1)      What is your philosophy behind partnering with SIFI? How would you describe our due-diligence process of meeting with you, surveying your activities, appraising teachers, and checking feasibility of the project before going ahead?

Our partnership with SIFI started with the introduction of Littles to Mr.Venkatesh and Mr.Sriram through a common friend Mr.Srinivasan from AID India, Chennai. In September 2011, Sriram called me, introduced himself and enquired about our future plans. On 2^nd October, the 9^th annual day function of Littles was celebrated where Mr.Sriram was the special guest. Chinnammal one of our Little Star was running around with bright smile and I introduced her to Sriram. We talked about her and the quality of education these children get in their schools. This triggered our thoughts to concentrate more into Learning Disabilities project. In April, we identified the children, screened the IQ level of children with the psychologist and since then we have started our work with children with learning Difficulties.

Looking back, I found the entire process quite interesting, meaningful and with lots of learning from the field at the grass root level.

2)      What do you have to say about the process of structuring the role of SIFI (75% of total cost will be covered by SIFI, and the rest by you and the parents), the timeline of contribution, our promptness in paying the amount etc?

Our toughest challenge is collecting the money from parents who think their children are ‘good for nothing’. But this has helped us to sensitize the community on the potential of such children, along with the kind of opportunities available. The payment from SIFI has been very prompt and systematic.

3)      Do you think we have exhibited professionalism in our methods?

Yes, of course. We came up with an MOU for the project, undertook discussion for negotiation and made a few changes before signing it on a stamp paper. The visits made by two interns over the summer and regular visits by other representatives of SIFI have not just been professional, but extremely cordial too.

4)      Could you give some insight into our method of reviewing progress?

To be frank, Littles Trust is new to this kind of intervention- focusing special attention on children with learning difficulties. The quarter-wise review, the interim evaluation, teachers’ progress report are helping us to assess not only the child but also the quality of our project.

5)      Has SIFI gone out of the way in helping your organisation/community apart from this project? Are there instances of raising funds for a specific child or creating awareness among parents etc?

Recently, Chinnammal had Dengue fever, followed by brain fever and is still hospitalized (almost one month). The kind of support SIFI team extended is wonderful. We could support costs of her MRI, CT and overall treatment to some extent. The team has also taken the initative to interact with parents and teachers and provide necessary encouragement. The friendly phone calls from Aarthi to enquire about the status of the project are appreciable.

6)      Do you have any specific expectations from SIFI in the near future?

I believe that SIFI’s support has to continue for a few more years to strengthen our initiatives in a sustainable way. This is because we need more time for the project to yield some concrete results. It would be great if SIFI could also take up a community project to sensitize the people on these issues.

The initial assessment of children was carried out with the help of a clinical psychologist during the months of April and May 2012. In this process, the children’s levels of knowledge, understanding and level of learning difficulty was analysed and established. This report will serve as reference to measure the growth of each child at the end of the project in 2013.

The classes began on the 2nd of June 2012. There are three girls and six boys who attend weekend classes of the project, while being enrolled in regular school during weekdays. Two other children, with higher levels of learning difficulties attend evening classes on all days of the week except Sunday.

The classes include sessions on reciting, writing, team games and group activity. Each class is designed in such a way that it not only helps the kids cope with others in school, but also instills self confidence and empowers them to be independent. The combined efforts of the teachers, parents and children, the results have been phenomenal.

Case Study:

Sivaraj (13) is the son of Raman who is employed as support staff in Madurai University and Veerammal who is a daily wage earner. He is often compared to his little sister Swetha who gets better grades as she does not suffer from any learning difficulty. Prior to the start of the project, Sivaraj was a dull boy, who was upset by the mocking resulting from being compared with his sister. But just few weeks into the project, he has evolved as a more cheerful, confident and creative person. He grasped the concept of multiplication as soon as it was taught innovatively by rearranging pairs of footwear. On knowing that the following class would teach him to read the clock, he made a clock using paper and thin stainless steel rods all by himself!

Kalaivanan (9) is the son of Dhanam, a single mother who is supported by her father. Last year, Kalaivanan and his brother underwent tongue tie release surgery. Prior to the program, he was not even able to identify alphabets in Tamil or English. He could write numbers only until 10. But at two months since the start of the program, he is able to not only write numbers until 50, but also do addition. He is able to write small words and convey his thoughts with much more clarity. With constant encouragement from his mother, he is happier and more optimistic about everyday life.

Thus, Project Little Stars is changing the lives of children, by giving them the opportunity to seek a better future, despite their differences from a majority of other children their own age.

Visit to Chengelpet Government Hospital (12/5/2012)

This being our first visit to a Government hospital, we were taken aback by the poor cleanliness level there. After some enquiry, we figured that they were low on manpower and the few cleaners who they had were frustrated by the number of times they had to clean each area. The reason for their frustration was the lack of brooms and cleaning equipment which forced them to clean everything by hand. Secondly, we noticed the lack of beds. The mothers’ room in the maternity ward had no beds and all the mothers were sitting on the floor. Similarly, the rooms where the newborns were had a huge shortage of beds and ventilators. There were 2-3 babies under each ventilator.  Another issue was the shortage of power. The government had provided a generator, but it doesn’t last too long as the hospital was too huge to be supported by one generator.  The doctor was talking to us about how if they had atleast one solar power ventilator, it could help a baby during an emergency.

