Flying High
Since the arrival of our new English trainer, Arbind Singh, the Spoken English classes that we’re offering on behalf of Bagar Employment Institute (BEI) have taken new form. As someone who works to facilitate and support the Spoken English course and the trainer in various capacities, I have seen the new Spoken English batches since they began in the middle of May.
What’s so spectacular about our courses is our trainer. He’s been successful at solving one of the major challenges that stands in the face of running such training programs: keeping students engaged.
Arbind Ji’s secret to success stems from his resourcefulness and innovative teaching techniques. For example, in order to keep the classroom space dynamic, he invites different GDL interns to speak nearly everyday, he uses various audiovisual aids and he administers interesting debates and discussions. He also finds quite a bit of English content online and adapts it to meet his classroom needs. Observing his creativity in this process has been really inspiring.
Something else that he does well and that sets our classes apart from others is how he changes his teaching style and content to meet the learning levels of all students. If students fall behind, he sees it as his responsibility and adjusts the lesson plans accordingly. Kudos to Arbind Ji!
Our success in implementing a stellar Spoken English program does not come without its obstacles, however. In the coming days we have to make sure students become independent learners - not relying on the trainer, their peers, or Hindi to hold their hands through the course each day. We also have to pay special attention to those students who need extra help. Lastly, those students who have performed well in the class will be afforded the opportunity to graduate from the class early. For such students we have to work on helping them find the right job for them. However, I think that if we’re moving at the pace we are, these supposed challenges will become opportunities from which we can learn, improve our program, and deliver Bagar the kind of quality education its people deserve.
A take on Leaders
A few of my friends [and fellow Interns :)] are running a Summer Camp for 11th and 12th graders at Bagar [soon, I would not need to hyperlink Bagar to the Wiki article, @ Steph :D]. In much of urban India, summer camps are a fad. There are camps for all sort of activities, the funniest I have heard is a Summer Camp to complete summer assignments doled out by schools!
But, here in heart of rural Rajasthan, a summer camp makes a lot of sense. Supplementing the school education, Neeraj, Abhishodh and Antara are introducing the summer camp kids to computers, functional English and trying to inculcate leadership in them. Last week, the Summer Camp team wanted me to talk about Leadership.
Turning up an hour late made me look like the unpunctual lazy sloth that I am. But, the audience I got was way better than any of my expectations. Due to lack of any preparation, I started with polling names of leaders from them. Indira Gandhi (from the Camp’s only girl. Women need to be empowered here. More on that later, some other day), Netaji, Bhagat Singh, Laluji, Saurav Ganguly, Ronaldo (!) and our very own Ashish Gupta. I was surprised to not find any business leaders in the list especially this being in the famed Shekhawati region.
But, when these 17-18 year olds started listing down qualities of these leaders, I realized why we came down to Bagar. For the 8 of us from Pilani, this place has no novelty attached to it. We live in rural India, [albeit with better internet :)] for ten painfully long months each year. Not going home, not interning in India’s leading nuclear reactor at Kalpakkam with Murthy, not working on India’s manned space flight at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center with Pandey… All those regrets vanished for that one hour.
I have had long discussions about leaders with my city friends. Every time, every single time, it is about communication skills, being good at people management, having a great vision yada, yada (and yes at times, when I have had the trademark fights with a certain opinionated individual named Vineet Pandey, I was the one harping on communication skills). But, these kids, they started with honesty. Somebody pointed out the difference to me between honesty and truthfulness too! And they too think leaders should be straightforward. Not very practical as popular opinion might concur, but I finally found somebody who thinks that leaders can be straightforward 
and don’t need to use guile 
Meet the Interns
As Preeti posted a few days back, GDL is currently hosting a lot of interns from UPenn, BITS Pilani (Pilani and Goa campuses), Tufts etc.. The flurry of activities is thrilling and interesting. Before I start updating you about the projects we , the interns are working on, let me post what a few interns had to say about themselves!
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Manisha Thapa : I am Manisha Thapa. I am from Nepal. I am pursuing my Bachelor’s degree from University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. At GDL, I will be working on the Bagar Drinking Water Initiative. I will mostly be looking at the marketing schemes and promotion opportunities for Mridul water (soon to be Sarvajal) through interaction with the consumers, prospective entrepreneurs, government bodies and other stakeholders. By the end of the internship I hope to be able to produce all necessary marketing tools for the initiative. I also hope to be able to learn more about the local culture and get to know the people at GDL and the Bagar community better.
