The document summarizes the work being done with children from families living in a dumping ground settlement in Mulund, Mumbai, India. It describes how educational and sports activities are being used to inspire and develop the children, empowering them with life skills. Over time the program has expanded from initially working with children to also including adults, with the oldest participant now age 27. The goal is to help prepare the children to lead healthier, more productive lives beyond just working in the dumping ground.

1. HARI OM NAGAR, MULUND (E), MUMBAI, INDIA. durgawadi click to advance

2. Durgawadi is the name of the settlement located at the Mulund Dumping ground. The community comprises of 80 families.

3. The families mainly depend on the dumping ground to run their livelihood. This is their third generation.

4. The eldest to the youngest, all spend time on the garbage pile. Devoid of inspiration and information they continue doing this.

5. With no new direction, the children follow the same footsteps. We think it is important to inspire them and catalyze their mind.

6. The attempt is to educate, empower and develop the children through sport. We started in Aug’09 and continue to inspire.

7. Initially everything was new to them, starting from numbers to directions. But we knew, patience is the key.

8. Simple sessions involving play helped us to make the children play together. To introduce the idea about team and rules.

9. The energy level shown by the girls is at par with the boys. Each session shows active involvement of the girls.

10. New methods are devised to setup better communication. The children react faster to instructions than before.

11. Every child has different interest, talent, mood, interpretation. Hence versatile activities are planned to touch each child.

12. Play works like informal education, to put forward important messages related to daily life and more.

13. As the time passes we get a better understanding about the children. This is the first time many of them held a crayon.

14. It is necessary to prepare the children to a certain level, before exposing them to Sport. The training, discipline, commitment.

15. The children realize the importance of being healthy to be a good player. Injuries will not help them play.

16. The process of protecting the body from wounds has began. It has to go a long way. Patience.

17. Most children keep themselves neat now. The other will follow soon as they watch and learn the importance of being clean.

18. Each activity exposes the child to a different life skill. It is a task for us to maintain variations in the activities we conduct.

19. The attention span of the children is increasing, as they get more involved in the activities.

20. With the age variation between the children, activities happen at multiple levels. Every child is important to us.

21. The small children show a lot of potential and we are fortunate to interact with them. The youngest participant is 2 years old.

22. Right, respect, responsibility, gender, opportunity, vision are some of the points we indirectly put forward through Sport.

23. They are now able to anticipate situations while playing. The same ability will be applied in the daily life.

24. Children find their own method to tackle a situation, respecting the rules. We are observing balanced progress in the children.

25. Couldn’t hold themselves, the adults have started to involve in the sessions. Now the age range is 2 to 27 years!

26. We strongly believe that a Ball has the ability to Inspire and Shape life. Touch us and Inspire.