Visit to Egmore Children’s Hospital (13/5/2012)

At the Egmore Hospital, we visited the IMCU, the surgical, pediatric ward, blood bank. The IMCU was the busiest. There were many children with a lot of painful injuries. We saw a girl with a burnt head and a baby who wearing an oxygen mask on her face and the like. We then went to the surgical ward, where small children of age 5 – 10 were resting after surgeries. The head doctor there spoke to us and told us his requirements such as infusion pumps, monitors etc. We noticed in this hospital too that, there was lack of beds and cots. There was also lack of manpower as they did not have the people to clean the hospital. It was the done by the nurses themselves. They seemed to have no problem with the power supply.  Visiting the blood bank was a great experience and we saw how blood was collected, screened, tested and stored. It was a very well-maintained and well stocked-up place.

We reached Little’s Trust at 7 am, in the wee hours of 22^nd April. Chinamma, the source of inspiration behind executing this project was the first to arrive along with her mother. The clinical psychologist followed. He began examining the kids one by one. Chinamma was the first as her confident smile and cheerfulness exuded a positive aura. The teacher assigned for the special kids sat beside the psychologist, taking notes for each child.

We connected with the people there on a personal note. Many revelations surfaced from our understanding of the people, their relationships, attitudes, and problems. A few parents were not aware of their child’s birth date. And a few others were frustrated dealing with their kids who had special needs. There were others faced with the household problems like alcoholic husband, extreme poverty and indebtness etc. It was evident from our interactions that a lot needed to be done to improve the state of affairs for the family as a whole and not just the children.

Post lunch, Mrs Vardhini, founder of Little’s Trust addressed the parents assembled there. The following points were communicated.

1. Project Little Stars will benefit 11 kids with special needs.
2. Evening classes will be conducted from Monday to Thursday, beginning at 4pm and ending at 6pm.
3. Day long classes (from 9am to 6pm) with adequate breaks will be conducted on Friday and Saturday, for which Little’s Trust will arrange transport.
4. A nominal fee of Rs 100 will be charged for each kid. This gives a sense of responsibility and parents would be more interested in their kid’s progress.
5. There will be an evaluation once in 4 months to appraise the benefits of the project and measure the progress of kids. This will be done by the same clinical psychologist.

During the interaction, she urged parents to be understanding of their kid’s special needs and extend as much support and encouragement as possible. She reiterated that the future of these kids would improve only if we all worked together and provided a positive environment.

Most parents resonated with hope and optimism about Project Little Stars. It was a great feeling to have spent the day with kids, who have great dreams and ambitions. It felt good to know that SIFI will change the lives of 10 kids who will live to change the lives of many more. Our work may be just a tiny drop in a vast ocean, but it is a collection of drops that makes an ocean. SIFI is happy that Project Little Stars articulates our motto – collective action for sustainable empowerment.

Venkatesh and Aparajith, from the projects team went to We Can, to study and learn on what it takes to take up teaching as a challenge, and where simple concepts feature on a steeper learning curve. The first lesson was patience, with different children having difference levels of understanding, Mrs. Geetha made it clear that as of today, the fight against autism isnt a losing battle not with advancement in neuroscience and standardized lesson plans to benefit autistic children. Even while teaching, one student might take a week to learn to sit in one place for a simple 10 counts, while another might take the same week to learn to cut carrots properly The second lesson wasn’t for the students, but the parents. When asked, Mrs Geetha said, there are 3 kinds of parents, one who accept their child and work to ease his/her daily life from unwanted complications and two, parents who accept their child but still work hard and push the child to excel in mainstream education and three, those who sadly live in denial and wish to push their child only to fall each time.

Autism does not know caste, religion and social status. Albeit it is three times common in boys than in girls. More than anything else, the battle to help autistic children is a very arduous one as very few well trained and qualified people are there in the field, and they themselves are concentrated at the tier-1 cities out of sheer passion to help more than anything else. Autism in the urban regions where parents, doctors and teachers work in tandem to battle it out, arming themselves with information, medical infrastructure and paper qualifications, for the sole goal of helping the autistic child lead a smoother day-to-day life. Public perception of any neurological disorder makes one wonder if the public is of sound mind in the first place, as it is quite absurd to battle out an issue with only passion without rationale or with only rationale sans passion. With a distinct disparity between medical care in urban and rural areas, autism is a challenge worth battling it out. Autism, being a spectrum disorder, has a fundamental problem, of how a solution to one boy cannot and need not be a viable solution to another boy. But basic ground zero planning helps them all, irrespective of what type of autism they have. For instance, We Can, is a specially designed school with small rooms that facilitate one on one teaching, the walls are textured to provide a certain grip and have facilities such as ‘pictorial timetable’ they have an in-house garden and a miniature kitchen to train them to perform simple tasks. Mrs Geetha boasts of i-pads that have apps which help autistic kids in learning.

