EFF returns with another fresh tour

Indeed it was yet another amazing experience travelling so early at dawn towards Gandweed where our rural ZPH School locates, for the evaluating visit. The climate was extremely pleasant and enjoyable. Perhaps winter has just ended and with summer yet to begin, we were in the spring, the last weekend of the month of February and heading towards the close of yet another academic year. Fields were golden in color and the dry leaves covered the ground besides the tress on either sides of the road. Due to the friction of the air caused by the speeding vehicles, the leaves blew up in the air giving us a sort of excitement. Although pretty soon there will be greenery all around the country side.
With this thought, volunteers from different professions and I reached the school around 10 in the morning. Although there is constant interaction with the students through virtual classes, they were very excited and awaited for us in their classrooms to be evaluated of their skills in almost all categories such as reading, writing, speaking and addressing speech, grammar, sports, painting and last but not the least attitude and behaviors.

Here are a few experiences of the volunteers who have helped us make the whole day event a very successful one.

It was the first time for me to visit the school. Initially when my friend had told me about the visit, I wasn't very excited or convinced about having a good time there. Yet I thought that I could go for it just like any other jolly trip. But as I started to interact with the students, I was encouraged to conduct more activities. I was given classes 8th and 9th Telugu medium students.  In both the classes most of the students were active although all the students communicated well when they are being encouraged. what I realized after that they have the knowledge but were unable to express their thoughts. As they were from Telugu medium their English speaking skills weren't as good as the counterparts but given some encouragement they can perform well in the future.   

Personally for me, it was a great opportunity to be a part of such an event and I would like to be part of EFF as a volunteer whenever required - Rama Krishna

Teaching is fun and exciting when the curriculum is well matched with the student's interests and abilities, when you teach the right things at the right way motivation takes care by itself, A few students were enthusiastic about learning but most of them require the grading system, every day motivational will definitely bring a lot of improvement among the students. Most of the pupils have to overcome the fear of standing in front of the class to speak, If one is boosted the rest of the students follow. XI class EM is well mannered. - Vinai David.

I t was my third visit to the school.It was a great experience to interact with the students. They all recognized me and I was welcomed with a heart-felt smile. I took classes for 7th as well as 9th class Telugu medium students. They were more enthusiastic as compared to my earlier visits and showed active participation in all the activities conducted.I could tell through my observation that though these students are highly potential as per academics is concerned but few of them are weak at expressing it in English language. They can enhance their skills provided they are guided supported in the right way. Ultimately that filled me with great satisfaction, memories and motivation to participate in the future programs. - Venkey

This was my second visit to this school cause I love being with children. I was surprised to see Telugu medium students speaking English so well. The students were very active and energetic during the class. I felt a sense of pride to be part of EFF who are reaching out the poor and needy children in the school - Ravi

EFF is doing a great work for the students who are not so fortunate. I observed  lot of difference in the students with their speaking, writing and listening abilities since my last two visits, this being the third. Class VI Em students are very smart and active, they make mistakes in speaking but still come forward and speak without any hesitation. They have the desire to learn and speak in English. Expect a few students, most of them are good at speaking English. - Naga Raju

At the outset, I want to convey my gratitude to the EFF for giving me this opportunity to interact with the school children.This is my first ever event of this kind and I enjoyed every bit of it. The students were very keen on listening to what was taught to them and responded generously to the questions. They were very active and enthusiastic to know new things. Especially in drawing, they are far beyond my expectations. I am very glad to attend this event. - Chaitanya

I could see a lot of improvement and progress among the students, especially the VII Telugu medium students as shown in the picture above - Sudha

Students are conveying their gratefulness about  EFF

Appreciating the students and teachers for their corporation with EFF

Distributing  prizes for all-round performance in the classroom events.

At the end of the day's activities, Mr. Venkat one of the volunteer gave a wonderful illustration by comparing farmers, fields and crops to parents, children and studies and books respectively. It was a very inspiring one and I believe it inspired many of them as the kids were seen applauding for a very long time after the speech.

