Soumali completed her B-Tech from West Bengal University of Technology in 2007. After which she came to Bangalore and started working with LG-CNS. Where her friend Ankur, an active volunteer of AF introduced her to Aashayein foundation. Since then she is with AF and has been integral part of various AF programs and events mainly BMKS program. She is currently working with Mindtree Ltd as a Software Engineer.

She had participated in BMKS mentorship program last year. This year she has been an integral part of BMKS survey, test and interviewing the kids and parents. She has shown a lot of commitment in volunteering which motivates others too. Her hobbies include singing, listening to music, reading, travelling, and sketching.

Aashayein Foundation's Interview with Soumali.

AF:            How did you come to know about Aashayein Foundation and what inspired you to join it?

Soumali:     I came to know about it through my colleague, Ankur.

So to speak about inspiration, I feel we are part of a very small population in Indian society, who have been privileged with quality education and living. Aashayein has given me the opportunity to reciprocate the favor, to some extent.

AF:            As you participated in BMKS surveys, tests and interviews. How was your experience?

Soumali:      The experiences were sort of an eye opener. Numerous people, their lifestyle, and their challenges, were all unique; and each teaching a stern lesson in some form or other. The surveys are basically conducted in various economically backward areas in the city, in order to gather information about kids who are not going to school. These surveys sometimes come in as a package of surprises, sometimes as a source of fun, and often we are at loss of words observing the struggle they face day in and out.

However, I would like to share one particular funny experience, where I saw a kid in NGV slum area, carrying a shoe box in hand, with utmost care. Upon request, when he showed us the content in the box, that was the first time I saw little chickens inside it, all colored in pink, blue and green! Till some time, I had mistaken them with soft toys!

AF:            Please tell us about BMKS and what all are the activities BMKS team do?

Soumali:     BMKS is one of the main programs of Aashayein foundation, which identifies children who are not able to attend school, and provide them educational opportunities. This involves surveys in various economically backward areas in the city, soon after these surveys, written tests follow suite. These tests are attended by a huge crowd of kids accompanied by parents, neighbors and sometimes grandparents as well J... These tests are intended to measure the eligibility of a kid to get himself/herself selected, to be admitted to school. Interview follows the test, where the volunteers check basic communication skills of the kids. Final decision on the candidature of a kid, for admission, is based on this interview.

Mentorship program is another interesting activity we were part of, during last year. This program involves tracking the progress of all the kids who have got admitted to school through survey-test-interview process. Each volunteer would be responsible to track the progress of 5 kids (sometimes may be more) and deal with any concerns they have regarding attending school, such as lack of textbooks and other school kits. Sometimes students would even drop-out from school. In such cases the mentors would be responsible to speak to students and their parents, and try to resolve the problem, if any, and bring them back to school.

AF:            Tell us something about AF induction program which you attended recently. Would you like to recommend people to attend this? If Yes, why?

Soumali:     Yes, surely. The objectives and ideas of Aashayein are brought forth in these induction programs. So it is a great forum for the new volunteers to know about them, to meet other fellow volunteers, who are working for the same cause, and share their ideas as well.

AF:            What are the other projects of Aashayein foundation you would like to contribute?

Soumali:     Presently I would like to work for BMKS

AF:            What are your expectations from Aashayein Foundation?

Soumali:     The most inspiring aspect of Aashayein is there volunteers. The senior volunteers are really sincere and dedicated. This motivates the Aashayein team, to work towards achieving a broader goal, be consistent, and expand its vision.

Personally, I would like to see Aashayein foundation expand its operations to more places.          

AF:                  How is Volunteer Relations handled in Aashayein Foundation?

Puneet:             Until recently, volunteer relations was thought of as a separate section since there was no proper channeling of new volunteers and it became difficult to keep track of how many volunteers were currently active in various programs.

Volunteer relations at Aashayein is managed by two people; Sourabha J and I. We believe it is easier to co-ordinate between ourselves. We have tried to keep the volunteering process simple and avoid complications.

AF:                  What is the scope of Volunteer relations, your team?

