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>View discussions about this entry País: India
Organization: Make a Difference
Field of Work - education
Year project started (or projected start date) (yyyy) - 2006
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Project URL: http://www.makeadiff.in
What is the primary problem your venture is trying to address and how are you addressing it (or planning to address it)? - We teach children living in orphanages and street shelters. Our children are street smart, intelligent and mature. Yet hardly any of them get the opportunity to continue their education after 10th. The problems are two pronged. Firstly financial. Most children are sponsored till the age of 15 and after that they are on their own. Secondly, and more importantly, the lack of quality education. These children go to sub standard vernacular schools that do not adequately prepare them for further studies. Children who finish their 10th cannot read a sentence in English without assistance. Hence they struggle and often dropout even if we are able to find a sponsor for higher education.
We address the second problem by providing life skills training which includes English, Computer skills and motivation. Our English course is a 3 year program in which, every year our children go though 56 interactive classes of two hour duration each in a span of seven months. All our orphanages have computers in the ratio 6:1 and we ensure every student gets half an hour everyday to learn, Linux, Open Office, Photoshop, Networking etc. The first problem is addressed by making sure every child passing through our program is sponsored and well taken care of. Project Description - Describe your project in one sentence: To bridge the inequality in society by unleashing the potential of the youth.
Unique and different - Describe what makes your idea unique and different: 1. Youth: Two out of three respondents in a survey indicated that the youth wanted to help, but didn’t know how. The biggest innovation of MAD is to provide a simple but powerful platform to volunteer. All a volunteer needs to put in is 2 hours a week and MAD takes care of everything from identifying a nearby orphanage to fixing convenient timings to providing professional training.
2. Syllabus: We have been working on our syllabus for the past 3 years and now we can proudly say that we have one of the most comprehensive and practically oriented English syllabuses for speaking skills. 3. Online integration: To enable participatory learning every class taken in MAD is clearly documented online in our community and every new activity is put up in our blog so that our volunteers never run out of ideas while preparing for classes 4. End to End support: Provide career guidance and place all our children. Project plan - What is your project plan for the next 6 months? Today MAD has 300 active volunteers teaching more than 1000 children in Cochin, Chennai and Pune. By April 2009 we will expand to Hyderabad, Bangalore
and Bombay where we already have a volunteer base standing by. We will also launch a full fledged social networking site for volunteers of different cities to interact and learn. We also plan to expand our vocational courses and to enter into tie ups with corporate to directly recruit our children. Partnerships - What are some of your most successful partnerships and how have you created them? Orphanages - 8 in Cochin, 4 in Chennai, 4 in Pune
TTF - The Teacher Trainer Foundation: One of India’s best teacher trainers who train our volunteers twice every year and also worked with us to develop a full fledged syllabus. OLPC - One Laptop Per Child: MAD is one of the organizations approached by the digital bridge foundation to help implement the OLPC project. They require our large volunteer to experiment and evolve a working syllabus for the laptop that can be implemented in India. Teach India- The initiative that was launched recently by Times of India is associated with our Chennai branch. Impact - Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact. We want to bring about a situation where all children decide their careers based on their aspirations and potential rather than on their financial backgrounds.
Effectiveness - How many people has your project served to date? Exactly who benefits from your innovation? We deal with children rescued from the streets, orphans and children from broken families. As of today we are teaching 1000 children in 3 cities.
Obstacles - What are some of the foreseeable obstacles to maximizing your impact? Financial: The administrative cost for MAD is almost zero. The little that we incurred was spent by the volunteers themselves. But now that we have
expanded, and as most of our volunteers are students, we are unable to meet our major expenses like the teacher training costs. We also have two ongoing projects 1. Computer Project where we are trying to reduce the student computer ratio to 3:1 for better exposure 2. Reading Room: To start a reading room that’s conducive to reading in every orphanage Hence this year on, the growth of MAD shall also depend on funds and not just its volunteers. Being able to raise funds without getting tied down by it is one of the biggest worries we share this year. Finance details - If known, provide information on your finances and organization:
• Money raised and/or in-kind donations (donated space and/or materials) • Number of people on your team and their roles • Number of partners: As of date we have raise Rs 3 30 000 for computers, Rs 45 000 for library books, Rs 1 50 000 for teacher training Rs 1 00 000 for annual camps. All other expenses were met by the National Board. Every city in MAD has got the following Core team members: V.P Public Relations V.P Placements V.P Fundraisers V.P Training V.P Resource V.P Computers Creative funding - Please describe creative ways that you have acquired funding and other resources? Friends Of MAD: In MAD what we are looking forward to is a regular and sustainable income more than a random big donation. We also want the people who contribute to understand what we are doing and support our cause. Hence all those people who are interested in being part of MAD but cannot spare their time for it can be a Friend of MAD by contributing Rs 100 every month to MAD. In return we’ll keep them informed on what’s happening in MAD through news letters and blogs.