The visit to We Can on world autism awareness day was a learning experience for the projects team, we needed guidance as SIFI ventures into its next project, on helping an NGO tackle Learning Disability, We Can was a school to SIFI and its students, our teachers.

If you wish to socially-invest in this cause or if you would like to clarify with us on our operations drop a mail at mailsifi@gmail.com with ‘Projects Team’ as the subject.

To know that we reach out to this kid in a Government Hospital outside Chennai in Chengalpattu is totally worth all the effort we put in. Participate in SIFI’s Vision Ventilator today.

Date : Saturday, 4th February, 2012
Time : 4:00 P.M.
Venue : Mylapore Kapaleeswarar Temple.
Parking : At Mylapore Temple premises or Mylapore Railway Station.

For more details. Call us @ 8939820407/9962583422.

Set amidst a Republic day parade on Marina Beach & the slums of Triplicane, we were able to reach out to newer volunteers & donors. One of the participants, Mr.Santosh, came all the way from Bangalore to participate in the walk as he thought ‘he really wanted to do this’.  Participants for the walk included students, working professionals & professional photographers. Mobile, point & shoot and high-end were the different kind of cameras seen at the walk. This diversity is unlikely to be seen in other photo-walks around the city. “Thanks to SIFI, this is the first time I attended a Republic day parade & walked through a slum-lane in my own city” said Anu, one of the participants.

The display of India’s military might & a walk with the children in the urban slums subtly jelled with SIFI’s goals. The proceeds raised from the walk where through registration & would go towards our project ‘Vision Ventilator’, which funds a ventilator for the Chengalpet Government Hospital. We started our journey in 2011 & currently fund small NGO’s in Healthcare and Education like EKAM.

To attend their next photo-walk, you can log on to: www.sifindia.com or Like them on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/social.investment.foundation.of.india

On event day:
• Participants interact with photographers from across the city and click photos during the walk
• Participants are encouraged to bring photos based on the theme ‘a journey called life’. An open discussion on such photos will be undertaken to offer comments and suggestions.
• Talk by Sriram Sabhapathy on social photography. He is an avid photographer whose photos may be viewed at http://www.sriramphotography.com/

After the event:
Each participant may send 2 photos (with caption) shot during the walk. The top 12 photos, adjudged by a professional photographer will go into making a calendar for 2012. All due photo credits will be mentioned.

The event is divided into 2 sessions :
Session 1 : 26th January 2012 around Triplicane
Session 2 : 5th February 2012 around Mount Road/Parrys

A fee of Rs 100/- will be collected from all participants and will go towards the cause of Vision Ventilator. Participants are encouraged to donate over and above the fee on the event day.

Interested persons are requested to register at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGZqcGdMaVZtTElUeEs4dl8xTUVveGc6MQ

During the course of these months, the team has been confronted by many questions – why not approach corporate organizations or companies for money who may contribute as a part of their CSR initiative? Is SIFI going to direct the collected funds only to NGOs or also to individuals who are in need of funds? How does SIFI ensure the credibility of NGOs and ensure that the money goes towards the best cause that yields maximum positive social impact? However, one of the biggest questions that have been debated by the team – social media : to do or not to do?

In the initial stages, the progress was slow as the team used personal contacts to get funds in. But soon almost everyone on our close network was aware of SIFI and a few contributed to the cause. Given the question of growth and sustainability, it became imperative to reach out to a larger market. That’s when the debate of venturing into social media arose for the first time. The team was divided on opinion.

As the youngest in the 7 member team, I was eager to use social media such as Facebook to publicise our cause. I believed that, with this, things start rolling and results are achieved faster. After many rounds of thought provoking and challenging questions thrown at me, we negotiated and decided to use it for the short term. And thus, our Facebook page for Vision Ventilator was born.

As a tweak from the original features of a Facebook Page, this page will exist only until 31^stMarch 2012 – the deadline for SIFI to raise INR 2,50,000 to donate a ventilator to the Chengelpet Government Hospital. Being admin of the page is both challenging and overwhelming. I learn a lot by searching for content for regular updates on the page – about world affairs, people’s attitudes, resource management etc. It is satisfying to note that in 10 days nearly 65 people have liked the page, with just as many talking about it. However, it gets tougher from here on as it must stand the test of time. It must fulfill the purpose of spreading awareness of SIFI and its activities and enable raising funds.

The ideological shift in allowing flexibility to create and manage SIFI’s social media relations has paved way for all of us to be more open to change. Ideas that were previously not taken too seriously like printing tee shirts, banners in events etc are resurfacing. A measured outcome is the impending photo-walk as a fundraising event for Vision Ventilator.

Personally, I find it enjoyable to be the face of SIFI – posting and updating details of our activities and connecting with a bunch of people who relate with and support our cause. It gives me a purpose to wake up everyday and a reason to look forward to being proactive and passionate about everything I do.

Swetha Viswanathan