Looking ahead towards 2024

It’s been well over a year since September 2018, when I left my life in England. For 6 years, I had been comfortably settled in a spacious, high-ceiling apartment in the shadow of Lincoln Cathedral. I decided to take a new direction in my life, and sold up, or gave away, most of my possessions, and came to India, to work on a project that had stirred a passion in me a couple of years earlier. 

First, a word about education in India . . .

The best way to get a good education in India, is to enter an English-medium school at the age of 6. This path leads on to basic qualifications at age 16 and can continue as the natural route to further or higher education. The admissions process, at the age of six, requires an initial degree of English numeracy and literacy, which can only be acquired by starting education at the age of 3 years, at a fee-paying pre-school. Such establishments thrive in the middle-class suburbs of Bangalore, but there is no Government alternative for the children of those parents whose meagre earnings cover little more than the basic necessities of food and shelter.

James Ambat is an Indian national, and is a man-with-a-mission who challenged the shortfall in the system by founding Building Blocks preschools, a network of 7 teaching centres located around the thriving city of Bangalore, with 3 pilot projects in Goa, Coorg and Hyderabad. These centres provide 3 years of free education for children living in squalid slum conditions, giving them a real opportunity to break out of the cycle of poverty that their parents and forebears had endured for generations. 91% of children leaving a Building Blocks preschool at the age of 6, and then continue their education in the fast-track of a good English-medium school.

I was captivated by this project during a holiday in India 3 years ago, and when I met James, I offered to set up a charity in England to raise funds to support Building Blocks. www.EscapefromPoverty.org.uk was launched with the support of a Devon-based charitable foundation, and in a very short time, I realised that there was work to be done in planning the future development of the Building Blocks idea. After a further visit to Bangalore in the Spring of 2018, I took the decision to move to India and was granted an Employment Visa as an unpaid long-term volunteer.

I was sad to part with most of my possessions, especially the artworks and all the trimmings of a comfortable lifestyle, – like my collection of malt whiskies displayed in fine cut-glass decanters, – but the loss was strangely liberating. I gladly accepted friends’ offers of storage space for some of my winter clothes and one or two treasured objets d’art, while bedding and various household goods went to charities serving the homeless, and dozens of books, pictures and artefacts went to charity shops, while other items raised a modest amount at auction.

My apartment in India will never have the same ambience of my former home in Lincoln. There, my life revolved around entertaining my friends and enjoying semi-retirement. Each year, I delivered two or three training projects for major companies and these boosted my modest pension, thus allowing travel and occasional luxuries.

In India today, the work on the future of Building Blocks is as intensive as we choose to make it, and James and I both seem to work at least 6 days a week.

One major challenge is to expand the After-School Programme that we run for some of the children after they leave Building Blocks. While over 90% of BB graduates continue their education from the age of 6 in English-medium schools, we are unable to provide an After-School Programme for more than a small proportion of them. Our goal is to develop a range of non-academic extra-curricular cultural and sporting activities, but we need premises . . .

I am constantly exploring new contacts and looking for opportunities to work with major corporations, (which are all legally obliged to donate 2% of their annual profits to charitable projects.) Over the past months I have developed new networking opportunities through an international networking group, in addition to the BB involvement with the Bangalore Effective Education Task Force (BEETforce - Indians love acronyms).  James is working on the Zinnia Project  - our own Primary/Secondary School for which we have both the land and guarantees of substantial initial funding. It has always been James’ dream to run a school that was much more than an examination factory, where children could explore and develop their full and varied potential.

In day-to-day matters over the past months, I have produced a Children’s Charter and Safeguarding Policy for the organisation, designed and written many pieces of publicity material and adapted and modified a musical play that our older children will perform at our Indian National Children’s Day concert next month. From January, I am planning to get into the After-School Programme classrooms myself to organise conversation, poetry-reading and debates that will improve our children’s conversational English

 My timetable is crowded and I am working all hours, but it is all very satisfying. There is always a new project dropping into my Inbox, ( - holidays notwithstanding,) and the variety is stimulating, from a constant flow of bid proposals to blue-sky thinking about the way forward.

I now live a very simple life, and with careful budgeting I think I will be able to put aside enough to make a trip to Britain at least every 18 months, to keep in touch with friends, families and those generous people in Britain who support our children’s education and back some of our new projects.

