annual report 2013—2014

makkala jagriti
ANNUAL REPORT
2013—2014
imagine, create, believe, become
discover the light within
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FROM THE CHAIRPERSON’S DESK
M
akkala
Jagriti was born with a purpose to ignite the inner potential of marginal-
ized children, to help them bloom into fullness and emerge as individuals with a
strong sense of self identity. Over the last ten years, hundreds of children have journeyed through Makkala Jagiriti’s holistic development process and there are many
more who are waiting to get started on this journey.
We, at Makkala Jagriti constantly strive to improve the lives of marginalized children
and have established a number of centres across the city to achieve this objective. As
a way forward Makkala Jagriti is transforming into an organization that works deeply
with the community as a whole. Our youth initiative, Yuva Jagriti, a culmination of
several small steps taken over the years is a shift towards the deeper communal impact we want to achieve. Yuva Jagriti will create exclusive spaces for youth and their
development complementing our current facilities and initiatives for children. Makkala Jagriti is also expanding with other partners in capacity building and looking forward to work with different agencies in order to spread its work beyond current
boundaries.
Joy Srinivasan
Chairperson and Managing Trustee
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CONTENTS
Makkala Jagriti
4
Core values, Vision and Mission
5
Steps up the ladder
6
Organizational Philosophy
Community Learning Centers
Government Schools
Juvenile Homes
Enabling transformative change
Harisha’s Story
7
Hills to Climb
highlights 2013-2014
8
Activities and programs undertaken
9
Our people
10
Path forward
11
Systems and Processes
Programs
Voices of Makkala Jagriti
12
Partners for change
13
Financials
14
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Makkala Jagriti
Imagine, Create, Believe, Become
“Education shall
be directed to the
full development of
the human
personality and to
the strengthening
of respect for
human rights and
human freedoms”
– Universal
Declaration of
Human Rights
(Article 26,
Paragraph 2)
We are Makkala Jagriti
(Awakening of Children); a Bangalore based
non-governmental organization established in
2003.
India is a developing
country, and while
things are changing we
are still battling chronic
problems of poverty,
illiteracy and societal
inequalities, stemming
from unequal opportunities and regressive cultural attitudes. Recognizing that change starts at the grassroots is the
first big step to bridge the divide and that is
where the most important members of the
country’s population, its children and youth,
become significant. As per the
2011 census approximately
29.5% of the country’s population was between 0-14 years of
age. That is almost 1/3rd of the
total population. This literally
makes children and youth the
future of the country and hence
the mirror for change and progress taking place within it.
Since inception, we have provided a platform for children
from vulnerable backgrounds to
get educated and equipped with
the life skills necessary for holistic development. Makkala Jagriti
has been striving to bring about
a positive change in the lives of
these children by not only im-
proving the quality of education provided but also by
instilling confidence in
them through counselling
and mentoring sessions.
This is done through an
amalgamation of facilitative
education and fun outdoor
activities. We also work
closely with parents, school
teachers and the community
as a whole to make this
learning experience more
effective. Over the past 10+
years we have significantly
impacted the lives of over
10,000 members of the
communities we serve.
Organizational Philosophy
Makkala Jagriti’s organizational ethos is
process driven. We strongly believe in the
concept of inclusion and a child centric
approach within which, children have the
freedom to make their own choices and
receive an education. Thus Makkala Jagriti makes no distinction between children and accepts them all, irrespective of
their background, gender and abilities,
and offers them unconditional love and
support. Our child centric approach and
activities draw influence from various theorists such as Maria Montessori, Howard
Gardener, Abraham Maslow and Daniel
Goleman. Our all-inclusive development
approach further enables the multiple facets of their intelligence and personality to
blossom, enabling them to achieve success in professional life and contentment in personal life.
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CORE VALUES

