To Grow Yourself, First Know Yourself!

Selfies became an in-thing in the early 2000s, before which we would have taken the help of someone else to click a picture of ours. Today, YouTubers travel worldwide and capture still and moving images without depending on a cameraperson or expensive gear. All this is possible because front-end cameras enable us to ‘see’ ourselves.

But the question is, “do we really know ourselves? “it is interesting that many of us don’t know ourselves as we should or as we are!

Here is an interesting statistic to get us going.

Right now, you and I (the earth) are rotating at 1600 kilometres per hour. The earth is also revolving around the sun at 100,000 kilometres per hour. And to top it all, the milky way, i.e. the galaxy that includes our solar system, is moving at 700,000 kilometres per hour. But not a leaf in our backyard moves on account of that.

It is indeed worthwhile to reflect on our amazing universe and appreciate the immense opportunity that you and I have been given to exist and flourish, considering that we are like dust consuming a teeny-weeny space in some town/city somewhere on this earth which is but a small planet on a solar system in the giant milky way!  

After having digested the fact that we are but a minuscule dot in this gigantic universe, let us take a moment to look at ourselves. Do you know that we have 30,000,000,000,000 (30 lakh crore) cells in our body? And it is not just that! Every cell of yours is distinct yet very much the same because it has a unique stamp called YOU!

We all live distinctive lives and do different things, but we must know who we are and what makes us unique. So, the natural question that comes to our mind is, “why should I know myself?” Here’s why!

Knowing Yourself

Helps you to improve on your strengths and work on your weaknesses.

Builds your self-confidence. Your confidence is no more based on what others think of you.

Gives direction to your life.

Aids in making wise decisions in life.

Check your VITALS
V What are the VALUES you cherish? What are your non-negotiables?
I What holds your INTEREST? What are your hobbies?
What are you passionate about?
T What is your basic TEMPERAMENT? Do you prefer to lead or follow?
Are you organised,or do you procrastinate?
Are you practical or creative?
Are you an introvert or extrovert?
And so much more!
A How do you work AROUND-THE-CLOCK? How does your bio-rhythm work?
When are you most focused?
L What is your LIFE MISSION AND GOAL? Why do you do what you do?
S What are my STRENGTHS/SKILLS? What are you good at?

How it All Began

Value Education Trust is an educational NGO established to create virtuous and responsible citizens in society.

Even as our Country continues to advance in multiple sectors, it has lost its values somewhere along the way. Sadly, value-based education is not incorporated into our Country’s education system. This insight was the driving force that compelled Dr George Samuel to institute the organisation in 1992. Dr George Samuel is a Nuclear Scientist by profession who started his career as a Scientific Officer at Bhaba Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai and later served as a Consultant at the World Health Organization (WHO).

Over the years, we have imparted value-based education to over 60,000 teachers, 10,000 students and 5000 parents through seminars and workshops conducted at venues ranging from primary schools to academic staff colleges in India.

What We Do Today

However, things took a radical change in 2018! Between June 1, 2018, and August 19, 2018, Kerala received heavy rainfall. The result was catastrophic, affecting almost one in every six people in the state. The disasters impacted three-fourths of the Kerala villages and temporarily displaced nearly 1.5 million people. Almost five hundred people lost their lives, and the total damage and losses were estimated to be worth USD 3.8 billion.

While Kerala was recovering from the shock of the devastating disasters of 2018, another spell of incessant rains resulted in heavy floods and landslides in August 2019. As a result, Wayanad, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts were severely impacted. 

At VET, we consider ourselves fortunate to have played a small part in the massive relief operations in Kerala. After the floods, we continued to engage with the people and the local administrative bodies in the affected areas. The primarylearning we received during our initial assessments in flood-affected villages of Kerala was that while classroom training has its place, we needed to envision projects that bring about sustainable transformation in the educational development of children living in rural communities.  

Today, VET offers underprivileged children in India quality training for value-based skill development, which complements their primary and secondary education to help them achieve effective learning outcomes and exercise good citizenship.

Our leading causes are:
  • Shaping Bright Minds – Whole-brain development of children of 10-12 years.
  • Creating Math Geniuses – Developing the math proficiency of children of 13-14 years.
  • Giving Wings to Dreams – Skilling for academic excellencefor children of 15 -16 years.

In addition to improving the children’s academic performance and employability skills, we also provide character education to help them inculcate good personal, character, and work values in life.

Giving Wings to Dreams: Our work at Edathua village in Alappuzha, Kerala.

A baseline survey conducted earlier this year among 100 underprivileged children of 15 to 16 years (grade 10 and 11) belonging to the flood-hit areas of Pattathanam and Kalangara in Edathua village of Alleppey District yielded the following results:

    1. The children do not enjoy an adequate level of psycho-social wellbeing
    2. The children lack the skills needed to perform well at school and identify/choose their best-fit careers.
    3. The children have poor internet connectivity for online classes, lack smartphones or other learning devices, and their families cannot afford to buy subject-wise textbooks for studies.

In response to the above needs, we providethem with skill training witha healthy mix of content and in-person support. The intervention includes:

1. Training sessions to build the employability skills of the children, including:
  • Soft skills which help the children understand their true potential and work towards it.
  • Life Skills thatenable the children to overcome their internal struggles of life.
  • Study skills that help the children understand the ‘how’ of learning.
  • Career skills which give the children an overview of the career options in front of them and the pathway they must take.
  1. Counselling support for the children to help improve their psycho-social wellbeing and ensure that they can apply the classroom learning in their day-to-day life.
  1. Educational support to ensure the non-disruption of their studies by the provision of:
  • Internet connectivity for online learning
  • Learning devices
  • Subject-wise textbooks
  • Extra tuition support
  1. Psychometric testing  for children to help them know their personality type, acknowledge their interests and understand themselves better.
  1. Career counselling to help the children select the right stream or subject and move toward the most suitable career path.
Expected short-term outcomes of the project:
  • The children achieve more than 75% marks in all subjects for their Board exams after project completion.
  • The children identify and choose their best-fit careers after project completion.
Expected Long-term impact of the project:
  • Underprivileged children have increased life opportunities.
Financials:
  • It costs Rs. 20,000/- to train and equipa child.

What our Children Say

About our training sessions:

https://youtu.be/CwoDU4nKS4o

About our educational support

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in4IAQ9M6_w

About our counselling sessions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZNXIvtT37M

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