123Pune.com

PUNE: It started as an initiative in sleepy little Cochin to train underprivileged children there in the English language. And as the city's
children woke up to their potential, Make A Difference (MAD), a youth volunteer network, spread its wings to other cities, bringing joy and hope to the lives of over 1,200 children in Cochin, Chennai and Pune.

After having received the Ashoka Youth Social Entrepreneur award for the year, volunteers of MAD are overjoyed that they were chosen out of 520 entries which came from 61 countries across the world.

MAD, the brainchild of 22-year-old Jithin Nedumala and a couple of his friends, was formed in 2005 with the intention of providing English coaching to underprivileged children in slums and orphanages.

The organisation has centres in Cochin, Chennai and Pune and now plans to include some more cities in its network. "We are an organisation of youngsters, be it the core team or the volunteers. This award lends credibility to our organisation and I'm sure this will help us in the future," says Nedumala.

Out of the 1,200 children that MAD takes care of 300 are in Pune. "While our total numbers of volunteers stands at 300, 140 of them are from Pune itself. But we still need a lot more volunteers to help us since there are so many children who need our support," says Madhura Gogte, who heads MAD in Pune.

The award comes as a recognition of their work. "Our Pune centre started only a few months ago and we are still in the process of conducting training programs for our volunteers. This award has encouraged us to work even harder," she says. The volunteers at MAD are trained and are given a specially tailored syllabus which acts as a guide on how to teaching English to slum children. "The aim is to teach them spoken English. This instils a sense of confidence in the children and encourages them to take up different avenues after they pass their 10th grade examinations," Gogte says.

Most of the children who are taught here normally drop out after their 10th grade examinations because of their inability to communicate effectively in English, which, Nedumala feels, is a must in today's world. "English is a language the knowledge of which is a must today, be it for education or for securing a job, and hence our focus on the language. We also try and arrange sponsorships for children who are economically backward who have no financial means to support their education," says Nedumala.

As an award the organisation was offered $ 5,000 or an opportunity to make a presentation at the next Youth Venture Summit for young social entrepreneurs to be conducted in the US.

"We have chosen to give a presentation at the Youth Venture Summit because as a service-oriented organisation we don't require a lot of funds. Our real assets are our volunteers and our only achievement is what they contribute. We hope to reach out to as many children as possible and support them with quality education and informed guidance," says Nedumala.

The Ashoka Youth Social Entrepreneur award has been constituted by Changemakers, an initiative of Ashoka, a global association of world's leading social entrepreneurs, that focuses on the rapidly growing world of social innovation. The award is presented in association with Staples Foundation for Learning which supports organisations that provide job skills and educational opportunities to all people.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pune/NGO_MAD_wins_Ashoka_Youth_Social...