Unconditional acceptance

Freedom of choice

Being child centric

Respecting the child’s boundaries
Our learning centers set up in government schools, communities and juvenile
homes are based on these principles. To
enhance their learning experience we
engage children in various activities that
include reading, creative development,
sports and adventure, life skills development and parent and teacher workshops. School drop-outs
and youth are also part of the core focus of Makkala Jagriti. We aim at making the community and
government school teachers undergo a paradigm shift in their approach from being a ‘teacher on a
stage’ to a ‘guide by the side’.
Mission
Vision
Our vision is to create a value based social
movement in order to empower the children and community towards a brighter
future.
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Our mission is to facilitate the holistic
development of children and diverse
groups in and around the community to
build a sustainable and equitable society.
Steps up the ladder
Community Learning Centers
engage with these children as they branch out to pursue
various mainstream courses and work in IT and banking
sectors. A few of them have continued their engagement with us as facilitators, Taekwondo trainers and
gone on to work as trainers at adventure camps. Some
of these children have interned with us, grown to play
staff roles and now are in leadership positions at other
organizations. The center has successfully managed to
bring about a paradigm shift in the mind-set of the
community as a whole that education is an empowering
medium of change. We have also been able to extend
support in capacity building for
children from small neighbouring
private schools like Little Angels
and Sara School. The children
from these schools have benefited
extensively from the spaces, facilities and holistic education that our
community centers provide them.
Makkala Jagriti’s programs are aimed at strengthening
children’s intellectual, creative, emotional, social, physical and psychological development. This is done
through activities, experiments, awareness building,
experiential methodology and mentoring at our learning centers across the city of Bangalore. We have managed to achieve our vision and mission through these
centres where school going children and drop-outs
from the marginalized sections engage themselves in
an informal learning environment.
Over the past 10+ years it has
been a fulfilling experience for us
to see children from community
based centers, our genesis, grow
into adolescents and later into
enterprising youths. It has been
an enriching experience for us to
Government Schools
Makkala Jagriti’s work with government schools is aimed not only towards helping students here but also towards
achieving a change in perspective among educators at these schools towards a child’s education. We have strived
to shift the focus of education from merely intellectual development to a more holistic learning based approach.
Learning centers have been set up at government schools to involve teachers and students, the crucial stakeholders, to create an environment that enhances the learning process and quality of education. On a daily basis we
reach out to about 950 children across 5 schools studying in classes 1-7. Teachers and administrators at the
schools we work with have realized the importance of such an approach and work with us enthusiastically on the
road to change for the better.
Juvenile Homes
A large number of unaccompanied children arrive in Bangalore through trains
and other means from various parts of the
country. These children are looking to escape a life of poverty and abuse. The big
city in their eyes is a place of opportunity,
where they might seek and find gainful
employment. Most of them are found and
put in Government homes. Here they receive only the very basics of education.
Makkala Jagriti Strives to transform the
lives of these children by working with
Government Homes through
initiatives that facilitate an environment of holistic learning for
children here that can lead them
to having a more hopeful and
stable future. We bring a glimmer
of hope into their lives. Our perception of children as individuals
is what makes a big difference as
we nurture them to be mature
enough to reflect on their earlier
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mistakes, and support them as
they choose their own path. In
this process we also help government officials revisit their biases
and stereotypes and have witnessed encouraging transformations. Despite the government
revising the stay-in period to a
mere three months, we believe
that we will be able to bring about
substantial changes in these children within that period.
enabling transformative change
All our programmes are designed to
Harisha’s Story
Harisha is an outstanding example of how Makkala Jagriti has
been successful in transforming the lives of children at juvenile
homes. We first engaged with Harisha in the year 2007 through
on ensuring education for all, especially our initiatives. Makkala Jagriti coached him to pass his class 10
exams. He was trained in Taekwondo and went on to win Gold
the drop-outs.
and Silver Medals at the state and national level. He also participated in several of our development
and leadership programs. He now
works as a facilitator for the
Taekwondo association and is pursuing
a diploma in civil work. He now volunteers his services through the
Taekwondo association at our center.
supplement the RTE norms and focus
Like Harisha several children have been
with us in the long term through childhood and youth to become role models
for such children.
Two of our alumni and ex-staff, Murali
and Ravi are now getting trained to be
Taekwondo trainers at the Taekwondo
Association of Karnataka.
Hills to Climb
In our growth phase we have faced numerous challenges which include sustaining the interest of children between the ages of 6 and 13 and designing new
strategies to continue engagement with youth who
