Walk up a flight of stairs next to Café Coffee Day in Khan Market and you may meet with the melodious sounds of a group of budding young musicians, a candle-making team, a class of math students, or a group heading out to conduct a two-week arts workshop at a Buddhist school in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh. Welcome to Manzil, home of the Gulati family and their team of energetic, friendly youth who will quickly embrace you into the day’s activities. Most of the children here come from working class migrant families that came to New Delhi in search of a better life.
From its inception in 1996, over 4,000 children and youth have benefited from Manzil’s programs. At Khan Market, Manzil runs academic tutorials seven days a week in basic subjects such as math, English, and basic computer skills, while also engaging youth to develop their critical thinking skills and nurture non-academic talents in theatre, music, and the arts. Manzil strives to make learning more interesting, focusing on a process-oriented and context-sensitive education linked with experiential understanding. At Manzil, students are given the opportunity to learn but also to share. In addition to its regular classes, the organization also arranges learning trips to enable its students to interact with different communities in the city and throughout the country. The goal of Manzil’s programs is to provide a space where education goes beyond academic learning to include a child’s motivations, aspirations, dreams, unique talents, and qualities.
Manzil was started by Mrs. Indira Gulati, a mother of a child with special needs and a teacher of 30 years, and her son Ravi, an MBA from IIM-Ahmedebad. In 1996, Ravi was approached by Hemant, a neighborhood child asking for help with his math homework. Ravi tutored him from the very basics, addressing the subject matter in ways that, for this government-school-educated boy, were novel and exciting. Soon Hemant’s friends began joining him, and the Gulati home quickly became a destination for the local ambitious and curious youth.
Manzil’s growth has been an organic process: Manzil retains a family culture and maintains sensitivity to the needs and interests of each of its students. While the organization currently has approximately 150 students in its programs, many of its former students come back to further their learning and are keen to volunteer with Manzil. Recently, Manzil has acquired two apartments in Sujan Singh Park -- a “government servant quarters” neighborhood nearby -- that is home to a large percentage of Manzil students; many classes have shifted or are in the process of shifting to these new spaces.
Need for Project:
Manzil conducts five English classes, four math classes, five computer classes, and numerous music, painting, theatre, and dance classes that meet three times per week. Classes are led by a group of twenty student-teachers. Each of these classes have roots in the small informal sessions Ravi used to conduct in his home in Manzil’s early days. As the organization has grown and students have taken on teaching roles, there is a constant need to ensure that the quality and integrity of individual classes is maintained.
Encouraging growth through broader exposure for its students has always been core to Manzil’s mission. In terms of extracurricular opportunities, Delhi is a hotspot for the arts, sport, theatre, etc. There are a number of scholarship and educational grants available – many of which have need and merit criteria relevant to Manzil students. Currently, information about academic and extracurricular opportunities is communicated to students either through word-of-mouth or through notices pinned to Manzil’s bulletin board. The current process of sharing information is relatively ad hoc. Additionally the mode of communication is not systematic enough to reach those students who are less involved, or who visit Manzil infrequently. For the community it serves, Manzil has become a portal for information about and encouragement towards myriad learning opportunities; there is tremendous potential to organize and encourage greater participation in such outside activities and opportunities.
As an August 2010 Indicorps Fellow at Manzil, you will serve a dual function: (1) to strengthen Manzil’s academic programs in content and overall management; and (2) to create linkages between Manzil students and Delhi’s many academic, extracurricular, professional & income-generating opportunities.
Your first task will be to develop a comprehensive understanding of the structure and goals of all Manzil classes and programs. Through observation, immersion and participation in Manzil’s numerous academic and extracurricular sessions, you can evaluate the benefits, constraints and the potential of each program. In the process, you will develop rapport with staff and students.
