MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT

april 2018

Education• SuccessstoryofShwetafromoneoftheREADIndiaAmazonCaresCenter• EnhancingEarlyLearningandLiteracyInterventionsforGirlsandtheirMothers

LivELihood

contEnt

inFoRMation coMMunication tEchnoLoGY

• ImprovingInformationTechnologyskillsforyouthforbetteremployability

• WomenEmpowermentandEntrepreneurship• Successstory:Geeta

hiGhLiGhtS • “RoleofRuralWomeninsocio-economicdevelopment”

READIndiaCentersareworkingtowardsencouragingyoungboysandgirlstopursuetheirhighereducation.EventheyouthwhoareeitherworkingattheseCenterstoearnandpursuetheirhighereducationdoutilisetheservicesofthecenterfortheirownlearning.Forexample,thebooks,internetfacility,digitallearning,competitiveexaminationclassesandcareercounseling.Manyyouthpreparethemselvesforentranceexamsandgetinfluencedforbetterstudiesresultinginbetterqualityoflife.HereisShwetafromoneoftheREADIndiaAmazonCaresCenter.

Education

Shweta completedher graduation inApril2016andwasunable to join anyfurther course dueto lack of financialsupport from thefamily. As a resultshe was worriedanddepressed.

The coordinatoronce met her andheardherstory.Shewas encouraged tovisit the center andjoin the centre as avolunteer.

She completed thenursery teacher

training courseand inOctober2016 shegot anopportunityto join the centerasanECD trainer.Theamountofhonesty,sincerity and commitment she showed in her work wascommendable.

Shedevelopedher lost confidenceandpowerof expression.Shesteppedoutofherconfusedandcloudedthoughtswhichburdened her. Her engagement in the center and constantcounselingbythecentrestaffhelpedheragreatdeal.

InJuly2017shejoinedasalibrarian.Withsomeearningsfromthe center and her regained confidence she convinced herparentsforthefurtherstudies.InthemonthofAugustshegotadmissionforMBAinDCRUSTUniversity,Sonepat.

Evenafterjoiningtheregularcourseandbeingbusywithherstudiesshekeepsvisitingthecenterasavolunteer.Sheoftentellsthestaffmembersthatshewouldcontinuetovisitandbeassociatedwiththecentersinceithashelpedheragreatdeal.ItisimportanttomentionthatShwetagot5thpositionoutofeightystudentsinherMBAfirstyearexamination.

Success story of Shweta from one of the REad india amazon cares center

Beingabletohavebasiclevelofeducationamongwomenand girls is the first, and possibly themost importantsteptoliberation,empowermentandself-reliance.Thiswould entail them to take rational decisions and bebetterinformed.

TheycanmakechoicesthatarecriticalforthefutureoftheNation,suchas,sizeoffamily,educationofchildren,andinvestmentsinfamilyassets.

READ aims to help 300 girls and women improvetheir literacy levels. It will achieve this by providingearly childhood learning opportunities for girls thatsupplement formal schooling, and functional literacy

Enhancing Early Learning and Literacy interventions for Girls and their Mothers

REad india is executing the programme with the support of oracle through charities aid Foundation-india

classes for theirmothersatREADCentresat chainnsavillage in District Palwal, Haryana and Bhanwargarhvillage,DistrictBaraninRajasthan.

Proposed beneficiaries :

1. 50 girls aged 3 to 6 years in the Early LearningProgramme

2. 100girlsaged6to10yearsinReadingandWritingclasses

3. 150 women aged 20-45 years in Basic LiteracyClasses

improving information technology skills for youth for better employability

READIndia,withthesupportofADOBEFOUNDATIONexecuteda programme on “Improving Information Technology skills foryouthforbetteremployability”,andtrainedyouthbyempoweringthem with enhanced Information Communication TechnologyandemployabilityskillsalongwithlifeskillstraininginVillagesChainnsaandBhagawali,PalwalDistrict,Haryana.READIndiahasCommunityLibraryandResourceCentresinthesevillages.

Key Programmes

1. Basics of Computer hardware and software, e-mail andInternetuse,MSofficewithspecialfocusonimprovingtypingskills,Ms-Word,Ms-ExcelandMs-PowerPoint.

