Project WHY
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reality notes::Foreword

Project Why was created to be an island of hope in a sea of problems that abound in India.
As its creator I have had many occasions to be reminded of the sea that surrounds PW. Most times it is calm, but we often have storms to contend with.
Lest you --the donor, supporter, well-wisher-- think we live in an island of peace, here is a link to some notes on the reality we face. Some are minor and even amusing.
A few however, are serious, vexatious and drive us close to despair. I thought I must in all honesty, share with you my experiences in no particular order.
You will have a better view of Project Why.
 anu bakshi

evolving a new role
15 February 2005

changing roles

the past weeks have left all a little bewildered.
The silent question in everyone's mind is: what next?
The answers are not obvious. But one thing is clear: something has to be done so that we are not held to ransom again.
For me, pwhy can only be labelled as a 'success' if it lasts in time and is replicated in other locations. pwhy's role should slowly mutate to that of a consultant and our little giri nagar outreach programme should become a lab and a training ground.
How to achieve this?
Once a development model has been created ,tested and 'perfected further outreach and bring meaningful change, it becomes imperative to think of the next step. To our mind, the next step is identifying a social entity that can take the work forward while providing the structure needed. here I have taken the liberty of drawing upon my past experience and selected the humblest partner: the local Valmiki Samaj Office.
In some ways pwhy has been responsible for the creation of a local representation of this body. The idea is to build this organisation one that would work irrespective of caste and creed, to usher a new form of outreach. We have decided to launch a pilot project where the disbursement of honoraria for the local field volunteers would be done by this organisation. if this is successful, we would move to the next step, where new projects would be started with funds obtained by the Valmiki Samaj. Project why would the act as a consultant, taking care of setting up, training and monitoring the new projects.
This is of course a long shot, but is the only one we feel vindicates all that has been learnt till now.
The reason we feel confident is that one of our most committed staffers Dharmendra is the district president and lala, is the local in charge.
So in hindsight, even the problems we faced, seem to have had a purpose.
We keep our fingers crossed.

HOME

1st february 2005
full Circle

Project Why began with Manu, and after four years it is a matter of pride to see Manu!

the journey has not been without problems. in the ultimate analysis it was all a matter of trying to extort money. maybe slum 'lords' think all ngos are loaded with money, leaving small efforts like ours out in the cold. as usual pwhy's staying power prevailed and a solution was found, leaving us a little bruised but wiser.

February 1st will be a red letter day for us with the help of friends like Vijay Nair, a legal expert and others we have worked out a strategy that will circumvent all possible further attacks from small time unions and others.
the staff will be divided in 2 shifts, hence working for 4 hours only. a 11 month renewable contract will be given to each of them.
literacy, spoken english, continuing education and computer classes will be run fro the staff and they will be encouraged to validate their studies.

our only regret is that we have had to suspend our sustainability efforts be it the making of chocolates, soaps or recycled note books. the reason is that our detractors used these against us, trying to imply that these were commercial activities. we hope that we will be able to resume these skill and income generating activities as they are essential to the durability of this programme.
in the meantime we will have to lean on our donors and hope that they understand the position we are in.



Project Why is five years old.
Today it has completed its first cycle and enters a new phase.
It is true that this phase has been preempted by a case of force majeure, but the transformation and possible rebirth of project WHY is in conformity with what we set out to achieve.
We started as a small spoken english class. Ground realities steered towards evolving a sound after school support system.
Our endeavour was to evolve a self supporting system which could be easily replicated.
We selected a team from within the community, trained them and tested their ability to perform. We worked within a local infrastructure and were in the process of tackling the issue of funding when extraneous forces disrupted our work and a group of teachers decided to secede and take over the Janta Jeevan Camp programme.
We had no choice but to pause and reevaluate the situation.
We have been compelled to 'reinvent' ourselves





words of support

nauko

I read the new page of your web site, about the problem you're facing.I feel sorry, angry, worried, etc., and really hope that you'll solve it. Project Why MUST continue, for the kids, for the parents, for the community and even for the volunteers and friends like us.
nauko - delhi

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