T H E O B L F Q U A R T E R LY N E W S L E T T E R

JANUARY – MARCH 2021

CEO'S MUSINGS
The past year has been like no other, at least in my memory. The world as we knew it changed
dramatically and threw all of us all kinds of challenges; at personal and professional levels, and
as a society at large. We have experienced and seen things that cannot be unseen or un-felt. But
that is life! And despite all the glitches and the grim statistics, the society responded, and how!
For each disturbing image that memory throws up of the worst months of the pandemic,
fortunately in my mind’s eye I can also conjure up enough stories of the human spirit, of
kindness, of unparalleled compassion, and of selflessness.

We, at One Billion Literates Foundation, had a front-row seat over the course of this past year as
we saw the pandemic and the resultant tragedy unfold before our eyes. But it was far from being
a comfortable, cushioned seat where we kicked back and watched. We had decided early on
that our role as a grassroots non-profit would be meaningless, if we did not take an active role in
addressing the evolving human tragedy. So, over the course of almost the entirety of the last year
the OBLF team was in the front of the battlelines – along with hundreds and thousands of others
- and finding and adapting ways to address the horrific impact.

From relief work on the ground to ensure people had food on their plates, to adopting severely
disadvantaged rural migrant communities, to finding creative ways to ensure the children most
impacted by this continued to get some form of education and learning, and in fact growing our
presence and our impact on the field – we did it all. We were, in fact, busier than ever.

But our work is far from done. The ongoing effects of the pandemic on communities and children
are very visible and will be felt for a long time. If there has been any time in history where we
cannot afford to rest, it is this. No one can have the luxury of sitting back and thinking that they
have done their bit. Not the State. Not the society at large. Not any of us.

This sense of urgency is what drives us. In this issue, you will read how we have responded so far,
and the impact of our work. You will read about the creative ways in which our team rallied,
within the severe constraints, and forged ahead because sitting still was not an option. You will
also read about our plans for the future; a future we are very excited about. And finally, you will
also have a chance to see and read about a few of our team mates – members of an incredibly
passionate tribe that brings this vision of ours to life.

We are also excited about the possibilities that the future affords us; a chance to re-examine our
own ways of working, think about newer ways to address our challenges, forge partnerships with
likeminded organizations, join hands to make a difference – all striving toward the shared vision
to make this world a better and more equal place.

Happy reading! We welcome your feedback, as always.

Anish Ramachandran
T HE
PA ST
Q UA RT E R
I N A G L ANCE
THE SCHOOL
ADOPTION PROGRAM
The School Adoption Program remains our
flagship program where we work with
several thousand disadvantaged children
studying in rural government schools, to build
a strong foundation in the English language,
and create familiarity with computing and
computer literacy. While the pandemic
disrupted our standard model since the
schools were all closed, we did not let
this deter us. We leveraged our own
network on Community Teachers,
and designed creative ways for
them to engage children in
learning. We did this by having
our teachers form small groups
and teach children in open
community spaces like
panchayat office compounds or
temple premises, or in some
cases, even open fields; we also
had our teachers go door-to-door
and distribute worksheets for
children to learn from; and for a couple
of hundred children who had access to
smartphones and digital devices, our
community teachers ran WhatsApp based learning
sessions. At its peak, we used to cover slightly more than 3000 children each day.

Apart from this, we also embarked on an experiment to teach children using video-based lessons. Considering that
many of these children did not have access to smart devices and that they would prefer to learn at their own pace – we
created Video-based lessons covering certain key aspects of the language, and augmented this with exercises that
tested their understanding of those concepts; these were then loaded on tablets and given to the children to learn from.