2. AdvancecourseincludedtrainingonPhotoshopCS3/7.0,In-DesignandCorelDraw.

3. Life Skills course included self- introduction, presentationskills,inculcatingemployabilityandinterviewskills,resumecreation.

Training the youth in the community on ICT skills along withsoft skills like spoken English, interview skills, personalitydevelopmentandresumewritinghelpedyouthtogetbetterjobopportunities.

inFoRMation coMMunication tEchnoLoGY

LivELihood

Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurship

WomenattheAmazoncaresREADIndiaCenterinTaoruareverykeentosharetheirtalentwithothers. While having meetings with them onwhattheycandotoearnmoreincomefromthework you are already doing at home, the ideascame that they can sell pure Ghee and mildproducts. Sessionswereorganisedwithwomenon the precautions they have to take and howREAD can help make connections to sell theirGheeinGurgaon.Tostartwithalmost40kgGheehasbeenpurchasedfromagroupofwomenandhas been tested for purity. Now, the packagingtrainingwillbeprovidedsothatwomencanpackthegheewell.

Afterenhancingtheskillsofruralwomen,theyarekeentoknowthenextstepswhichcanmakethemearnbetterlivelihood.READIndiatakessessionswithruralwomentomakethemunderstandwhatqualities a successful entrepreneur shouldhaveandhowthesmallandbigissuescouldbetakencareofbeforestartinganysmallenterprise.Thewomenweremadetounderstandwhatdoesanentrepreneurdotosustainthebusinessandwhatindofplanningisrequired.Alltheseareexplainedbygivingsmallexamplesalongwithteamspirits,inclusiveapproachandhealthyrelationships.

GeetalivesinJhamwasvillageofTaurudistrictinMewat.Shehastwodaughtersandason.Herhusbandworksinasmallcompanynear thevillage. Her father in lawandmother inlawstaywiththem.Itwasverydifficultforthemtotakecareofsevenmembersinthefamilyfromthetinyincomeofherhusband.

Geeta wanted to contribute to the family income and waslooking foraproperguidanceandsupport.Butshedidnothaveenoughresourcestopayfeesforanyskilldevelopmentcourse. During this time, her neighbor informed about thesewing stitching training at the READ India Amazon Carescenter. Shevisited the centreand collected the informationabout sewing stitching section. Shegot a rayofhopewhenshecameknowthatthetrainingisfreeofcost.Sheenrolledherselfforthetrainingandcompletedthecoursesuccessfully.Duringthetraining,she learnedaboutcuttingandstitchingof variety of clothes for children, men and women. Aftercompletionofthecourse,shegotaworkofstitchingshoebagsfromthecenter.Shehasstitched100shoebagsforAmazonatthecenter.

Nowshe isable toearnaround5000permonthbygettingordersofstitchingclothesfromneighbors.Withthisincomesheisabletosupporttheeducationofherchildren.Further,shewantstostartherownshopanddevelopasmallbusiness.Hence, she is veryhappyandenthusiastic abouther futureduetosuccessfultrainingsandsupportfromREADIndia.

“I am able to contribute to the family income and able to provide education to my children because of the timely support I got from the centre”. - Geeta.

Success story : Geeta

hiGhLiGhtS

Photo: (From left to right) Mr. Jay, Ms. Jenny, Ms. Geeta Malhotra, Ms. Rashmi Singh and Mr. Ashish Sanyal

“Role of Rural Women in Socio- economic development”

The seminar on “Role ofRural Women in socio-economic development”wassuccessfullyheldon5thApril2018atHotelRamada,Gurgaon from 3:00 PM to6:00PM.

The main objective of theseminar was to discussand talk about how READIndia and its partners haveconnected and empoweredwomenacrossIndia.

The seminar was managedby Mrs. Smita anand Rai, director Partnerships

and Resource Mobilisation, REad india. It started with the

welcoming of the chief guests and people from different READcentres,whichwasfollowedbylightingofthelamp.

The first speaker wasMs. Geeta Malhotra (REad india, country director). Sheillustratedthe journeyof READ. It wasinteresting to knowhow women fromthe rural India haveachieved, learnt andprovided livelihood tonot only themselvesbut also to theircommunities. READ iscurrently present in12 Indian states with31 centres, directlyimpacting 5100womenunder“skill tosucceed”program.

