Soccer Camp for India's Dalits
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>View discussions about this entry Country: India
Organization: Dalit Solidarity, Inc.
Sport - Soccer
Year the initative began (yyyy) - 2007
Project URL: http://www.dalitsolidarity.org/soccer.php
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence? - Project that combines service/learning program for US athletes with sports camp for Dalit youth-among the world's poorest and most oppressed children.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field? - This program is not only about sports; it is about cultural understanding and self awareness; it is international diplomacy at its best. We provide US students, particularly athletes, with the opportunity to share their talents with those much less fortunate than themselves. Instead of spending their semester break focused on their own pleasure, these American student athletes spend two weeks working to bring the joy of sport to India's Dalits. Through this cultural exchange, the Americans learn about caste and gender discrimination, and gain some understanding of the meaning of abject poverty. The Dalit students, particularly the girls, have their first experience with organized soccer. Most important, these students who have been relegated by birth to the bottom level of Indian society, are given the opportunity to succeed at something new, and bring this new-found confidence to other areas of their lives.
What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change? - Our Soccer Camp for Dalits addresses mulitple barriers: those between different cultures, Americian and Indian; those between the Dalits and other caste members; and those between different genders, men and women. Through their interaction both on and off the field during this camp experience, we believe that the students of both countries will develop an appreciation for cultural differences and a desire to work together for the greater good of all.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing? - The Soccer Camp is part of Dalit Solidarity's Service Adventours program, which provides a variety of service/learning opportunities for both students and adults to work with India's Dalits. We are committed to the principles of justice and equality for all Indians, regardless of caste, gender, or religion. Our commitment is expressed by providing access to quality health care and education, providing economic opportunities and working to protect the human rights of all Indians. Without the assistance of our volunteers, it would be impossible to implement programs like the Soccer Camp. By working through the volunteer centers of universities and high schools, we are able to recruit interested students. To recuit adult volunteers, we work through various church groups, charitable organizations and travel organizations. The media, and particularly the internet is an indispensable tool in promoting our efforts.
How do you plan to grow your innovation? - We plan to futher develop this program by adding additional trips throughout the year, and by adding camps that focus on different sports and activities. We are continually talking with new colleges, universities and high schools, both public and private that are interested in providing their students with in international voluteering experience. We are working with organizations like the Brookings Institute, and it's intitiative to promote international volunteerism, and with groups that promote volunteer travel.
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact. - Sharing the joy of soccer while building cultural understanding between the youths of India and the US.
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries? - Dalit Solidarity has organized a variety of volunteer programs that serve India's Dalit population. Although sports have been a part of those programs, this is the first formal Soccer Camp for which Dalit students have been selected for participation from mulitple schools. The 320 Dalit students selected to participate in the camp are the direct beneficiaries of the program. However, thousands of students will indirectly benefit from the exposure of their fellow students and faculty to the program. Teachers from each participating school will be invited to participate in the program and will be taught the drills and exercises used at the camp. They will also be given soccer balls for their respective schools. Schools will be encouraged to establish both intramural and interschool soccer teams. We hope to continue the program with additional volunteers and participants in the coming years.
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation? - In addition to learning about soccer, campers will be provided with a well-balanced meal each day of the camp. The diet of most of the Dalit students is primarily rice, with limited fruits and vegetables and almost no protein. Each participant will be given a camp t-shirt, which for most students will increase their wardrobes by about 50%. The girls will receive their first pair of shorts. Camp soccer balls will be distributed among the participating schools at the camp's conclusion.
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact? - The main barrier to achieving our impact is financial. Student volunteers must be able to afford to pay for their airfare to India and for their program fees. There are substanial costs incurred for running the camp including food, clothing and transportation for the campers. The funding available for international sporting initiatives like this is almost non-existent. Most US foundations related to sports, will only support initiatives that benefit American children.
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)? - The initiative is financed by volunteer program fees and by individual donations.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization. - Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff. Dalit Solidarity's annual budget for the last fiscal year was approximately $270,000. The Dec. Service Adventours program will generate about $38,000 in program fees that will be used to finance the soccer camp in addition to our education, health care and economic development programs.