Puneet:             While we are still in the process of streamlining volunteer relations with all volunteers who have registered for it, VR is currently trying to keep track of all active volunteers engaged in different programs.

Apart from that, we are trying to spread the word of Aashayein Foundation and its activities through volunteer relations. We recently assisted Mayur Basude (Sapient) & Sukanya Bhat (Infosys) spread the awareness of AF in their companies and slowly, volunteers from these companies are coming forward.

If anybody has an interest in conducting a seminar in their company and roping in people, please let us know.

AF:                  How do you make sure a Volunteer is assigned with a responsibility which matches his/her area interest and expertise?

Puneet:             We sent a welcome email/call to establish the first contact with a volunteer. It is quite informal.

Almost all volunteers do their homework and they know exactly what they want to do. We request them to fill up an interest form to get more clarity (we request volunteers to please fill it up.J )

Generally, we ask new volunteers to drop by the next breakfast serving activity so that they get a feel of our activities and we get to know their interests.

After that, we give them the appropriate contacts for different programs, send emails and ensure they are kept in loop for all subsequent activities happening in all programs.

AF:                  Suppose if I joined Aashayein Foundation before Volunteer Relations and now I want to take up some responsibility in Aashayein in some project, how I can approach for it.

Puneet:             All you have to do is send an email to vr@aashayeinfoundation.org asking us what is happening. Since you have volunteered earlier, most likely you get weekly mailers. If not, just mention that you do not receive weekly mailers and we will add you to mailing list. That’s itJ.

AF:                  What are the things coming up this year for new or existing Volunteers?

Puneet:             The next big thing happening at Aashayein is walkathon (in September). Apart from the Shikshana abhiyana program has started in a couple of schools and by 2^nd week of June, it will run in full swing in all schools. We definitely need volunteers for that.

Bacche Mann Ke Saache program is coming to an end, with two/three weeks of testing/interviews happening over this month.

Pustaka abhiyana program will resume in 3^rd week of June and a lot of activity is expected.

And lastly, breakfast serving happens every Sunday at different parts of our city.

We will inform if any new activity is proposed well in advance. Apart from these activities, nothing in particular has been planned yet.

AF:                  How do people know about what are happening in Aashayein foundation in various projects?

Puneet:             Weekly mailer is the one source of information for all AF related activities. You can always email/call and inquire about our activities as well.

AF:                  Tell us something more about Aashayein internal Newsletter, in term of content and who all are the people receive this newsletter?

Puneet:             Aashayein internal newsletter/weekly mailer is dispatched every Thursday/Friday. Poovaiah MP and Ashish Batra work on validating and compiling this newsletter. We have tried to procure email list of active people in all activities and this newsletter is sent to them.

Aashayein Foundation's Interview with Somaiah.

AF:            Where does Aashayein Foundation stands after four years?

Somaiah:   First of all, it feels so nice to think that we have completed 4 years of registered operations. All of us in Aashayein, cherish the time and the memories we had during this time. We have come a long way in the last 4 years. From just a group of people with an intention, we are now a professionally run organization with well-defined projects and well-structured teams.

AF:            Is the growth of Aashayein foundation as expected?

Somaiah:   Yes and No. In some areas we are now in a place where we are able to make a visible and profound change, with our intervention. The results are measurable. There are also areas where things are moving at a slower pace than expected. Ours is a volunteer based organization and this has a lot of challenges. We need to continuously deal with them and move forward.

AF:            What motivates you to continue this work?

Somaiah:   There are many things. Primarily, we consider it a privilege to give back. Also, I personally get to work with a lot of enthusiastic volunteers with great ideas and commitment. I derive lot of motivation from these volunteers. Also, over the years we have seen a clear change that we have caused in the lives of thousands of kids. We have also started operations in Hyderabad and Mysore. All these steps, where we have seen success motivate me to do more.

AF:            What were the breakdowns AF has seen during these years?

Somaiah:   We have seen breakdowns in quite a few instances. There are times when things did not go as per plan and we had to change our course. We have learnt a lot from these. 

AF:            Where do you see Aashayein Foundation maybe in next four years?