want to continue with Makkala Jagriti.
At the community level most of our challenges are to
do with infrastructure, finances and continued support of stakeholders.
As a solution to these problems we have decided to
bring together children from schools and communities to a center located within school premises. We
are of the opinion that through this collaborative
model most of our current issues will be addressed
effectively.
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highlights 2013-2014
During the year 2013-2014 we have reached
out to approximately 1800 children on a daily
basis. They have gone through our initiatives
for spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional,
creative and cultural development at our 10
centers spread across community learning
centers, government schools and juvenile
homes.
This year our activities ranged from organizing puppet shows to adventure camps. We
organized a visit to the Jawaharlal Nehru
Planetarium for children from our community centres. Over 500 students participated in
Summer Camps during April and May across
all our centers. Storytelling, sports, educational games, theatre workshops and arts &
craft sessions were part of the camps; the
activities were a blend of fun and learning.
The crafts made by the children during the
camp were later exhibited at the juvenile
home for boys.
We also organized an exclusive adventure
camp for girls and boys separately at Honnemardu, Shimoga where 43 youth participated.
Six of our Adugodi community children took
part in the South Zone championship which
was held in Calicut and did us proud by winning gold, silver and bronze medals. The
winners will be taking part in
the National level championship and we are sure they will
make us proud again.
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Activities and programs undertaken
Serial No.
Program
Number
1
Youth Leadership Program
65 Youth
2
Parent’s Workshop and Mee ng
56
3
Children’s Workshop
60 Children
4
Sports Program
5
Puppet Show
76 (41 boys & 35 girls)
6
Excursion to Puppet Show
62 (40 boys & 22 girls)
7
Educa onal trip Aeronau cal Museum
40 (25 boys & 15 girls)
8
Crea vity Talent Compe
150 Children
9
Teacher’s Training
30
10
Adventure camp at Honnemardu
43 youth (26 boys and 17 girls)
11
Summer Camp
500 Children
12
Special Events
Taekwondo
131
on 48 youth (47 boys & 1 girl)
83 Children (71 boys & 12 girls)
Debate
55 Children
Essay
70 Children
Quiz
30 Children
In all approximately 1,800 members of the communities we serve were impacted by the programs, activities,
workshops and
events conducted by
Makkala Jagriti.
4 young members of
our staff will be receiving Black Belts in
Taekwondo. One
member of out staff
won the Gold Medal
at the National Level
Taekwondo Championship held in Gujarat.
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Our people
At Makkala Jagriti everybody is a learner. We believe in igniting the spark of inner potential and transformational leadership amongst its entire staff. Every month the entire team meets to reflect on
themselves as individuals and as teams and sets goals for the month ahead. Administrators, Anchors
and Project leaders are the three pillars that form the supportive latticework that makes all the change
we achieve on the ground possible.
To do the indispensable groundwork we have associates, volunteers, interns and resource people
who give us their valuable time and expertise.
Welcoming Brinda Pancholi as Associate Director
This year we welcome
Brinda Pancholi into the
team as Associate Director. It is a handing over
of leadership of the Organization to Brinda who
comes to us with a vast
amount of experience in
the social sector. We believe that she will competently guide us as we look
forward to enhance and expand
our programs.
Here Brinda
shares with us the
experience of her
journey with Makkala Jagriti so far
and her future
plans.
“Makkala Jagriti staff’s commitment to the development of
every child and the practice of values attracted me to join
the organization. Caring for and reaching out to the most
needy children makes Makkala Jagriti’s work more meaningful and relevant in today’s time. Our focus in the future
will be to reach out to a large number of children through
partner NGOs and provide them with holistic development
opportunities. We will also be working with youth from
marginalized communities by helping them become aware
of themselves, their dreams and challenges, and take
charge of their own lives.” - Brinda Pancholi
Volunteers
Volunteers form an integral part of Makkala Jagriti and we welcome
them from educational
institutions and corporates or as individuals
alike. They are involved in
every aspect ranging from
designing, executing and
implementing programs.
We ushered in 2014 with
a musical performance
put up by volunteers
from Valley School for
children of the Adugodi
centre. Appnomic Sys-
tems and Child Reach
Foundation, Target India
brightened up
our year by
painting the
walls of community centers.
150 volunteers gave us their valuable
time this year.
Volunteers also
conduct activities around science, art and
craft and sports
to motivate the
children at the
centers.
Approximately
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Path forward
Systems and Processes
In the coming year our focus is going to be on closely monitoring, reviewing and revising our programs to
achieve deeper impact with stronger stakeholder involvement.
We also aim at designing a clearer, more efficient assessment mechanism for children to track their progress and
to identify their interest areas.
We have mapped our strengths and challenges in all the areas we work in and we look forward to addressing the
challenges strategically. With this agenda we have also decided to expand by offering capacity building support
more systematically.
Programs
We have proposed to roll-out the following three programs in the coming year as a result of our strategy revision
and expansion phase:
Bridge Learning
Centers
YUVA Jagriti – an
