Q. What is the story behind Pavaki?
I am used to teaching children underprivileged children from my school days and knew the importance of education for them. I always knew that I wanted to do something similar in my life. So, when I was in my 11th standard, I looked for NGOs near me to get some more experience, and shockingly, there was not a single center working towards educating children. That’s when I made up my mind to start an NGO that would work towards educating underprivileged children. I did the required R&D so that I could start with the implementation just after my schooling. Blessedly, my father was there with me every step of the way, be it renting the place, making a team of trustees, or hiring the teachers.
Q. These unprecedented times have hit everyone so drastically. How did Pavaki approach the situation, given that everything had to shift to online mode? How did you perceive this change on a personal level?
Since the strata that we are dealing with do not have the required resources, so initially this shift to online mode was a struggle for us. We realized that we had to evolve and think out of the box. So, we started two projects for the same. Project ‘’Call Pr Shiksha” was set up to impart education to the students through an internship system. The next project was “Creator's Squad” and under this, the kids made educational videos.
This change has been wearing me down because, unlike offline mode, I cannot personally oversee each and every child and remain up to date with their progress. Also, now that we are relying on our interns, I cannot make sure of the quality of education that the children are receiving, whether they are learning the right things or how well they are improving.
Q. You have hired interns for Pavaki from various profile backgrounds. How did you pull it off?
I believe myself to be a very professional person, so hiring interns was not a big task for me. Also, due to the pandemic, internships were already in trend so we used this to our advantage. The responses were so overwhelming that we had to shortlist the same, thereafter, we successfully started our program ‘’each one teach one’’, where each intern taught a child on a one to one basis.
Q. Tell us about behind the scenes of Pavaki.
Our core team has always been an unstable one; the members were always coming and going. Since most of them were of my age I realized I couldn’t expect them to be as passionate about Pavaki as I. Gradually, we dropped the idea of the core team. Now it’s a two women army of my friend, Shivani Saini and I.
Q. What all things do you miss about Pavaki because of this online transition?
Offline mode was simply amazing. On Saturdays we used to have our activity day, the kids used to dance, indulge in clay-making and speaking sessions. Now in online mode biggest problem is connecting with the children themselves, since we are not in touch with them on a direct basis.
Q. What advice would you like to give to all those who want to venture on the same path as you?
I would say that the most important thing is to have a vision, and then to have the courage to give life to that vision. Even if it fails, it will still give you the sparks to start something new or learn from your mistakes.
Great one✨👍🏻