Information
Where does Project Why work:
Click map to enlarge
Project Why
New Delhi, India
Project Why has been operating for ten years in New Delhi, India, offering primary and secondary-level educational support to children living in slums throughout the city. In addition to teaching over 600 children in 10 different locations, Project Why also offers daily support to mentally disabled children and adults, emergency medical and foster care to children in need, and vocational training for disadvantaged single mothers at its Women's Center.
Get Involved - click to contact this organization »
Current Projects
Project Why today:
— 9 centres providing education reinforcement for over 600 primary and secondary slum children
— 1 women’s centre providing self support education & activities for under privileged women
— crèche facilities for 140 children
— foster care for disabled children
— special section for 21 children and young adults with disabilities
— boarding school sponsoring for desperate cases
— computer centre for 45 students
— library and video viewing room
— first aid medical assistance
— funding for open heart and other emergency surgeries
We are launching a new programme, the primary focus on which is to concentrate on the quality of the educational support that each of our children receives. Previously most of our efforts have gone into trying to halt drop out rates and ensure that children remain in school. We have been very successful at this and in the past 9 years, no Project Why child has dropped out of school and in fact over 20 Project Why students go to college or pursue further studies each year. Our benchmark has been numbers and we feel we have achieved tangible success as we started reaching out to 40 children from underprivileged backgrounds and now have approximately 800. However, in a recent evaluation of our achievements, we have decided that the way forward is to focus on quality not just quantity. Whilst a child can pass a class XII with marks of 33%, that kind of low mark is in no way sufficient to apply for a job or get admission to any form of further studies.
We therefore wish to focus on improving the quality of the support we provide to the Project Why children. We think this is the key to ensure that they obtain access to better opportunities both in terms of jobs and higher education.
Partner Needs
Project Why constantly needs volunteers to help with its ever-expanding number of initiatives. Prospective volunteers should be aware that this experience will be physically and psychologically challenging. The heat, pollution, and traffic in New Delhi can be difficult, and volunteers will be asked to work in areas that are far from glamorous. Volunteers are encouraged to communicate extensively with Project Why administrators before arriving so that they can begin to formulate teaching strategies and objectives.
Financial Needs
We welcome donations however small as they enable us to carry on our work!
In Kind Needs
Anybody passing through New Delhi can deliver books, medical supplies, clothes, or children's toys to Project Why — all of these resources are greatly needed!
We welcome donations in kind such as clothes for children from 1 to 18, shoes, educational toys, school stationery etc
Mission Statement
Project Why was conceived to answer a series of queries:
· Why do children from underprivileged backgrounds perform poorly in school?
· What could be done to enhance their performance?
· What skills should be taught to them to better their employment options?
· How could this be achieved in a replicable community driven model?
Project Why aims at creating an enabling environment to help underprivileged children and youth to access better earning options. Project Why’s classes do not seek to replace mainstream schooling - the provision of educational support is our goal.
The original model of Project Why set out to empower underprivileged and illiterate/semi-literate parents to steer the educational needs of their children. By making use of local talent it has been proved that quality teaching in India can be offered in the most basic of locations and situations and does not require expensive infrastructure and excessively formal training practices.