Welcome Back!

Hello to everyone. My name is Brent Phippen and I shall be continuing the fledgling tradition of Pratham summer bloggers. I hope that I can continue the high standards set by Pushkar and company last summer. I shall try my best. Before continuing allow me to introduce myself. 

I was born in Seattle, Washington which is tucked away in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. For those unfamiliar with Seattle, here is a short list of what the city is famous for: suicidal musicians (including Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain), Starbucks, Mircrosoft and unending rain. At the tender age of three my father uprooted our family and transported us across the Atlantic to London, England. Upon graduating from high school in London I then attended New York University in New York City. I graduated from NYU in January of this year with a degree in History and absolutely no idea of what to do next. 

Five years ago a few friends and I visited India. It was during this visit that I first heard of Pratham and the amazing work that they do to not only get young children into school, but ensure that they are learning well, (hence the title of this blog). A few months ago I contacted Pratham asking if I could help in any way and after numerous emails and a very long plane flight, I arrived in New Delhi four days ago.

Tomorrow I will board an early morning train out of New Delhi and ride the rails up to the city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab where I shall begin my work for Pratham in earnest. Along with writing this blog (hopefully daily) I shall also be attached to the Pratham team in Punjab. I shall be conducting interviews with the many people involved in Pratham's volunteer recruiting across Punjab from the rural to district and state levels. The goal of these interviews will be to identify what works well and what needs further improvement in the process of volunteer recruiting in the region. I am chomping at the bit to get started and cannot wait to begin. 

I must sign off now as I have to venture out into Delhi to find myself a temporary cell phone for the duration of my time here in India. When I next post in this blog I shall be in Amritsar and settled in a hotel that shall be my home for the next few weeks. Thanks for reading!

______________________________________________________

www.readindia.org
www.pratham.org.uk
www.prathamusa.org
www.pratham.org