To set the scene, I’m in Maharastra, India’s second most populous state. Within the state lies Mumbai, India’s booming financial capital. But that’s not to say the state as a whole is rich – far from it. Aurangabad, from where I start my journey, is a bustling city of nearly a million people. Like numerous Indian metropolises, Aurangabad’s traditional industries such as the manufacture ofPaithani silk saris are dying out in favour of consumer-led demand for beer and electricals from companies like Kingfisher and Videocom. There is also a large military base on the outskirts of the city and (from what I saw) an underdeveloped tourist market at the World Heritage site of the Ellora caves which date from 600AD just 30km away. In contrast a step outside the city to the villages is like going back a century in time. The sole source of income is agriculture, including cotton, sugar, wheat and mangoes, using traditional farming methods like ox-drawn carts.
The minute I’d put my bags down on the hotel bed there was a knock at the door –Sachin, the head of Aurangabad’s District Resource Centre (DRC) had arrived. 
No time for a rest – we were going straight to see the projects in action. After nearly throttling myself with the scarf from my Salwar kameez on Sachin’s motorbike we arrived at the centre. There I spoke to two IT teachers who explained to me about the different programmes running. The Aurangabad District covers a staggering 100,000 children across 1,200 villages. As well as running its own classes, Pratham collaborates with the government schools to provide materials and teacher training.
No time for a rest – we were going straight to see the projects in action. After nearly throttling myself with the scarf from my Salwar kameez on Sachin’s motorbike we arrived at the centre. There I spoke to two IT teachers who explained to me about the different programmes running. The Aurangabad District covers a staggering 100,000 children across 1,200 villages. As well as running its own classes, Pratham collaborates with the government schools to provide materials and teacher training.Enough chatting, we were off on Sachin’s bike again, dodging cattle, goats and buses, to see the classes takingplace. As we arrived in thefirst village, Takli, we saw the preparations for the 26th January (Republic Day) in the playground. 
One thing I found all Pratham volunteers had in common was their absolute dedication to teaching alongside hard and time-consuming professions. I met one of the 1,200 Pratham volunteers giving a reading lesson, as part of the 'Read toLearn' programme run by Pratham for 6 to 14 year olds. He was a Pyschology student from a nearby village who liked doing social work. We then moved on to the second village, Dhamangaon Tanda. Here the Pratham volunteer was a farmer. These children were certainly energetic! After doing a counting game I was told they were going to show me an ‘English poem’… this turned out to be a very lively rendition of the Hokey Cokey!!
One thing I found all Pratham volunteers had in common was their absolute dedication to teaching alongside hard and time-consuming professions. I met one of the 1,200 Pratham volunteers giving a reading lesson, as part of the 'Read toLearn' programme run by Pratham for 6 to 14 year olds. He was a Pyschology student from a nearby village who liked doing social work. We then moved on to the second village, Dhamangaon Tanda. Here the Pratham volunteer was a farmer. These children were certainly energetic! After doing a counting game I was told they were going to show me an ‘English poem’… this turned out to be a very lively rendition of the Hokey Cokey!!_____________________________________________________
www.readindia.org
www.pratham.org.uk
www.prathamusa.org
www.pratham.org
www.readindia.org
www.pratham.org.uk
www.prathamusa.org
www.pratham.org
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