Successful small businesses can grow and reach a lift-off point at which they become self-sustaining. Sadly, education doesn’t work like that, and although in the long-term I am hopeful of raising revenue through our alumni, the short-term prospect is that there will be a constant requirement for a steady and reliable income of regular donations.

My dream is to see 12 preschools around Bangalore, and I want to generate long-term corporate sponsorships that will give these schools stability. I would like to see British schools, communities and businesses build strong ties with particular Building Blocks schools in India, so that the Building Blocks school feels connected to the sponsor and the sponsor can identify with the Building Blocks school.

I have given myself a target to reduce my involvement with Building Blocks in April, 2024, shortly after my 80^th birthday. I have no idea to what extent I shall “retire,” ( James says I never will.) I love this work far too much to start thinking about that. I would like to spend some time in Europe to enjoy the languages and the culture, and I would very much like to be close to friends and family England, but James says I will probably stay living in India, and he may well prove to be right.

I’m not going to start crossing off the days on the calendar. 

There is too much work to be done, and the children want another musical play writing . . .

How many people my age have such a marvellous opportunity handed to them? 

Let me know if you want to join me; there’s plenty of work to be done.

The path out of the slums is education

It’s been over a year.

Reflecting 

One morning, early last September, I left Lincoln in a taxi loaded  to the gunwales (as they say) with bags and suitcases. 

August had been strenuous as I tried to clear my apartment. People who had promised to remove large items of furniture, never arrived and treasured items went tearfully to a local auction-house, to be converted into Indian rupees.

Fully loaded

All the smart shirts that had been purchased over the years, with a promise that “I’ll lose some weight so that I can fit into this one” went to charity shops, where new owners will buy them, only to find they are more than large enough to be used as tents for children’s games.  

Bangalore Suburb

But now I am counting the hours and days until I leave Bangalore, not to return until early next month. 

My first stop en-route is a 1-week silent retreat at the Jesuit Sameeksha Ashram in Kerala.

I can think of no better way to unwind and unravel the stresses and pressures of the last few weeks.  

The stress is self-inflicted, because I find it impossible to refuse to take on new tasks, or to skimp the quality of my work.

Job Description

I wrote my own job description, which was basically all about how we should expand and develop the work of Building Blocks and its associated follow-on programme Project+10. There were some things to sort out before I could start in this in earnest – the most important being the production of a Safeguarding Policy.
Over the past months I have written Impact Reports and Bid Proposals. I have been analysing the effectiveness of our work and I have been impressed to discover that over 90% of our 6-year old graduates then go on to gain admission to good primary and secondary schools. Just remember they all live in slums, mostly without running water, and often with the cooking done out in the street, in a pot balanced on 3 stones, over a small fire of sticks.

The Schools' Play

Our 6-year olds continue their education in one of a dozen schools around Bangalore, but we keep in touch with some of them through our follow-on programme. Every year, most of them join up with those Building Blocks children who will leave next April, and we have an Indian National Children’s Day celebration in November.

I don’t know how I finished up adapting a musical play that I found on the internet, expanding the content and writing new songs, but it’s just another role that somehow crept into my Job Description. In November the children will perform This Planet is Our Home, a story of what we need to do to save the planet, portrayed through a magical journey of three young friends. I cry every time I get to the final scene – so I have no idea what our audience will make of it. 

There’ll be our kids – who will cheer everything – together with the sponsors and benefactors who are our essential supporters, and some of our colleagues from other NGOs. You might know a school or community group who would like to perform the play, so if you are happy to make a contribution to my charity at:-.

https://tinyurl.com/escapefrompovertyNovember19 

and send me your email address to mail@bobharvey.co.uk, I’ll be happy to send you a complete script, with links to possible music tracks.  Having rescued some very needy children, we must make sure we give them a planet worth inheriting.

Never mind where they come from, they're wearing a school uniform, and that will transform their future.

