A wonderful initiative to empower kids for a decent living! :)

1. Swagath
Education and
Community Action
Snippets
Vol. 1, August 2008
Welcome to the first ever 'Snippets' of Swagath Education and Community Action
(SECA). We started out in September 2006 and since then we have grown in
leaps and bounds, and we’re excited to showcase
what we’ve been upto through our updates!
our vision and objectives
SECA aims to work with children, families and communities to reduce urban
social and economic disparities. We believe in supporting education, health
and employability goals to provide opportunities for positive change.
Enhance children's interest in learning and their
overall motivation and self-esteem levels through:
✔ a spoken English programme
✔ mentoring and extracurricular activities
Serve as a friend to the community and youth:
✔ providing information, resources and networks
✔ to meet education, health and employment needs
Establish a model that can be replicated by any
group of individuals committed to positively
impacting urban families and communities in a
sustainable and holistic manner
SECA meets in the evenings at an anganwadi centre in South Bangalore.
Contact us at www.swagath.org.in

2. education
Create an atmosphere for children to ask, observe, create and have a lot of fun.
Learning was something that would happen along the way.
We’ve researched, networked, and designed methods that work best for our children.
Now, after nearly two years, we are beginning to reap the benefits.
Class design Teaching aids
✔ Six-monthly testing to divide kids ✔ Flash cards, charts, pictures,
based on levels, rather than age. books, and worksheets.
✔ Key skills of reading, grammar and ✔ Memory games, English antakshari
speaking. words and dumb charades.
Impact Learning disabilities
✔ No marks cards! ✔ Primary aim is early intervention.
✔ Our children are now dedicated and ✔ Arrange for testing by specialists
sincere in their efforts at learning and consistent remedial coaching.
English. ✔ Formal interventions hampered by
✔ Building children's confidence with lack of Kannada medium National
support from parents. Open School (NOS) curriculum.
All work and no play? No!
Children need to have their share of fun because they are just that – children. We
intersperse fun events between regular classes and they are always met with great
enthusiasm and energy!
We've been on a couple of day-picnics in the city, to watch a children’s play, and
to the planetarium. The kids recently traveled to a city-wide storytelling event
conducted by a local organisation, and had a great time listening to and
interacting with the storytellers. All events are funded by our patrons and
friends.
The 14th of November is celebrated as Children's Day every year in India. To
mark the event, we organised an quot;Annual Talent's Dayquot; in 2007. Our kids
participated in various events ranging from dance and drama to a general
knowledge quiz. They gave a fantastic account of themselves, cheered on by a
raucous crowd!

3. community action
We currently focus our community efforts on
education and livelihoods for youth and on general health needs.
1. youth interventions
Vocational training and employment
✔ Organise vocational information
sessions for youth through our
networks with organisations.
✔ Support dropouts to complete
schooling through the National Open
School (NOS) curriculum.
✔ Help with ad hoc requests for jobs
that come from the youth.
Computer training
✔ Enroll and partially fund both
dropouts and graduates in basic
computer training courses.
✔ Focus on follow-up throughout the
course and later in finding jobs.
2. community activities
General health camps
✔ Urban poor lack access to decent,
affordable health-care systems.
✔ Organise free general health camps,
and systematise follow-up and
procuring free medication.
Health care
✔ Respond to requests for identification
of specialists and provide networking
support.
✔ Raise funding for major health care
interventions.

4. what lies ahead...
We like to dream big, and are always thinking of new ways to generate
more impact from our teaching, while improving our community outreach.
Our ambitious plans for the next several months include:
Educational scholarships
✔ For economically needy students
✔ For shift to English-medium schools
Subject-wise coaching classes
✔ Identify volunteers for consistent help
✔ Provide an alternative to expensive tuitions
Educational advancement
✔ Counseling on educational options for youth
✔ Remedial mechanisms for learning disabilities
Health
✔ Diabetes, ophthalmology, reproductive health
✔ Follow-up through specialists and funding
We are excited that you have chosen to
share your energies with SECA!
Your encouragement keeps us enthusiastic
and motivates us to do more.
Do get in touch if you or your friends want to help.
Next time we meet, we hope we have
many more achievements to share!
Cheers!
Team SECA