In this report for the year 2016-17, we have analysed our impact across three programmes – The After School Life Skills Programme (ASLSP), The Career Connect Programme (CCP) and the Teacher Development Programme (TDP). 

In ASLSP and CCP, we have analysed impact based on the Life Skills Assessment scores and correlated it to enrolment, attendance, retention data across age groups, gender and the sub-programmes chosen. Additionally, in ASLSP we have been tracking young people who have re-engaged in the programme for multiple years (since 2013-14) to understand the long-term impact. In the CCP, we have been tracking young people who have graduated to ascertain their meaningful transition to adulthood and productive careers. In TDP, since it’s a pilot programme, our primary analysis has been feedback surveys from teachers around the quality of the training imparted to them. 

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE YEAR 2016-17

Our Annual Impact report demonstrates that 95.50% participants in ASLSP and 99.68% participants in CCP showed a positive improvement in Life Skills (assessed using the DLSAS) through the year. 

The analysis also shows a strong correlation between baseline scores and improvement through the year i.e., lower the baseline score, higher the improvement by participants. This is significant since it establishes that a high-quality intervention can help participants who are struggling due to ‘failure to thrive’ to catch-up to their development milestones within just a year of programme engagement. 

The longitudinal study in ASLSP over 4 years revealed that re-engaged participants (participants who come back and join the programme from one academic year to the next) begin the next year with a higher baseline score and also end with a better end line score as compared to the newly enrolled participants in the programme. This further establishes that Life Skills interventions have to be consistent and sustained over many years for long-term impact. 

The tracking of graduates in the CCP revealed two interesting insights – 1) Dream a Dream’s life skills interventions has ensured that over 97% of graduates are meaningfully engaged with higher education, life and careers. 2) A sustained and consistent tracking and engagement ensures that even if young people drop out, they can be brought back to make healthy life choices. Of the 50 participants who had dropped out of education due to a variety of external factors since 2013-14, 39 were able to re-engage meaningfully with education, careers and life through a consistent life skills intervention.

Analysis of feedback surveys from teachers in TDP revealed that a minimum of 96% of teachers were positively impacted through the Life Skills Facilitation workshops. TDP helped teachers increase their understanding of themselves and their role as a teacher. The workshops helped them to develop empathy, listening and validation skills. The teachers also learnt how to build and sustain a supportive learning community. 

You can read the complete report here. 

*Kennedy, F., Pearson, D., Brett-Taylor, L., Talreja. V. (2014) The Life Skills Assessment Scale: Measuring Life Skills of Children in the Developing World. Social Behaviour and Personality 42(2) 197-210. http://impact.sp2.upenn.edu/ostrc/doclibrary/documents/LifeSkillsAssessmentScale.pdf The DLSAS is the first of its kind peer-reviewed, standardised and published scale to measure improvements in life skills amongst disadvantaged young people. The scale assesses 5 core life skills – a) Ability to take initiative b) Ability to interact with one another c) Ability to overcome difficulties and solve problems d) Ability to manage conflict e) Ability to understand and follow instructions.

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Written below is the story of Apsara (name changed), an exceptional young woman who has, through the help of an empathetic adult at the Centre, made some difficult choices in life, taking her one step closer to thriving.

Apsara (Young Person): I am Apsara, 18-years-old, pursuing my first year of PUC. My father is a lorry driver while my mother is a flower vendor. My sister is differently abled, having to drop out of education and my brother works as a taxi driver. During my primary education, I was forced to drop out of school for two years as there were some family issues and financially, we were struggling. Fortunately, my family strived to help continue my education, leading to me going back to school. A friend told me about the Career Connect Centre and for the past two months, have been part of the Basic Computers Skill Development Programme.

Hemalatha (Facilitator): In one of the Life Skills sessions, called ‘Healthy Relationships’, I remember Apsara proudly shared that she has a boyfriend during the check-in question. I observed that as the life skill activity progressed, she became sad. During the reflection circle, she remained silent and seemed very disturbed. To my utter surprise, she began walking towards me, after the session got over. This was surprising because since the time Apsara began coming to the Centre, she seemed unhappy and troubled, with very few friends, keeping mostly to herself. When I used to observe her during the sessions, I always got the feeling that Apsara was going down the wrong path because she came to the Centre to only use Facebook, switching off the laptop as soon as I entered the room. Being sad and silent, she would interact very little during the session time.