Somaiah:   In the next 4 years, we are taking on a lot of things. I will highlight the major directions we are heading:

·        Scaling our projects to reach the rural areas

·        Making ‘Volunteering’ a much better and rewarding experience.

·        Setting up operations in more cities, so that more children can be touched

·        Provide opportunities for volunteers to take on bigger leadership roles and bigger projects.

AF:            Any message for new volunteers at Aashayein foundation?

Somaiah:   Volunteers in Aashayein Foundation ROCK!!. If not for Aashayein, I don’t think I would have come across people with so much of energy, passion and commitment. Personally, I have made a lot of friends here and have enjoyed every moment with them. I owe a lot to these people !!

                  For the new volunteers, “Welcome to the group”. I am sure you will have a nice time here and we are committed to that.

Sandeep is engaged with the SA program in Marathalli. He is a graduate of NLSIU and has been a corporate lawyer for close to a decade. He is currently endeavoring to proactively engage with his dreams, one of which is to practice teaching as an art by stimulating one’s creativity, rather than as a science alone. He is passionate about and around children, into whose minds he seeks to imbibe and nurture Respect and Creativity.

His interests include reading across a variety of non-fictional topics, fitness, sports, music and travel. Sandeep has been associated with Aashayein Foundation for 2.5 years and currently handles School Head responsibilities. He consistently demonstrates leadership qualities and a very high level of commitment in strengthening teaching activities at Marathalli.

Aashayein Foundation's Interview with Sandeep.

AF:            How did you get into teaching at Government Model Primary School, Marathalli?

Sandeep:    Vide the ‘TEACH INDIA’ campaign in 2009.

AF:            What motivates you to do this work?

Sandeep:   A couple of things prompt my involvement – (1) engaging with the kids, who stimulate my creative side and (2) sharing knowledge innovatively, which I am passionate about.

AF:            While teaching how did you handle students of varying levels of know-how?

Sandeep:   The age-group with whom we engage, generally prefer stories. These are built around theactrics, pictures, audio, video and games.

And pretty much any kid enjoys being individually challenged, which is done by way of in-class activities and take-away activity sheets. Whilst the stories are generic, the challenges offered to each child can be customized, allowing for a degree of individualized learning. This is something that the team is moving towards putting in place across each class.

AF:            Do you think knowledge of the local language is necessary to teach English?

Sandeep:   Not at all. In fact, I would think not knowing the local language is an advantage as the volunteer must now necessarily get creative to engage with the children in a language alien to them. Once you get creative regularly, you sustain their interest in yourself and what you are seeking to share.

AF:            How do you plan your Classes?

Sandeep:   Last year, we drew up the learning objectives and syllabus for each class prior to the commencement of the academic year (during the summer holidays). This year, we are drawing up specific lesson plans for every session to be held during the academic year in as many of the classes as possible. Having prepared the lesson plans in advance, the team for that class can then focus on creative ways to engage with the kids as the academic year progresses.

AF:           Your school has seen some of the best regular and committed volunteers. What practices do you follow to keep your volunteers engaged and motivated?

Sandeep:   Each volunteer comes in because s/he is passionate about something that s/he is looking to engage with. The commitment level of each volunteer is theirs alone. My role is simply to encourage their respective passions. Furthermore, we each understand that we are part of a team and each volunteer takes pride in ensuring the success of the team.

                  Having said that, we do need more volunteers in our school if we are to accomplish what we’ve set out to do for the upcoming academic year.

AF:            Apart from regular teaching, we keep on hearing about some or other activities happening in your school. Can you shed some light on the other activities being conducted in your school?

Sandeep:    In order to look at the overall development of the kids and to build a more meaningful relationship with them, we recently begun looking into initiatives that focus not only on academics, but also on their welfare. We will begin implementing most of the initiatives from the upcoming academic year.

AF:            What are the plans for this year?

Sandeep:   On the Academic front, the emphasis will be to engage with the kids as creatively as possible. We also propose to implement Hippo Campus’s “GROW BY” Reading program within our school. And if we are able to secure the funds for transportation, we would like to ensure contact sessions with the kids at the planetarium, museum(s), Bannerghatta National Park and an industry/SEZ/ IT park.