Our staff in the US is all volunteer and includes our President and five board members. There are approximately 30 paid staff members in India, and numerous volunteers, including several who volunteer on a full-time basis. We anticipate that at least 80 volunteers will take part in our Service Adventours program this year. What is the potential demand for your innovation? - The potential demand for sports camps in India is almost unlimited. India has the largest population in the world of children under the age of 18. About 25% of those children are Dalits. The only limit to the number of camps that we can run is the number of volunteers that we can enlist.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability? - The main barrier to financial stability is the cost of the airfare between India and the US. It is difficult to charge a program fee that will cover the costs of the camp, in addition to the airfare that the students must pay. If we were able to obtain funding to subsidize either the airfare of the program fee, many more volunteers would be able to participate in the program.
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story. - Dalit Solidarity has been working with Dalit youth for the past seven years. One of our most popular activities has always been the Sports Day that we held for the students who attend our boarding school. We wanted to be able to extend the program to Dalit students from other schools, and to introduce then to a sport that is growing in popularity in India, and can be played by both the girls and the boys.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material. - The founder of Dalit Solidarity was the chaplain at our hospital. After reading an article about his organization, my oldest son traveled to India as a high school volunteer. After his trip, our entire family became deeply involved with the organization. 3 of our 6 children have volunteered on multiple occassions and will be making the Dec. trip. I now serve on the board and am the director of the volunteer program. I am a strong advocate of the value of short-term volunteer programs.
Contact Information:
Elizabeth McCoy
Board Member Dalit Solidarity, Inc. (NGO, 501c(3) in US, registered Trust in India) Discussions about this entry |
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Hello Shiva,
We would be very interested in discussing the possibility of using sporting events to promote awareness regarding the issues of caste and untouchability in India. We are presently awaiting a response to our application to represent India in the next Homeless World Cup. If that were to occur, we might be able to combine our participation in the Cup with an awareness campaign.
Our server was down for a few days, but you should have no trouble accessing our site now. Please send me some additional information regarding your company so that we can continue with these discussions.
All the best,
Betsy McCoy
Kevin Carroll
Changemakers Featured Commentator
Sport for a Better World Competition
"The idea of spending a semester break to make a difference and to share your love of sport for the betterment of others is a fantastic opportunity for collegiate athletes to undertake. Less time with libations and more time liberating and enlightening young, underserved children is a refreshing way to spend that “downtime” of a winter or spring break. "
This sounds like a great program. My experiences in South East Asia and the exposure to the real world awakened my compassion and my desire to make the world a better place. I hope that the US athletes have a similar experience! This kind of service learning trip relates to the upcoming sustainable tourism competition we are hosting with National Geographic. The competition launches on January 30th. We hope you'll check it out and consider entering!
All the best,
Dana Frasz
Changemakers
Hello Dana,
Thank you very much for your enthusiastic support. We have had a tremendous response from past volunteers and have many repeat visitors. We are confident that the athletes joining us on this trip will have the same positive experience. They are part of a larger group of over 50 college and high school students that will be working on a variety of projects with Dalit Solidarity during their winter break.
We are aware of the sustainable tourism competition and have notified Changemakers of out intent to enter the competition. We hope to hear from you again at that time.
Thanks for your good wishes.
Betsy McCoy
Dalit Solidarity
It sounds like an awesome project and I can imagine that lots of Dalit students are crazy about participating, so I wonder how you choose the "320 students selected to participate in the camp"?
And I guess there are certainly cultural problems about girls in shorts playing football in India, so how will you deal with such problems?
Hello Theresa,
Thanks very much for your enthusiastic support of our program. You are correct, that the students in our area are anxious to be included in the camp. Once a school expresses an interest in participating, we specify the number, age and gender of the participants they can send. It is up to each school, to select the individual students for participation. Participating schools have to be willing to excuse the students from class, and provide one staff member to accompany their group for the duration of the camp. Schools also have to agree to provide their students with transportation.
One girl's orphanage for tsunami victims, is traveling over 300 miles with their students, to give them the opportunity to participate in the camp. We will provide them with room and board at our leadership academy for Dalit students.
Not only will the campers learn new soccer skills, but they will meet and have the opportunity to make friends with other Indian children from throughout the state of Tamil Nadu. Children of this age, rarely have the opportunity to meet children that do not live in their native villages.