Apsara: I used to hardly interact with anybody at the Centre because as I was growing up, I made some really bad decisions when making friends. Using all the information I had shared with them in trust, they used to spread them and make fun of me. Not understanding how to deal with this situation, I began to avoid them. As a result, I began distancing myself from people and used social media like Facebook to engage myself.

Hemalatha: When Apsara approached me, having gained trust in me, she started sharing her personal story. She narrated how when she was pursuing her seventh-grade, a childhood friend expressed his interest in her. Being a bit shy and unsure of herself, she rejected him. However, as two years passed, the same boy asked her out again but this time, through her best friend. Apsara’s friends forced her to accept his proposal, claiming that he was a good choice, so giving in to peer pressure, accepted his proposal. For the past six years, they have been together in a relationship.

Apsara: Being unaware of the concept of an unhealthy relationship, whatever happened during the course of the relationship I always accepted and never questioned. It was only during the reflection session of this session Hema Akka was conducting did I understand that I was in a highly unhealthy relationship. My boyfriend used to be on drugs and when I tried to advise him, he would pretend to listen to me at the time but once he was under the influence of these drugs, would behave disrespectfully towards me and not treat me very well. Through the activity, ‘Take a Stand’, I realised that I was choosing a wrong life partner and decided to take a stand for myself as this was slowly beginning to affect my focus on education. I decided to break up with my boyfriend and end this unhealthy relationship.

Hemalatha: During the sessions, when she would share what she was going through with me, I held space for her. I just gave her space to talk about her feelings. Through her sharing and voicing out of what was happening with her boyfriend, she began to process how his behaviour towards her was unacceptable and moreover how it was making her feel more and more helpless. With great courage, Apsara took initiative and made a positive change in her life and ended her relationship. It wasn’t an easy decision to make as they had been together for so long but she made it nonetheless, putting her own interests first. Focusing on her education and career, she dreams of supporting her family financially. Today, Apsara is a strong young woman, who has shown a significant change in her attitude and behaviour, making bold life decisions not only for herself but for her family.

Violence Against Women

Globally, according to available statistics, one out of every three women has experienced violence in an intimate relationship at some point in her life. This is an average, gathered from available national surveys across industrialised and developing countries (World Health Organisation, 1997). This number might increase considerably if we consider those that have gone unreported. Empowering young women like Apsara to take initiative and step out of abusive relationships is enabling them to take control of their lives. In the presence of supportive relationships, these young women can confidently step up and out of unhealthy relationships.

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Started in the year 1999, Dream a Dream is a charitable trust which is impacting the lives of young people from adverse backgrounds. Over the years of engagement with this demographic segment, Dream a Dream has extensive experiential data to show that adversity affects the ability of these young people to engage with the world, make healthy life choices and more significantly, to ‘Thrive’.

Dream a Dream has crafted a pedagogical method and a process, a science that allows for a re-definition of adverse circumstances by changing the lens through which the past is viewed. Extended immersion within the nonjudgmental and enabling ethos facilitated by Dream a Dream, allows for the emergence of Personhood and integration of the divided self which may be called ‘Thriving’.

The core question that Dream a Dream wishes to address is: What does Thriving look like? How does it manifest? How can the understanding of ‘Thriving’ be nuanced? To address these questions, Ethnographic Research, using the Case Study Method, was undertaken by Quantum Consumer Solutions Pvt. Ltd over a period of 3 months, from August to November 2018 and the result was a report that establishes a definition of Thriving in the context of adversity. The report further deepens the understanding of various facets of Thriving through a Map of Thriving. This map provides a definitive framework to help design programmatic interventions focused on Thriving for key stakeholders such as parents, educators, non-profits and policymakers.

