| Type | Youth Volunteers |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 |
| Location | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Area served | Chennai, India |
| Focus | Education, Environment |
| Method | English, Computers |
| Motto | Change today... Change tomorrow |
| Website | bhumi.org.in |
Bhumi, is a non-profit youth volunteer organisation of students and young professionals providing supplementary education for underprivileged children at orphanages and community centres in India. Members of this vibrant group, all of whom are under 30, teach computers, English, maths and science and also provide career counselling, volunteering 2 hours every weekend. Bhumi's environmental initiatives highlight this group's resolve to take immediate action against climate change.[1] Bhumi has established itself as a front-ranking charity organisation that helps poor children to realise their potential, raise their aspirations and recognize their achievements.[2]
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Bhumi was started in 2006 by a few students and young professionals in the Indian city of Chennai. Bhumi started working with children at orphanages in and around Chennai in the field of supplementary education. To date BHUMI has around 500 active volunteers across India, working with over 5,000 children in fifteen orphanages, two schools, two village community centres that cater to six villages and three slum community centres.[3]
BHUMI Volunteers are college students and young professional working voluntarily to provide English and computer education in selected orphanages.[4] The methodology of teaching is mostly informal which incorporates the idea of "learn while you play".
Kanini in Tamil means "computer". Started in June 2007, the said purpose of Kanini is "to take the magical world of computers to less privileged children". Under Kanini, volunteers work with children in orphanages to provide them basic and advanced Computer education. Currently, BHUMI's teaching programmes are going on at 8 orphanages, slum and rural communities across Chennai involving over 400 Children.[5] Kanini has a well-structured syllabus with courses that cater to children’s varying requirements, interests and aptitudes. The basic 40-hour course package consists of introduction to the Computer, MS-DOS, basic software and hardware, Microsoft Office tools and the Internet. Advanced packages deal with programming languages like C, C++, Java, HTML, Photoshop etc.
Make a Difference is a project in collaboration with Make A Difference which aims at providing quality English and softskills education to underprivileged children so as to bridge the gap between them and those who get educated from public schools. The project aims to build the communication ability and confidence of children so that they can stand at par with the rest of the world. High quality English learning materials developed by the Cambridge University Press: 'Cambridge English for Schools' is used [6] and the volunteers are trained by CELTA accredited trainers before they can start teaching.The textbooks and workbooks with ample exercises give the children an opportunity to inculcate an interest to learn the language. While Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) accredited professionals provide the basic training to all our volunteers, experienced volunteers with an aptitude to teach mentor their peers during the course of the year.The Make a Difference programme has been awarded the prestigious Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur award 2008 (beating 521 entrants from 61 countries) by Ashoka’s Changemakers for its innovative and successful teaching methodology.
Dronachary and Ekalavya(DnE) is an experiential learning leadership programme which pairs underprivileged children with volunteers who act as their mentors and role models. The programme helps the children realise their potential and transforms the volunteers into more socially aware leaders.DnE is modelled on mentorship programmes like the Big Brothers Big Sisters (USA), Perach (Israel) and Dronacharya & Ekalavya (Hyderabad, India).
Tutors conduct classes for small batches for four hours every week, helping the children build a strong academic foundation and providing an impetus to continued education through improved academic performances.
Mentors meet mentees for two hours every week and assist them with school or home work, listen to their problems and support them in challenges they encounter. In the process, mentors instil self confidence and the ability to solve one’s own problem in the children.
Mentors undergo a training programme in personal mastery, transformational communication, problem solving, situational leadership, creative entrepreneurship and group learning cycles developed in collaboration with renowned experts from across the country.
Little Einsteins is an activity based learning programme that focuses on the conceptual understanding and learning of mathematics and science.The programme exposes them to an array of topics beyond the scope of their text books. To ensure better understanding and retention, multimedia tools and live demonstration of experiments are used. The course structure has an integrated testing system which enables effective assessment and monitoring of a child’s progress.
Siragugal in Tamil means wings is an inter-orphanage Art, Cultural and Science talent Fest to bring out the children’s creative talents held in Chennai. Siragugal, a two-day talent fest held every year has an array of competitive activities to ensure that children of all age groups from orphanages across Chennai, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur districts participatedand gained immensely by competing against their peers.The 50 different arts and cultural competitions- including flower arrangement, pot painting, clay modelling, elocution, solo / group dance and song etc and athletic and sporting competitions like sprint, high jump, shot put, volley ball, chess etc are structured for various age groups to facilitate maximum participation. The event is peppered with entertainment, games and a science exhibition to keep the children busy even while they were not competing.
The identified talent will be nurtured through constant support from our initiatives like Joy to the World and specialised individual support for those children.
The second edition of Siragugal saw the participation of 915 children from 37 orphanages across Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur on 11 July 2010.,,[7][8][9]
The third edition of Siragugal saw the participation of 1,500 children from 40 orphanages across Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur on 11 July 2010.[10][11][12]
Bhumi Supports the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives of companies like Cognizant Technological Solutions, Dassault Sytemes[13] etc. in Chennai