ELEVATE: CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

One thing that we at OBLF are clear
about is that in the business of
education and learning, we have to
keep evolving; if there is a better
way to do things, we will do try and
make that part of our repertoire.
With that aim, we started a project
to completely rethink our syllabus
and our curriculum. Under the
guidance of Professor Rajeevan, a
very accomplished scholar of the
English language and a widely
published author of several books on
English, we are in the process of
developing curriculum that is based
on the Common European Frame-
work [CEFR]. This provides us a very
well-established and standardized
mechanism to approach the teaching
and assessment of non-native speakers
of English. As part of this, we will have
standardised student workbooks,
student activity books and detailed
teacher manuals. As one can imagine
this is an onerous
project and currently
as we speak, it is
all-hands-on deck
to get everything
ready in time for the start of the next
academic year, in June 2021. We are
very excited about the possibilities
that this offers the children we work
with – as well as possibilities for
future scaling of the program.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Early Childhood Education [ECE] is one of the
largest unregulated spaces in Indian Education.
Despite research and efforts to improve quality,
the gap between different economic sections of
society is widening each year in terms of the
parent’s ability to provide quality ECE for their
children. One way to get the massive learning
deficit down in state run primary schools that are
attended by millions of children in our country is
by introducing an ECE Program for rural under-
privileged children. This is the critical opportunity
that OBLF has made plans to enter. We have a very
strong belief that a thorough foundational education
2
DIGITAL
LEARNING
The access to quality English education
in low-resource environments namely
lack of or poor internet connectivity,
lack of access to smartphones, etc is a
very real problem. Severely
constrained environments – like the
ones we operate in - inhibits the adoption
of any online or virtual learning
opportunities. This situation directly
implies that ‘online education’ remains a
myth for much of the rural poor; and hence,
there is a huge need for making relevant
and rich learning content available ‘offline’.
Our next big foray is in this space - curation,
adaptation and localisation of educational
content into an offline pathway where
children’s progress can be measured
and improved. The learner-centric
design that leverages technology,
greatly reduces the reliance on
high-quality teachers, making
the program highly standardized
and easy to adopt. Starting next
academic year, we will pilot a
digital education program
which will complement and
support our in-class teaching
program; involving over 500
students in 15+ schools. The
groundwork has started, and this
project is something we are looking
forward to with great anticipation.
We are sure to learn a lot about what
works and what does not; and we are
confident the children will learn with us as well.
is critical in enabling a child to have
a successful learning journey through
the rest of his/her life. To do this, OBLF will be
partnering with Key Education Foundation [KEF] to
initiate and pilot this program in 5 schools that we
currently work with. This pilot program which will
address early learners in the age group between 4
years and 6 years, will run over a three year period;
this will help us contextualise early learning
approaches for children from disadvantaged
communities, and inform our plans to
scale this further in coming years.
COMMUNITY
REHABILITATION
PROJECT
Looking back over the last year, one of the
most fulfilling things we have been able to
do is to play a significant role in the lives of a
fairly large community of migrant workers.
These were people who have made the rural
interiors of the metropolis their home and
have over time chosen waste-picking as
their vocation. When we first met them in
April 2020, they had just two days of food left
and were on the verge of starvation because
of the lockdown. Since then, over the course
of the last 10 months, our lives have been
intertwined with theirs. As we look back, one
of the happiest outcomes is the level of trust
we have established with the community –
and this makes us happy because trust
doesn’t come very easily to those who’ve
been let down more times than they care to
remember. Our strategy to work with this
community spans almost all therehabilitation
levers – Community Enrolment and
Engagement in their future, Learning
Programs for the Children,Vocational Training
& Skilling for Women and Youth, Health and
Safety, Awareness Programs for Adults,
Sanitation, Inoculation programs for infants
and expectant mothers – and so much more.
This is a very new area for us, different from
what we have ever done before; and we are
constantly learning and evolving and adapting.
But what we do know for sure is that we will
continue to be by their side. For their own
sakes, as much as for ourselves.
TEACHER
TRAINING WITH
CALLAN INSTITUTE
2020 has been a strange year for all humanity, and a tragic one for
so many! It changed the way we work, live and interact with each
other. The worst affected were our students, whose intellectual,
social and creative growth was so rudely interrupted by the
closure of schools all around the globe. But we, at OBLF, soon
found innovative ways to mitigate a total disaster on that front.
This also meant that our rural para teachers had some free time
on their hands. We decided to use this opportunity to upgrade
their skills in communication, creativity, pedagogy and the
English language. We enrolled half of them
in a 4 level course with the Callan
Institute of UK. This is an intensive,
3 month daily course, designed
to improve spoken and written
English language skills. Each
of these para teachers was
tested at the beginning of
the course, and then after the
completion of every level.
Their progress has been
amazing and the enthusiasm
with which they attend this
program, is unbelievable! They
were all recently awarded
Certificates of Merit upon completion
of the second level. They were so proud
of their achievements, but no less than we were! It wasn’t just
their language skills – it was the level of their confidence too that
really impressed us! We hope to see a really rejuvenated and
freshly trained batch of Coordinators by the end of this course -
confident enough to take on the challenge of the new curriculum
we are planning to roll out at the beginning of the next
academic year.
 e. A memorable instance from your time at OBLF.