To everyone's surprise the day's effort by the EFF team, their involvement into different schools, their positive attitude in reaching out with a new theory and quality education, motivating pupils  by gifting them with various important inspirational educational subject books that would help them in their future was published by one of the well noted daily news paper SAKSHI and couple of other news media covering every step of EFF. To conclude the media in a nut shell Published that EFF is doing wonders. 

Inspiring young minds: EFF is at it again

EFF team visits rural schools once in three months to check the progress of the students. Volunteers who come from different fields have joined us for this trip – even if it meant applying for leave and staying away from office and family for a day. That’s the kind of passion, and dedication that volunteers show for the EFF program, besides sacrificing their time & energy. For a day, volunteers turned teachers – conducted written tests, classroom games, speaking activities, etc., which gave them a break from their routine lives. Volunteers were extremely happy to give their time to rural children.

Let’s hear their happiness in their own words:

 It was my first visit to ZPHS with the EFF team and I was delighted at the opportunity to meet the students and interact with them. When we reached the school, I found that the students were also equally excited to meet us; they were eagerly waiting to hear from our team. I took classes for students 8th (EM) and 9th (TM) standards. The children were very well mannered and possessed good manners. They had the zeal to learn and improve their English. I conducted several activities to make sure each student was involved in one or the other way. Students enjoyed more in the group activities whereas individual activities boosted their confidence to speak in front of other people. Given the area that they come from and considering the fact that no one in their family is much educated, the children communicate pretty well in English and are working hard to improve further. Some T.Supraja, Rama Devi, G.Anjaneyulu and P.Bhagawan were quick in spelling out a word or in giving their introduction while some others like B.Anusha and A. Shiva Kumar were struggling to complete a single sentence. But all of them wanted to get better and better.

In 9th standard Telugu Medium, students paid full attention to each and every word that I spoke and I told them not to hesitate in asking the meaning of anything that they didn’t understand. They were lacking in good communication in English and were struggling a lot. But they didn’t lack in enthusiasm and willpower to learn more and get better. I explained the meanings to them in Telugu whenever needed. At the end of the day, we distributed books to them for encouragement. It was an exhilarating experience overall and I am looking forward to go on more such visits. Thanks to EFF and Sudha for giving me this opportunity. – V.L.S. Ravi from PurpleTalk

To my surprise, I found that Std 7^th (EM) students were smarter than me. I didn’t feel like leaving the students because they were very active in the class, especially in speaking and in answering the questions. In this class, girls are very smart and courageously coming up to speak and even if they make a mistake they were not afraid to speak; they were very bold and expressive. The students are very good in communication and I was really shocked and pleasantly surprised to see the ZPHS students speaking such decent English; I think it is the hard work of EFF and some generous people who offered this to these students. Thanks to EFF for giving me such a wonderful opportunity. –Ravi kumar from Reserve Bank of India

This was my first trip to this school, so I was excited to meet the children and take classes for them. Though students of Std. 6^th (TM) were very active in the class, they were unable to speak in English and some students don’t even recognize the English alphabet. However, a few of the students were able to read the English alphabet. Most of the students were unable to write a full sentence but they were eager to learn. I think there will be a gradual growth among these students as they seemed to me to be very hard working. I am eagerly waiting for my next visit. – Sravan

This was my second visit to the school and I have enjoyed this visit better than the last one. I was asked to teach 7^th class Telugu medium and 8^th English medium students, where I’ve conducted a few activities like self-introduction, written test, dictation and mind mapping. Some of the boys in the 7^th standard were still struggling with the basics of English and I felt that the teachers have to concentrate on the language more. And in the 8^th standard, girls are more active than boys. A few of the kids in both the classes seem to have a lot of skills but they were feeling shy to come forward and to express their ideas! I hope with a little more encouragement and support, they can perform very well too. What I observed in both the classes is, they showed more interest and enthusiasm when I was teaching them with practical jokes by including them as part of the subject. And those who are passive have become active too and gave a good response, drawing inspiration from the students who came forward to speak. 

