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Pragatee

Foundation

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A student group presenting their ‘L

EGO

Bridge’ project at

the showcase event

      ,

the Enabling Leadership (EL) project

organized a community-wide event for the

‘Build Maya’ (LEGO-based) programme. At

this event, the children in the programme

from rural government schools showcased

their LEGO structures, and the stories

behind them, on stage. ‘e innovation and

creativity on display, the enthusiasm of the

villagers and the changes in behaviour and

mindset seen by the parents gave us the

confidence to go from being an experiment

to a formal programme,’ says Ravi Sonnad,

ounder and CEO of the Project.

Starting with just one box of blocks

donated by children from the SA and

Singapore, the programme bore fruit in

remarkable ways. Eager children began

to improve their focus, collaboration and

communication, critical thinking and

problem-solving skills, as well as getting

a glimpse into design and architecture by

building structures in their sessions. e

programme was extended to more villages,

and rural students grades 4–9 enrolled

in a six-year play-based curriculum that

focuses on technical as well as leadership

Founded by Ravi Sonnad in 2005

Pragatee Foundation is committed to

the empowerment and emancipation

of women, children, youth, the aged

and underserved rural populations.

Its project Enabling Leadership

(EL) runs on the vision that ‘Every

child can be a leader, a role model,

a positive contributor and a global

citizen’. It aims to develop leadership

skills in adolescents with unequal

access to quality education. Through

programmes that use football, music

and LEGO-type building blocks, EL

currently empowers more than 5,000

underserved adolescents in rural and

urban areas with leadership skills that

will enable them to take responsibility

for themselves, their communities and

the world around them. EL aims to

reach and impact 1 million children

by 2030.