Site Prakruthi badi & CRCVisit Date 9th Sep, 2017Volunteer(s) name Suresh MetlaAssociated Asha chapter BengaluruVolunteer contact Suresh.metla@gmail.com

Started from Bengaluru around 7:30 AM, reached CK Palli around 10:00AM. Received by Sairam from Timbakatu Collective(9989300332/8639691002) near CK Palli.

Prakruthi badi:

Sairam guided me to Prakruthi badi spot, it is located on the way to Mallikarjuna kona. It appeared like Timbaktu Collective built small village around Prakruthi badi. I was offered breakfast and Tea.

I met Ms. Mary and learned about Prakruthi badi initiative, need and focus of the Initiative. This initiative is all about imparting education for under privileged kids where parents are not willing and school dropouts. Timbaktu team will search and scout for such kids in nearby villages, convince parents to send their kids to Prakruthi badi. During the discussion, it came up that school used to have classes up to 10 and now they are only offering up to 5th standard due to recognition and guidelines from Govt. After 5th Standard, kids are sent to AP Model school which is nearby. I also enquired about post schooling follow up with kids, which they appeared to be doing where possible.

Prakruthi Badi offers both residential and day scholar options, has around 40 residential students and 15 day scholars. School recently received huge support from an external donor organization which promised to take care of infra requirements for 3 years.

Student interactions:I interacted with students at their assembly, who demonstrated their learnings class by class. I have asked meanings of few English words, math problems and few science questions. Students are learning basics as required by their class along with some focus learning singing as well folk dancing. They are able to hold conversations both in Telugu and English.

Food Quality:I observed quality of the food offered to students is good and hygienic and students are waiting for their turn with discipline.

Overall impression:Prakruthi badi as name suggests is close to nature and imparting environmental, social awareness along with education to students. Students are learning these activities with spirit.

Children Resource Center (CRC)We visited CRC after Prakruthi badi which is approx. 3-4 kms way. CRC as the name suggests it is a space dedicated for children and has multiple activities. Key features are library, computer room, science lab and recreational space. Library has good number of books along with monthly magazine subscriptions. Computer room – has 3 to 4 systems. Science lab is a small space where kids can do very basic science experiments which is sufficient for kids.

When I visited CRC, it was buzzling with activity, has close to 30-40 children doing various activities ranging from reading books, playing indoor/outdoor games and few involved in craft & art.

Figure 1: Library at CRC

Figure 2: Computer Room @ CRC

Computer room was being used an adult who was ex-student of Prakruthi badi and children are generally staying away from it.

Figure 3: Partition between Computer room and science lab

Space in science lab also acts as Crafts lab. Craft lab is full of buzz; few kids are involved in coloring, many were doing the same activity (creating color full name on A4 sheet with pieces of wool thread). Many of the students are from nearby schools and hostels. Stationary availability is good and above the conservative needs. After crafts, kids showed me couple of science experiments (1) Empty bottle experiment (https://www.sublimescience.com/free-science-experiments/the-empty-bottle-experiment/) (2) Coin drop experiment (similar: https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/the-coin-drop-sick-science/) When asked rational, they were able to explain the outcome of the experiments not to great extent but were reasonable.

CRC also has very few tailoring units and music instruments which are used occasionally either when vocational course is offered (tailoring) or event (music instruments).

Figure 4: Play area

Figure 5: Outdoor play area

CRC has very good playground and outdoor activity area with huge slider and bars.

I visited CRC again after couple of hours as I forgot to take pictures, now it is almost a deserted place compared to my earlier visit with very less kids in library almost none in crafts, science lab, indoor games and few in outdoor area.

Overall concept of the CRC is very good for kids and society in general. It also presents a very unique challenge for Asha in terms of measuring the impact. While my first visit gave a very vibrant picture and second one is almost opposite.

Action Items:1. CRC surprise check - Suggest a surprise check of CRC by Asha volunteer with an

intention to sample how many kids are using the facility. Saturday/Sunday 11-12 may be a good time to visit.

2. Ensuring that CRC visit expenses are mentioned only either on Prakruthi Badi or CRC expense sheet.