exclusive focus on youth
Our bridge learning centers will be
set up as per the RTE norms, as a
platform to bring together children
from schools and communities.
The rationale behind the setting up
of these centers is to go beyond
the restrictive environment of
schools and design an inclusive
atmosphere to involve all
stakeholders. This model will
continue to have our already
existing programs redesigned and
enhanced to be more effective in
reaching out to the children. We
strongly believe that our learning
should be highly effective in
sustaining the interest of children
in continuing their education in
schools, thereby having a negative
impact on drop-out rates. We also
consider collaborating with the
government as a very essential
factor in retaining students and
improving the system.
We realize the importance of
continuing our association with
children even after they grow and
leave our centers. Despite already
engaging with youth through
various programs, Yuva Jagriti will
partner exclusively with youth on a
long term basis and empower them
to take charge of youth
development centers within their
communities and have their own
identities.
In collaboration with many other
organizations we have proposed to
design youth leadership programs.
Through these we aim to help the
youth in making career choices,
continuing their education, seeking
employment, dealing with
emotional stress and taking up
responsibilities.
12
Expansion Model
through Capacity
Building Programs
In collaboration with India
Educate we intend to set up
learning centers in Koppal district,
Karnataka. We aim to offer
capacity building support to
institutionalize holistic learning
centres in rural schools. We view
this initiative as an excellent
opportunity for Makkala Jagriti as
an organization to expand and
grow; this expands our capabilities
as well as our geographical reach.
Voices of Makkala jagriti
Children
“Everyone is my friend here and I
like to draw and do glass painting. I
enjoy all games here and like to do
Taekwondo also.” – Tulsi, 9 years
(Adugodi Centre)
“I like glass painting, colouring and
love Taekwondo. I have made many
friends here. They do many activities
here which I like.” – Sheeba, 8
years (Adugodi Centre)
“I have been coming to the center
for 3 years. The center has helped
me a lot in my studies. Before I didn’t know how to read or write
properly, I had failed in my 10th but
after coming to this center I have
learned English and Kannada and
also passed 10th standard” – Vinay
Parents
“My son’s behaviour has improved a
lot after joining Makkal Jagriti. He is
very active and shows a lot of interest to learn new things. After attending the parent’s workshop, my approach towards my child has
changed” - Leela, Parent-Mysore
Road Community Center
Anchors
“I
Youth
“I have been coming here for five
years, then and now I keep coming. I
have to go to work also so whenever
I find time I come here. I like the
computer and library activities. The
center has helped me a lot in learning
English.” – Shivraj
“I have been coming to the centre from five years and I like
many activities here. I like glass
painting a lot and I like speaking
in English. I like to go to school
and study. I come to the centre
every day because I get to learn
a lot.” – Rakesh, 12 years
(Mysore Road Center)
“I have been coming here for
many years and there are many
activities here. My favourite activity is to draw and cut. I like
Taekwondo also. I have learned
English and Kannada here. Also
whatever I have learned here has
been very helpful to me.” –
Manjula, 11 years (Mysore
Road Center)
“I have been coming to the centre from past 5 years. I came to
know about the centre through
the school I was going to. My
experience here has been very
nice and helpful. This centre has
helped me a lot and I have always enjoyed doing activities.
The activities have helped me in
my studies a lot. I have also
learned a lot about taking up responsibilities. What I like the
most about this center is that
everyone is very friendly including the staff” – Renuka
Volunteers
have been working with Makkala
Jagriti for 5 months now. My experience here has been really good. As I
like children a lot, I really enjoy my
time spent with them conducting
activities and teaching them. When
children first come here we accept
them. Then we see how much the
child already knows and then decide
where the child needs improvement.
If it’s a drop out student we’ll see
where they need more improvement
and motivate them to read. If the
students are interested in a particular
thing like art or computers we help
and encourage them to learn more
in that. We have introduced online
teaching classes which helps students. We have a library and encour-­‐
age students to read more.” – Vimal “Working with young children who are so spirited to learn is an excitement in itself! Their curiosity to speak a few words in English or to get to
sit at the computer for a few minutes and type their names and small sentences makes me feel that there is so much that can be done for these receptive children. We have miles and miles to go before we can claim any
success and thousands of such children in and around us whom we can
help in the smallest of ways that we can. Not a whole lot can be done over
a short duration as we get barely about 40 minutes per class each week, but
yes it is a small step taken in the right direction and every step takes us that
much closer to the greater goal of Makkala Jagriti” - Uma Krishnamurthy,
Volunteer
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Partners for change
We work with our partners in an inclusive way towards a shared vision. We have collaborated with partners with
varied expertise which we believe is one of the ways
to bring about a social change and development.
Partners
Sponsors
Our sponsors have supported us in the holistic
growth of our children for over 10 years. They
have shown their commitment to our work
with an open heart and mind, and their belief
and confidence have been a great motivation
for us.

