September-October 2017
Newsletter
An exciting first month!
It’s been an exciting first month! Our amazing partners are taking on the 300M Challenge in full swing and we also welcomed some new partners into the Alliance. We kick-started the month on a super note – our Founder-President, MsGeeta Dharmarajan, was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the prestigious Ooty Literature Festival..And if that wasn’t enough good news, we’ve been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2018 and the Telstra Business Awards. YAYYY!!! With the RIPL (Reading for Inclusive Public Learning) building strength, we have started to work on the EOTO (Each One Teach One) model by including students from schools and colleges across Delhi. Our first crowdfunding campaign was launched on Ketto to strengthen the existing 50 COOL centres. We seek to start more 300M libraries after the launch of the first one in Uttam Nagar last month. We also have a series of events planned to bring in as many people as possible into the 300M Challenge. The first event in the series was recently held at Hauz Khas Social. In this newsletter, we would like to highlight our heroes—our partners, who are working on the 300M challenge relentlessly to bring every child into reading. We only hope to enable and empower every child in India to be able to come out of poverty by developing the skill of reading with every passing month.
Amazon
Thanks to our strong partner in Amazon, we were introduced to one of the biggest distributors who will be helping us sell our titles on our storefront. . Amazon is also supporting us in designing the store front which will act as our e-commerce website for books. We can’t wait to share the link of the website with everyone!
Aagaaz
After lending their wonderful voices to the stories in a unique app that Katha is developing especially for first-generation readers, the young volunteers at Aagaaz will be taking our innovation a step forward by recording the reading activities that will help children read more and better.
Ashoka Changemakers
With support of Ashoka Changemakers, we are developing a unique series of books that draw the attention of young minds to big ideas such as kindness, climate and humility. The series of books are a part of the 300M series which will also be made available online. More on this soon!
Aseem’s Library
Every COOL (Community Owned and Operated Library) centre comes with a handbook that enables the community to manage it. Aseem’s Library has helped us design the handbook, which is now being translated into Hindi. We are thankful to our ever-helping volunteers who are not only helping us with the translation but are also editing modules to help communities run the COOL centres successfully.
CRY
CRY will be taking the ILR (I Love Reading) modules to the communities they work with through their volunteers. We are calling it the ILR 300m module. The translations of the module in Bangla and Tamil are underway, post which the ILR-I module will be taken to Chennai and Kolkata by CRY.
Bhagta Bharat
Children from Bhagta Bharat have taken upon themselves to hold awareness rallies for 300M Challenge and get more volunteers into it. For five Sundays, about 200 children from Bhagta Bharat will be organizing marches from specific locations in North Delhi, North East Delhi and Noida, starting 29th October 2017. The objective is to spread awareness and also read stories to the children in the nearby communities. They will be using the Worldreader app to bring Katha stories to children. Children from Bhagta Bharat are also enthusiastic to become storytellers and will undergo a training post Diwali.
FICCI
We are grateful to FICCI for giving us networking opportunities to expand the idea of the 300M and share our thoughts in panel discussions. Katha’s participation in IORA conference gave us an opportunity to meet likeminded organisations working in education from various countries and we are hopeful to start something fruitful with more partners in the 300M Alliance.
CURE
CURE (Centre for Urban and Rural Excelelnce) trainers who work with volunteers at MCD schools will undergo a one-day ASBL (Active Story Based Learning) training.The idea is to leverage Katha’s unique StoryPedagogy and bring children into the ambit of reading.These trainers will further train volunteers and help take the EOTO model forward.
PwC
The team from PwC is etching out a robust fundraising strategy for 300M. The complete strategic roadmap for 300M will be laid out by the end of the month to streamline activities and efforts effectively.
HelpAge
The first 300M library is fully operational at the Uttam Nagar branch of HelpAge. Children from nearby communities are interacting with the senior citizens/people at the centre through various activities designed to facilitate reading. HelpAge has also directed the Senior Citizens Association of Delhi to help us set up more libraries. We will be moving to Dwarka, Shalimar Bagh, Green Park and Kalu Sarai in the next phase.
Teach For India
The first week of November will kick-start the ASBL and advocacy trainings for TFI fellows. TFI is taking the EOTO model forward in Delhi in the first phase which will be taken to the other parts of the country in its next phase.
PVR
We have been awarded the censor certification to run the 300M video in the PVR screens. The video will be launched this month and will be shown in major PVR screens across Delhi. We are also working on an extensive brand film, supported by ground activities, to strengthen the 300M programme.
SPIC MACAY
Another wonderful partner to get on board! Spic Macay will host the sales of 300M books through its various events and urge the attendees to sign up as volunteers as well. We are also working on developing storytelling modules through performance art which will take the EOTO model forward.
SEWA
Raghu Bir Nagar SEWA Shakti Kendra was identified as a great location for the 300M library by SEWA. The library will serve the children in the communities in this area and bring children into the ambit of reading by giving them access to a wealth of books. Additionally, discussions are on to execute trainings for ILR-I module as a life skill to empower women in the communities SEWA works in. The women will then tutor the children and also pass on the knowledge to create reading mentors within the community.
Worldreader
The Worldreader app has made many Katha books available to the children in various underserved communities of Delhi in the past (through our I Love Reading Community Programme) and has promoted pre-literacy skills in them by encouraging their parents to engage their children with the app The dynamics of the partnership will be paved, keeping in mind the strengths of the partnership that can bring every child into reading.
Sesame Workshop India
New partner on board! We are delighted to have Sesame Workshop India as our new partner for 300M Challenge. Sesame Workshop is helping us with our social media marketing and communication to help spread the message of 300M effectively. We are also exploring other ways to collaborate to take on the 300M Challenge together!
Picture credit: All Children Reading
Quick Bytes!
– Hauz Khas Social hosted a fundraising event for the 300M challenge and celebrate the “joy of giving” month. We will be back with a fabulous event in #NoFilter Cafe soon!
– Kathathon @ IIT delhi- A brainstorming session for addressing the issues of the e-kit was hosted by IIT Delhi. The event was marked by a case study contest which had significant participation from the students of IIT.
The winners of the contest will get to work on the e-kit and address issues that will help make an app that will get a child to learn 250 words in 90 days! Results of the contest to be announced in end of October.
