Subject: For the Benefit of Many
Dear reader,
Over the past month, we started working more closely with the various Homes under CAS. We visited each one to understand their existing processes, the challenges they face, and where there may be opportunities for improvement. Over the coming months, we will be working alongside the leadership teams at each Home to address some of these challenges and strengthen their systems.
It all started with our two day exposure visit to Hunnar Gurukul with 21 CAS staff members!
Opening New Windows of Possibility
This month, we facilitated a visit for 6 boys from Chembur Children’s Home to Gozoop, a digital marketing company. The group had just completed their 10th grade exams, and the visit offered them a glimpse into a new and unfamiliar area of work.
Such exposure visits are rare for these children, which made this experience especially meaningful. They were visibly fascinated and engaged deeply with what they saw and heard, and some even started considering new career options. The Superintendent of CCH, who accompanied them, also shared that the visit felt encouraging.
For us, this felt like an important step in the right direction in our work with CAS Homes, expanding what exposure can look like and opening up new possibilities. This became possible because of our friend Rohan, the founder of Gozoop.
Resource Page – Making Our Content Open Source
Our work at the Dongri Observation Home began with a focus on engagement. We designed and curated engagement plans that could work meaningfully with the children, with the intention of helping them imbibe values and gain exposure to the world beyond their immediate environment.
Over time, we observed that these children are deeply curious and highly street-smart. They are interested in understanding how things work and exploring different aspects of the world, though often outside traditional methods of education.
As we developed content and conducted sessions, we realised that many of our presentations and approaches could be useful to others as well – those working in Observation or Children’s Homes, education-focused NGOs, teachers, and even parents. From early on, we had intended to make this material openly accessible to anyone who might find it useful. This intention led to the creation of our “Resource Page.”
However, as we became absorbed in ongoing work, documenting and organising this content took a back seat and remained pending for some time. We have now been able to revisit this effort and have added a substantial amount of material to the page. You can now access and use it in any context you find meaningful.
We would value any suggestions or feedback you may have. Your inputs can help us make this resource more accessible and useful for others.
An Insight from the Ground
Our initial hypothesis that meaningful engagement can lead to change in children and influence the overall atmosphere of an Observation Home continues to hold true. Thoughtful and consistent engagement has proven to be a powerful tool for transformation and remains central to this journey.
Alongside this, we have also observed that there are relatively few organisations that actively share their content or collaborate openly, even when working towards similar goals. There often seems to be an underlying sense of competition or insecurity, which can limit openness and make collaboration more difficult. This is something we find concerning, especially in a space where the intention is to create collective impact.
A Question We’re Sitting With
Why do many organizations working for social causes compete with each other instead of collaborating openly? Why does the social sector also often feel like the corporate world?
Frequently Asked Questions
Following our last newsletter, we added a Frequently Asked Questions section to our website, based on the questions many of you have raised.
Continuing the Conversation…
Thank you for continuing to read and reflect with us. As we shape this space, we want it to genuinely help you understand our work better. What would you like to hear more about? What themes, reflections, or areas of interest would help you engage more deeply, and help this understanding ripple outward into society? Share Here
Planting Seeds of Transformation,
Why This Newsletter Exists
We believe this work is incomplete without society’s awareness and participation. This space is for sharing our work, approach, and learnings, including insights, questions, and challenges, and for building a thoughtful community around this often unseen area of work.
