[Applause]
every year during the summer holidays I
go back to my hometown this one thousand
year old city fell katuk right in front
of my house
there used to be this little alleyway in
which a little school was located this
school was actually a house that was
later converted into a school every
morning without a doubt I would always
wake up to the sound of school bells
ringing
I would often laze around in the morning
sitting on the swing in our balcony with
a cup of tea in my hand just watching
these kids getting ready for school and
hearing the chattering of little
children throughout the day I would
often catch these kids trying to buy
cheap candies from the store in our
neighborhood even though it was quite
bothersome hearing the sounds of school
bells during the summer holidays it was
an awfully adorable scene and I became
used to it it became routine for me
about three years ago when I went back
to visit my hometown I noticed that I
wasn’t hearing the school bells after
doing some asking around I discovered
that the school had been closed down I
wasn’t particularly shocked or surprised
that the school had been closed down but
I was starting to miss my source of
morning entertainment after doing some
more digging and some more asking I
discovered that the school had been
owned by an NGO who was providing free
education health care and clothing to
over 200 thousand kids across India this
particular school had about 70 students
on and off for about a year there was
huge discussion about the school being
closed down and the children affected
you see both my parents are teachers at
this school and so this topic would
often come up during our dinner table
discussion after being exposed to so
much discussion and debate I started to
sympathize with these children
I started to even blame the government
now I won’t get into the politics as to
why exactly the school was closed down
but it was completely absurd to me about
two and a half years ago as a grade 9
student I was introduced to the NYP
personal project a project in which
students had to create something based
off of a topic that they were passionate
about and then later write a report on
during the decision-making process I
figured maybe I was passionate and
curious enough about the situation back
at home and so I brought this discussion
back to the dinner table after doing
some research I decided to measure the
impact of schooling on the urban poor
children to do this I created a
variation on the human development index
the human development index or the HDI
is a composite tool used to measure the
human development of a country it has
three distinct dimensions long and
healthy life knowledge and decent
standard of living in my variation of
the index however I decided that I
wanted to incorporate the IV’s model on
the importance of social and emotional
well-being I wanted to make my index
much more accessible by measuring things
like access to education access to
healthcare and access to proper
nutrition to do my project I decided to
interview two sets of kids who were
affected by the original closing down of
the school ones who were in hostels and
ones who are now school dropouts I first
visited this orphanage for girls called
the shelter the shelter is an orphanage
for girls that my family have worked
with for many many years
even as a little girl I would frequently
visit the shelter and so I became
friends with many of the girls there
this made it a super easy and fun
experience for me collecting my data I
also had the opportunity of talking to
some of the staff there
asking them questions about what would
happen if a kid got sick or what would
happen if the kid went through some
personal problems as I mentioned before
this was an easy experience for me but I
don’t think I was quite ready for the
next part you see my neighborhood is
made up of many little intertwines and
roads that form a locality remember it’s
a very old city this made it
particularly harder for me to see some
of the houses that were covered by all
of the beautiful houses I was so used to
seeing I decided to talk to this little
girl and her older brother who lived in
an area just minutes away from where I
lived I went into this understanding
that these kids were not living in the
most ideal of situations but what I
witnessed is something that still messes
with me to this day my father also
followed me around with a camera and
documented everything I remember upon
entering the area there was huge puddles
and water marks everywhere that had come
from a previous flood you see my
neighborhood is sandwiched between these
two huge rivers making us very
susceptible to flooding this flooding
would usually happen during the monsoon
seasons which coincidentally would
happen during our summer vacations this
would result in us being cooped up in
our homes for days on end without having
anything to do I can recall complaining
to my parents saying I had nothing to do
and I’m so bored and I just want to go
outside but it never really factored
into my brain how these floods might be
affecting other people I remember
upon entering the area seeing these
group of kids huddled around the puddle
when I went to take a closer look I
noticed that they were playing with a
dead fish that I come from a previous
flood I then saw these houses these
houses were very tiny and made up of a
mud clay like substance
I remember when I had to walk into the
home the home was just consistent of one
room and I practically had to crawl my
way through inside if the physical
appearance of the place wasn’t enough
the response of these kids became most
intriguing to me I remember asking this
little girl what she wanted to do in the
future as a job what she wanted to do as
a career choice what she said was like a
huge slap of reality in the face she
said that she wanted to be a housemaid
now I was expecting a typical childlike
response like I want to be a doctor or I
want to be a teacher but what she said
made me realize that this was the only
future she could think of for herself
