Magic Bus is the largest mentoring NGO in Asia, reaching over 250,000 children across 12 states in India. Using a sport-based curriculum and 7,500 community volunteers, it focuses on education, gender equality, health, leadership and livelihood skills for children ages 7-19. The program is effective in promoting fitness, education, gender equity and community development. It tracks key impacts such as improved school attendance, views on gender equality, and healthy habits. Notable success stories include mentees who have gone on to college and started their own programs.

1. MAGIC BUS
www.magicbus.org

2. Largest Mentoring NGO in Asia
Started in 1999 as a weekend volunteerled initiative, Magic Bus today reaches out
to 250,000 children using 7500 trained
community Youth Volunteer Mentors
Currently working in 22 districts of 12 states
Focus Domains:
Education, Gender, Health, Socio Emotional
Development, Leadership and Livelihoods
Works with Children, Adolescents & Youths of
age 7-19 years

3. At the core of our work is a unique Sport for Development curriculum that uses local
role models as Mentors.
A bank of more than 300 activities using a variety of games.
The programme is most impactful on key behaviour changes around play, fitness,
healthy habits, education and gender equity.
Combines the spirit of Sports for All with development outcomes
Talent spotting and coaching for excellence - an integral part
45% children in our programmes are girls – most of them in mixed gender settings
The term Sport-for-Development refers to the intentional use of sport, physical activity and play to
attain specific development objectives, including, most notably, the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). Magic Bus uses sports as a means to support our programmatic goals.

4. Why & How Sport Works
At the CYL level
• Engages, as it
influences, the Magic
Bus volunteer
• Involves mind and
body
• Promotes health
• Builds teams
• Is attractive per se
• Shows a way out of
poverty
• Gives an opportunity
to showcase
leadership
Sports/Games that we use
Football | Handball | Cricket | Volleyball | Rugby | Indigenous
games - Kabaddi, Kho Kho, Pithoo, etc.| Innovative games with
just cones and markers
MB
Children
MB CYLs
At the community’s level
Builds a gender-equal community | Promotes community health | Promotes an
educated and aware community | Promotes better livelihood options for BPL
communities
At the
child/participant’s level
• Helps attract new
participants
• Helps retain interest
• Helps establish the
mind-body connect
from an early age
• Promotes health
and health
behaviour
• Builds skills to
enhance
employability

5. A Typical Magic Bus Session
• Participants go
through an
Experience
through a sport
based activity.
EXPERIENCE
ICE BREAKER
REFLECT
• Participants
Reflect/
Analyse the
experience
through
comparison,
contrast,
examining the
validity of
assumptions,
and so on.
SPORTING GAME
• Participants
think about the
implication of
what has been
learnt , work
out how they
might
themselves
apply it, and
sometimes get
a chance during
the session to
Apply this.
APPLY
ANTICIPATORY
HOOK
CONSOLIDATE
• Participants
perceive what has
been learnt as a
larger whole, a set
of connected
components (i.e.
understanding how
the specific session
take away is
connected to the
larger objective /
domain)
MAIN GAME
SIT-BREATHETHINK
5 Key elements in
the session
1.Joyful Learning
2.Participation
3.Safe Environment
4.Experiential
Learning
5.Mentoring
TAKE AWAY

6. Learning Process in MB Session
PRE-AWARENESS
RECYCLE/RELAPSE
Key requirement for learning
Motivation
Law of Exercise
MAINTENANCE
Laws of Learning
Law of Readiness
AWARENESS
Practice and Repetition
Need for feedback
Positive emotional response
Law of Effect
CONTEMPLATION
Law of Intensity
ADOPTION
Law of Primacy
INTENTION
TRIAL
Law of Recency
Year 1:
Awareness
building on
various issues
Year 2:
Year 3:
Attitude
formation
Behavior
change
Year4:
Sustainability
of the program
Heightened perception and
concentration
Timeliness (the earlier
learning happens in a
person’s life, the more
effective it is)
Repetition

7. Few Impacts
Education:
• Child are more regular at school, reduces his/her chances of dropping out
and increases school life expectancy.
• Nearly all Magic Bus children (over 95%) have an attendance rate of more
than 80%
• 98% of the adolescent girls in the Magic Bus programme continue in school
Gender:
• Participation in the Magic Bus programme enables children and families to
rethink gender stereotypes thus opening up possibilities for growth and
development of girls:
• 42% of Magic Bus participants in our programme are girls
• 92% of MB participants believe that girls and boys have an equal capacity to
excel in sports
• 82.7% of MB participants believe that it is equally important to invest in a
girl’s as well as a boy’s future
Health:
• Participation in Magic Bus sessions equips children with the necessary
information to make positive changes in their health and hygiene habits:
• 77.52% of children at Magic Bus follow good practices related to personal
hygiene including hand washing, brushing, bathing and cutting nails.

8. Awards and Recognition
• India NGO “Rising Star” Award 2013
• The Citizen’s Based Initiative Award, 2003
• World Bank Development Market Place, Education Section
• Global Fund for Children - Sustainability Award 2004-5
• Voices for Children Humanitarian of the Year Award 2004
• Ashoka Citizens Based Initiatives Award, 2005
• Alcan Prize for Sustainability - 2006 Runner-Up and study grant recipient
• Recognised as a good practice by UN Habitat 2006
• Formal MOU with GoI MYAS as knowledge partners and communication
consultants for PYKKA 2010-11
• MoUs with State Govts. of AP, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Mizoram & Karnataka

9. CASE STORY :
Parvati Pujari, 22. Magic Bus Mentor
Parvati was born in a family of construction
workers, one of Mumbai’s 4 million
chronically poor families who live on less
than INR 592 per month.
With inputs from Magic Bus’s mentors,
however, this star footballer is now studying
in college and working in the Magic Bus
office, the first person in her family to do
either.
Parvati is also a global fundraiser for Magic
Bus, travelling around the world to raise
monies for Magic Bus’s work across India.

10. CASE STORY :
Gulafsha Ansari, 16. Magic Bus Child
Gulafsha lives in Dharavi – otherwise known as Asia’s largest slum, in a family of daily
wage workers.
For the last 4 years, Gulafsha has been coming for Magic Bus sessions. With inputs from
Magic Bus’s mentors, this teenage footballer is now enrolling in college and opening her
own girls sports programme in her neighborhood. This work won her a scholarship from
the Judy Foudy Foundation – she won in a global online competition where browsers
voted for the best projects. Gulafsha attended the London Olympics as part of her prize.

11. Thank you . . .
Magic Bus has set an goal of reaching a million children by 2016.
Join & Support……
facebook.com/magicbusindia
twitter.com/magicbusindia
linkedin.com/company/magic-bus
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youtube.com/magicbusin
info@magicbusindia.org
www.magicbus.org