Scaling new heights:

• Monica.

???Madam ji aap padhaoge toh hamara bachcha roz school ayega ??? These are the words of the parents of children with Pehal Sahyogi Monica.

Monica is a highly resourceful Sahyogi of Project Pehal. Through her innovative methods of teaching and natural connect with children, she has been amazingly successful at modifying the behaviour of difficult children and motivating them for better performance.

The journey to Project Pehal wasn’t an easy one for Monica. Like many girls from the rural areas , Monica had to face a number of obstacles to complete her education. Because of health issues concerning her parents, she couldn’t continue with regular classes at school post 8th standard. However, her determination made her persevere against all odds and she managed to complete her graduation through distance learning and part time jobs.

Unfortunately, the financial constraints of her family pushed her into an early marriage and orthodox belief system of her in-laws didn’t provide her with an atmosphere conducive enough to take up a full time job. Though she has a loving family and she is happy to take care of them ,a part of her always longed to be financially independent and to do something that would make a difference in the lives of people.When she got to know about Project Pehal through a family acquaintance, she saw the feasibility of having her long-standing dream fulfilled alongside managing her family responsibilities.

Project Pehal opened up several avenues for Monica. Not only did the job as Pehal Sahyogi gave her an opportunity to come out of the confines of her home and transform lives of the children under her but it also transformed her own personality. She would be on cloud nine when she was lauded for the progress students under her were making. It gave her a self confidence which started reflecting in the way she delivered her speeches as part of their be it computer class, data compilation/analysis or training in pedagogy. Working for Project pehal has empowered her financially and equipped her professionally. Most heartwarming has been a newly found identity in the community known for her dedication and teaching skills. She feels confident to use this experience for further professional growth. Monica is currently pursuing post graduation and aims to scale greater heights in her career.

Back on Track:

• Nasreen
• 33 years old
• village Deri Machha

Nasreen, a 33 year old fellow from village Deri Machha in UP, started her journey with Project Pehal in June 2019. However, her real journey, as a mentor and a tutor, started earlier at a tender age of 16 when she was barely in 11th standard. Moved by the pitiful state of a child labourer, she started teaching a group of children near her locality free of cost and got them admitted in a government school despite social opposition.

Little did she know that a day would come when the circumstances in her own life would force her to abandon higher studies. Even though Nasreen’s family, especially her grandfather, had been supportive of her dreams and education, things changed when her father’s health and family’s financial condition deteriorated. She was compelled to leave graduation midway and get married at an early age.

Post her marriage, Nasreen was loaded with family responsibilities. While,somehow, she managed to complete her post graduation, the orthodox societal norms didn’t make it any easy for her to persist further. After some struggle, she gave up and suppressed her desires.

She had lost all hope of reinstating her professional life when she met the Principal of the Primary Government School in Bironda who motivated her to apply for a a post of sahyogi in Project Pehal. She applied the same day, gotselected, and joined Project Pehal in June 2019.

Project Pehal gave Nasreen a new lease of life. She met other sahyogis who like her had been homebound despite being qualified. She felt being part of a community that was looking at flying together. Her job as Pehal Sahyogi gave her an opportunity to rise above the narrow constraints of her personal life and expand her sphere of influence and work towardssocietal and nationalist causes. As part of Sahyogi trainings, in addition to Pedagogical skills she learnt to write reports , collect and analyse data, public speaking, using computers and leadership role. She felt her spirits rise when in weekly meetings she was appreciated for reciting self written poems and delivering speeches on her prepared topics. Gradually her self doubt started to get replaced by a new found confidence.

Through her commitment and hard work, Nasreen has not only become an invaluable asset for Project Pehal but also a respected person in her village. The villagers now go to her for advice for their children’s education, afterall she is now a social worker, supporting the local government school. She has also fulfilled the long cherished dream of her late grandfather by gaining this meaningful volunteership. We wish Nasreen more power and success.

Seeing the light:

• Kajal
• 7 years old
• Studies in class 2
• Government Primary School Bironda
• Bironda, Dankaur Block, Gautam Budha Nagar (Rural Greater Noida)

Kajal is a 7-year-old girl whose struggle is no different from millions of other children belonging to migrant families who are not fortunate to have a stable learning environment in the early stages and thus fail to perform well even when they are admitted to government schools at a later age. Greater Noida .Her father works as a private security guard for a residential society while her mother is a homemaker. Her family has nine members including Kajal, her five elder brothers and an elder sister.

Discouraged by the poor performance of Kajal’s elder siblings, Kajal’s parents didn’t allow her to pursue formal education and rather employed her in menial jobs. Fortunately, Kajal’s life changed for the better when the UP Education Department launched the ???Graded Learning’ Programme and Project Pehal organized community level campaigns motivating parents to get their children enrolled As a result of continuous efforts, Kajal entered school at the age of 7and is now a student of Grade- I in Government Primary School Bironda in rural Greater Noida, UP.

In July 2019, she came under the guidance of Nasreen, who is a Pehal sahyogi. Since kajal had never had any formal schooling before ,she was given individualized attention to bridge the learning gap and strengthen her basics. With constant efforts, in a short span of six months, Kajal has shown remarkable performance and is able to read and write small sentences in Hindi. She is also good at picking mathematical skills and can do up to three digit computations with ease.

Kajal is a self-driven child who dreams of becoming a police officer one day. She is regular and excited to come to school everyday to learn new things. Unlike her elder siblings, her dreams have a reasonable chance of getting fulfilled.

Addressing child disillusionment

• Vivek
• 7 years old
• Studies in class 2
• Government Primary School Aichhar in Greater Noida
• Sona Jankipur, Farrukhabad , Uttar Pradesh

When Nasreen, a Pehal Sahyogi, met Vivek, an 8-year-old boy, she saw in him a boy with great potential but at the same time an escapist attitude stemming from a sense of dejection and lack of confidence in his own abilities.

Vivek hails from a village called Sona Jankipur located in Farrukhabad district of UP. His parents, along with their 5 children, shifted to Greater Noida, UP in search of employment. His father is unemployed while his mother works in an export firm.

Unlike others, Vivek’s parents and elder siblings have always encouraged Vivek to excel in studies. However, in the absence of adequate guidance, Vivek was not able to cope up with the demands of the curriculum and was performing poorly .As a result, he had become extremely irregular in his attendance and lacked enthusiasm to study further.

In July 2019 Vivek was shifted in class of Pehal Sahyogi Nasreen as the sahyogis work on the foundation building and provide extra assistance to the academically weaker students. Over the next few months, Nasreen undertook several foundational building and remedial classes for students in her batch including Vivek.

The continuous handholding support brought about a transformational change in both the intellectual as well as psychological capabilities of Vivek. He appears far more confident and completes his learning assignments diligently. Not only this, he has now become extremely attentive towards his clothing and personal hygiene, something he lacked before.

When Vivek joined the class his level in Hindi and Mathematics was Basic. He could barely read alphabets and recognise digits. Now, he can form and read words in Hindi incontinuation, count till 100 and perform three digit additions and subtractions. He enjoys his time spent in school and enthusiastically takes part in all the interactive workshops.