the only future she was exposed to the
only future she thought was normal after
talking to her brother it made me
realize that both of these kids missed
school so much without school they were
only getting one meal a day and that too
a meal just consistent of rice and
lentils they weren’t getting the proper
nutrition they needed for their
formative development a Miss the
vegetables and the occasional chicken
and fish they were getting from school
they even missed the free uniforms this
was just one of the similar stories I
got from talking to these kids in the
next few days during this part of my
project I almost didn’t have it in me to
continue collecting my data there was
nothing for me to compare I was
obviously shocked and surprised by the
responses of these kids but what really
messed with me was just how close I was
to all of this I would have never
imagined that people were living in
houses made of clay and mud just minutes
away from where I was in the 16 years
I’ve been going back to visit my
hometown I would have never fathom the
idea that people were living in such
terrible conditions I mean
I knew that the issue of urban poverty
was so prevalent in my city but I didn’t
think these issues are literally right
underneath my nose it made me feel puny
and spoiled but with this feeling came a
sense of purpose and strength I had this
newfound responsibility to at least try
and make a little impact on these kids
these kids needed the education to break
free from the cycle of poverty these
kids needed the health care so that they
wouldn’t be sick all the time
these kids needed the proper nutrition
to feed their minds and their bodies
these kids needed to be taken care of
these kids and I were a reflection of
the same community and if so why are
these kids being left behind today I
stand here two years after my project
has been completed with a reason for
hope for these kids I have a vision of a
future hope school I would help bring
better dreams back into the eyes of
these children even as I stand here
speaking today there are two NGOs who
are interested in the proposal of
restarting the school this year
but I won’t depend on that I know that
this dream or this ambition has been
chased as much as it can possibly can
and that there will always be another
way for the first time in my life my
school project mattered to me even as I
completed my project and I discussed
more and more with my parents I started
to realize this small thought the small
amount of time the small project was
giving me a strange sense of joy as I
stand here today I want to tell each and
every single one of you something never
be afraid of giving make use of the
opportunities around you be it be a
school project or a charity that’s open
near your home because trust me
opportunities are everywhere we receive
so much on a daily basis that given even
a tiny little bit could
a huge impact as I grandfather always
says we all rise when we lift others
thank you [Applause]
every year during the summer holidays I
go back to my hometown this one thousand
year old city fell katuk right in front
of my house
there used to be this little alleyway in
which a little school was located this
school was actually a house that was
later converted into a school every
morning without a doubt I would always
wake up to the sound of school bells
ringing
I would often laze around in the morning
sitting on the swing in our balcony with
a cup of tea in my hand just watching
these kids getting ready for school and
hearing the chattering of little
children throughout the day I would
often catch these kids trying to buy
cheap candies from the store in our
neighborhood even though it was quite
bothersome hearing the sounds of school
bells during the summer holidays it was
an awfully adorable scene and I became
used to it it became routine for me
about three years ago when I went back
to visit my hometown I noticed that I
wasn’t hearing the school bells after
doing some asking around I discovered
that the school had been closed down I
wasn’t particularly shocked or surprised
that the school had been closed down but
I was starting to miss my source of
morning entertainment after doing some
more digging and some more asking I
discovered that the school had been
owned by an NGO who was providing free
education health care and clothing to
over 200 thousand kids across India this
particular school had about 70 students
on and off for about a year there was
huge discussion about the school being
closed down and the children affected
you see both my parents are teachers at
this school and so this topic would
often come up during our dinner table
discussion after being exposed to so
much discussion and debate I started to
sympathize with these children
I started to even blame the government
now I won’t get into the politics as to
why exactly the school was closed down
but it was completely absurd to me about
two and a half years ago as a grade 9
student I was introduced to the NYP
personal project a project in which
students had to create something based
off of a topic that they were passionate
about and then later write a report on
during the decision-making process I
figured maybe I was passionate and
curious enough about the situation back
at home and so I brought this discussion
back to the dinner table after doing
some research I decided to measure the
impact of schooling on the urban poor
children to do this I created a
variation on the human development index
the human development index or the HDI
is a composite tool used to measure the
human development of a country it has
three distinct dimensions long and
healthy life knowledge and decent
standard of living in my variation of
the index however I decided that I
wanted to incorporate the IV’s model on
the importance of social and emotional
well-being I wanted to make my index
much more accessible by measuring things
like access to education access to
healthcare and access to proper
nutrition to do my project I decided to