Students from an English medium high school, have been recruited to act as translators for the American student/coaches. Each coach and translator will work with the same group of 16 campers throughout each session.
We do not anticipate a problem with the girls wearing shorts. Some of the schools require shorts for their phsyical education classes. If anyone has a serious objection to wearing them, they can wear long pants.
You will be able to follow the camp from our website's blog, beginning in early Jan.
All the best,
Betsy McCoy
Hello Betsy,
Thanks for your detailed answer.
I guess it's not too hard for the participating schools to excuse their students from class and send a staff member with them, but what about the transport? Are all the schools able to provide the transportation for their students if there are actually students traveling over 300 miles?
Maybe it is possible to contemplate about funding the students transportation from external funds, if some of the schools are finanicially not able to provide it?
I think it's really great to give the young people the possibility to meet children from other states and countries. I wonder if they have the opportunity to keep in touch with their new friends, because you talked about translators which means that not all students are able to converse in englisch, right?
All the best,
Theresa Steffens
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Spirit of Football Project Group
University of Erfurt
http://www.spiritoffootball.com
Hi Theresa,
Most of the campers will take public transportation to the camp. There are no school buses where we work. We pay the bus fees for any schools that are unable to afford them. The transportation fees for the tsunami orphans traveling such a long distance to the camp are covered by another organization. Dalit Solidarity is funding the remainder of their expenses.
Communication between our Indian and American students is always challenging, but never seems to be an insurmountable obstacle, particularly on the playing field. Demonstrations go a long way. All Indian students take English in school, and they are always very willing to teach our volunteers as much Tamil as they are willing to learn. However, without the help of a translator, extended conversations are difficult. All of the translators for the soccer camp are high school students from an english medium school, where all classes are taught in English. The camp is a wonderful opportunity for them to practice their English with native English speaking students of a similar age.
Long term communication between the Indian and American students will be very difficult. In addition to the language barrier, most of these schools do not have electricity, let alone computers or internet access. Hopefully, the participating Indian students will see each other again on the playing field. It is our intention to encourage and facilitate the formation of a soccer league for participating schools.
We would be very interested in including volunteers from the University of Erfurt in future programs and camps. Although most of our volunteers are American, we have had volunteers from other countries including Austria, Switzerland, and Australia and would like to expand our group of volunteer nations. Please let me know you are interested, and we can discuss the matter further.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Betsy McCoy
Dalit Solidarity
Kevin Carroll
Changemakers Featured Commentator
Sport for a Better World Competition
"The idea of spending a semester break to make a difference and to share your love of sport for the betterment of others is a fantastic opportunity for collegiate athletes to undertake. Less time with libations and more time liberating and enlightening young, underserved children is a refreshing way to spend that “downtime” of a winter or spring break. "
Kevin,
Thanks for your support. There are many college and high school athletes who are interested in sharing their talents and love of sport with underserved youth like India's Dalits. We would be interested in working with you to help get out the word to athletes and their coaches throughout the country. I look forward to talking with you about this further.
Betsy
Dear Elisabeth,
I found your proposal of reaching out to dalits very interesting. Do you visit India often? It is important for backward classes in india to get sufficient attention and overcome their complexes from centuries of discrimination. The govt.'s reservationist policies are not enough to bring about this change in mentality as they tend to classify people as dalits, OBC's etc. Do you agree?
It would be great to collaborate and expand our areas of impact.
Good Luck!
Shiva
Dear Shiva,
Thanks for your words of encouragement. I visit India at least once a year to work with our programs. I hope to be there 2-3 times next year. I agree that the reservations are not sufficient to help the Dalits overcome all of the injustice brought about by the caste system. If you visit our website, www.dalitsolidarity.org, you will see the numerous programs that we have initiated to address the wide variety of problems faced by today's Dalits.
If you send me some information about your program, I would be happy to discuss potential areas of collaboration.
All the best,
Betsy
Dear Betsy,
I am a director of a company called Link Sport Innovation Systems. It would be interesting to have awareness campaigns within india and hold events in metropolitain areas under the nose of politicians and government agencies. It could serve as exposure for Dalits as well. I have not been able to acess you site yet but i will keep you updated!
Shiva