The observations and a study conducted by READ revealedthat rural women faced many challenges including not havingpermissiontogooutofthehouses,noorverylimitedcontroloverthehouseeconomicsandverylittlesayintheirfamilyplanning.It was really hard to break those challenges. The journey wassomehowdifficultbutlookingattheimpactithascreated,itwasworthmakingall theefforts.AsREADenteredthecommunitiesandspokeabouttheissuesthatpeoplewereactuallyfacing,ithasresultedineliminationofalotofhurdlesfacedbytheruralpeople.

TheprogressmadebyREADisaneffortofthepeoplewhoworkedinthegrassroots,whomanagedtomobiliseandbringoutwomenfromtheirhouses.Throughcommunitylibrary,skilldevelopment

Photo: (From left to right) Mr. Jay, Ms. Jenny, Ms. Geeta Malhotra, Ms. Rashmi Singh and Mr. Ashish Sanyal

programsandresourcecentreswefocusonimprovingthereading,writingandlearningskills.Addedon,librariesandearlychildhoodprogrammeshavealsodevelopedtheeconomicopportunitiesforpeople.

However,therearespecificprogramsthatREADhasbeenfocusingon: For instance- women empowerment through confidencebuilding,health,educationandenvironment,useoftechnologyforinformationandknowledgesharing.Furthermore,inthejourneywe keep on growing each day, eachmonth, each year. The lackofprimaryeducationandineffectivefunctioningofAnganwadis,READwascompelledtointroducepre-schools.Thewholeprocessofcommunityinterventionaimsatcreatingasustainable,effectiveandlivelihoodgeneratingmodelwhichcreatesentrepreneursandfurtherleadsto“RuralDevelopment”.

The second speakerwas Ms. Sonal Baid (Educator and co- founder of aura herbal textiles Ltd.) the topic ofher presentationwas “Role of womenin enhancing theirtraditional skillsin present times”with the objective toeducate and informthe gathering aboutherbal textiles,which are 100%chemical free. Theseancient herbal dyeingtechniques that herorganization has

revived,needstobeincorporatedthroughoutthetextileindustry.

Withacute shortageofdrinkingwater, itwasobserved that formaking a pair of jeans, 20,000 litre of water is being utilised.Shepresented an eyeopening example fromGeejgarh,where aREADcentreislocated;thereisalreadyashortageofwaterandinanothermonththerewillbeabsolutelynowaterfordrinking.Weashumansneedtochoosebetweenmakingapairofjeansorsaving20,000litresofwaterfordrinking.“Puttingeffortsintoactions”,i.e.bymakingconscienceattemptstobringaboutarevolutioninthe textile industry especially by producing organic cotton andherbalfibres,alongwithintegratingtraditionalmethodsoffabriccreationwiththeusageofmoderntechnologies,itisessentialforustotransform,reviveandreintroduceourageoldmodel.

dr. Kailash Kumar Mishraisarenownedwriter,educationist,anda committed scholarof anthropology, arthistory, folklore andhuman rights. Hesharedhisexperienceson “Indian Cultureand WomenEmpowerment inChanging Times.” Hementioned the factthat the panel hadonly two males outof a panel of eightspeakers was itselfa big achievement.Stressing on therichness of theIndian culture andart, women are aninevitable part of the

social,economicalandoverallprogressofanysociety.Thevalueand respect that the Indianart formshaveabroadandhowweneed toupgradeandupdateourselves inorder to inject Indianproductsintheglobalmarkets.

Dr. Kailash also shared a facebook post stating how READ hascreated a massive impact on rural communities along withcongratulatingMs. GeetaMalhotra for her constant efforts andleadershipskills.