MEET THE TEAM

I had never seen a government school until I joined
OBLF. It really is a different world, like time is
frozen; the children are actually living their true
childhood. It made me feel jealous! The second
instance is the lockdown period, which opened
my eyes to another world. Thanks to everyone in
OBLF for encouraging, supporting, educating
and being kind towards me.
Ruby Kamdin

a. How do you contribute towards OBLF's vision? Faiza Khan

OBLF has been my passion all these years; helping
the foundation create impact in whatever
it undertakes is what I do. a. How do you contribute towards OBLF's vision?
b. What energises you at work? As the Program Development Manager, I
Working with the children and helping spearhead Curriculum Development,
my rural ladies lead a better life! and I help develop training
c. 5 words that describe collaterals and impact
you best. assessment, and help
Deeply committed, manage social media.
empathetic, will make b. What energises you
things happen, at work?
fun-loving, caring. Every day is a new
d. when you're
not busy
$ adventure –
interacting with
working, you... new stakeholders,
I am always exploring new
busy! ideas and
e. A memorable avenues, and
instance from finding ways to
your time at widen and
OBLF. deepen our
The summer impact at the
programs with grassroots level. This
children are always philosophy and work
the best! I love the time culture keep things
we get directly with the children! exciting and fresh. The
team is very supportive of
my late-night working hours and
multi-tasking with music lifestyle.
Mahesh Shetty Whatever it takes to get the job done!
c. 5 words that describe you best.
Chaotic, Creative, Introspective, Flexible, Focused.
a. How do you contribute towards OBLF's vision? d. When you're not busy working, you...
OBLF's vision is to replicate our Anekal model to Blaring music, Netflix-ing shows and creating
other Taluks and I would see that no stone is left digital art.
unturned to achieve this. e. A memorable instance from your time at OBLF.
b. What energises you at work? My first visit to the government schools will always
The work we are doing itself is so inspiring. The have a special place in my heart. As a silent
very title ‘NGO’ really motivates me to plug the observer, I sat at the back, watching the students,
gaps in all the sectors. As an NGO, we have the and evaluating the curriculum and its delivery.
liberty; and people’s support helps us accomplish The smiles on their faces, the way they ran up and
our vision. hi-fived me, their focussed faces as they wrote
c. 5 words that describe you best. their answers, the pride on the teacher-coordinators’
Flexible, adaptable, simple, good; soft but with a faces – it all helps putting things into perspective
strong mind and heart. when developing the curriculum. It reminds me
d. When you're not busy working, you... that every word, illustration and activity will help
I would be relaxing! a child dream more and BE more.

