Director's Cut - Celebrating Our Programs

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” ~ Goethe As I look at the year 2009-10 gone by at Dream A Dream, it reminds of the quote above as it has been a year of Big Bold plans at Dream A Dream and the year-end has been a celebration of achieving those bold plans. It gives me tremendous pleasure to say that Dream A Dream impacted the lives of 2172 children in the year 2009-10. Our goal was to impact 2000 children and despite tremendous staffing challenges, we managed to over-achieve on our goals.

Over 1700 children were part of our core programs of Sports (666), Creative Arts (820) and LearnIT (225) and over 91% of children in our programs got 8 hours of intervention per month, a quality benchmark that ensures that each child gets consistent programs. We had 54% boys in our programs and 46% girls and it has been our sincere endeavour to have more girls in our programs to ensure that our interventions reach the larger community. As someone rightly said, “you empower a boy-you empower an individual; you empower a girl and you empower an entire community.” And at Dream A Dream we truly aim to empower the community. The most beautiful aspect of the year gone by has been the continued collaborative approach that Dream A Dream is strengthening with its Partner NGOs, Volunteers, Donors, Corporates and the Dream Team. With 11 Partner NGOs, our work is fast spreading to more places across Bangalore. The key strategic addition this year has been our work with NGO run schools and the openness with which they have invited us to be part of their family and excellent work. The, over 1200, volunteers who continue to surprise and inspire us with their dedication, commitment and sheer enthusiasm. They contributed over 12000 hours in the last year, a phenomenal first for Dream A Dream. It has also been a year that has brought more donors, companies and grant agencies into the Dream A Dream family who have been the pillar on which we are building a very strong, transparent, accountable organization. The star of last year has been The Dream Team – The highly energetic, enthusiastic and committed staff, coaches, facilitators and interns at Dream A Dream. Each and every person who has spent anything from a few months to a few years has created the largest impact in the last year. They have been the very backbone of the work with children, building relationships and bonds with them, seeing the children through the highs and lows, supporting each other at every step of the way and Never Giving Up! They have gone out built, nurtured and established strong relationships with the Partner NGOs, the Principals and teachers of the schools we work with and many a time even with the parents and families of the children. Overcoming tremendous staffing challenges, we have stood together & stood by each other to achieve magic in the lives of 2172 children and 1200 volunteers by being BOLD! And now, with renewed commitment and enthusiasm we are ready to take on the year 2010-11 and ofcourse we continue to seek your support and belief in us. Lets begin together another year of Magic! Thank you, With Dreams, Vishal Talreja Co-founder & Director | Ashoka Fellow Dream A Dream