Looking to Transform a Child’s Life? Here’s How You Can Mentor (and Learn From) Them!
Mentoring children from underprivileged communities to help them explore the world – one small dream at a time.
The Khvaab Project aims to empower children from underprivileged communities through one-on-one mentorship. Because it is important for a child to have a strong foundation, a role model and a safe haven.
The Khvaab Project was the brainchild of five Teach for India fellows aiming to provide a positive influence in a child’s life. It connects two diversely beautiful minds together – the mentor and the mentee-a child from a low income school.
Opening new doors
Revathi, a software engineer, is one such mentor who travelled every week, across Bangalore city to meet her mentee Vasagi. Revathi and Vasagi taught each other to sing, to draw, to paint and to dance. Vasagi taught Revathi to never give up – no matter how many times they failed. “Let’s try it once more Akka”, she said. Revathi saw Vasagi transform into a bold girl who had the courage to say “I am not enjoying this Akka, let’s do something else.” Vasagi’s investment in school and art steadily increased as the project progressed and she spent more time trying to create new things. She started taking initiative and ownership to learn more and this was possible because Revathi built strong ties with Vasagi’s family by involving them in the activities she had planned for the young girl. In this beautiful journey Vasagi’s family became Revathi’s family and together they put Vasagi at the forefront and gave her the opportunity to dream beyond her community.
The Mentor becomes the Learner!
During the project, it is not only the mentees who walk away with learning but our mentors do too. One such mentor was Dakshesh, an engineer by profession, who was initially extremely sceptical about his capability as a mentor but his interactions with Sameer, his mentee, taught Dakshesh to step out of his comfort zone – to fly kites, to make paper models and most importantly, to persevere through all challenges.
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Sameer and his older brother Sumer even took the initiative of showing Dakshesh their community and took him to visit all their friends. During the project, Dakshesh saw Sameer evolve from being timid and shy to being gritty and confident in everything he did. Through this project, Dakshesh understood the difference between simply talking about empowering children and actually doing something about it.
The Khvaab Project is a year long program, connecting students to an adult mentor based on mutual interests. These mentors have helped conquer the lack of a positive influence in the lives of the children and have formed lasting ties. Our first cohort of mentors taught their mentees to design imagination, make monthly financials, and they learnt about the e-commerce industry and had beautiful conversations about life and the world.
What will you teach them?
Join us in making a difference in the lives of these children and be adults who can transform these children into a success story.
One day or Day one, you decide.
Sign-up to know more and apply to be a Khvaab Mentor: goo.gl/MdbRea
Application deadline :05/07/2017
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