Appnomic India Pvt Ltd

Global Fund for Children

Target India Corporation

ING Vysya Foundation

Professional Access Software
Development Pvt Ltd

Way to Wealth

Individual donors
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
Adventurers – Life skills programme at Honnemardu, Shimoga

Explorer Outdoor Education –
Adventure camp at Ramnagara

Hippocampus Reading Foundation –
Reading Programme

Children’s movement for Civic Awareness
(CMCA) – Civic Awareness

Dhwani Foundation – IT Solutions

Enfold – Understanding body and Sexuality

iVolunteers – Volunteer Programme

Agastya Foundation – Science Education

Target Corporation India – Volunteers

Child Reach
Financials
Balance Sheet as on March 31, 2014
ASSETS
Fixed Assests
Cash and Bank Balances
Advances & Deposits
Loans & Advances
TOTAL ASSETS
LIABILITIES
Capiltal Fund
Corpus Fund
Other Liabilities
TOTAL LIABILITIES
73495
795144
3042200
-
3910839
3909838
1001
-
3910839
Income and Expenditure Account for the year ending March 31, 2014
INCOME
Grants & Donations
Bank Interest
Excess of Expenditure over Income
4366947
EXPENDITURE
Depreciation
Program Expenses
Education Aids
Educational Programs for children
Printing & Stationery
Personnel Cost
Honorarium Expenses
Learning Centre Rent
Telephone Expenses
Website Charges
Water Charges - Learning Centre
Electricity Charges - Learning Centre
Facilitators Meeting Expenses
Facilitators conveyance
Operational & Administrative Expenses
Head office Maintenance
Staff Welfare
Bank Charges
Stationery, Printing & Postage
Computer Maintenance
Membership Fees
Audit Fees
Conveyance & Travel Expenses
4357649
3352167
277807
736973
9298
135267
443961
19246
2457499
365550
456800
78900
6741
8306
10146
23734
109352
0
73561
57111
98
1295
32055
0
19663
58364
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makkala jagriti
Board members
Joy Srinivasan Chairperson and Managing Trustee
Vishwanath G
Trustee
Shaheen Ali
Trustee
Rangarajan Padmanabhan
Board Member
Contact us
Makkala Jagriti
#385, 1st Floor, 6th Cross,
BTS Main Road, Wilson Garden,
Bangalore – 560027
Phone: + 91-80 -22111535
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.makkalajagriti.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/
MakkalaJagriti
Makkala Jagriti is a registered Trust with 80G exemption. Trust Deed Registered
Under Government of Karnataka Vide No: IV/188/03-04
80 G Exemption Certificate No. DIT(E)BLR/80 G® 91/AABTM2340N/ITO (E)-2/
VOL 2009-2010 12A No : DIT(E)/12A/Vol.ll/M-604/W-2/2004-05
FCRA Registration Number - 094421333
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