We need regional fundraisers in Britain and elsewhere. 
Contact me if you want to support a truly worthwhile cause.
mail@bobharvey.co.uk  EscapefromPoverty.org.uk

The latest newsletter from Bangalore

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What a wonderful moment it is each morning to see these lovely children with their happy smiles and  joyful spirits come in to our centres.  Every day is filled with a variety of activities and things to do for the children. Circle time, activity time, study time, play time, meal time.... never a dull moment from the word go. Here are the highlights of the month. Learning - In & Outside The Classroom It is of paramount importance that we make the most of each day of school for the children. We at Building Blocks prioritise proper, thorough and efficient planning of our curriculum and schedules for the month. Our teachers do an outstanding job of this, and we thank them for their commitment. Our curriculum coordinators plan out all the activities that not only keeps the children's attention but also inspire them to learn all that they can. To make things more exciting not only for the children but also for the teachers and the effectiveness of what the teachers are trying to teach - interschool groups were formed for each of the grades K3, K4, K5. The goal of this was for all their counterparts of each grade teachers to share ideas, tips, pictures, videos so all can benefit from each others ideas and activities. The curriculum coordinators also get to see what the teachers are doing  and be able to monitor and suggest any changes. Overview of the curriculum for the month of July 2019               K3(Nursery)    K4(LKG)    K5(UKG) Phase I Phonics: Aspect I:  Environmental Sounds/ English K3--A listening moment. Listening walks. Drum outdoors. Mrs Browning's box.    K4--Capital and small letters Aa to Zz.    K5--Concept of vowels. Maths    K3--Pre Writing Exercises: Scribbling, Standing line, Sleeping line.    K4--Counting from 1 to 10, even and odd  numbers.  K5--Numbers 1 to 100, even and odd and missing numbers. Social Science    K3--Colours &  Shapes    K4--Families are special, my friends, my home, different kinds of houses.    K5--My organization, about Karnataka and it's important places Moral Science    K3--Health and hygiene: Seven Steps of Hand Wash.    K4--Emotional well being-Anger, Social well being- looking after pet animals & Physical well being-food    K5--The lion and the mouse story with moral  Language enrichment cards     K3--Top, Middle & Bottom/ Above & Below / Inside & Outside Fine Motor Skill    K3--Folding the Napkin, Thread and Beads,Tong and Ice Cube, Rolling the Mats, Playing with Play Dough, Handling the Tweezer, Sorting, Pegs & Pounding, Physical education  time/shake up time/yoga time/library time    K3--Foundation of body movement unit.     K4--PE    K5--PE  Rhymes    K3--Wheels on the bus go, Bath song, I am a little teapot    K4--Five little monkeys & Jack and Jill    K5--Little miss muffet & London bridge is falling down Library    K3--Touch and feel books     K4--Board books    K5--Board books Classroom Setup Our Edelweiss center had some changes of the setup and re-organizing of the activity room, library, office and classrooms for smooth operations and making it more convenient for  the children of different grades to have their class time, activity time and their meal time. Also new staff have been appointed. These are the following changes made: Ms. Sheema  Afzal is our new manager for Edelweiss. Two new teachers for K4 and K5 grades Miss Saniya and Miss Afreen have been appointed. Few classrooms have been painted with  display walls. Printed and laminated all Images, visual cards and circle time headings  for all classrooms. Installed new whiteboards in all classrooms. New computer was installed in one of the classrooms. Two new chairs were purchased and the other 4 chairs were repaired. Thorough cleaning of all classrooms and kitchen were done. Purchased  essentials like water jugs, buckets, mugs, water stands, stools, cutlery , vegetable basket, masala  boxes, napkins for children, teacher's and student's stationery boxes etc… New stationery supplies: lamination sheets, folders, staplers, punching machine, scissors, cello tape machine etc…. Library corner was set up and all the old books were removed. K3 class was shifted to a bigger classroom for more legroom for the little ones. Divided children in K4 and K5 and made two classrooms for K4 and K5. Play area is also used for dining area with a granite table along the wall for mealtimes for all K4 and K5 students as moving food from the kitchen to the different classrooms was inconvenient especially in the rainy season. Theme based classroom names have been given to the classrooms. New sign board in the Entrance.