It would be better for the students if teachers can guide them in basic dressing etiquette and in matters of physical appearance as well at this stage as it would help them become better citizens in the future. More than the students, as a volunteer I enjoyed the day a lot with their performance. I would love to be a part of more such activities. – Venky  from Reserve Bank of India

Looking at the kind of enthusiastic response from the volunteers and also going by the inspiration they provided to the rural students, we can safely conclude that the event was a huge success. We also feel motivated not only by the participation of volunteers but also by the attitude of the students and, going forward, we would love to conduct more such events. The EFF team thanks all the volunteers for their valuable time, energy and eager participation in this activity, and hopes that the same spirit will be extended towards future events as well.

A day in the school with techies

Early morning three hours ride to the country side rejuvenate our senses isn't it? March first week, spring season dressed in its green gown. The beautiful climate welcomed us all the way to the school.
Academic year is coming to conclude in less than a month, it's time  to visit our rural school, ZPHS Gandeed to evaluate their learning through virtual classroom. We made it on 7th March '15 along with a new set of volunteers working in different professions.

We were excited to see the pupils after five months; though we daily interact them in virtual classroom. Inspite of Holi festival prior day, more than 80% pupils turned up to school on Saturday. That makes our teaching unique.

Volunteers were thrilled to meet the pupils, they spent the whole day in their assigned class. Experience in their own words...

"When I talked to these pupils I was really amazed and wondered that they are really good in English. They have learned a lot from virtual class teaching. EFF has given them good opportunity from what they're learning from their regular syllabus. Moreover, they said an interesting line on me - 'this is the first time we're talking to a Punjabi guy, you are literally awesome'. These words made my day." - Supreet Singh, Design Manager at PurpleTalk

"I got the opportunity to teach the 7^th class students through EFF. Before going there my thoughts were like, ‘You are going to a govt school and do not expect much from their side’.

But they proved me wrong and I am very happy for that.

They are poor in English but very enthusiastic, not afraid to express what they know and made my life hard with missiles like questions flying from all around. They have appetite for learning. 

Thank you EFF for making them wonder kids. I can feel all the efforts you have put in when I stood between them.

All the best.

And thank you for giving me the opportunity to teach as well as learn. " - Manohar Krishna, Director & CEO, Creative Bite Digital studio  

"It was an extraordinary experience for me to teach small kids. I was amazed to meet those kids and see how enthusiastic they were to learn the new things through online education system introduced by EFF. After meeting the students, I couldn't judge if they were the students of some govt. school in some village. This kind of initiatives can give a new shape to our Indian education system. Keep it up EFF"- Harsimran Kaur, Freelance designer, sewer & home maker

"Some of the students looked passive, but when I asked questions they answered with full explanation, it was beyond my expectations. I taught them how to give presentation using the resources available-like piece of chalk and black board. I was amazed to see a boy how well he implemented my words. Pupils need this kind of platform to inspire, they'll automatically become good citizen. There is something lacking in this 8th Std, but they're putting good efforts in English-speaking skills.This is the first time I am in between kids, it's wonderful experience; I really learned a lot from them, looking forward to teach and learn from these innocent and smart champs." - Shiva Dasoju, SSE-QA, PurpleTalk

"I dealt with 7th Telugu Medium students. Praveeen, Ravi, Mahesh, Mahendra, Yadaiah have been the best performers." - Nagaraju, SE-Dev at PurpleTalk'

Volunteers are the key resource for a non-profit organisation. On behalf of EFF, we express our gratefulnes to all these techies for making our evaluation easier. A part from it, hanging out with you guys was great fun for the pupils :)

EFF is back again with assorted team: motivating the students

Finally yes!we are here this year to discuss with you about the EFF trip to country side, Gandweed ZPH School. Once in every three months we visit the school to check the over all development and progress among the students, but this time we were late by one month because of the formation of Telangana and Andhra states and hours of power cuts especially in villages. Due to which we could not take the virtual classes regularly.
Every visit of ours, we introduce new set of volunteers from various professions, by doing so, students, get excited to see new faces who could express their intentions, motivating and encouraging the pupils by inserting corporate play schools methods of teaching, rather than the routine presentation teaching.

