My name is Andy Robson and was given your details by Debbie Hepplewhite. I am currently working with an organisation called Vision Rescue out in Mumbai, India. They travel to different location throughout Mumbai
feeding and educating slum and street children who don't go to school and have little hope for the future. They have two buses which are used as classrooms and they currently have about 700 children a day who are educated on the buses. They also do work amongst the drug addicts and prostitutes. The education that the children receive is still very basic and Biju, the founder of Vision Rescue, is very keen to improve the education and take it to the next level. Over the last 4 years they have helped about 100 children into full time education and they want to increase that number.
I have been a teacher for 11 years and more recently, have been working as an assistant Headteacher of a junior school. I have gone out to India to help Biju with his educational programme and my main role has been to train the teaching staff. Many of them are just volunteers and do not have any qualifications. I have been helping then to teach English and maths and giving them advice on their general teaching styles and methods. I am also working on developing a sports programme for a group of street children aged between 12 and 16. I am currently coaching them football with a view to making them into a team.The main problem I have faced is the lack of resources. The buses are just buses and have no education material or equipment on them and the children use chalk and chalk boards. The teachers have a whiteboard and pens, that is it! They are only in the bus for one hour a day and are taught maths, English and Hindi, with games or a dvd on saturdays.
I contacted Debbie to ask for help and advice with the English Syllabus as I was very keen to introduce them to phonics. She has been very supportive and is going to help me by giving me access to her phonics programme and help me train the staff via email.
I am very keen to kit out the buses so that they look like classrooms and the children have the
right learning environment. To do this I have been looking for educational posters, displays, games and other resources that can be use in the teaching of basic english reading and writing, and maths. I would also like to provide the children with writing books and pencils, and by get sports equipment that we can use for the sports coaching. This is the area that Debbie felt you might be able to help me with. I have had a look on you website and it is amazing the work that you are doing. It is so true about the difficulties of donating money and I know that Vision Rescue have faced some of those problems. They have very little money to spend on anything other that their general running costs.I have attached a few photos for you to see and would be grateful of any help, advice or support that you can give me and Vision Rescue so we can give these kids a better life and a better future!
Look forward to hearing from you
All the best
Andy
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