We caught up with Swati again after she returned from Paris to hear about her adventure with YES Akademia and it sounds like it was a truly life-changing experience for her: “Tell me about your trip to Paris”: Swati: “It was an amazing, awesome, fantastic, good, dream come true, mesmerising 2 weeks. Some days we visited tourist attractions such as Le Louvre, The …
We recently caught up with one of our students who completed Level 2 English with Reality Gives last year. We are super proud of Swati as she has been selected to go to Paris as part of the YAKA Foundation (YES Academy) Cultural Exchange Program. Swati shared her story with us before flying off to Paris: “When did you join RGi?” Swati: “I joined in February 2018” “What did you …
I was contacted by a gentleman called Kotak after the story about my Donate4Dharavi Charity Run on 6th January 2019 was published in the Gujarat Samachar newspaper in the UK. He was keen to find out how he could donate money to the charity and during the conversation he mentioned that he used to live in Dharavi as a young child. Now living in the UK just a few miles …
We recently caught up with our biggest individual donor, Vikram Gudi. With both parents being born in India and his mum born in Mumbai, Vikram’s ties to Mumbai remain strong and his reasons for giving back are inspirational. Check out the interview below to learn more about Vikram and what motivates him. Charlotte: “Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?” Vikram: “I was born in Birmingham but both of my …
A question I have been asked often is – “What is working in Dharavi like?” Once you assume that there is no expectation of dreariness, it is quite a valid question. At the risk of generalising, most “well-off” Indians don’t dream of working or even going to the infamous slum of Dharavi on a regular basis. I will argue that they spend their lives working hard so they’ll never have …
Even before I knew it was definitely going to happen, I couldn’t resist spilling to everyone who’d listen that I might be moving to Mumbai. Something had been niggling away in my mind for years telling me to make this sort of leap, but why leave so many friends and family behind? Why move hundreds of miles from home and press the reset button after three years of settling in …
Since 1984 ‘Technology, Entertainment, Design’ (more commonly known the world over as ‘TED’) have been sharing ‘ideas worth spreading’ relating to all things, from education to business, science to development. In the last 30 years, they’ve shared over 2,400 talks in more than 100 languages which have been viewed 500 million times. These talks are a regular source of ideas, information and inspiration here in the Reality Group office – here are …
As the monsoon reaches Mumbai, our sports programs end for another season, but not before our ‘End of Season Awards Ceremony’. Attended by both the Dharavi Girls Football Academy and Dharavi Cricket Academy, this event celebrated the outstanding achievements of individuals recognised through Player of the Season awards and celebrated the hard work, collaborations and partnerships which have helped take these programs forward. A highlight of the evening was keen footballer, …
As well as welcoming the Mumbai monsoon, June also sees children across India return to school. Gathering at the school gates with butterflies of anxiety and excitement, returning to old friends, meeting new teachers; whether you’re in Mumbai or Manchester, so much about this experience is universal.
April 25th 2016 was a special day at Reality Gives. At 9am, six women gathered nervously in our Ashayen Community Centre and began their three week intensive English Teacher Training Program. The first of its kind, this course was the culmination of a lot of hard work and the realisation of a long held dream. This is the story of how, thanks to a lot of hard-work, dedication and enthusiasm …
