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Community Centre in Dharavi and BPT Our commitment to empower the youth to build their communities led us to open up community workspaces in Dharavi and BPT in August. Magic Bus believes that any sustained development in children should begin from within their own communities. Providing an access to a centre is in a small way opening up possibilities to address the community and its needs. The centre would be run by our peer leaders along with our community coordinators who would guide and support them. It is a space for our youth to get actively involved, interact, share and develop plans for the betterment of their community. A space within the community also adds a sense of ownership and acceptability towards Magic Bus initiatives. It would also serve as a platform to build relationships in the communities and networking with like minded organisations working towards sustainable development. |
Bombay Port Trust Community officeCapacity building with KNVB Our Sr. Sports Manager, Ajay Shetty attended a 10 day International Football Coaching Course by KNVB (Royal Netherlands Football Association) Netherlands, in August. There were 25 participants from all over the world. "It was a great experience to be a part of the coaching course as it gave inputs on the various aspects of football", says Ajay. "It was a good exposure to interact with different coaches across the world and understand the challenges they face in developing football." The training has helped Ajay to sharpen his football skills and coach our staff.
We would like to thank UK Sport and KNVB. After his training with KNVB, Ajay traveled to Kenya, to visit Mathare Youth Sports Academy, an organization that uses sport for development in Africa. His visit highlight was to understand how this organization uses sport to develop their communities and learn about their intervention programmes with youth. Immediately after the KNVB training, Ajay Shetty, was invited to Vietnam in September as an assistant instructor by KNVB to coach Vietnamese coaches to promote 'Football for Development'. The training programme would be replicated for the Vietnamese youth leaders of local projects in different provinces of Vietnam. This initiative sees Magic Bus open up its first Asia Chapter,
with our Training of Trainers programme outside India. |
Ajay in Kenya, participates in the clean up programme by MYSA
Ajay & the Vietnamese coaches
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 Lehman Brothers volunteers with Magic Bus children |
Corporate volunteers interact with our children 75 fresh recruits of Lehman Brothers got a feeler of the Magic Bus sessions in July. The icebreakers and energizers along with the children were a way to shed one's inhibitions and make instant friendships. The activities were conducted in a circle that ensured uniformity irrespective of age and size. The laughter, the inhibition, quite obvious in some, the mentors prodding the adults to become children, the formation of a bond and letting one enjoy was the agenda of the day. The community visit, compact houses, constricted space, a stark reality of the lives of the children versus the Magic Bus session, happy smiles and the sense of freedom to play was something we took on for the volunteers to experience. As one of our key corporate partners, it was very important for us to introduce some of the new recruits to the realities of our children's lives and the impact of the Magic Bus session as there is nothing better than a real life experience to understand what we do. |
Annual NGO Partner Heads Meeting Magic Bus's annual NGO partner heads meeting was different this year as for the first time we invited all our partners to come together on a common platform and share their views and experiences around our programme. It was a much needed space to all present in understanding each others challenges and reviewing the programme. The partners meeting helped in bridging gaps and creating stronger bonds and discussing the key elements of promoting the best interest of the child. They discussed on how together in partnership they can use shared talents and experience to create better programmes for our children. All partners felt that the Magic Bus 'sport for development' programme is helping the children perform better in academics as well as on their overall attitude. They were of the opinion that the sessions should continue throughout the year and should only be given a break during the final exams. The meet was important to orient our partners on
the expansion plans of Magic Bus and to receive their ongoing support
in the future. Ms Vrushali Kulkarni from Mobile Creche feels happy that children attending the Magic Bus programme conducted Magic Bus activities for 200 children in a camp organized by Mobile Creche. Jayalalitha, superintendent, from Asha Sadan strongly feels that, "Whatever exposure, experiences the children go through is a part of an education"
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Dream it ... Do it! Mumbai Youth Venture Challenge The Mumbai Youth Challenge is an Ashoka Foundation initiative, to empower those youth who have a desire to be changemakers but don't have a direction to be one. The Youth Venture Challenge was first of its kind in Mumbai which had a diverse section of youth from different stratas of society. Magic Bus has been an integral part of the Youth Venture Challenge's first cycle in Mumbai. Besides providing insights into the development of the YV Challenge design, the facilitators from Magic Bus played a crucial part in guiding, inspiring and encouraging the venturers. "Youth Venture challenge for me was a different experience. I was excited to be offered an opportunity to work with youths apart from my regular job. The youths were highly motivated and inspired to make a change in society. Looking at them I felt that there are people who think of society, its issues and believe in making a change, a difference. To facilitate this group was a challenge to me and I was inspired to lead them. " says Aashiq a Magic Bus facilitator for the Youth Venture Challenge. Please visit the YV Challenge blog to get a sense of what Magic Bus help create. |