The Youtube video link below is a big thank you to all who donated and provided encouragement for my summer in India. I may have forgotten to thank someone so, please forgive me if I missed you.
My hope is that by sharing this Youtube video it will educate, inspire and motivate others who feel moved to get involved or make a contribution to this initiative.
Keep Squashing!
Filed under Capacity Buidling, Coaching, Community Development, Corporate Social Responsibility, Education, International Development, Leadership, Networking, Peace Building, Philanthropy, Poverty, Private Public Partnerships, Psycho-Social Support, Squash, Stakeholder Engagement, Volunteering, Youth Development, Youth Sport
This weekend I was pleased to celebrate World Squash Day by starting Kidsquash’s 9th season at the Murr Center at Harvard University. Seven juniors who are all beginners set forth on their introduction to the game. Opening remarks by Luke Hammond, Lead Coach for Kidsquash were followed by basic ball control exercises, grip and swing mechanics.
Luke Hammond, Lead Coach at Kidsquash on World Squash Day.
Given the small group, Kidsquash students had sufficient feedback from the coaches as well as opportunities to test out their skills in a non-competitive environment. Luke’s well planned clinic had students working in pairs, figuring out the skills on their own with guidance from coaches as and when needed as well as practicing a variety of drills. Luke’s progression of drills, were such that by the end of the clinic, the beginners were able to have basic rallies.
Registration is still open to those who would like to sign up. Massachusetts Squash has kindly included our schedule on their master calendar for easy reference. Overall, it was a promising start to the season for these newcomers to the sport.
I recently completed my 2+ months service trip in Chandigarh at Khelshala. While I have tried to keep you updated of the highlights along the way, I find myself a bit emotional after being so welcomed by the Khelshala family – Founders, Board members, staff, children, volunteers and well wishers.
Satinder Bajwa, Founder & Trustee of Khelshala presenting a “thank you” gift to Khelshala Secretary.
It was truly an honor and privilege to help advance the mission of Khelshala while interacting with various stakeholders in India and abroad. My heartfelt thanks to Satinder Bajwa for encouraging me to make the journey and many thanks to my family and friends for donating to help fund this trip. I thought about each of you along the way. This made me appreciate the experience even more.
We are not done though. We have set Khelshala on a higher path and so there is a lot more to do take the organization where it deserves to be. I will continue to stay connected to the Khelshala mission, but encourage others who read this to get involved as I hope you will find as much joy and satisfaction as I have experienced. Be strong!
To celebrate India’s 66th Independence Day, fifteen Khelshala children along with Satinder Bajwa, Founder & Trustee of Khelshala, Rajshekhar, Legal Advisor and myself were graciously invited by Ms. Kavita Das, Principal of St. John’s High School in Chandigarh to mark the occasion.
Khelshala students, Mr. Bajwa, Founder & Trustee of Khelshala, Rajshekhar, Legal Advisor, Ms. Kavita Das, Principal, Ms. Rashi Sethi, Teacher and myself.
The ceremony began with the school’s junior cadets marching us to the flagpole where upon Mr. Bajwa hoisted the Indian flag. Thereafter, St. John’s School students put on array of music, dances and treats. Pooja, one of our Khelshala students proudly spoke to an audience of 250 students, staff and parents about the significance of the day followed by Mr. Bajwa who reminded students that, “if you do good things, good things happen.” St. John’s School students’ skits and dances highlighted India’s multitude of cultures, languages and rich heritage of India while emphasizing the importance of gender equity, social tolerance and inclusion.
Personally, it was moving to connect with my “Indian-ness,” and be reminded that it is a part of me that I cannot forget. Having been fortunate to have studied, lived and worked in multiple countries, I believe we should move beyond patriotism and celebrate our common values and humanity in an increasingly interconnected world.
Another objective during my service trip was to set up the Khelshala Computer Learning Center. I am pleased to report today that 10 Khelshala students under the guidance of Ms. Rajvinder, the new Khelshala computer teacher have now joined the digital age. During their first class, the students learned elementary computing concepts.
This achievement was largely due to the synergistic teamwork between Khelshala and the State Bank of India. Thanks to a grant from the State Bank of India, Khelshala was able to purchase 5 desktops and 3 laptops. Moreover, Satinder Bajwa’s (Founder and Trustree of Khelshala) visionary leadership made the project happen.
First Class of students at the Khelshala Computer Learning Center donated by State Bank of India.
Prem Chander, the Khelshala squash coach who was originally trained as an electrician, did all the wiring of electrical sockets in the Center, while my role was to provide support with anything that needed to get done. Among other things, this ranged from painting the Center, supervising delivery of equipment, designing signage and interviewing computer teachers.
Personally, this was a very satisfying project to work on given my prior professional experiences in applying information and communications technologies to the challenges of sustainable development. To have played a small part in the country of my origin was equally gratifying. The lesson learned from this experience is that one should not discard one’s early professional experiences as they can help inform future ones. Cheers to learning and growth!