Volunteers from different backgrounds implant their teaching skills and involve the students in activities such as classroom games, speaking activities, quiz competition, reading, social issues etc... This time we have concentrated only the speaking skills of the students because we wanted to evaluate how well they are able to cope up with English and in their communication skills. The topics that we have emphasized this time were; Role of News paper in our life, what is your aim in life, Story telling and above all last not the least, Eradication of child marriage etc....

Improvisation

At the end of the day, when we took the summary class wise, it was impressive! The virtual classroom teaching helped most of the students to perform well in all categories of subjects, social issues, general knowledge, speaking activities, current affairs, and English grammar and so on. Over all it was amazing to learn that students have put in lot of interest in learning to speak in English. The different methods of teaching especially, to those vernacular medium students of classes VI and a very small number of students from other classes needs an extra concentration individually, to help them shine like other students. Who are already in that stream, in a nut shell, lots of efforts to be put in with students to overcome the fear of stage and speech. Perhaps help them to take daring steps to disclose their talents standing in front of the class and audience.

Vehemently speaking, while the presentation of Hockey Sticks along with items relating to them and some Educational Literature books were awarded for the students for the excellent performance in the activities that were conducted by the EFF.We noticed that there were lot of people standing  at the school main gate and some of them sitting on the walls while others standing witnessing the proceedings taking place in the school premises. Out of their anxiety and excitement, we could hear  them clapping in joy along with the students cheering the students who are presented with gifts. We the EFF are happy to bring this awareness among the residents of Gandweed Village and are very pleased with the encouragement they offered to the students.

This school visit has created awareness: In student's performances, and how we need to work with them in the areas they need to be polished to make an improvement in their progress.

On behalf of EFF, we sincerely thank all the Purpletalk employees and others who supported the achievers and made the children happy at the end of the day. We hope to get the same support and encouragement from all of you, in the future too. We thank the school management for cooperating with us in all errands.

Annual Visit

                              

This time the visit to ZPH School, Gandweed came after a long wait as the dates kept changing due to certain circumstances. Finally we left on a very special day, Valentine’s Day! Until the last moment, we weren't sure how many volunteers were accompanying us to the school but to our surprise, we had 7 volunteers who were willing to take part in it and celebrate Valentine’s Day with the children. And that made this trip even more special. We as a team were able to make a fun filled educational day for the kids. For a change, they were not bored about having to sit in the classroom but were rather excited about the activities and the learning time.

When we made our first visit to this school, we had noticed that the students were very poor in speaking and reading English, but after a year of tutoring them through the Virtual Classroom we noticed that there is a lot of improvement in their speaking, reading and writing skills now. It was really amazing to see the growth in the students. In fact each of the volunteers report regarding the performance of the students development was satisfactory. Most of the students this time volunteered to participate in all the activities including giving little speeches on the stage.

But there were still a few students who needed personal care and individual attention to overcome their fear and shyness, at least for that day. We are hoping that the schools would continue to encourage the students to be aware and eager to learn.

Volunteers Report:

This was my second trip to this School. The first time I was accompanying the team but this time I was entrusted with the responsibility of teaching the standard 9^th EM students. To my surprise the topic was on “DOWRY”. In response to the teaching, I got wonderful opinions of various kinds from the students but most importantly their opinion on how the Dowry system might be gradually going away from their homes and the society. The students participated in different activities like quiz, speeches, writing and reading. Most of them performed very well and were very well behaved as well. I had a wonderful time and experience with the students and the team of volunteers too.-         Vinai David

This was my first visit to the school and without a thought it was amazing trip and I had a good time with the kids. I was given class 8^th EM and a few activities like a written test, discussion about the Dowry system, running dictation and storytelling. It was a fun time and also very educational for them. Few of the kids especially among the boys were gems! They were very active and enthusiastic especially Vinay, Bharath and Manikanta. Girls on the other side, with a little more encouragement and support can perform very well too.