You should partner with teachers and facilitators to strengthen the existing structural framework of Manzil’s programs. You should ensure that students are successfully grasping the material in each of the classes. You should be prepared to introduce new teaching methods and learning tools into the classroom. Additionally you will be working with teachers to create a system of documentation, lesson plans, syllabi, teaching techniques and other useful information. You will assist them to compile all the information into an easily-accessible database.
Your creativity and apt social skills will be utilized in strengthening the linkages between Manzil students and the academic, extracurricular, professional, and income-generating opportunities in Delhi. You will keep track of extracurricular opportunities for students, and create a system where the Manzil community can easily access and utilize such information. The goal is to broaden Manzil students’ horizons and connect students to possible career opportunities. Ideally, you also can teach students how to network and market themselves for employers.
Lastly, you will have the opportunity to become involved with a number of student-led crafts-making and income-generating initiatives that have the potential for expansion.
Target Community:
Almost all of the children who come to Manzil hail from the “government servant quarters” nearby; most of their parents serve as drivers, cooks, maids, domestic helpers etc. Many families of Manzil students have migrated from Garhwal, Uttranchal; extended family and elder grandparents often continue to reside in the villages.
The families generally value education as a stepping-stone to securing good jobs and better futures. Many of the older Manzil students, some while still in school, take on part-time jobs (such as office assistants and computer operators). School dropouts generally get menial jobs and contribute to the family financially. Most students associated with Manzil live in one-room tenements or servant quarters near the affluent colonies surrounding Khan Market.
The youth at Manzil are lively and fun: many have artistic abilities in music and drama; others have launched small-scale enterprises making candles, cards, and chocolates. Overall, the Manzil youth are confident, and willing to take responsibility. They will befriend you immediately, as they have with many volunteers from the city and from abroad.
Objectives:
• To strengthen Manzil’s academic program in content and structures
• To connect Manzil students to opportunities outside of Manzil – to broaden their exposure and to earn an income
Challenges:
• Providing individual mentorship to students can be time-intensive and emotionally taxing
• Living in a cosmopolitan city may present its own unique challenges – especially in terms of simple living and leading by example.
• Building your identity with the students outside of the legacy of previous volunteers
• Being flexible and adjusting to long days
Team-Based Model:
Each project is designed as a three-way partnership between you, Indicorps, and a partner organization. Each grassroots partner organization – in this case Manzil – will be hosting two to four fellows. Consequently, the August 2010 fellowship will have both an individual and a team component.
As a team of Indicorps fellows, your focus is to strengthen Manzil’s daily operations, and encourage youth leadership. Team members will focus on different areas including quality enhancement of Manzil classes and effectively managing a transition in leadership. Through all your activities, you should immerse yourself fully in Manzil’s dynamic community and embrace its core values of creativity, critical thinking, and sharing.
The Fellow will stay in one of the two apartments in Sujan Singh Park, both of which double up as a learning space/classroom during some hours of the day. The fellow will share three meals a day with the Gulatis at their home in Khan Market. Internet access will generally be available at Manzil, and international/local phone facilities are easily available in the city. Public transportation - including buses, auto-rickshaws, and the metro - is also easily accessible. The fellow should be prepared to ride as a passenger on motorcycles.
The language spoken at Manzil is Hindi. For this project, a basic knowledge of Hindi is required. If you do not have basic knowledge of Hindi, you can still apply if you can make a commitment to gain a basic understanding before the start of your Fellowship year.
Please explain the qualifications that make you a strong candidate for this project - be sure to elaborate on any experiences with mentoring youth.
2.
After sitting in one of Manzil’s English classes for a few weeks, you notice that the same four students routinely arrive 10-15 minutes late. When asked about their tardiness, the students explain that the material was too difficult and that the instructor does not clearly communicate lessons. What steps would you take to resolve these issues? What if the instructor refuses to acknowledge the problem?
3.
Describe a time when you had to convince people to do something for which they could not see the immediate benefits. What personal characteristics enabled you to succeed in this situation?
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