus on their studies and not have constant financial worries. A realistic scholarship to support each of them would be as set out below, and a little extra above these figures would go a long way.

Ayyamma is studying in a Government school for the next three years, and a scholarship of US$ 200 per year would cover her fees, transport and a little bit extra and a little extra.

Baslingama is in school, and will be studying in a college for the next 5 years and needs US$ 500 per year to cover her basic fees and transport. Again, a little bit extra would make a big difference

These funds would be administered through Family Development Services (the charity that controls all the Building Blocks projects) and would be fully audited and controlled by our management.

We are writing to ask if you will forward this proposition to groups or individuals who are in a position to consider this as a truly worthwhile and deserving project.

We greatly appreciate your support for all our work and assure you that this funding will reward and maintain the children of a widow who has constantly sought the best for her three children. 

Renuka - A girl from the slums
Her life has been changed by Building Blocks
and the generosity of an individual in the Netherlands

Please support our work with kids from the slums of Bangalore