On the Welfare front, we’ve planned a few camps (dental + eye + general health + speech and hearing) for the kids. We will also (i) provide each child with a minimum of one uniform set and one set of footwear for the upcoming academic year, (ii) install and replenish water filters in the school to ensure safe drinking water, and (iii) procure and maintain a first-aid kit in the school. Those teachers and volunteers interested will be trained in basic first aid by a pediatrician. Furthermore, we would like to ensure basic sustenance for the kids and are working on arranging breakfast for the children every working day, following which we would like to ensure requisite vitamin supplements and bi-annually provide de-worming tablets.

                  We’ve plans to work on the physical and physiological well-being of the kids too (by tying up with Magic Bus, StreetFit AnAerobics and The Pranic Healing & Arhatic Yoga Institute), which we will action to the extent possible. We will also have people come in on a regular basis to work with the kids on Indian classical dance, music and art, if possible.

                  In the longer term, we would love to put in place computers within the school and use them to simulate language, math and science labs. We have also initiated discussion with a psycho-therapist who specializes in children’s education and will look to develop programs whereby the middle-school kids become involved in community projects locally, whilst the younger kids imbibe a sense of community within themselves.

Aashayein Foundation's Interview with Sharath

AF:            How did you come to know about Aashayein Foundation and what inspired you to join us?

Sharath:     I was working with another NGO named RK Foundation when at the end of last year I realized that I still had some free time. I decided to work for another NGO. That was when one of my friends told me about Aashayein. I just registered on the website and came on board in a week.

AF:            How was your first experience with Aashayein Foundation?

Sharath:     The very first activity I took up with Aashayein was SA. I decided to go to the school at SG Palya(behind Christ College). It was an absolutely amazing experience. It was the first time I was interacting with kids of that age in a language other than English. I found that some of them really have the potential to make it big in life provided they are given the right opportunities. I have decided to continue in that school for this academic year too.

AF:            You were proactively involved in BMKS Surveys this year, how was your experience being part of it.

Sharath:     BMKS is a very noble program. It helps deserving kids from poor backgrounds to continue their education with our help. I think we need to identify more areas the next year.

AF:            What are the plans for BMKS this year and how much has happened so far?

Sharath:     As part of BMKS, we have completed surveys at Dairy Colony, Shivajinagar, Jayanagar and NGV area near Koramangala. We just completed the first of the BMKS tests at Al Ameen School, Shivajinagar last week. We got a pretty good response too. We are in the process of finalizing the deserving candidates.

AF:            You are also participating in summer camp at Al-Ameen school. How is it going?

Sharath:    Every sort of experience with Aashayein has been unique. It is the same with the summer camp. We have completed two weekends. 2 more to go. Luckily for me, we have a good set of volunteers who are passionate about it which makes my task very simple. We have completed arts and crafts sessions along with a photography session. We are taking the kids for a science exhibition this weekend and we plan to take the kids to the Visvesvaraya Museum next week.

AF:            What are your expectations from the Aashayein Foundation? Is there anything which is not going right and can be improved in our approach?

Sharath:     I expect to get more opportunities to serve society by being part of Aashayein. I think we are going great guns and we should be setting higher goals for the next financial year. The only problem I have is the indifferent attitude shown by some of the volunteers. They commit to an event and then back out at the last moment or they don’t show up at all. One must understand that massive change can only be brought about by putting massive effort. So I would like to sign off by once gain requesting the volunteers to go that extra mile.

Thanks for your patience. Wish you all the best. Bye.

By Profession a Hardware Engineer working with Robert Bosch, Ashish loves spending time with Kids and teach them something new everytime. He did his Engineering in ECE from CITM Faridabad. Coming from Punjabi family, Ashish is having undying love for Parantha’s and Paneer. Ashish’s loves writing Hindi poetry and listening to music.

Aashayein Foundation's Interview with Ashish.

AF: How you joined Aashayein Foundation?