The report is available for download here – http://bit.ly/2KzltiX

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We had an amazingly sensitive coach who recognized this behavior and instead of punishing Raj was keen to transform him. He setup a schedule every session, where Raj was given 25-30 balls and asked to hit them forcefully on the condition that they go into the goal post. In six months, we saw a visible change in Raj. All his aggression and anger had been channelized into the sport and what’s more Raj’s self-confidence had gone up and he had become the best hockey player in the team. 

On another occasion, Raj had disappeared from the residential home and stopped coming to hockey sessions for over 2-months. A volunteer, who had been actively following the children in the programme, was worried and wanted to find out what happened. On a particular Sunday, we got hold of a couple of children who knew the neighborhood where Raj lived and went in search of Raj. It took us over 3 hours to finally locate his house and when Raj saw us, the smile and relief on his face was palpable. We found out that he, his mother and brother had been beaten up by his father and he was forced to go to work. Raj was in a very difficult situation. He wanted to go back to school and hockey but could not leave his mother and brother behind. Yet, Raj felt tremendously grateful that 2 people came searching for him and were concerned for him. For the first time, he felt that he meant something for someone. He made a decision to go back to the residential school and promised to complete his education at all costs.

Today, Raj has completed his graduation, has been working with Dream a Dream over the last 3 years as a Life Skills Facilitator and recently was promoted to a Programme Facilitator. 

Sometime back, he came over to have a chat with me. Raj said he had realized something and wanted to share it with me. He said, “Uncle, when I was a young boy, I would wait for the day when I would grow up to be a big man and stand up to my dad, hit him back if he tried to hurt my mom or brother. Today, I am big and strong but I don’t feel anger towards my dad. I have realized that I my dad probably didn’t get the support he needed when he was a child and that’s why he has become angry and bitter with life. I feel grateful that I had the support of volunteers and coaches who stood by me. I feel sorry for my dad and understand today why he became who he became.”

This, for me, sums up the power of sport in a child’s life and there are many stories like Raj’s that demonstrate this power in many different ways.

Another young man said that it was the weekly sports sessions that kept him out of trouble in his neighborhood and if not for sport, he would have probably joined a street gang. Today, this young man runs his own business. 

A bunch of 5 boys and a girl, who were learning rugby, got together and started a rugby league next to an open sewer in their neighborhood to meaningfully and positively engage other young children in their communities. For those young children, these young boys and girls became positive role models. The Maruthi Rugby League today is a self-sustaining, voluntary initiative that has over 25 young people from the local community choosing positive engagement over street fights. 

A young girl in the Hockey Programme wanted to teach hockey to another bunch of kids from an orphanage. On being asked, she said, “For the first time in my life, I know something that someone else does not know so I feel I should share it.”

A young girl, after 3 years of learning hockey, came up to the coach, hesitating and fearful and said, “I really don’t enjoy hockey but can I still keep coming to the sessions because it helps me make friends.” The courage to speak the truth and the courage to know what one likes and dislikes and the ability to make that choice is what the sport gave this young girl. She was one of the most consistent participants in the programme and it was not because she loved the sport.

A 13-year old young man, passionate about football, got a chance to join the Dream Football Programme and transformed his life forever. His passion for football was channelized by his coach who pushed him hard to get better every day. Despite resistance from his father, he pursued his passion and got selected to represent India at the Homeless World Cup in Paris in 2011. The experience transformed him and he decided to become a Life Skills Facilitator at Dream a Dream nurturing the passion of other children in his community. Last year, he got selected to do a one-year community college programme in the US and he is currently in the US studying at a college and also representing the college team in football. He says, “I have two passions in life. To play football for my country and to take my story of transformation to other children in my community and inspire them to have a dream.”

Sport is a medium, albeit a transformative medium, that allows for something bigger to happen in children’s lives. These stories and behaviors are indicators of healthy, positive choices that young people learn to make when they are trusted; when safe spaces of learning and engagement are created for them; and when a caring, emphatic adult stands rock solid with them as they learn to overcome life’s challenges. Exposure to a sport creates the right environment for reflection, nurturing and fostering positive skills through role-modeling. 