Our next speaker wasMs. Sonia Bhandari (consultant art therapist and Parenting trainer).ShehasbeenworkingwithREAD centres for quitesome. She explained theneed,benefitsanddetailingof how the Art Therapyworksandthekindofimpactit has on our consciousand subconscious mind.The Art Therapy workson different parts of ourbrain, as it brings out thesentiments and emotionsof a person. It furtherreleases our emotions

of the boundaries. She explained that in order to excel both inprofessional and personal life, Art Therapy plays an importantrole,openpositiveemotion,releasesfearsandnegativeemotionsfrommind,establishesbrain,developsrelationshipsandphysicalhealth. Talking about the practice of looking at oneself in theMirror,onegetstoknowabouttheirownselves,whichisknownas art therapy. With numerous benefits of this therapy, it isrecommendedforeveryone.

Ms. Mousumi Kundu was from Breakthrough - an NGOfunctioninginDelhiNCRregion.Thehighlightsofherpresentationwere:thevideosonhowweneedmorewomen in theworkforce- particularlyin stereotyped job roles,the facts related to theincreasingnumberofgirlsgettingeducation,waystoensuresafetyandsecurityof women and reductionin the percentage ofwomengoingouttowork.The more we celebratepresence of women inour society; the worldshall become better andsafer. It is imperativethat more the womenmeans- more the safety.Mousumi concluded herpresentation by askingtheaudiencetorethinkthepossiblesolutionsandwayswecanempowerwomenandgetridofthestereotypedjobroles.

Thenext speakerwasMs. Rashmi Singh. She is a civil servantfromtheDelhicadre,1989batch.HeremphasiswasonthefactthatanorganisationshouldnotonlyworkintheurbanIndia,asitiseasiertodealwithissuesbutalsoshifttheirfocustowardsruralIndia.Ruralareasarewheremajorworkistobecarriedout.Thefocusneedstoonthewomanor“mother”ofthehousehold.Onlythenwillitbepossibletoempowerothersinthehouse.

Mentioning an incidence from the Andamans where she wasposted, she stated the reasons that why women issues shouldbeaddressed.Sheconcludedbyrecitinga line fromthepoem-

Stopping by Woods ona Snowy Evening byRobert Frost, “Miles togobeforeIsleep”.

Ms. Jenny Paterson wasthe chief guest of theseminar.Sheflewdownfrom Dundee, ScotlandinTheUnitedKingdom.She presently is theCEO of an organisationcalled Breakthroughin Dundee. She spokeabout how problemsthatoursocietyfaceandthe Western societiesare facing, are very

similar to each other. The model her organisation follows inScotland,producesRoleModels.Itwasobservedthatthechildrenbeingbroughtupinunstablefamilies are more likely togetinvolvedindrugs,alcoholand drop out of school. Inorder to ensure proper care,counselling and guidance tothesechildren,Breakthroughplaysan important role. Ms.Jenny quoted a girl namedChelseaCameron,shewastheYoungScotof theYear2017,“There is no such thing asbeingoverambitious-realiseyoucanachieveanythingyouwant to. Reach for the starsbecauseyoudeserveit.”

ThelastspeakeroftheeveningwasMr. Jay vikram Bakshi.HeistheFounderTrusteeofREADIndia.Hestartedwithstatingfewfactsaboutartificialintelligenceandrobotstakingovertheplacesof humans in the factories. The projections and speculationsregardingthelossofjobswillimpactlivelihoodofmillionsofpeopleacrosstheglobe,especiallyinthedevelopingworld(particularlymentioning India, as weare theworld’s youngestcountry).

By 2050, 90% of thecurrentjobsareexpectedto vanish. That iswhere READ comes in,the minute detailingand creativity of anyproductcan’tbeachievedvia machine madetechniques.

The formula, Sanskriti= Culture and Shakti= Power, to get themboth at once we needwomen.Accordingtoourancientrecords,textsandtraditions, Shiva is maleandShaktiisfemale.

Hefurtherappealedtotheaudience,thattheneedofthehouristo“unlockcreativity”and“rolemodelling”.Topromotethesetwo,wehavetostrengthenournetworksandmotivateyourtalentstotakethatriskwhichcanchangeone’slife.

READ India centres displayed their products which included, sewed handloom clothes, baskets, wall hangings, shawls etc.

READ IndiaFlatNo.115,1stFloor,TowerNo.4,HEWOApartmentsPart-I,Sector-56,Gurgaon,Haryana

URL:www.readglobal.org/our-work/read-india;www.readindia.ngo