We are embarking on a drive to "delight kids" in rural schools north of Bengaluru & make their lives more fun & imaginative.

How do we plan to do  that? 

By making MINI LIBRARIES in rural schools that cost just 10000 INR per school. 

• We do this by giving them access to 150+ interesting books in English & Kannada.
• These MINI LIBRARIES should pique their curiosity, improve their reading skills, add to their vocabulary while improving their command over the languages and end of the day make coming to school more fun.
• We are targeting 5 government schools with a total strength of 1043 students (i.e. 200 students per school approx)
• These schools are located in Chikkaballapur - a rural area that is 60 kms north of Bengaluru.
• These Mini-Libraries also encourage the kids to take books home. This makes reading addictive.
• Join us in this journey by supporting this crowdfunding campaign.                                                               

A 1000 INR contribution from you will provide 15 books that can be read by 200 kids.

THE BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM: 

Government schools function on a limited budget and spending on non-academic pictorial books is a challenge. However, each school does have a library with an average of 500 books. The choice of books, in most cases is limited to Kannada and most are related to  academics. One of the many issues confronting government students is perhaps, their inability to read and their lack of interest. By giving them access to interesting books we will help improve their reading habits, in turn improving their language and eventually their academic performance. There are over 500 higher primary schools in the Chikkaballapur district. We are testing this method of learning in 5 schools presently, and hope to reach all the 500+ schools over the next few years.

Pic : A typical government school. Chairs and benches here are a luxury. A MINI LIBRARY would make a big difference here.

THE MINI-LIBRARY - The concept

We are "POWERS OF 10" - an NGO based out of Bengaluru. We are running this drive to provide rural government higher primary schools with a Mini-library, so that children have an additional resource to help them with learning & having fun at school.

In the first phase of the programme, we will provide a set of over a 150+ books in 2 languages, English and Kannada. These sets of books are compiled keeping in mind the different level of readers. The books will be sufficient for these children till they reach High school. Each book has a reading level mentioned on it, this will help teachers and children self-assess their reading level and pick the relevant books. Once they complete the books in that level they can graduate onto reading more complex worded books. The set includes a bilingual dictionary so that children can comprehend what they read and build a good vocabulary.

Children will be encouraged to select a book of their choice and take it home for reading. The teachers will maintain a register of the books borrowed by the children. Eager readers will be rewarded at the end of the academic year as a part of this program.

These schools are all government higher primary schools (GHPS) & their details are outlined below:

GHPS THONDEBHAVI - No of students 181

GHPS KALLINAYAKANAHALLI - No of students 143

GMHPS HUDUGURU - Number of students impacted 352

GHPS HIREBIDANUR- Number of students impacted 207

GHPS KADABUR- Number of students impacted - 160

Pic : Map  showing the location of Chikkaballapur - located 60 kms north of Bangalore. This is where the 5 schools are located.

WHO ARE WE?

Powers of 10 provides ordinary individuals, including children, an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of marginalised children. We are looking to build a network of socially conscious individuals who engage in giving as a habit. We do it through a simple model of collecting recurring donations. We channelize your contributions to various long term impact programs focused in the areas of education, safety, health & hygiene. Join us to exercise your personal social responsibility!

WHAT WE DO! 

Our approach: 

• Find new and creative solutions to solve problems. 
• Identify and assist projects with the potential for tangible transformation.
• Track and assess their progress.
• Measure their impact to the extent possible.

We fund projects that have sustainable long-term impact. Due diligence is a big part of our process before we make the decision to fund. Where necessary, we even design our own programs. Small is BIG!

WHAT ELSE WE DO - an example of one of our other initiatives.

We worked on an initiative where we distributed and installed solar lamps in over 20 government schools in the Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka. These lamps were found to improve the attendance of the children. It served to aid in their education and abilities at learning as well. Solar lamps are environment-friendly as they function on renewable energy. Our emphasis is on selecting and designing programs that are sustainable and have a long term impact.

WHAT WE NEED 

Each set of 150 plus books costs INR 10,000/-. We are looking to equip 5 schools with a substantial MINI-LIBRARY  to help the children explore and learn better. This will cost approximately INR 55,000/- along with administrative cost. Help us to make sure that these children have access to learning as well as an education.

Pic : Children here are hungry for more information. Crowdfunding this campaign will directly impact their caliber & attitude towards books and reading. This translates long term into more imaginative human beings with the gift to communicate in different languages.

HERE IS A SMALL SAMPLE OF SOME OF THE BOOKS THAT WILL BE A PART OF THESE LIBRARIES!