By Vishal Talreja

This article was originally published in Ashoka India Blogs and can be viewed here:  http://india.ashoka.org/how-can-sports-transform-young-lives 

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The neighbourhood complained to the local police station who arrested Mahesh and sent him into a children’s observation centre for a week, until, the community centre managed to get him released. But, things changed in that week. The once resourceful and creative Mahesh who even managed to sell discarded custard apple shells to feed his family had turned into an aggressive and depressed child. He started foreseeing a livelihood as a thief. The community centre and Dream a Dream were working with this young child day in and out. They were hopeful. Yet, fate had something else in store. This time around, Mahesh stole a scooter and not knowing how to ride; he met with an accident and passed away.

The need for life-skills

What could have saved Mahesh? Vishal responds, “Life-skills, which should have been imparted at a developmental age.” According to UNICEF, ‘life-skills’ are defined as “psychosocial abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.” Since 1999, Dream a Dream has been empowering young people from vulnerable backgrounds with the skills required to engage with the world, make healthy choices and flourish. Through a combination of after-school sessions utilizing the medium of sports and arts, career awareness workshops and teacher development programs in schools across Karnataka, the organization’s approach is successfully working with every stakeholder who has a direct impact on a child.  Today, their programs are positively impacting the lives of over 100,000 children, each year.

With a bold vision of impacting 2,50, 000 young people by end of 2016, Vishal senses an urgency to introduce life-skills as a crucial component in India’s education system and Mahesh’s story is a testimony to that. He says, “If we look at Mahesh’s story, it was a double whammy. On one hand, he lacked the skills (such as managing conflict, creative and critical thinking, decision making) which would have helped him to cope and adapt to his situation. On the other hand, he came from a background of adversity. The feeling of neglect, lack of love and nutrition and exposure to violence left a deep negative impact which affected his natural developmental milestones and that also resulted in his inability to thrive.”

The impact of adversity on children

According to a research by University of California (a first-of-its-kind) which studied 756 adults, childhood abuse and lack of parental affection can affect emotional and physical health, for an entire lifetime. Such children are also prone to multisystem health risks such as blood pressure, heart rate, stress hormone, cholesterol, waist circumference, inflammation, and blood sugar regulation among others. The HUNGaMa report by the Government of India affirms that 59 per cent of our nation’s under-five children face moderate to severe stunting. Vishal Talreja says, “Stunted growth isn’t just a result of lack of nutrition but also lack of emotional care.” Thus, if children are left uncared for, there are high chances that they may be the next Mahesh.

Where do we begin?

It has been well established by now that to thrive in this complex, unpredictable world, life-skills are critical at every level. Every human needs the required skills to unlearn, re-learn and re-adapt to the world. But where do we begin?

As Vishal Talreja rightly points out, the answer is the Government of India. “It is the largest missionary in the country. Unfortunately, they conduct themselves as five-year political terms.” In other words, as a nation, we don’t have a long-term vision for education which is impacting over 400 million children who are our future.

With the new government, this is a chance to overhaul the entire education system by making it more holistic and equal. Countries such as Finland, Singapore and Korea to name a few are remarkable examples.  For instance, Finland’s education system is an exemplary model for the rest of the world. Entirely publicly-funded and based on Nordic welfare, it recruits only the top 10 per cent of teachers and places deep emphasis on research-based education, continually adapting to the changing world. Furthermore, individual focus with no competition or standardized tests, a participatory approach which ensures less classroom and more interaction time, every school has high curriculum autonomy. In a nutshell, the system is built on “equal opportunity for all” and this reflects in the fact that Finland’s education system has consistently been in the top 5 in the world.

To sum it up, as Vishal rightly says, “Finland’s emphasis isn’t a trillion-dollar economy but a good quality of life and the kind of nation they have built is very telling of that. The right education and life-skills invested in their children ensured that when they became adults and secured positions of power, they could make effective decisions. And on the other hand, the entire Finnish population aptly abides by government decision for they know, it’s in their welfare.”

While the Indian government has enough successful examples to begin with, perhaps, what it needs is a vision to Re-Imagine Learning for the 21st century for our children.

*Name changed to ensure privacy.

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