Attendance Awards This month we introduced a new initiative in our Building Blocks schools-presenting Attendance Awards to families of students with 98-100% attendance! We began with Hibiscus, where we were delighted to discover that the daughter of a single mum of 4 children held 100% attendance, in having NOT missed even a single day of school! We created attendance awards to be handed over to her family and displayed a copy of the award on the parent board where monthly attendance percentage is displayed. This idea motivated us to conduct simple attendance award ceremonies in front of each school's parent community for students with best attendance from the last AY 2018-19. We found that this line of action was well-received by parents, who sincerely appreciated getting rewarded for commendable efforts on their end. They were proud to receive a small gift, award and have their child's achievement displayed as a sign of recognition. Right away this encouraged more faithful attendance from other student families - and we are thrilled! Value Education & Music Classes We at Building Blocks are always working towards giving our children the best education possible. To make the learning experience well rounded we have incorporated value education into our curriculum. In line with the social science subject topics different value based topics are addressed  and taught. Thanks to Mr. Joseph who has been conducting these classes. Each topic is taught through stories, drama, puppet shows and music. The children not only are learning a lot but also love these classes and look forward for them. We Also have Mr. Micheal who has been regularly teaching the children music and singing. The children are learning to sing as a team and also individually.  Thank You Thank you everyone!  You made it all possible.  Wishing you all a wonderful month ahead.

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Here is the latest newsletter from the team in Bangalore A good all-round education is much more than just the time spent at school. At Building Blocks we take every opportunity to give our children a variety of different experiences outside the classroom. This month, some of our Project +10 graduates went on field trips and experienced different aspects of modern-day work and sports activities. These excursions proved to be great interactive sessions and gave the children a chance to stretch both their minds and their legs. Field Trips Visit to the Sports Facility Physical exercise is an essential part of a child’s holistic growth in their formative years. Sporting activities provide children with wonderful opportunities to learn and build on key traits such as teamwork, communication, confidence, trust, determination and sportsmanship. We were thrilled that the children were able to spend the day at Padukone – Dravid Sports Facility, which is one of the best in India. The day was well spent with the children, as they got to know how to play different sports and were fully engaged with playing them! After all the play, they received a healthy and nutritious lunch. It was such a thrill for them to have experienced this amazing opportunity!  Visit To An IT Firm  Technology has become a key learning platform in 21st century schooling and our partnership with Finastra Software Solutions has created opportunities for our children to learn about computers and programming basics. Finastra welcomed a group of our P+10 students who are currently in 4th – 7thgrade for an enjoyable and informative session at their Bangalore office. The visit started with a tour of their workspace. This gave the children a good understanding of what a modern office looks like, with the leisure rooms, library and lounges alongside the conference and meeting rooms. After the tour it was time to begin learning. Two IT professionals accompanied us to a session in the computer lab. They introduced the children to basic concepts, like the difference between hardware and software, what a computer is and what it can do. After that, it was time to delve into a slightly more complex task of coding. The children were taught commands in the programming language LOGO. They were rewarded after the session with certificates and gifts. The visit ended with a group photo and so that everyone could remember this interesting experience. Classroom Activities Over the first month of a new Academic Year, the newly admitted children were introduced to their new friends, daily activities and timetable of their class. The teachers made it easy for the children to feel settled, comfortable and happy at their new school environment, by using fun games, activities, toys and visual aids and getting to know their students individually. For the K4 and K5 students continuing with Building Blocks for their next level, our Academic Coordinators planned out a schedule to help them adjust back to their routine smoothly. This included integrating their activities with plenty of play-time, interaction and revision support of previously learnt concepts. An important aspect of caring for the children is healthy food, so we ensure they are served a nutritious breakfast and lunch every day at school. During mealtimes, children also get the chance to learn and practice good table manners. It’s a wonderful sight to see all of the children back at our centres laughing, playing, and learning! It’s definitely going to be a great year ahead!  And NOW WE ARE 10! Our new centres are now up and running, with Hibiscus in Hyderabad, Iris in Goa and Morning Glory in Coorg.  Stats Total number of students in all our 10 centers = 1116. 799 in preschool and 317 in the Project+10 After-School Programme Thank You Thank you everyone I can read and write! You made it possible. Support our work : click here Escape from Poverty is a UK-based charity raising funds to support children  in the Building Blocks and Project +10 educational projects      Share Tweet Forward

This email was sent to MAIL@BOBHARVEY.CO.UK why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences Building blocks · 34, Hanumanthappa Road, Soonangi layout, Nagama Nilaya, · R.S.Palya Kamanahalli, Karnataka, India · Bangalore 560033 · India