• The ebook “When We Thrive, Our World Thrives” by Connie Ok. Chung with Vishal Talreja is in regards to the graduates of Dream a Dream.

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• Since 1999, Dream a Dream has gained the eye of Indian and international communities as a number one training non-profit that’s cracking the code on tips on how to assist younger individuals with backgrounds of adversity to thrive, realise their potential, and change into leaders who will form our collective future.

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• The ebook centres on transferring, private tales of younger individuals and what it means to develop up with adversity and thrive. It weaves in analysis about optimistic youth improvement and finest practices of the globally recognised life abilities programme developed by Dream a Dream; it additionally chronicles Dream a Dream’s development and improvement as an organisation.

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• Read an excerpt from the ebook under.

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Revanna Marilinga was born in a small village within the Mandya District, a largely agricultural space, some 70 miles away from Bangalore. His mother and father labored for every day wages, so at the same time as a toddler, he was left at dwelling by himself, as an solely little one. He tried and failed twice within the college choice course of. The college headmaster and academics would go to his village to ask mother and father in regards to the ages of their kids. If the mother and father didn’t know the age of the kid, the varsity authorities would ask kids to the touch their ears. They believed that those that might contact their ears when requested have been a minimum of 5 years outdated and will attend college, however Revanna couldn’t. Thus, Revanna related the sensation of failing with college, even earlier than he set one foot in a classroom.

When he did make it to highschool after the third time of taking the check, it was a fair larger disappointment. Not solely did his college not permit him to play, however there have been lively restrictions that he was not used to at dwelling. While at dwelling, he might play, eat, or sleep. But in school, all he was allowed to do was to sit down and hearken to the instructor.

Without any prior formal studying experiences nor preparation, Revanna felt “very weak” and “totally ill-prepared to learn,” he recalled. “In the third standard, we were expected to write sentences, but when I was unable to recognize letters, how could I write sentences?” he mirrored. The response from the varsity authorities was to not present him with further assist, however beatings from the academics when he was unable to reply their questions.

Revanna determined that between his obvious incapacity to study and the every day painful, tear-inducing beatings from academics, that “school was not for me.” When he knowledgeable his mom that he wouldn’t proceed his training, his mother and father mentioned that not going to highschool was not an possibility. To his mother and father, sending him to highschool was the one means to make sure that they’d common little one care in order that they may concentrate on working and incomes their livelihood. His mother and father insisted that he proceed to attend college.

Revanna coped as he might, by strolling to highschool, placing his bag contained in the classroom, then operating out to play within the subject by the varsity after which returning dwelling by lunch time. He maintained this routine till the tip of the educational yr, when his mother and father discovered that he was not eligible to take the ultimate examination due to his poor attendance. When the principal instructed his mother and father about Revanna’s absences from college, his mother and father have been in disbelief at first. Then they insisted that he attend college, irrespective of how painful the punishments have been. Perhaps his mother and father needed him to have extra selections than they did, by attending college, or maybe they thought that the bodily punishments have been no much less strange than what they themselves skilled in class. When Revanna tried to insist that he might assist them with their work as a substitute of putting up with every day beatings on his knees in school, his mother and father didn’t hearken to him.

Running Away to Bangalore

Disappointed and indignant together with his mother and father for not being sympathetic to his bodily and psychologically painful experiences in school, Revanna snuck on a passing practice to Bangalore, pondering he might discover a job within the huge metropolis. He was simply eight years outdated. He regarded for jobs somewhere else, however nobody would rent him. As he sat within the Bangalore railway station, crying, employees members from BOSCO (Bangalore Oniyavara Seva Coota), an organisation that labored with avenue kids and offered them with shelter and fundamental training, discovered him. Founded in 1980, Bosco takes in about 650 kids from the road every year in Bangalore. Revanna gave all false solutions to their questions on his background as a result of he didn’t wish to return dwelling and be compelled to go to highschool. His aim was to search out work and earn cash to show himself earlier than returning dwelling.

He discovered that on the shelter dwelling, there have been principally two teams; one group of youngsters who attended college, and one other group who selected to work. He additionally discovered that he needed to be a minimum of  14 years outdated with a view to work, and that he couldn’t even work half time till then. He stayed within the shelter dwelling, not even attending college. As he noticed the kids going to highschool, nevertheless, he seen that these kids participated in actions exterior of college. Not solely did they attend college from 8 o’clock within the morning to 4 o’clock within the afternoon, however additionally they went to cultural actions within the evenings and performed sports activities. Wanting to go on subject journeys and play sports activities with them, Revanna lastly overcame his worry of going to highschool and instructed the counsellors at Bosco that he needed to go to highschool.

Discovering a Passion and Talent for Swimming and Learning Not to Give Up

When Revanna began going to highschool in Bangalore, he found his love for sports activities. Father Cyriac, the director of the Bosco Centre, firmly believed that sports activities might assist the kids on the centre. Bosco had partnered with completely different sports activities teaching academies for cricket and swimming and a partnership with Dream a Dream for subject hockey and desk tennis. Revanna tried cricket, however discovered he was not superb at it; he tried subject hockey and located the identical factor. He tried desk tennis a few instances, and in addition had no success. He remembered that all through his many makes an attempt at completely different sports activities, “there were no judgmental statements” made by volunteers and employees when he couldn’t play effectively. He recalled, “When I failed hockey, nobody scolded me; no one beat me. When I failed cricket, though they had put more effort into coaching me than they had for other players, they did not express their disappointment. They gave me space to find a sport that was suitable for me.”

That means of trial and error in an atmosphere that centred on him as a teen discovering his skills led Revanna to attempt swimming. Not solely did he study to swim however found that he was glorious at it. Revanna was chosen with 24 different younger individuals to be coached to learn to swim each weekend by one other Bosco organisational companion. After these classes, he was thenselected to obtain teaching on daily basis for 2 hours, throughout common college hours. He swam with the Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre for 5 years. Even with only a easy fundamental swim gear sponsored by the coaches that he discovered embarrassing to put on in entrance of others who have been outfitted in dearer and higher developed gear, Revanna ended up being chosen to journey and signify the membership and the state of Karnataka in swim competitions for five years.

In order to proceed to take part in sports activities, he saved up his research and attended college. He participated in different Dream a Dream actions, corresponding to Fundays and Outdoor Adventure Camps, studying life abilities alongside together with his classmates, and having a enjoyable time enjoying. He recalled that he gained confidence, corresponding to being extra comfy talking in entrance of others, not solely in his native language, but in addition in English. For instance, he rejected at first a chance to co-host Dream a Dream’s annual celebration occasion, as a result of he was insecure about his skill to talk English in entrance of others. But Dream a Dream employees didn’t quit and persuaded him to arrange by studying from a script. They practised with him for per week. By the time of the occasion, he was capable of communicate in entrance of donors and different stakeholders.

Revanna recalled, “I was so confident that my stage fear and fear of speaking English disappeared. It changed my life.” With his English abilities that he was persevering with to work on even on the time of this interview, at age 29, Revanna hosts guests from overseas, has spoken at a number of conferences and has led a number of groups from Dream a Dream to Wales, Brazil and elsewhere. With all of the assist that he obtained whereas attempting completely different sports activities till he discovered swimming, and the opposite guided challenges that Dream a Dream helped him to beat, Revanna mentioned, “I learned not to give up.”

Excerpted with permission from When We Thrive, Our World Thrives: Stories of Young People Growing Up With Adversity, Connie Ok. Chung with Vishal Talreja and Dream a Dream Staff and Programme Participants, Notion Press. Read extra in regards to the ebook here and purchase it here.