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Anurag Dutta :Â I am currently an undergraduate student in Computer Science at BITS Pilani.My passions include photography, music and graphic designing. My designs can be accessed here.I currently post to the following blogs:
Through the Foliage, Befuddled songs. At GDL, this summer I am working on setting up a sports league for the youth of Bagar to foster a spirit of sportsmanship and further community leadership. -
Zainab Kakal : I am studying Social Entrepreneurship at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai .I am currently working at Source For Change (SFC), the rural BPO and aims to learn as well as create value for SFC. Born and brought up in Mumbai, I love to explore new ground and ask questions.
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Antara Sarkar:I am in my final year at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS, PIlani). I am working on the Summer Camp that is going to be started here so as to teach English, Computer and Leadership Skills to students in 11th and 12th standard in Bagar. We hope that this camp will give them an extra edge and help them become aware and make most of the opportunities available in India, particularly to get better employment.
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Stephanie Searles : I am from America and I study at the University of Pennsylvania. At GDL, I am working with Radhika on building a website for Bagar both for its residents and also to help put Bagar on the map for tourists. I hope to ultimately create a cyber area that brings together many aspects of Bagar and attracts tourists to the village. The site will also contain hyperlinks to help citizens get more information about other GDL projects and where to find help on learning English, finding jobs, and other such subjects.
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HM Akshaya : My name is Akshaya. I have just completed my second year at the Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (Pilani) where I am pursuing my degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. This summer as a part of the Practice School Program at college I am here at GDL to provide my services and hopefully contribute to the change here at Bagar. When I got here and looked around the conditions did look testing and tough but two days into Bagar and I feel like a fish in water and looking forward to work every day. I m going to be working here on a Career Handbook for BEI which is to be later distributed to 9th- 12th graders in and around here to help them out with their career decisions. I ‘m also going to be scouting for possible contacts for the BEX (Bagar Employment Exchange), where aspirants could be placed. I hope this visit is productive and I become a part of the change.
And to sum it up,its time to introduce myself. For starters I am Rachit Chandra, 19, highly confused about life. I am studying to be a n engineer at BITS Pilani and have fallen in love with the small quaint little town of Pilani. My other loves include technology, entrepreneurship and gadgets. Sounds geekish? Well, when I am not catching feeds on Google Reader or blogging at Rach 100% Sach I enjoy going on very low budget trips with my friends, camping under the stars, discussing love-life-philosophy - politics-religion over endless cups of chai and watching Westerns. Here, in Bagar, I am working with the rural BPO, Source For Change. Working on a social start-up is an experience that fits perfectly in my long term plans. And empowering rural women to take control of their fate is such a huge motivation. So here, I am in the middle of nowhere. Hoping to do my little bit. Signing off from Bagar, yours truly
Week 1 of Summer Camp
After setting up the plates and cups, in preparation of the Summer Camp’s first meal, I waited outside. Suddenly I saw them coming - 40 summer campers. We had anticipated 25.
Since then, running the summer camp has been a challenge. We had to rearrange the schedule to accommodate so many students. And we are struggling to find enough computer time for all students.
I constantly refer to my own childhood when I think about our students. I recognize that my support system and the number of people who believed in me helped me believe in myself; pushed me to break down limitations and to take responsibility for my actions and decisions. Creating a similar resource for our students is our first priority and our biggest challenge.
But, in just three days, there are drastic changes in the students - and they see it themselves. The students are talking more, more open to sharing their thoughts; ready with open minds to extract lessons from the games we play. Although we end each day ready to collapse into our beds and sleep for 24 hours, the satisfaction I feel when I see how engaged our students are is beyond words.
launching the summer camp
GDL is a whole new place with 20 more people. The interns arrived this past Thursday and, after two days of orientation, everyone’s off and running with their projects.
On the summer camp front, the advertising that our team (which includes the interns and members of GDL’s admin team) has done is paying off. We talk to three or four people every day who express serious interest in the camp. Naturally, it is hard. 17 year old students don’t want to give up the summer before their board exams!
We were supposed to start the camp today (Sunday), but due to a lack of people we’ve decided to launch the camp tomorrow with a parents’ meeting. The purpose of the parents’ meeting is to get the buy in of the parents. It seems like my initial project is coming full circle - I began by trying to promote Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) and now, one of my last attempts at making change during my two year stint in Bagar begins with a parents’ meeting!