One request is that teachers should encourage the kids in their respective area of interests as I had come across one boy, Rama Krishna who was very talented in drawing. There might be a lot of hidden talents among the kids. Few were very excited about rendering the movie dialogues as well which proves their confidence and no stage fear, such people should be encouraged too. On the whole it was a fun time for me too as a volunteer. I would love to be a part of more such activities.-         Hephzibah

Pursuing my B. Tech final year in JNAFAU spa, this was my first visit to the school and I loved it a lot and I really loved the views of EFF and proud to say that I’m part of it. I really had a good time with the children. I attended 7^th EM, the children in the class were really talented –Honestly I was expecting it. I began by conducting an exam in which few children had problems in understanding the question, some of them performed well. After the exam the next activity was “act out an activity, child labor, chain spelling and word game. The children were really good at this chain spelling I really enjoyed the time spent with the class and certainly would want to continue my contribution to EFF.

Few girls in the class were really active: Akhila, Anusha, Shreshta except a few boys remaining all were good as well- They just needed a little push. I loved being a part of it and would love to continue being a part of it.

-  Dinesh

I’m a degree final year student at Nizam’s Degree College. I really like the efforts being made by EFF to provide education for children in remote areas. It was really great that I was part of it, even if it was just for a day! And I would like to be part of it for many more events. I went to two classes and the children were very well behaved.  I was asked to conduct written test and some other activities. The students responded to the best of their ability, though there were many mistakes grammatically while communicating in English, yet they tried to speak in English. So as a whole all of them need to make a lot of improvement in learning the English language and I feel they are all have enough enthusiasm not just to learn the language but to do so much in life.  -      Abhinay

I attended Classes 9th TM, 8^th TM, 7^th TM, and 6th TM. Students were asked to pick up a chit from a set of scheduled topics and Draw on the topic. The students were explained about the purpose of studying, drawing and its use for the academic purposes and career prospects. I Efforts was made towards developing their drawing skills using basic shapes and perspective techniques. It was good to see the progress from my last visit.-      Santosh

This was my second trip to the School. I went to 7^th class and conducted many activities like quiz, speaking skills and reading skills, each student has a vision to improve themselves, but most of the pupils are having stage fear. I felt that an extra attention towards the students will help them train well to be free from stage fear and perform their best in speaking English. If the students are provided with English to Telugu and Telugu to English dictionaries they would perhaps put extra interest in learning and knowing the meaning of the new words and formation of sentences. -       Anupama

This was my first visit and it was a wonderful experience with the kids of class VI EM. Since they are from Telugu medium back ground it was very hard for them to speak and write in English, however they did to the best of their abilities. According to my observation, since they are beginners to English medium, students need to put extra interest especially in learning English language. -     Rakesh

I began my session with 9^th TM students with different activities like: Dowry system, storytelling, running dictation, ‘what is your aim in life’ and G.K. Most of the students were very active in the class and each one tried to speak in English. It was surprising for me to see Telugu medium students speaking in English. During our first visit to this school, after EFF adopted it, the most kids would respond “Madam don’t speak to us in English we don’t understand”. But today I’m proud of their progress.

A huge thank you from EFF  to  our wonderful volunteers for coming with us all the way and doing what you did there! The students were charmed and motivated and we are sure, they will start to dream bigger. Thank you once again for making the first Valentine’s Day so special for the kids!

Dictionaries and general knowledge books were given as gifts  to the students who performed well in the class room activities.