Sree Vidya
a. How do you contribute towards
OBLF's vision?
Maintaining Accounts and managing
the Finance Division of OBLF and
keeping up to set expectations.
b. What energises you at work?
Working on target and achieving
the target. Interacting with the
people and helping others in work
to achieve their goals.
c. 5 words that describe you best.
A positive, accommodative and
honest person who loves learning.
d. When you're not busy working,
you...
Relax myself listening to music
which soothes the mind;
experimenting innovative cooking,
cuisines which my kids love to eat.
e. A memorable instance from
your time at OBLF.
Joined very recently and expecting
to be part of successful journey in
OBLF.
Elizabeth Paul
Elenjical
a. How do you contribute towards
OBLF's vision?
Understanding the challenges of
our target audience and creating
content and curriculum which
connects to them. I focus on the
Community Rehabilitation Project,
and am evolving alongside the
project and the children.
b. What energises you at work?
Working with a team that is focused
on making a difference and seeing
our target audiences on their home
turf - truly understanding how
literacy can bring in a Wind of
Change in their lives.
c. 5 words that describe you best.
Warm, observant, caring,
determined and fun loving.
d. When you're not busy working,
you...
I cook. Most of the time, it’s biryani!
Or else, you’ll find me trying to
watch the latest OTT release with
rave reviews.
e. A memorable instance from
your time at OBLF.
I remember the warm welcome
brigade who waited by the entrance
to the class in rubber slippers on a
rainy day and jumped ahead to test
the puddles and guide me through
the slush. Also, this little lady who
followed me once to the neighbouring
class carrying my seat for me.
Dr. Rajeevan
Karal
a. How do you contribute towards
OBLF's vision?
In the role of an Academic Advisor, I
have been helping OBLF in the
following areas:
I. Advising them on the best ways to
standardise their academic
programmes following the Common
European Framework of Reference
(CEFR)
II. Framing a new curriculum for the
course in English to suit the local
needs
III. Developing new textbooks with
the help of a team of authors
IV. Helping with content editing
V. Training the teacher-coordinators
VI. Advising on any matter related to
the implementation of the new course
b. What energises you at work?
My deep passion to do any work
related to English language teaching
and my deep desire to fulfil my
Personal Social Responsibility (PSR).
c. 5 words that describe you best.
Self-driven, committed, helpful to the
needy, calm.
d. When you're not busy working,
you...
I am reading, travelling or gardening.
e. A memorable instance from
your time at OBLF.
I was touched by the children's deep
desire to learn English. I felt sad that
they were being deprived of good
English education because they
belonged to a system which couldn't
be bothered to give them what
everyone valued utmost.
Vinita Kurup
a. How do you contribute towards
OBLF's vision?
I have been working with the team
to set up the OBLF Learning Centre
at the CRP - Educate to Elevate! The
mission is not just about imparting
literacy, but also providing access to
healthcare, nutrition, hygiene to the
marginalised community! Basic
things that we take for granted in our
lives!
b. What energises you at work?
Just hearing the children shouting
out good morning when we enter
keeps the energy flowing!
c. 5 words that describe you best.
Committed, Decisive, Easily Moved,
Love to travel, enjoy movies!
d. When you're not busy working,
you...
I’m in my lounge chair, watching
movies and weeping.
e. A memorable instance from
your time at OBLF.
There are so many... seeing the
transformation in the early learners
from barely looking at you to the
lovely smiles and good mornings
(their versions of it!), our Children’s
day celebrations, the fantastic time
with the OBLF team at the fundraiser
bazaar... I can go on and it’s been
only 6 months!
 Tuhina Nair

a. How do you contribute towards

OBLF's vision?
I help leverage the power of the larger
donor community by initiating various
fund raising initiatives. I focus on
advocating OBLF’s work to the
corporate and institutional diaspora,
convincing them to contribute. I also
manage the overall fund raising and
volunteering strategy to sustain OBLF’s
community projects.
b. What energises you at work?
The satisfaction of being able to make a
positive difference in the lives of the
not-soprivileged communities and help
OBLF move a step closer towards its mission.
c. 5 words that describe you best.
Committed, compassionate,
determined, perseverant and emotional.
d. When you're not busy working, you...
I love my ‘me time’ with my 10-year-old son or try my
hands on making some healthy treats.
e. A memorable instance from your time at OBLF.
My first meeting with Anish and Ruby at Starbucks in
2019 - I was completely taken aback and overwhelmed
to see Ruby’s enthusiasm and high positive energy.
She will continue to inspire me to never retire!

Sunadini

d. When you're not busy working, you...

a. How do you contribute towards OBLF's vision?
I will be leading the training and development of our
para-teachers and our field trainers.
b. What energises you at work?
-A team that openly challenges and celebrates
each other.
-Understanding the intent and purpose of
people's actions
-Lowering stakes for myself and my team takes the
pressure off and helps me enjoy my work
c. 5 words that describe you best.
Kind, funny, Intuitive, Emotional, Committed
- Watching cringe worthy shows on Netflix/Amazon
- Chilling with my gal pals
-Playing with Rancho, our doggo
-Trying to art and failing at it again
e. A memorable instance from your time at OBLF.
It's hardly been any time here. I haven't even met the
whole team yet.But If I have to pick one, it will be the
time during my interview when Anish told me about
the commitment and aspirations of our para-teachers.
How some of them have gone on to pursue their
graduation and some even are elected members of
ward office. I had goosebumps listening to that.

FIND US ONLINE! www.onebillionliterates.org @onebillionliterates @OBLF_1BLit

@onebillionliteratesfoundation @One Billion Literates Foundation @One Billion Literates Foundation

For more infor mation, contact OBLF at oblf@onebillionliterates.org or +91 9845119023.

One Billion Literates Foundation, 72 Cunningham Apar tments,
ONE BILLION 5 Edward Road, Bangalore – 560052.
LITERA ES J A N U A R Y – M A R C H 2 0 2 1
EQUALITY IN EDUCATION