Started by IIM Bangalore alumni Seemant Dadwal and Harvard alumni Ghazal Gulati in August 2016, Meraki, a Delhi based non-profit organisation addresses education inequity amongst the disadvantaged from a rather unique perspective. Says Dadwal; “Educating children starts with parents, and we believe that with the present scenario in India, we need to work as urgently with parents as we need to with children.  More than 74 million parents are not equipped to support their children, and they are overlooked as stakeholders in the education of their children. It follows that children enter school at a disadvantage and the developmental outcomes are correspondingly dismal.”

The case of Kanchan, a tailor, housewife and mother of three is an apt example.  "I wish I could read my own medicine prescription,” says Kanchan. “I have trouble doing this as I couldn’t study because my father was an alcoholic. I want Aditi, my daughter, to be independent and live on her own terms.” Aditi attends school every day, with the fierce support of her mother, and is a student of the third grade. Yet she cannot read simple English words. Despite her best intentions, Kanchan feels helpless and demotivated which adversely impacts her ability to foster a conducive learning environment for her daughters at home. “This is no unusual case,”says Dadwal. “Millions of children grow up with poor development outcomes that hinder their learning, health and behavior. Recent statistics on grade 3 students in India reveal that 58% cannot read grade 1 texts and 72% cannot do two-digit subtraction.  Moreover, 60% of children below the age of 5 are anemic.  The conclusion is clear; intervention is required amongst parents, along with children and that is where Meraki comes in.”

^{Meraki Community champions/ Margdarshaqs: Conducting visits to establish relationship and trust with mothers}

In order to fulfil child potential, Meraki works on building the capacity of low-income caregivers to bolster their child’s early learning and development. Through its unique brick and mortar and technology-enabled solutions, Meraki helps parents take tangible steps towards fulfilling the developmental needs of their children. “We believe that this is a big step towards having a better chance of successfully transitioning, adjusting and being successful in formal schools (and thereby improving educational outcomes),” says Dadwal. “We simplify contemporary scientific knowledge, previously inaccessible to low-income families and deliver it as actionable, 10-minute activities for parents to conduct with their children.” Meraki programmes get parents to go through a 6-month, three-layered intervention consisting of workshops, inhouse support visits as well as age-appropriate activities (for practice) that are sent to them via Meraki technology.

^{Meraki Team: Providing crucial one-on-one support}

“Yahan par kaafi kuch seekhne ko milta hai humare aur bacche ke liye. Ab bacche ke saath time bitati hu toh mere bacche mei bhi phele se kaafi farak aaya hai. Abhilasha ne naye shabd bolne seekhe hai. Phele aadhe akshar bolti thi bass par ab poora bolti hai aur mei khud bhi ab kahi baat karne se ghabrati nahi hu,”says Ruby Devi, mother of Abhilasha, who has availed of the Meraki course.

Meraki workshops involve hands-on work with parents of children in the age group of 2 to 6 years. Parents are guided on how to build and effectively implement home-based activities. The organisation has built a strong curriculum focusing on various aspects, including childcare-awareness, management of children’s needs, growth and development of the child, developing and maintaining a healthy, safe and secure environment and developing and promoting positive relationships with children.

^{Happy Meraki Family: Sheela didi with her 3 children}

Meraki’s intervention is delivered by a community-based team of champions, known as Meraki Margdarshaqs, who in-turn train other caregivers in the community. Additionally, they conduct in-person home visits with families to help learn and address specific challenges.

Says Nitu Didi, who, with her daughter, was enrolled in Meraki’s intervention; “My daughter has started learning new things which we never would have been able to teach her before. Part of this is because I started spending an hour a day with her and also because I learned new ways to handle my child. Earlier I thought it was enough just to send her to school. But at the Meraki workshop we were exposed to very simple games and activities and I saw my child really change. Earlier I used to hit her to get things done. But Meraki taught me other ways to handle my child.”

Since its inception, Meraki has conducted 130+ workshops and reached out to 1500 parents, bringing them completely new perspectives on parenting as well as building the cognitive, literacy and socio-emotional skills of their children. In order to access schools and anganwadis, the organization partners with local-municipal bodies and state governments.  It has worked with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, schools in New Delhi Municipal Corporation area and has also conducted a pilot with 40 anganwadis in association with the Government of Delhi.
Says Dadwal; “We believe that empowered parents lead to cared-for, school-ready children, which dramatically increases their chances of success.  We look forward to reaching out to many more families and contributing to the development of young India.”

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Impact-Story is a series on development and CSR interventions leading to some impacts on the ground. If you have a project, innovation or intervention that has changed the lives of a few people or a community, please share a brief note at csr@ngobox.org. Our Team will get back to you after validating the information for a detailed coverage. For more information, please visit  indiacsrsummit.in