Other non finance needs - What non-financial resources/services do you need in order to help sustain your project? Teacher Training would be the most important resource that MAD can have, Our volunteers need to be constantly trained and syllabus constantly updated based on new observations made on the ground. We feel our biggest asset would be the experience we have on the grass root level and the syllabus we have evolved based on it.
Motivation - What was the motivation or defining moment that led you to create this project? Tell us the story. It all started when we decided to start teaching English at the YMCA poor boys home. When we started, our goals were simple, spend some time with the kids,
teach them some English, show them couple of movies and basically have some fun while doing all this. But a few days with them made us think. The students we taught were exceedingly capable and more mature than the normal kids you find in private schools. They were aware of the realities of life and they knew they had to work hard to escape them. In spite of all the hard work put in by them we knew that hardly any of those kids would ever study beyond the 12th grade. Almost all of them would be forced to drop out after their 10th and would end up doing menial jobs in workshops and hotels rendering all those years of education useless and all their potential wasted. This is when we started thinking about starting a youth volunteer network that would enable our friends to help these children because we knew many With the youth by our side we knew this was possible. And thus MAD was born. Awards - Please describe any awards or recognition you have received (either personal or for your team)? This is the second award we are applying for. The Manthan Award results are not out yet.
What is your age? - 21
Contact Information:
Jithin Nedumala
President Make a Difference (NGO) jithin@makeadiff.in Harmony Enclave 28/2060D Chillavannoor Road Kadavantra Cochin 682020 Kerala India India Tel: 9961411099 Fax: 2311099 Website: www.makeadiff.in Discussions about this entry
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Hi Guys! you know its my story-- this is the story of bunch of students from JNU---we did it in 2000--- I know how it feels--- iam really proud of you---- same thing happened to me--- my friends deserted--- We dis so many things---- so much emotions---
Friend---- iam proud that you are doing this.... Let this selfless journey keep going at any cost-----
At any time you feel defeated please call me--- remember there are thousands of people in India who will support you--- Count me as one----
From the heart--- you remembered me my story (ofcourse my friends also).
Reagrds
Mallikarjuna
searchindia2000@gmail.com
We support your effort and we are joing you, so tha together, we can be able to make a difference.
peace and Keep going.
Michel Kahandja
Thank you.. And yes, we'll keep going alright..
:)
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Jithin J Krishnan
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That is the solutionsa?l?keverybody want
Thanks for believing in us saglik.. :)
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Jithin J Krishnan
i am happy for you project, when i went through it, it taught me alot of time. as a change agent i look for changing more life. you are there, just keep it up.
Will do..And thanks for these kind words.. :)
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Jithin J Krishnan
Hey guys..
Thanks..
It is truly an honour to be picked from such a diverse and varied set of change makers..
Good luck to all of you, and you belief in us is appreciated...
On behalf of the entire team at MAD, I thank you for presenting us with this wonderful opportunity..
Keep believing..
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Jithin J Krishnan
Congrats to everyone at MAD!!!!!!!!!
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That is the solutionsa?l?keverybody want
Congrats MAD!!!!
You deserve this win!!!! Keep rocking!!!! Lets spread our vision to the world through this event!!!!
Thanks to change makers team!!!!
Regards,
Mallieswaran.
congrats..............................keep moving...................
Representing Make A Difference, I want to thank EVERYONE who supported us..We pledge to forever try to live upto your dreams and exxpectations....and ours.GO MAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YEAHHHHH!!!!!!!!! We won!!!
Thanks to all who voted for us.... thnx 4 all d support.....it is a gr8 feeling to have won dis...just gr8!!!!!!
it just feels out of the world....i dont think anyone can every say how it feel to be on the top of the list..from 500 and more enteries to 15 and now right on the TOP !!! right there , on TOP OF THE LIST, where we all wanted to be ! :)
WE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON !!!!!!!!!!!!
this is to all the maddies!!
thnaks to al our efforts and the support tht we received from the public , MAD has accomplished its mission!!3 CHEERS TO US!!
