Next month, I shall be 79 years old.

Still Living the Dream

On Thursday, they phoned me from the hospital, here in Oxford.

They wanted me to come in 2 days later, to have a minor procedure, which had been delayed several months. I agreed, as it would be one less detail to worry about before I start travelling, and I’m conscious that it’s not long now. Suddenly, everything is coming together. and I'm about to fly to India next week. I've cashed-in a few of my small reserve of Premium Bonds, and on Tuesday I shall get the bus to Heathrow, and then I fly to India.

Organised Chaos

At home, today, my life is chaos. it's organised chaos - but I am the only person who would describe it as "organised" in any way. I've packed far too many clothes: I need 3 tee-shirts, not 6. I’ve packed far too many books: they'll mostly still be untouched when I'm flying home. And I’ve not packed any of the essentials, like mosquito repellent and medicine for stomach upsets.But nothing will stop me now. Whether I am over-prepared or under-prepared, it's my dream, and it's going to happen. It's the story of my life: I love to live the dream.

Living with Wanderlust.

When I was 17 years old, in the November of 1961, I took a half-term break to travel alone from suburban Middlesex, by train and bus across Europe, to the divided city of Berlin. 

It was just 3 months after the wall went up. I had to hold my British passport at arm's length in front of me at Checkpoint Charlie, so the Communist military would lower their machine-guns.

No matter how ambitious or outrageous the dream, I have always asked myself the same question:              "Why not?"

Forty years ago, when my then-teenage son, Toby, was faced with any kind of daunting task, he had a habit of quoting my own words back at me. I had forgotten my paternal advice, but happily, he always remembered it:

"If you want something, all you have to do is work out what needs to be done; break it down into manageable  tasks; do them one at a time, and Bingo, you've done it!"

Somewhere along the line, I decided I would live my life with this simple motto: Pourquoi pas? - Why not? – to which the obvious answer is Nike’s “Just Do It!” 

The German poet Goethe put it rather more poetically:

• Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it;
• Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
• Once you take the first step to make a dream come true, anything and everything is possible.

The Challenge of getting a good education

In India, in the crowded city of Bangalore, James Suresh Ambat dreamed of making education available to children living in squalid slum districts. He realised that education could lift children out of poverty. The good schools in India are fee-paying “English-medium" schools, and in order to be accepted into an English medium school at the age of 7, children must have a good working knowledge of both Maths and English, and such an education is almost exclusively available at private, fee-paying kindergartens.

James created a solution to this social problem by founding "Building Blocks," a group of kindergarten pre- schools which provide three years of free schooling for children from age 3 to age 6. The project is funded by major Indian and multi-national corporations, charitable foundations and wealthy individuals. 

Today, the admission process for Building Blocks (BB) involves a series of home visits and interviews between BB’s Social workers, the children and their parents. The school social workers have to be confident that the family really do live in poverty and, for their part, the parents have to make a commitment that their children will take their studies seriously, and continue in education right through to at least Standard 10 (age 16).
It wasn't long before dozens of children were leaving Building Blocks every year, having qualified for a place in an English-medium school at the age of 7. They knew their times-tables, they knew the English-language alphabet and had a basic English vocabulary. They had also learned to be attentive pupils in a teaching environment, where they joined in with all kinds of learning activities. 

The next step for the parents was to find the money required for the school fees when their children completed 3 years with Building Blocks. The fees are only modest, and James and his trustees knew that the parents would demonstrate their commitment to their child’s education if they made a financial contribution. Many families found ways to raise money through friends and relatives, and for those who faced serious financial challenges, Building Blocks set up “Project+10” to offer bursaries that would subsidise a child's fees for 10 years.  

Within a couple of years, children from the slums could access the kind of education that had been inaccessible to their parents and relatives, primarily because the family members had not learned the basics of English Language from an early age, and were not comfortable with everyday numeracy.

 Just £1 per day

Like the Building Blocks Pre-Schools, Project +10 receives some funding from businesses, but the majority is raised in individual sponsorships of £30 per month, (£360 per child annually.)                                                                       

A life-changing education at a cost of just £1 per day.

This inspired me to set up Escape from Poverty to raise funding in Britain, and we currently give bursaries to support 15 children through the Project+10 scheme, from age 6 to 16. We are a registered UK charity and are always looking to expand the number of children we can assist to gain a really good education.

If you are interested in fund-raising, want to make a donation or leave a legacy, or would simply like to know more about the project and the children, contact me at mail@bobharvey.co.uk. I’ll be happy to get in touch and explain how this operates.

I'm off to India next week to meet up again with the children and the teachers, to sit in on a teacher-training session and then to spend a month at my multi-faith ashram in peace and solitude. This will give me an opportunity to work out how we can do more for the education of the poor in India.  

Why not?

Secondary students sponsored by Project+10

Links

• Building Blocks Pre-schools https://buildingblocksindia.org

• Escape from Poverty  https://escapefrompoverty.org.uk/

• Saccidananda Ashram Shantivanam   https://www.shantivanamashram.com