I'm standing in front of you today in all humility, wanting to share with you my journey of the last six years in the field of service and education. And I'm not a trained academic. Neither am I a veteran social worker. I was 26 years in the corporate world, trying to make organizations profitable. And then in 2003 I started Parikrma Humanity Foundation from my kitchen table.
Stojim pred vama danas ponizna, želim da podelim sa vama moj put u poslednjih šest godina, na polju službe i obrazovanja. Ja nisam visoko obrazovana. Niti sam socijalni radnik sa puno iskustva. 26 godina sam bila u korporativnom svetu, pokušavala da organizacije učinim unosnim. A onda sam 2003. godine osnovala Parikrma Humanity fondaciju za svojim kuhinjskim stolom.
The first thing that we did was walk through the slums. You know, by the way, there are two million people in Bangalore, who live in 800 slums. We couldn't go to all the slums, but we tried to cover as much as we could. We walked through these slums, identified houses where children would never go to school. We talked to the parents, tried to convince them about sending their children to school. We played with the children, and came back home really tired, exhausted, but with images of bright faces, twinkling eyes, and went to sleep.
Prva stvar koju smo uradili bila je šetnja kroz slamove. Inače, u Bangaloru ima dva miliona ljudi koji žive u 800 slamova. Nismo ih mogli sve obići, ali trudili smo se da pokrijemo što smo više mogli. Šetali smo kroz te slamove i obeležavali kuće u kojima su deca koja nikada neće ići u školu. Razgovarali smo sa roditeljima, pokušavali da ih ubedimo da pošalju svoju decu u školu. Igrali smo se sa decom, vraćali se kući zaista umorni, premoreni, ali sa slikama vedrih lica, treptavih okica, i zaspali bismo.
We were all excited to start, but the numbers hit us then: 200 million children between four to 14 that should be going to school, but do not; 100 million children who go to school but cannot read; 125 million who cannot do basic maths. We also heard that 250 billion Indian rupees was dedicated for government schooling. Ninety percent of it was spent on teachers' salary and administrators' salary. And yet, India has nearly the highest teacher absenteeism in the world, with one out of four teachers not going to school at all the entire academic year.
Svi smo bili uzbuđeni zbog početka. Ali onda su nas pogodili brojevi. 200 miliona dece između 4 i 14 godina koja bi trebalo da idu u školu, ali ne idu. 100 miliona dece koja idu u školu ali ne znaju da čitaju, 125 miliona koja ne znaju osnove matematike. Takođe smo čuli da je 250 milijardi indijskih rupija izdvojeno za državno školovanje. 90% od toga potrošeno je na učiteljske plate i na administratorske plate. A ipak, Indija je zemlja sa skoro najvećim brojem nastavničkih izostanaka na svetu, gde jedan od četiri nastavnika ne ide u školu tokom cele školske godine.
Those numbers were absolutely mind-boggling, overwhelming, and we were constantly asked, "When will you start? How many schools will you start? How many children will you get? How are you going to scale? How are you going to replicate?" It was very difficult not to get scared, not to get daunted. But we dug our heels and said, "We're not in the number game. We want to take one child at a time and take the child right through school, sent to college, and get them prepared for better living, a high value job."
Ti brojevi su potpuno neverovatni, zapanjujući i ljudi su nas stalno pitali "Kada ćete početi? Sa koliko škola ćete početi? Koliko dece ćete uzeti? Kako ćete meriti? Kako ćete to ponoviti?" Bilo je teško ne uplašiti se i ne obeshrabriti. Ali mi smo se zainatili i rekli, "Nismo u igri brojeva." Želimo da uzmemo jedno po jedno dete i sprovedemo ga kroz školu, pošaljemo na fakultet i pripremimo za bolji život, za vrednovani posao.
