Most of you must have read/seen Michelle Obama playing hopscotch and doing the Rang De Basanti jig with a group of young kids from orphanages in Mumbai at the Mumbai University a couple of weeks ago. And you must have noticed a group of youngsters in denims and black tees cheering the ‘girls' on.
Those were the student volunteers of Make A Difference (MAD). Make a Difference does not require an introduction here in Kochi, their home turf, so to speak. The dust has settled after the presidential visit, it has been duly committed to memory and magazine covers. However for MAD, that one exposure has opened quite a few doors. MAD volunteers talk about that visit that has Made A Difference.
It all started with…
Jithin Chacko Nedumala's (co-founder of MAD) visit to the US State Department in Washington DC. “It was routine networking, introducing oneself, talking about the NGO and what we were doing. And guys there seemed interested in and impressed by what we were doing.” He, representing MAD, was among the 20 young social entrepreneurs selected as YouthActionNet Global Fellows by Global Fellowship programme. That was that, or so thought Jithin.
Till the Kochi chapter of MAD got an email from the US Consulate, Mumbai, making enquiries about Jithin. The call was routed to MAD's Mumbai chapter. The ‘folks' making the calls ran background checks and before they could say US State Department, they were Michelle Obama's chosen NGO in India as part of her International Youth Engagement Agenda.
“We were not clear about what was happening. We were contacted, and we didn't think much about the calls. However, we are proud to say that we were given an A++ review for the quality of our work,” says Sanjana Kuruvilla of MAD. In fact, Consulate officials even checked to see if he had a police record with the Kadavanthara police station, Jithin continues, “and every communication (email) that we received had classified written all over it.” The event was front page news in some publications but all MAD could say was “we have no such information or that we cannot confirm the event.”
Around 33 children from three of the five centres in Mumbai where the MAD chapter works were selected. Getting the kids out of the orphanages, was tough, “but hey! Who would pass up an opportunity to meet the first lady of the United States?” recollects Jithin. Conditions were set to get the kids out of the orphanages, but this was one chance MAD volunteers had to show the kids that a world outside the four walls of their orphanage existed. And grab it they did.
The Library Hall, Mumbai University, November 6…
The Hall is specially air-conditioned for Michelle Obama's visit. Before the First Lady arrives, MAD volunteers are briefed by the Secret Service.
‘Well-choreographed' is what Jithin says of the event. There were ‘x' marks on the floor where Michelle Obama was supposed to stand, ‘to position' herself. “Every step she took, where she stood, sat…everything,” it was as if the entire event was pre-planned. Hopscotch, Word building, the singing, all went as per schedule. “She was very spontaneous in her interaction with the children. She would hug the children, make contact with each child and that kind of contact is very important to these kids,” says Jithin. And then they played ‘Rang de Basanti…'
The script changed…
The moment the song started, the kids started dancing. And then finally Michelle Obama too joined in. “The kids showed her a couple of moves which she enthusiastically tried out. When it was time to go, she asked for an encore and danced one last dance,” says Jithin.
Those twenty minutes with MAD…
Four MAD volunteers, Sujith Varkey, Jithin (co-founders MAD), Gloria Benny (national president MAD) and Tanmay Arora (president, MAD, Mumbai) met Michelle Obama. The interaction showed them why Michelle Obama makes such a strong case for youth empowerment. She told them about how the youth would inherit the world, and therefore it mattered a lot that they got involved in the system sooner.
On being asked about what the challenges were, they told her about the percentage of kids who have no access to quality teachers, and no positive role models that they can relate to. And also told her how youngsters can add value as teachers within that framework.
The aftermath…
The next day at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, Michelle Obama says, “Just yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to visit an organisation called Make A Difference. It's an amazing programme designed and run by young adults who recruit other young people, outstanding college students like themselves, to mentor and teach children who, as the founder said, haven't had the same chances in life as many of the mentors have had.”
And many doors have opened…
Well known documentary film maker Suresh Triveni has made a documentary on MAD with the focus on youth-led social change.
Thus begins the bigger highway to realise their ideals. MAD travels from Kochi to global attention.