So this is a big week for us, with recruitment being our biggest challenge. But thankfully the energy the new members bring is contagious and invigorating and is bound to spread throughout Bagar!
The Interns are Coming
It’s really hot in Bagar. But we can’t afford to let the heat slow us down. We here at GDL are gearing up for 18 interns who will be arriving here on May 22nd! As the 22nd gets closer, we’re making sure that rooms are set and project objectives are clear. We’re also trying to contain our excitement as much as possible, but it’s really hard!
The interns (who are from BITS-Pilani/Goa, the University of Pennsylvania, IIT-Delhi, etc.) will be assigned various tasks which include starting a Bagar-wide cricket league - IPL fever doesn’t spare anyone - and scaling up both BDWI and Source for Change.
We’ve told a few people in town that we’re getting 18 new people. There hasn’t been much of a reaction. I guess it’s one of those things that they won’t get until they see 18 new faces. Then everyone in Bagar will see that we mean business!
Look out Bagar! The Interns are coming!
GDL is now hiring!
Interested in finding innovative solutions to
Based in Bagar, Rajasthan, the Grassroots Development Laboratory (GDL), is designed to challenge the most talented people from around the world in solving some of
The following exciting opportunities are now available at GDL:
Shortage of Laborers Plagues India
Yet another article that highlights the national relevance of our Bagar Employment Institute initiative (vocational training with career grooming and placement services)
Shortage of Laborers Plagues India
Skills Gap Drags Down Economy;
Mr. Sheetal’s Tent By *ERIC BELLMAN* and *JACKIE RANGE*
WSJ.com
May 1, 2008; Page A1
India, a nation of 1.1 billion, has a chronic labor shortage, in the area where it needs workers most.
As it grows rapidly — tilting from a stagnant, rural economy to a developing, urban one — India is building thousands of new homes, offices, malls, airports, roads, ports, power plants and industrial parks.
So many projects are now under way in India that the pool of workers with even the most basic skills is running dangerously dry. The shortage of bricklayers, rod benders, welders, wall painters and other skilled and semiskilled laborers is threatening to slow the construction of projects that are key to the nation’s economic growth.
Improving its decrepit infrastructure is one of the most pressing issues India faces. It is crucial for unclogging chokepoints that are stoking inflation, which is rising fast. And it will determine whether India can keep growing at a pace that will allow it to fulfill its aspirations of becoming a commercial superpower to rival China.
“The shortage of labor is hurting everyone,” says Deepak Parekh, chairman of Housing Development Finance Corp., India’s largest housing lender, and Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd., a government-owned infrastructure financing company. “It’s hitting the construction companies, the road projects and it’s slowing down the infrastructure. The repercussions are a longer time to complete projects and slower [gross domestic product] growth.” Continue Reading »
Photos of the computer lab
While usually there aren’t too many exciting photo opportunities inside a computer lab, here’s a couple of photos of students working intently
Afternoon batch restarted after month-long break; concern area now the first two batches
The computer classes are coming out of an initial adjustment period. Our new teacher has been slowly but surely gaining familiarity with the students, the material and our practical & demo-focused teaching methodology. The students are largely being patient and getting used to this, but providing critical feedback in order to to help make the experience better for everyone.
The afternoon batch (2-4pm) was restarted mid-April after a month-long break while most students gave their exams (note: While none of the students are in college, nearly all of them are studying through correspondence). There has definitely been some loss of learning in that one month, and catch-up classes were taken to rebuild their understanding of fundamentals.
The effect of this month-long gap was probably most evident in the results of the Unit I (Fundamentals) test that was administered, with the Evening batch doing much better on average. Based on learnings from the first two batches, and brainstorming among GDL staff, we have decided to implement a dual test approach. Students are administered a surprise preliminary test after each unit. The results are then compiled, and general gaps identified. After covering these topics, the students are given the ‘real’ test within the week. This way, we ensure that students learn, and still meet our high standards for passing (currently at 80%).
The other main reason is that is also helps us avoid doing catch-up classes after the batch is over. Nowhere is this challenge more felt than with the first two batches, who finished their final exams just before college exam season started. The results show that only one student actually passed the course, and now it is becoming quite difficult to find a common time to bring all the students from these batches in, do catch-up courses with them and re-administer the tests.
Next week promises to be another round of tests, as well as our first set of structured one-on-one Personal Meetings, guided by the test results and a feedback form filled by the student.