So, we started Parikrma. The first Parikrma school started in a slum where there were 70,000 people living below the poverty line. Our first school was on a rooftop of a building inside the slums, a second story building, the only second story building inside the slums. And that rooftop did not have any ceiling, only half a tin sheet. That was our first school. One hundred sixty-five children. Indian academic year begins in June. So, June it rains, so many a times all of us would be huddled under the tin roof, waiting for the rain to stop. My God! What a bonding exercise that was. And all of us that were under that roof are still here together today. Then came the second school, the third school, the fourth school and a junior college. In six years now, we have four schools, one junior college, 1,100 children coming from 28 slums and four orphanages. (Applause)
Tako smo osnovali Parikrmu, prvu Parikrma školu osnovanu u slamovima gde 70.000 ljudi živi ispod granice siromaštva. Počeli smo, naša prva škola bila je na krovu jedne zgrade u slamovima, dvospratne zgrade, ali dvospratne zgrade koja je u slamovima. I ta zgrada nije imala nikakvu tavanicu, samo tanki lim. To je bila naša prva škola. 165. dece. Indijska školska godina počinje u junu. Znači, u junu pada kiša, toliko puta smo se svi nagurali ispod tog krova i čekali da kiša stane. Bože, kakva je to bila vežba zbližavanja. I svi mi, koji smo bili pod tim krovom, smo i danas zajedno. Onda je došla druga škola, treća škola, četvrta škola, i viša škola. Za šest godina otvorili smo četiri škole, jednu višu školu imamo 1100 dece iz 28 slamova i četiri sirotišta. (aplauz)
Our dream is very simple: to send each of these kids, get them prepared to be educated but also to live peacefully, contented in this conflict-ridden chaotic globalized world. Now, when you talk global you have to talk English. And so all our schools are English medium schools. But they know there is this myth that children from the slums cannot speak English well. No one in their family has spoken English. No one in their generation has spoken English. But how wrong it is.
Naš san je veoma jednostavan, da pošaljemo svako od ove dece, da ih pripremimo za život, da budu obrazovani ali i da žive u miru, zadovoljni u ovom haotičnom, globalizovanom svetu kojim vladaju sukobi. Sad, kada pričate o globalnom, morate govoriti engleski. Tako su sve naše škole na engleskom jeziku. Ali oni znaju za ovaj mit, da deca iz slamova ne znaju dobro engleski. Niko u njihovoj porodici ne govori engleski. Niko iz njihove generacije ne govori engleski. Kako je to pogrešno.
Girl: I like adventurous books, and some of my favorites are Alfred Hitchcock and [unclear] and Hardy Boys. Although they are like in different contexts, one is magical, the other two are like investigation, I like those books because they have something special in them. The vocabulary used in those books and the style of writing. I mean like once I pick up one book I cannot put it down until I finish the whole book. Even if it takes me four and a half hours, or three and half hours to finish my book, I do it.
Video: Devojčica: Volim avanturističke knjige i jedna od omiljenih volim Alfreda Hičkoka i [nejasno] i Hardy Boys. Sva tri su slična, ali su slična na drugačije načine, jedan je kao čaroban, druga dva su istraživački, sviđaju mi se te knjige jer imaju u sebi nešto posebno, rečnik koji je korišćen, i način, stil pisanja. Mislim, kad jednom uzmem jednu knjigu ne mogu da je spustim dok je celu ne pročitam. Čak i kad mi je potrebno četiri ipo sata, ili tri ipo sata da je pročitam, ja je pročitam.
Boy: I did good research and I got the information [on the] world's fastest cars. I like Ducati ZZ143, because it is the fastest, the world's fastest bike, and I like Pulsar 220 DTSI because it is India's fastest bike. (Laughter)
Dečak: Istraživao sam i pronašao informacije o najbržim automobilima na svetu. Sviđa mi se Ducati ZZ143, jer je najbrži, najbrži motor na svetu. I sviđa mi se Pulsar 220 DTSI jer je to indisjki najbrži motor.
Shukla Bose: Well, that girl that you saw, her father sells flowers on the roadside. And this little boy has been coming to school for five years. But isn't it strange that little boys all over the world love fast bikes? (Laughter) He hasn't seen one, he hasn't ridden one, of course, but he has done a lot of research through Google search. You know, when we started with our English medium schools we also decided to adopt the best curriculum possible, the ICSE curriculum. And again, there were people who laughed at me and said, "Don't be crazy choosing such a tough curriculum for these students. They'll never be able to cope." Not only do our children cope very well, but they excel in it. You should just come across to see how well our children do.