OOOOOOOH MYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!
we WON WE WON WE WOOOOOOOOON!!!!
yay yay yay!!!
iv been a part of MAD for just 3 months now!!!!
I feel soo happy an Proud!!!... i cant imagine how da rest of u who ve been a part of all this for soo long feel.
Congrads everyone!!!
If you were to ask me who or what has been the cause of the greatest moments in my college life.......well after GOD and my parents...its MAD!!!no doubt
He he he.. Sibi, bro..
It's Mad, then parents for me... :)
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Jithin J Krishnan
Hey..xavier here..i've been wit mad i think only for 5 months now..but every week of those five months i've seen some difference it might have been small but its still a difference..difference in the lives of the kids to whom we're committed to makin better..i think thats wats bein keepin you guys goin..and now tats wats keepin me goin too..no matter wat happens tum we'll all still be MAD as ever..
Yeah, we'll be I suppose.. :)
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Jithin J Krishnan
Hey guys,
The D Day is almost here..
And win, or no win...
On behalf of the group of volunteers at Make A Difference,
I wanted to thank everybody for their support, (and hopefully their votes)
It's been great discovering a lot of people like us, who are trying to change this world for the good..
Keep believing...
:)
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Jithin J Krishnan
Great going people.All the best
Thanks for the wishes Matthew.. And will do.. :)
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Jithin J Krishnan
Keep up the good work.!
Thanks Latha.. :)
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Jithin J Krishnan
i am very proud of you taking up such an inititaive. as a person who has seen you grow step by step, i am very very happy to see this achievement. it is a result for your hardowrk! you deserve it!
And hey guys,
Check out our new gallery section.. :)
http://makeadiff.in/blog/?page_id=308
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Jithin J Krishnan
Where you have established your setup and office.How you work.What is the arrangement.
2+ years in MAD were [still is n foreva will b] the most gratifying moments in moi life, fillin me with a gr8 feelin of accomplishment :) ... an enlivened group of volunteers and an awesome bunch of kids we teach ... Priceless !!!! :) GO MAD !!!!!
Hi,
Keep at the good work! Very proud of MAD!!!! :-) MAKE 'EM SMILE...even more!!!
Will do Shilpa,
Thanks for the support,
It is appreciated by our volunteers.. :)
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Jithin J Krishnan
Hey guys...keep up the good work..!!
K Anna... We'll keep at it.. ;)
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Jithin J Krishnan
Its a real inspiring deed you people are doing.
You have started from the roots of social inequality by your noble move to educate these deserving children.
This has and will,surely make a difference for these children.
Hope you get all support for your great work.
with love,
a well wisher.
Hey...
Thank you for believing in our project... And for comprehending what the root cause for our project is....
The support is much appreciated by all our volunteers...\
Keep believing...
:)
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Jithin J Krishnan
May this award gives you more energy to cover the entire World.Vimal G.Kumar,KOCHI BOOKS
Hey Vimal,
And yeah, hopefullly, one day we'll get there... :)
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Jithin J Krishnan
Great job! Am sure you're making a BIG difference in destitute children's lives.All the best! :-)
Thank you Vaishnavi.. The support is appreciated.. :)
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Jithin J Krishnan
the MAD organization has helped the poor children to have a bright future n even helped the youth by letting them do something for the welfare of many children.
Precisely Richa....
In fact, one of our objectives is to make today's youth aware of their social responsibilities...
And, in that process, outgrow the stereotypes into which they are cast into these days...
Thanks for the support..
:)
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Jithin J Krishnan
its jz amazin to see hw far we've come..
GOD bless...
Make a Diff is well planned, coordinated and their ideas are really innovative. I give full support to them. They really care for social upliftment.
Nearly 3 years with MAD..... lots of teaching, even more learning.... For me nothing till date has felt better than the MAD experience.... I sincerely thank all of u for all the support! GO MAD! :)
make a difference.....and hence make a nation....
there are some who watch things happen...there are some who wait for things to happen...and there are some like jithin who make things happen..........
all the best......god bless
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Nitasha T. Kachru
Hey, thats a great job, keep going!!!! All the best!!!
Will do, Shanthi.. And thank you for the wishes... :)
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Jithin J Krishnan