Ashish: It was in 2007 when Aashayein Foundation had put up a stall for notebook and staionary donation in Bosch, I visited the stall met Sunil and other volunteers. They explained me about Aashayein Foundation. I really liked the idea and later I joined for Sunday breakfast serving and got more involved when we started discussions about starting BMKS.

AF: Who is your ideal and why?

Ashish: Sardar Bhagat Singh is my ideal because of his commitment to bring change in society. I am inspired by his writings and the undying spirit. One of his quotes which is my all time favorite and most inspiring for me.

‎"They may kill me, but they cannot kill my ideas. They can crush my body, but they will not be able to crush my spirit." -- Shaheed Bhagat Singh

I respect him not only for giving his life for country but for the work which he has done to bring social change during his lifetime which makes him immortal. Special tribute to him for Shaheedi diwas (23^rd March)

AF: Which AF program is most special to you and why?

Ashish: BMKS is most close to my heart, As we could really reach out the kids and help them to get their education who can not afford them. When we go out for surveys we meet many people and really feel motivated and inspired when we speak with the parents who are really committed to send their kids to get the best education in good school even if their financial conditions doesn’t allow them to do so. Also it is the first program where I was involved from the planning so I feel a special attachment for it.

AF: What are the BMKS plans for this year?

Ashish: Last year we sent approx 350 kids to school. Most of them went to Govt./Govt. aided school. While a small percentage we sponsored them partially to go to private school. In current year we are planning to send 400 kids to school, even if we achieve little more we will be happier. This year we will be planning to increase number of kids which we are putting to private school. Our focus will be more on kids getting quality education. For all people who are interested to know more can send a mail to bmks@aashayeinfoundation.org

AF: What is the your current responsibilities in AF?

Ashish: Currently I am handling responsibilities in Shikshina Abhiyana,  BMKS and Summer camp. Also I am handling website and related activities. But I would like to focus more on on Summer camp and BMKS as it is most urgent and very important at moment.

AF: What is the happiest moment during these four years?

Ashish: My Aashayein journey includes a lot of happy moments. The memory of excitement of our first event “Chhoti si Aasha”, the smiling faces and performance of kids in Uday, the experience during the BMKS surveys makes me happy.  But every week when I go for SA classes and kids run towards me shouting Ashish sir and contest to shake hands with me makes me really feel special and happy.

AF: Any message to new volunteers of Aashayein?

Ashish: At Aashayein foundation we are not looking for volunteers. We are looking for the people who are really passionate and commited to contribute to society and bring the change. Those who are really passionate to bring happiness in many more lives we just provide a platform and structure.

Pallavi, an Instrumentation Engineer from R V College of Engineering. She is currently working with Schneider Electric as Automation Engineer. She came to know about Aashayein through one of her friend and colleague Ankit. She is with Aashayein since them and has been integral part from the past 2 years

She was keenly interested in teaching English to the kids and bringing them on par to the private school educated children. She started realizing this dream by teaching English to the 3^rd standard at SVK school. With this experience and effort she put her entire efforts in improvising the syllabus and changing the structure of the school teaching volunteer staff. She took the role of School Leader and implemented a class wise hierarchy of the volunteers for better teaching by the AF volunteers. Her dedication and commitment inspired many more other volunteers and we now have a big family working towards fulfilling this dream. She is also actively involved in organizing committee of UDAY 2010. She being a trained dancer enjoys teaching dance to kids during the AF annual events.

Aashayein Foundation's Interview with Pallavi.

AF:           What inspired you to join Aashayein?

Pallavi:      My mother who has always helped the underprivileged.

AF:           Who is your role model and why?

Pallavi:      Mother Theresa for her selfless service

AF:           Which is your best Aashayein moment till today?

Pallavi:     UDAY 2010

AF:           Where do you want to see Aashayein Foundation after five years from now?

Pallavi:      At the TOP in the list of NGO who have contributed the most to the Education of underprivileged and their upliftment.

AF:           You are always being a very important member of summer camp, what are the plans for this year?

Pallavi:     Take feedback from all the students and know what they want this summer camp and then do the same for them.

AF:           Any message for Aashayein foundation old and new Volunteers.

Pallavi:     Be the change you want to see in the system.