Dakle, otac ove devojčice koju ste videli prodaje cveće pored puta. A ovaj mali dečak dolazi u školu pet godina. Ali zar nije čudno da mali dečaci širom sveta vole brze motore? On nije video nijedan. Nije naravno vozio nijedan, ali je mnogo istraživao preko Google pretrage. Znate, kad smo počeli sa školama na engleskom odlučili smo da usvojimo najbolji mogući program, ICSE program. I opet je bilo ljudi koji su mi se smejali i govorili, "Da li si ti luda, biraš tako težak program za ove učenike? Oni se nikad neće s tim izboriti." Ne samo da su se naša deca izborila veoma dobro, oni ga prevazilaze. Trebalo bi da vidite kako našoj deci dobro ide.
There is also this myth that parents from the slums are not interested in their children going to school; they'd much rather put them to work. That's absolute hogwash. All parents all over the world want their children to lead a better life than themselves, but they need to believe that change is possible.
Postoji takođe i mit da roditelji iz slamova nisu zainteresovani da im deca idu u školu, da bi ih radije poslali da rade. To je apsolutna glupost. Svi roditelji širom sveta žele da njihova deca imaju bolje živote od njih. Ali moraju da veruju da je promena moguća.
Video: (Hindi)
Video: (Hindi)
SB: We have 80 percent attendance for all our parents-teachers meeting. Sometimes it's even 100 percent, much more than many privileged schools. Fathers have started to attend. It's very interesting. When we started our school the parents would give thumbprints in the attendance register. Now they have started writing their signature. The children have taught them. It's amazing how much children can teach.
Šukla Bose: Prisutnost na roditeljskim sastancima je 80%. Ponekad je i 100%, mnogo više nego u nekim boljim školama. Očevi su počeli da dolaze. To je veoma interesantno. Kada smo započeli sa školom, roditelji su se upisivali otiskom palca. Sada su počeli da se potpisuju. Deca su ih naučila. Neverovatno je koliko deca mogu da nauče.
We have, a few months ago, actually late last year, we had a few mothers who came to us and said, "You know, we want to learn how to read and write. Can you teach us?" So, we started an afterschool for our parents, for our mothers. We had 25 mothers who came regularly after school to study. We want to continue with this program and extend it to all our other schools.
Pre nekoliko meseci, zapravo kasno prošle godine, nekoliko majki je došlo i reklo nam, "Želimo da naučimo da pišemo i čitamo, možete li da nas naučite?" Tako smo počeli dopunsku nastavu za roditelje, za majke. Bilo je 25 majki koje su redovno dolazile posle nastave da uče. Želimo da nastavimo ovaj program i proširimo ga na sve ostale škole.
Ninety-eight percent of our fathers are alcoholics. So, you can imagine how traumatized and how dysfunctional the houses are where our children come from. We have to send the fathers to de-addiction labs and when they come back, most times sober, we have to find a job for them so that they don't regress. We have about three fathers who have been trained to cook. We have taught them nutrition, hygiene. We have helped them set up the kitchen and now they are supplying food to all our children. They do a very good job because their children are eating their food, but most importantly this is the first time they have got respect, and they feel that they are doing something worthwhile.
98% očeva su alkoholičari. Možete zamisliti koliko su traumatizovana i disfunkcionalna domaćinstva iz kojih dolaze naša deca. Moramo da šaljemo očeve u laboratorije na odvikavanje i kada se vrate uglavnom trezni, moramo da im pronađemo posao da se ne bi vratili alkoholu. Imamo tri oca koji su naučili da kuvaju. Naučili smo ih o ishrani, o higijeni. Pomogli smo im da osposobe kuhinju i sada oni nabavljaju hranu za svu našu decu. Rade veoma dobar posao jer njihova deca jedu njihovu hranu, ali što je još važnije, po prvi put dobijaju poštovanje i osećaju da rade nešto vredno truda.
More than 90 percent of our non-teaching staff are all parents and extended families. We've started many programs just to make sure that the child comes to school. Vocational skill program for the older siblings so the younger ones are not stopped from coming to school.
Više od 90% nenastavnog osoblja čine roditelji i šira porodica. Počeli smo mnoge programe samo da bismo bili sigurni da će dete doći u školu. Program zanatskih veština za stariju decu kako mlađa ne bi prestala da dolaze u školu.