One of my objectives during my time at Khelshala is to provide direct teaching, coaching and mentoring to the children. As such during the academic component of the day, the Tutors and I facilitate a 15-minute reflection exercise 3 times a week. The rationale behind doing these exercises is to enable the children as well as the Tutors to feel greater ownership for Khelshala and themselves.
We just completed our third week of these exercises with a few initial positive results. At first, the students were reluctant to share their thoughts openly in a group setting on why Khelshala is important, how the program helps and what they can do to improve their experiences.
After feedback from the staff, we decided to capture their attention by incorporating physical and vocal inter-play. Much to our surprise, during the second week Anand, one of the younger and quieter boys spontaneously led the entire group in a Hindi song while the rest of the group were waving their hands in the air from side to side! It was a great moment in confidence building for Anand and the group.
Upon further feedback from the Director of Academics we decided to use my workbook “What Squash Can Teach You,” to focus on practicing English by reading in front of the group and facilitating a reflective question and answer session. Without sounding too biased I am impressed by the children’s ability to interpret and comprehend what squash means to them. Personally, it is very rewarding to hear and see the students absorb life skills through sport.
Today I had the pleasure of chaperoning 22 underprivileged children from Khelshala to attend the 2013 Balakaladkaar, an event organized by AISEC’s Chandigarh chapter for 975 underprivileged children from various local non-governmental organizations.
Today I had the pleasure of chaperoning 22 underprivileged children from Khelshala to attend the 2013 Balakaladkaar, an event organized by AISEC’s Chandigarh chapter for 975 underprivileged children from various local non-governmental organizations.
Khelshala Children at AISEC’s 2013 Balakaladkaar at the Rock Garden in Chandigarh
Khelshala competed in dance and art competitions facilitated by the AISEC organizing committee. Moreover, the event was held at the Rock Garden in Chandigarh where children were provided transportation and lunch. There were prizes given out for the best dance performance and artwork. Though Khelshala did not receive any prizes, the children applauded the winners and demonstrated good sportsmanship off the court.
Overall, it was an educational opportunity for the Khelshala children to interact with peer groups, test their skills, develop cross-cultural understanding by interacting with AISECers from 15 countries and have fun in a safe environment! Many thanks to the AISEC Chandigarh Organizing Committee and sponsors.
Just over 10 years ago, I embarked on a journey to Africa to serve as a United Nations Volunteer in Uganda to help strengthen and expand the Cisco Networking Academy Program across secondary schools, technical colleges and universities with an emphasis on gender equity and workforce development. I shot some of the footage from Uganda for the video below that was shown at the 2003 Africa Forum in Dakar, Senegal.
Fast forward 10 years later the explosion of social media and computer networking is continuing to rapidly bring about economic and social change in developing countries. While I am yet to return to Uganda to see the long term impact of the Cisco Least Developed Countries Initiative, I am grateful to Ugandan and non-Ugandan volunteers, colleagues and friends for sharing a pivotal growth experience. Moreover, the lessons that the emerging sport for development and peace sector can learn is that private-public partnerships can spur innovation.
In my early 2009 blog post titled, “A good starting point,” I encouraged those new to the field of sport for development and peace to view Youtube videos as means of becoming more familiar with current programs. Not that I can claim any credit for this, but fast forward to 2013, I was pleased to discover a website dedicated to raising awareness of the sport for development and peace sector.
Those of you who are interested in learning more about sport and social change programs, I recommend visiting and joining Sport4dev.tv, an emerging site that allows viewers to be active participants in the sport for development community.
Not only is it a good way of sharing one’s involvement (like I have already done with various Khelshala’s videos) but to learn about other sport for development programs in numerous countries and by sector, such as health, gender or disaster response. As the world becomes increasingly connected, communities of practice such as Sport4dev.tv will hopefully facilitate greater growth and learning for all stakeholders.
As one of two advisors to Concord Academy Students in Action (CASA), a student club for community service, I recently had the pleasure of traveling to Dorchester, Massachusetts to deliver 37 fleece blankets made by the students for the Brookview House, a community setting serving homeless mothers and children.
Concord Academy Students in Action (CASA) members with fleece blankets for homeless mothers and children.
Since September of 2012, CASA has been busy with organizing bake sales, fundraising for the critically ill and more recently making fleece blankets. CASA students met for approximately an hour a week to execute these initiatives with energy and enthusiasm.
Donating Fleece Blankets to Brookview House in Dorchester, MA.
Concord Academy Students in Action (CASA) members with fleece blankets for homeless mothers and children.
It was a team effort, with my colleague Susan Flink, an experienced biology teacher who led Concord Academy students to quickly mobilize themselves to rally for a good cause. The all round feel good factor for these student-projects raises morale and builds character. Stay tuned to learn about more CASA projects in 2013. Happy Holidays everyone!
Explorations in Sport for Development and Peace 