In This Issue

• Literacy for all and the Literacy Flywheel
• The Orissa Odyssey - A Journey to Literacy Hinterland
• Dream a Little Dream
• Walk the Talk

Literacy for All and the Literacy Flywheel

Since its inception in 1990, ILP has made a lot of strides in furthering the cause of literacy and education. Of course, it has not done this alone. The great NGOs in India, the network of consultants, the Government and above all the participation of the communities which have received literacy has made it possible to have come so far. In the past 20 years a lot has been accomplished. We have taken education to communities who don’t care for education to start with. We have done street plays, found influential people in the community to help the cause, found ways to bring the NGOs, Government and the community together to get the education activity started and subsequently to gain ground.  We have taken on child labor. We have supported evening classes for children and found income generation skills for the parents to the point that they have funds to put food on the table and also send their children to school. ILP has dealt with lack of teachers in school. Interim teachers have been appointed which has then led to parents themselves campaigning for permanent teachers. ILP has even dealt with complete absence of building to impart learning. Under these circumstances it has managed to convince the community members of its importance to the point that parents themselves personally aid in building the infrastructure. Both adult men and women have been imparted literacy along with vocational training, creating a sustainable atmosphere for literacy. This year itself, ILP has made a difference in 600 villages, impacted 850 schools and directly reached out to more than 100,000 people. A lot has been accomplished!

Having said that one quickly realizes that so much more is needed for India to become 100% literate. Our literacy rates are estimated to be about 65%. India has roughly about 350 million illiterates. Poverty in a number of states is estimated to be worse than that of poor African countries. India’s population is also increasing briskly, creating more poor and illiterate people rapidly. With this kind of statistics it is easy to get discouraged and despondent. One wonders if literacy and education for ALL can ever be accomplished in our lifetime.

Some answers start to appear when one examines a concept which I would like to borrow from Jim Collins book “Good to Great”. I will strongly encourage all fellow ILPians and literacy enthusiasts to read this book. What I mention here will make more sense if you read this book.  In the book, Jim Collins asks us to imagine a massive flywheel, several thousand pounds heavy which can rotate on its horizontal axis. What is going on in an organization can be deciphered by observing its “flywheel”.  In a typical organization, each member pushes the flywheel a bit. First it rotates a little, then when pushed a little bit more it slowly starts to rotate some more. Every day the organization pushes the flywheel more and more. If this is done consistently and correctly, many years later a day will come when the flywheel builds a momentum of its own. Even a small push causes the flywheel to spin like crazy. This is where the media takes notice of the “good to great” company and say it has arrived! They typically look for some special miracle move or event in the company, but there is no such thing. It is really the cumulative effect of the correct and consistent effort that has worked in favor of the company.

To me our efforts towards literacy for all can be viewed through the concept of a flywheel. Let us call it the “literacy flywheel”. We have been pushing it for some time. We will continue to push this further. Each one of us should push it and we should also recruit all our friends to push it as well. But we need to push it in a “correct and consistent” manner. Therein lays the secret. We all need to spend some time to investigate this aspect, even as we are sure of our methods and strategies. If done well a day will come when the literacy flywheel will build up considerable momentum. Even a small push from us will cause it to spin enormously. The literacy flywheel’s momentum will build up and there will be a breakthrough!! And India will be 100% literate. India will help itself, others, and take its true rank among the League of Nations.

Venki Venkatesh

Bhuvaneshwar, a small but modern planned city, revealed little of what we would see the next few days. As we drove out of the city to our first stop at Ganeshwar club, the city had given way to a smattering of towns and villages. We could see uniformed children going to school and felt good. That was the last semblance of progress we would see for the next 2 days. The first village we visited at Kendu Patia had 27 children of all ages huddled inside a hut eager to learn amidst extreme conditions. A young girl in the front was focused on her books while our eyes took in the abandoned school building inaugurated in 2003. Next to it was a small hut with 3 vessels and ayah passing off as a kitchen. Yet there was energy and enthusiasm all around. Pain and potential coexisted.

This theme was recurring even as we went deeper into the jungle into Kukupangi and Kentukul. We interacted with the Munda tribes at Rugdihi and passed by a deplorable broken down "anganwadi" enroute to Salaikena. What a welcome we had from the tribals, grateful to ILP and UAC for the only teacher who lived and loved their kids imparting the knowledge that they would never have. The UAC staff braves weather and forgoes modem amenities like electricity and running water just to be among the tribals at Mankad Kalli constantly educating them on the need for education for themselves and their kids.

As we left our last village, there was an acknowledgement of the immense task of enabling rural literacy and yet a continued confidence in our partners to keep moving the flywheel.

Srikanth Desikan

Dream a Little Dream

“Dream a little dream the series of Art Camps touching the lives of hundreds of underprivileged children in Bangalore, was launched at APSA Dream School on 25th September 2010.

‘Dream a little dream’ provided an opportunity for these lesser privileged child to unleash his/her creativity through drawings and paintings.

The “dreams” that these children drew ranged from being a famous cricketer, a teacher, a wise King, to being Lord Ganesha. Coloufrul and lively, these drawings are a window to the dreams in these twinkling eyes.

The children especially enjoyed the hour long magic show by magician Shreekanth Indra where the children enthusiastically participated in different magic tricks .

Suman a 13 year old rescued child labourer said, “This is one of the most enjoyable days of my life. I used to be beaten up while working as a domestic worker in a posh home.” “But those days seem to be faraway now, “says Suman smiling as she clutches onto the paint box and colours that she was gifted.

The volunteers who assisted in this programme, were mainly "IT Techies" who were keen to break out of their hum drum existence and reach out to others in these cildren.

The project is backed by ILP and APSA, the venue for the programme which is a rights-based child-centered community development organization, working through a systematic process of empowerment.

This project is initiated by Reena Chowdhury, an IT professional who wants to make a difference in the lives of these children.

Reena promises to see that at the end of the art camp series five children are chosen and mentored with a well-known artist. She hopes corporate funding can also help to sponsor the children.
“I am an artist myself and I know what art can do for a person,” concludes Reena Chowdhury.