There is also this myth that children from the slums cannot integrate with mainstream. Take a look at this little girl who was one of the 28 children from all privileged schools, best schools in the country that was selected for the Duke University talent identification program and was sent to IIM Ahmedabad.
Postoji i mit da deca iz slamova ne mogu da se uklope u glavne tokove. Pogledajte ovu devojčicu koja je bila jedna od 28 dece iz svih privilegovanih škola, najboljih škola u zemlji, koja su izabrana za program talentovane dece za Duke univerzitet i poslata u IIM-Amedabad.
Video: Girl: Duke IIMA Camp. Whenever we see that IIMA, it was such a pride for us to go to that camp. Everybody was very friendly, especially I got a lot of friends. And I felt that my English has improved a lot going there and chatting with friends. There they met children who are with a different standard and a different mindset, a totally different society. I mingled with almost everyone. They were very friendly. I had very good friends there, who are from Delhi, who are from Mumbai. Even now we are in touch through Facebook.
Video: Devojčica: [nejasno] Kad god vidimo da [nejasno] bili smo jako ponosni što smo išli u taj kamp. Išli smo tamo. Svi su bili veoma druželjubivi i stekla sam mnogo prijatelja. Osetila sam da mi se engleski poboljšao, jer sam išla tamo i ćaskala sa prijateljima. Tamo su upoznali decu koja imaju drugačiji standard i drugačiji mentalni sklop, iz potpuno drugačijeg društva. Družim se skoro sa svima. Bili su vrlo druželjubivi. Imala sam baš dobre prijatelje tamo, iz Delhija, iz Mumbaja. I sada smo u kontaktu preko Facebook-a.
After this Ahmedabad trip I've been like a totally different mingling with people and all of those. Before that I feel like I wasn't like this. I don't even mingle, or start speaking with someone so quickly. My accent with English improved a lot. And I learned football, volleyball, Frisbee, lots of games. And I wouldn't want to go to Bangalore. Let me stay here. Such beautiful food, I enjoyed it. It was so beautiful. I enjoyed eating food like [unclear] would come and ask me, "Yes ma'am, what you want?" It was so good to hear!
Posle ovog putovanja u Amedabad potpuno se drugačije družim sa ljudima i sve to. Mislim da pre toga nisam bila takva. Nisam se družila ni pričala s nekim tako brzo. Moj engleski akcenat se mnogo poboljšao i naučila sam fudbal, odbojku, frizbi, mnogo igara. I ne želim da idem u Bangalor. Pustite me da ostanem ovde. Tako je divna hrana. Uživala sam u njoj. Bila je baš lepa. Uživala sam da jedem hranu [nejasno] priđe i pita me, "Da gospođice, šta želite?". Bilo je tako dobro to čuti!
(Laughter) (Applause)
(smeh) (aplauz)
SB: This girl was working as a maid before she came to school. And today she wants to be a neurologist.
Ova devojčica je radila kao sobarica pre nego što je došla u školu. A danas želi da bude neurolog.
Our children are doing brilliantly in sports. They are really excelling. There is an inter-school athletic competition that is held every year in Bangalore, where 5,000 children participate from 140 best schools in the city. We've got the best school award for three years successively. And our children are coming back home with bags full of medals, with lots of admirers and friends. Last year there were a couple of kids from elite schools that came to ask for admissions in our school. We also have our very own dream team.
Našoj deci odlično idu sportovi. Stvarno nadmašuju očekivanja. Imamo među-školsko takmičenje u atletici koje se održava svake godine u Bangaloru, gde učestvuje 5000 dece iz 140 najboljih škola u gradu. Mi smo tri godine za redom osvojili nagradu za najbolju školu. A naša deca se vraćaju kući sa torbom punom medalja, sa mnogo obožavatelja i prijatelja. Prošle godine dvoje dece iz elitnih škola je došlo da pita da se upišu u našu školu. Imamo i svoj lični tim snova.
