Ek Kadam Aur (One Step Forward)

I am submitting this application on behalf of our organization Ek Kadam Aur and on my personal behalf as Founder and President. Our Mission is democratization of quality education for those who can see and those who cannot (blind). We are seeking technical and mentoring support from MIT’s Elevate Prize team for the Foundation’s educational and skill development programs for the less privileged (most blind people in India are economically disadvantaged) yet resilient blind and visually challenged children and adults in India. There are about 2 million visually challenged children in India). The funding support offered will be utilized in the following ways:

• To establish our Program in STEM education and enhance quality of life for blind children and adults in India using knowhow from our programs on students who have normal vision. Our programs for students with normal vision include: Train-the-Trainers for Elementary Schools; High School Leadership for STEM Education; and Active Learning for Middle and High School students. Each of these programs will be tailored to the needs of blind and visually challenged. In addition to working with students already in schools, this program will find blind children (hiding in their homes) and educate them (in or close to the villages where they live) to the level of high school. Our program for blind adults will provide digital literacy (use of computers and smartphones) to enable them to compete for gainful employment.

• For program development, technological innovation and digital inclusion (e.g., use of computers and smartphones by visually challenged).

• To provide blind children means to to study with children who have normal vision (usual practice in the United States).

One hundred percent of the funds will be used by Ek Kadam Aur to support the Program. The Founder is committed to the success of this program through working full-time for Ek Kadam Aur and will NOT take financial support for himself. 

I have been privileged to good education in India (Jiwaji, Bhopal), UK (Glasgow) and US (Columbia, MIT, Emory, Wisconsin) and have enjoyed 30 years of successful career as a leader in R&D in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry and US Government (FDA). My education was funded through scholarships and fellowships by Governments (India, UK, US), Foundations (India, UK) and Corporations (US). It is now my turn to give back to underprivileged members of the society something that is so close to my heart i.e., a world class education to students with normal as well as challenged vision (blind). My journey began a little over 4 years ago with starting my own self-funded charitable (public) organization - Ek Kadam Aur (= One Step Forward) Foundation for Education and Health in India and the US. EKA is a nonprofit, charitable (public) organization and is tax-exempt in the US (501c3) and India (80-G). During two years of the Elevate program, my aim is to learn nuts and bolts of leading a nonprofit organization, delivering on immediate program goals, and to secure external funding for EKA to ensure its sustainability and scaling. In the past 4 years, our organization has positively impacted over 1,100 students.  

Problem:

Of the 37 million blind people in the world, 12 million live in India. Most blind people in India (including 2 million children) are poor and reside in villages. Children hide in their homes. With education, blind children can become financially independent and contribute to and benefit from society. Learning from pilots in India will help scale up globally. 

Solution:

Ek Kadam Aur will use Knowhow from its programs for students with normal vision to the needs of visually challenged:

● Train-the-Trainers program: EKA staff trains high school and college students (“trainers”) who teach elementary school students. In return, we provide scholarships to “Trainers” for their education. Will modify this program to find blind children, provide early education closer to their homes and get them access to closest elementary school.

● Active Learning Program: Involves multidirectional learning (teacher to student, student to teacher and student to student). Developed in partnership with The Avenue: World School, New York. Will adopt this program to the needs of blind to make learning fun.

● High School Leadership Program: Provides classes on STEM, communication, and entrepreneurship. We are working with MIT interns to make these classes accessible to students in blind schools. 

New approaches:

1.   Find blind children in the villages, bring education to their doorsteps - get them motivated to learn language and mathematics and take them to nearby school.

2.  High School teaching by professors and industry experts

3.  Communication training of students by those who train CEOs.

4.  Teach how to develop an idea and transform it into business (product or service) and how to pitch for funding.

“Uniqueness”:

1.   We teach basic and applied science and mathematics to supplement students’ curriculum taught by teachers in their schools.

2.Teachers at our partner schools learn new ways of imparting education.

3.  Interns from the US universities and High Schools significantly contribute to development of our programs. In return, these students get the opportunity of cross-cultural exchange with people of India and Nepal and experience in public service.

4.  Ek Kadam Aur Fellows (one year full-time, paid) and volunteers get an opportunity to fulfil their compassionate empathy by working in the social sector.

Disruption

1.   To open doors of hope to children hiding in their homes and enable them to get education and ability to compete for gainful employment.

2.   Global scalability of our pilot at Blind Boys Academy, Kolkata, India 

Ek Kadam Aur is committed to bring change in the lives of the less fortunate using education and skill development as powerful tools. The Foundation has positively impacted 1100+ student beneficiaries during 2017-2020. Present beneficiaries of the Technology for Visually Challenged Program are the visually impaired students of Blind Boys’ Academy, Kolkata, India who are being provided computer and smartphone training to instill employability skills. The High School Leadership Program and Active Learning Program serve the students and teachers of rural and semi-urban regions of India and Nepal where most students come from economically challenging backgrounds. The Train-the-Trainers Program benefits the primary school students of remote villages in Uttar Pradesh State who are the first-generation learners in their families. Through this program, the foundation is preparing the young leaders who are fresh college graduates in the villages to reach out to the beneficiaries and make education more accessible. These trainers are bridging the gap between the rural kids and the government schools by regular interventions to ensure that the students are getting adequate care and access to education.

 Beneficiaries: Those who can see and those who cannot

Model: Applicable to developing countries

Education: Positive implication to health