                   

Walkathon

A recent survey unveiled that there are around 793 million adult illiterates in the world- mostly from third world countries. Out of which, two thirds are women[Source: Wikipedia]. According to 2011 census, Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) stands 24^th in literacy ranking out of 28 states in India. It’s a huge 7% difference compared to the national’s 74.04%. A.P.’s government has come up with many programs to eradicate illiteracy; however the progress is languishing at a snail’s pace.

We, the EFF team initiated an event-Walkathon, supported by PurpleTalk Inc, with a cause: ‘EDUCATE A CHILD’. The walk was about appealing to people of the nation to educate a child as a contribution to society. Here ‘educating’ doesn’t mean we have to go to a class and teach; there are so many ways to volunteer towards eradicating illiteracy from the nation, such as–          

·         Sponsor a child’s education.
·         Adopt a classroom.
·         Counsel parents of the drop outs.
·         Organize education awareness programs in slums/rural areas.
·         People passionate about teaching can teach students remotely using technology.
·         Visit a school nearby to figure out their problems.

Along with EFF one more NGO joined the event, it is ‘MAD’ (Make a Difference) which is working towards empowering underprivileged children through education.

Details of the event:

Date: 25-Jan-2013

Time: 4pm onwards

Venue: KBR Park, Banjara Hills, Hyderad

Pamphlet

Snaps from the event: 

In front of KBR Park

Giving a brief explanation about EFF and MAD

Volunteers cheering J

Busy bees take out time to join the walk!

And that was a never ending line; people were joining in at every corner of the walk!

Distributing the pamphlets to passersby

No one can stop us!

And that was a fantastic evening, with pleasant climate!

Everyone had a lot of fun along with the walk! 

A Visit to remember: Lessons and memories created

EFF team visits its rural schools once in three months to check the progress of the students. The trip is arranged with some volunteers on 24th Nov'12. PurpleTalk employees - Sheik Khaleel Babu, Mr.Siva Sankar and Mallesh volunteered; travelled with us more than 270 Km. We spent the whole day with students and shared their views & suggestions. 

Volunteers turned teachers

For some time the volunteers turned teachers-conducted classroom games and activities, which gave them a welcome break from their routine lives. To be a teacher is not an easy job, as people think; in fact it needs a lot of ground work to be called a good teacher. Pupils watch our movements and gauge how well we are able to connect with them emotionally-What we wear, what we speak, our body language, our behavior-everything counts. Pupils imitate teachers, so care should be taken by the teachers that there is no flaw in presenting themselves in front of the children.

Mr.Khaleel, giving a small speech –“pursue your studies with love but not as a duty”. Occasionally, words we spell out are so touching and inspiring unknowingly. 

Mr.Siva Sankar, interacting with eighth standard students

EFF teacher, Sudha, conducting classroom games

And that’s me, with sixth standard students. They were so cute and lovable, that I couldn't leave the class.

Mallesh turned cameraman clicking snaps of us J

Progress

Coming to the actual progress of the students through virtual classroom teaching- the students of vernacular medium did not make much progress in speaking English. On the other hand, English medium students of high school are much better. They've made a lot of improvement. The main goal of virtual classroom teaching is to make them focus not just on studies but also, on social issues, environment problems, current affairs, intelligence, general knowledge etc. The visit enlightened us in some areas to work on, mainly the method of teaching for vernacular medium with different lesson plans.

 It’s a known fact that students from a rural background are not as outgoing as urban folks. Though they have talent, they just keep quite owing to fear and dare not disclose their talent in front of everybody. We are trying to introduce them to the pleasures of being liberal in thought and speech. 

Prizes for the winners

The visit had one more purpose, to distribute the prizes for GK quiz winners, conducted on the occasion of Children’s day. The competition was held between two schools- ZPHS Boys’ and ZPHS Girls’ schools of Gandeed village and Mandal.

At last we thanked the school managements for giving us warm welcome and coordinating with us in taking sessions with the children. Grateful to the volunteers who took time out of their busy schedules for EFF.