interview two sets of kids who were
affected by the original closing down of
the school ones who were in hostels and
ones who are now school dropouts I first
visited this orphanage for girls called
the shelter the shelter is an orphanage
for girls that my family have worked
with for many many years
even as a little girl I would frequently
visit the shelter and so I became
friends with many of the girls there
this made it a super easy and fun
experience for me collecting my data I
also had the opportunity of talking to
some of the staff there
asking them questions about what would
happen if a kid got sick or what would
happen if the kid went through some
personal problems as I mentioned before
this was an easy experience for me but I
don’t think I was quite ready for the
next part you see my neighborhood is
made up of many little intertwines and
roads that form a locality remember it’s
a very old city this made it
particularly harder for me to see some
of the houses that were covered by all
of the beautiful houses I was so used to
seeing I decided to talk to this little
girl and her older brother who lived in
an area just minutes away from where I
lived I went into this understanding
that these kids were not living in the
most ideal of situations but what I
witnessed is something that still messes
with me to this day my father also
followed me around with a camera and
documented everything I remember upon
entering the area there was huge puddles
and water marks everywhere that had come
from a previous flood you see my
neighborhood is sandwiched between these
two huge rivers making us very
susceptible to flooding this flooding
would usually happen during the monsoon
seasons which coincidentally would
happen during our summer vacations this
would result in us being cooped up in
our homes for days on end without having
anything to do I can recall complaining
to my parents saying I had nothing to do
and I’m so bored and I just want to go
outside but it never really factored
into my brain how these floods might be
affecting other people I remember
upon entering the area seeing these
group of kids huddled around the puddle
when I went to take a closer look I
noticed that they were playing with a
dead fish that I come from a previous
flood I then saw these houses these
houses were very tiny and made up of a
mud clay like substance
I remember when I had to walk into the
home the home was just consistent of one
room and I practically had to crawl my
way through inside if the physical
appearance of the place wasn’t enough
the response of these kids became most
intriguing to me I remember asking this
little girl what she wanted to do in the
future as a job what she wanted to do as
a career choice what she said was like a
huge slap of reality in the face she
said that she wanted to be a housemaid
now I was expecting a typical childlike
response like I want to be a doctor or I
want to be a teacher but what she said
made me realize that this was the only
future she could think of for herself
the only future she was exposed to the
only future she thought was normal after
talking to her brother it made me
realize that both of these kids missed
school so much without school they were
only getting one meal a day and that too
a meal just consistent of rice and
lentils they weren’t getting the proper
nutrition they needed for their
formative development a Miss the
vegetables and the occasional chicken
and fish they were getting from school
they even missed the free uniforms this
was just one of the similar stories I
got from talking to these kids in the
next few days during this part of my
project I almost didn’t have it in me to
continue collecting my data there was
nothing for me to compare I was
obviously shocked and surprised by the
responses of these kids but what really
messed with me was just how close I was
to all of this I would have never
imagined that people were living in
houses made of clay and mud just minutes
away from where I was in the 16 years
I’ve been going back to visit my
hometown I would have never fathom the
idea that people were living in such
terrible conditions I mean
I knew that the issue of urban poverty
was so prevalent in my city but I didn’t
think these issues are literally right
underneath my nose it made me feel puny
and spoiled but with this feeling came a
sense of purpose and strength I had this
newfound responsibility to at least try
and make a little impact on these kids
these kids needed the education to break
free from the cycle of poverty these
kids needed the health care so that they
wouldn’t be sick all the time
these kids needed the proper nutrition
to feed their minds and their bodies
these kids needed to be taken care of
these kids and I were a reflection of
the same community and if so why are
these kids being left behind today I
stand here two years after my project
has been completed with a reason for
hope for these kids I have a vision of a
future hope school I would help bring
better dreams back into the eyes of
these children even as I stand here
speaking today there are two NGOs who
are interested in the proposal of
restarting the school this year
but I won’t depend on that I know that
this dream or this ambition has been
chased as much as it can possibly can
and that there will always be another
way for the first time in my life my
school project mattered to me even as I
completed my project and I discussed
more and more with my parents I started
to realize this small thought the small
amount of time the small project was
giving me a strange sense of joy as I
stand here today I want to tell each and
every single one of you something never
be afraid of giving make use of the
opportunities around you be it be a
school project or a charity that’s open
near your home because trust me
opportunities are everywhere we receive
so much on a daily basis that given even
a tiny little bit could
a huge impact as I grandfather always
says we all rise when we lift others
thank you [Applause]
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