What are we doing in India?

I am often asked, What do you do in India?. Well, our first goal is to learn, or “co-learn” as I like to put it. The way we do it is to constantly ask questions about how we are learning, what we are learning and why we are learning. We also ask the question who is helping us learn. This is important if we want to maintain the inclusive ethic that defines global social entrepreneurs. The vehicle through which we learn then are our projects in India. These projects are not about us “offering a solution”, they are about “co-learning with our organization” for change within our organizations.

Below is a description of this year’s projects.

Erika Takeo and Sam Susanin aka “Woo kids on the eighth block”
Recently many NGOs have approached Enable India (EI) asking them to take the lead on the creation of a national body that is focused on the employment of persons with disabilities (PWD). The first step for us is to research which type of body (forum, consortium, union, fellowship, etc) would create an effective, sustainable organization that works for employment of PWD. We will use case studies (both contemporary and historic), academic works, discussion with EI, and knowledge of the social sector in India to determine the best possible structure of this body.

A current concern is that there are many cultural, political, legal, etc reasons that make employment different from one area to another. That is why another step in our initial research is to determine the best size (state, region, country, etc) for this body. Perhaps a nationwide body could not achieve its goals as well as a regional body could.

We want a body that will bring about effective social transformation. Hopefully our initial research can show us what type of body will be the best for EI to pursue with other partners in the field. Based upon our discussions and findings, we will propose a plan for a body that will be specific to employment of PWD in India (or a region of India).

Sarah Abboud and Kipaya Kapiga aka “Dream Team”.
The “Dream Team” will to develop a sustainable monitoring system as part of Dream A Dream’s overall Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Documentation (PMED) process. This new monitoring system will fit into Dream’s existing service delivery and will be used for two primary purposes: first to ensure quality control in the delivery of both Dream’s programs and lifeskills curriculum and second to enable Dream to more efficiently conduct its evaluation functions and impact assessment. Because this monitoring function will comprise one component of the larger PMED process, attention will be devoted to ensuring smooth integration between the four components so as to enable Dream to efficiently transition from one process to the another. As part of this project, Dream would like the GSE team to conduct field research to test the monitoring system directly at Dream programs.