Why is this happening? Why this confidence? Is it the exposure? We have professors from MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, Indian Institute of Science who come and teach our children lots of scientific formulas, experiments, much beyond the classroom. Art, music are considered therapy and mediums of expression. We also believe that it's the content that is more important. It is not the infrastructure, not the toilets, not the libraries, but it is what actually happens in this school that is more important. Creating an environment of learning, of inquiry, of exploration is what is true education.
Zašto se ovo dešava? Odakle ovo pouzdanje? Da li je to zbog izloženosti? Imamo profesore sa MIT-a, Berklija, Stenforda, indijskog Instituta za Nauku, koji dolaze i uče našu decu mnogim naučnim formulama, eksperimentima, mnogo šire od programa. Umetnost, muzika, smatraju se terapijom i načinima izražavanja. Takođe verujemo da je sadržaj mnogo važniji. Nije infrastruktura, toaleti, biblioteke nego je najvažnije ono što se stvarno dešava u ovoj školi. Pravljenje okruženja za učenje, za istraživanje i ispitivanje je pravo obrazovanje.
When we started Parikrma we had no idea which direction we were taking. We didn't hire McKinsey to do a business plan. But we know for sure that what we want to do today is take one child at a time, not get bogged with numbers, and actually see the child complete the circle of life, and unleash his total potential. We do not believe in scale because we believe in quality, and scale and numbers will automatically happen. We have corporates that have stood behind us, and we are able to, now, open more schools. But we began with the idea of one child at a time.
Kada smo počeli Parikrmu nismo imali ideju kojim putem idemo. Nismo unajmili Mekenzi da uradi biznis plan. Ali ono što sigurno znamo da želimo danas da uradimo je da uzmemo jedno po jedno dete, da se ne zatrpamo brojevima, i da stvarno vidimo kako dete ispunjava životni krug i da oslobodimo njegov ukupni potencijal. Ne verujemo u mere, jer verujemo u kvalitet, a mere i brojevi će se automatski desiti. Imamo korporacije koje su stale iza nas i sada smo u mogućnosti da otvorimo još škola. Ali počeli smo sa idejom o jednom po jednom detetu.
This is five-year-old Parusharam. He was begging by a bus stop a few years ago, got picked up and is now in an orphanage, has been coming to school for the last four and a half months. He's in kindergarten. He has learned how to speak English. We have a model by which kids can speak English and understand English in three month's time. He can tell you stories in English of the thirsty crow, of the crocodile and of the giraffe. And if you ask him what he likes to do he will say, "I like sleeping. I like eating. I like playing." And if you ask him what he wants to do, he will say, "I want to horsing." Now, "horsing" is going for a horse ride. So, Parusharam comes to my office every day. He comes for a tummy rub, because he believes that will give me luck. (Laughter)
Ovo je petogodišnji Parušaram. On je prosjačio pored autobuske stanice pre nekoliko godina, pokupljen je i sada je u sirotištu, dolazi u školu poslednja četiri ipo meseca. U obdaništu je. Naučio je da govori engleski. Imamo model po kome deca mogu da nauče da govore i razumeju engleski za tri meseca. On vam može na engleskom pričati priče o žednoj vrani, o krokodilu i o žirafi. I ako ga pitate šta voli da radi reći će, "Volim da spavam. Volim da jedem. Volim da se igram." A ako ga pitate šta želi da radi, reći će, "Želim konjanje." Konjanje je čekanje da jaše konja. Dakle, Parušaram dolazi u moju kancelariju svaki dan. Dolazi da ga pomazim po stomaku jer smatra da će mi to doneti sreću.
When I started Parikrma I began with a great deal of arrogance of transforming the world. But today I have been transformed. I have been changed with my children. I've learned so much from them: love, compassion, imagination and such creativity. Parusharam is Parikrma with a simple beginning but a long way to go. I promise you, Parusharam will speak in the TED conference a few years from now. Thank you. (Applause)
Kada sam osnovala Parikrmu počela sam sa puno arogancije, želeći da promenim svet. Ali danas sam ja promenjena. Menjam se sa svojom decom. Mnogo sam naučila od njih, ljubav, saosećanje, maštanje i kreativnost. Parušaram je Parikrma sa jednostavnim početkom ali dugim putem pred sobom. Obećavam vam, Parušaram će govoriti na TED konferenciji za nekoliko godina. Hvala vam. (aplauz)