Our Work
The first batch of Project 18 started in August and went on for three months. We explored the idea of “adulting in Isolation” as a wicked problem by virtue of it having complex and interconnected cause and effects. Individual experiences and diverse perspectives made for a rich mind map that helped the group navigate the problem that careleavers (young people who grow up in care homes and have to leave at 18) face.A theoretical framework came to life during the interactions with the Young People and Ramya Sundarajan the CEO of WeLive. Ramya offered an honest perspective on what it takes to run WeLive , the highs and the lows and despite all the challenges the impact that it has made in the lives of the young people .
Exchanging stories and exploring ways to contribute meaningfully
Exploring each other's worlds and finding common ground was a constant theme in the internship , this helped ground the understanding of the challenges faced by careleavers and the not- for profit organisation. Learning more about the history and the forms of resource mobilisation helped the interns craft exciting strategies some of which we implemented.
Meher
Neev Academy, 12th Grade
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Having arrived at the Karnataka State Council for Children Welfare, I was sweating buckets. I’ve never been especially confident in social situations, and the whole car ride, I had just been rehearsing the things that I might say or that I might ask others. The first session, however, had been easy, allowing me to meet with people who deeply cared about the issue at hand, and in many ways were similar to me. The team did not for a moment allow us to stop, and we dove headfirst into understanding the situation better. The next week, we had the opportunity to speak with some of the youth, and the CEO of WeLive. Khushbu had been my partner, and hearing the harrowing stories she narrated, about the peace she had found in life, the things she was saying struck a chord in me, that what we were doing did matter.
Our internship culminated in us organizing and executing a fundraiser of my own. I, and two others decided to work in collaboration with PreLoved to sell second-hand clothes and raise funds for the youth at WeLive. As the day of the fundraiser began, I was a bit unnerved, what would we do? Would people even buy our clothes, what if we could raise no money? But there was Prabhu. Prabhu reassured us that people cared, and they would buy clothes, and though we had set ourselves a meagre goal of earning Rs 4000, Prabhu encouraged us to think higher. 4000 became 6000, then 10000, then 15000 and by the end of the day we had raised a little over Rs.16000. The fundraiser not only left me with a feeling of satisfaction but also reminded me how much I had grown over the past couple of months. When I first arrived, I had been too nervous to speak, and by the fundraiser, I was going up to people encouraging them to visit our stall, persuading them to buy something for a friend, or simply just try something on. It goes without saying how gratifying this whole experience has been, and a huge thanks goes to my fellow interns and the team from Rootbridge and WeLive who helped me, but mostly to the youth at WeLive, who reminded me that small changes do count and that anyone can inspire a small change.
Shreshta
National public school, 11th Grade
When I got this opportunity, I was excited and optimistic as to what was to come. I did not know what was expected out of me, or what I could expect from this experience. This was my first internship that happened face-to-face, where I got to learn something under experienced mentors. I was excited to see how this internship would change me, and in hindsight I’d say it changed me for the better.
The first F2F session we had was an ice-braker session. Here were my first impressions of the group I was with – my new peers were very kind and were very very smart and introspective; the mentors I was going to be working and learning under were very friendly and approachable (other than extremely funny, knowledgeable and cultured). I feel like these sorts of internships seem like they’re very serious business through and through, but the people I met here made me feel welcome and comfortable.
The second F2F was us conversing with YPs themselves as well as the CEO- Ms.Ramya in the WeLive organic store. Talking to the YPs was, for me, just fun and interesting. The YP I met was friendly and talkative (I mean that in the best way). We conversed mainly in Hindi, and I appreciate his patience while he tried to decode my broken Hindi. The talk we had with Ms. Ramya was the part where I felt like I learnt the most during this internship. She explained everything from the motivation to begin this social enterprise, to the operations and functions, to the conditions under which they are working (i.e. donations, government policies, politics etc.) and the lives YPs.
It was informative and made me realise the number of problems and points of view I had never thought of. Even though sometimes we feel as though we understand the things that are happening around us, there will always be instances that will make us think ‘I really DO live in a bubble then.’
The next few sessions- both online and F2F sessions- became more tuned towards the main goal- the fundraising project. We had one session about resource mobilization, that gave me a peek into the logistics part of our fundraising project.​
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My team and I (3 of us) decided to have a stall, in association with The PreLoved Co., in a small-sized mela in JP Nagar to raise funds. We initially had a lot of ideas that we ultimately had to scrap due to either budget/time constraints or just due to the fact that we couldn’t really expect great footfall.
We were able to confidently choose one idea and execute every part of it right because we were able to message, have one-on-one calls to discuss, debate and get pragmatic advice from the mentors at Project 18. Even though we did try to do most of the work, we wouldn’t have accomplished much without the constant encouragement we got from our guides.
To execute this plan, we first had to go to The PreLoved co, where we were able to sort, tag and box up clothes we thought was fit (taste-wise and occasion-wise) for the demographic of people we knew we were catering to. We then sent those clothes to the venue of the mela. The day of the mela, we three came early to set up the clothes on the racks, and in the boxes, label them, and set up the stand. We had a small shocker early that morning, because the weather did not seem to be on our side - it started pouring :’). We were careful and had a few precautions in place so we wouldn’t get badly affected if things weather-wise did go south. But thankfully, the rain gods heard our prayers and gave us beautiful weather for the rest of the day. It really changed the prospect of the day (and the mood) and the success we hoped for.
Through the day I learnt how to talk to people more spontaneously, grab their attention, make them interested in what I was saying, answer questions based on what I thought would convince them to support the cause we were here for, and understand the needs of the people, before trying to satisfy them.
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I feel that these three months have helped me understand people better, understand the intricacies of trying to solve social problems such as this, management skills and communication skills. And as a humanities student I feel like these learnings will stick with me, and I can apply these lessons in everything I intend to do in the future.
Jayeeta
Freedom International School
11th Grade
While applying to the WeLive Internship I had no idea what to expect. It was my first time applying for an internship and first time working with an NGO. I went in with zero expectations and ready to surprise myself. The first day was extremely amusing. It was mainly an ice-breaker session. It did break a lot of ice. All of us learnt each other in different ways, which you will only know if you meet Benson Sir. Next session we meet the YPs which was the game changer for me. It opened my eyes to a whole different world and how two humans from such different backgrounds came together to have a simple conversation. I realized that I was very confined to my own world and was in my comfort zone for such a long time that it was hard to comprehend that a YP shared their story with me. The following sessions were theory based where we learnt more about fundraising and it was finally time for us to make our fundraising project.
Of course, like all plans, they fail. Our first plan had failed but with the help of the teachers we were able to carry out our new project smoothly. It was a Preloved stall, a charity-based thrift store, set up at ‘Under the Peepal Tree’ Sante at JP Nagar. Before we got into this, my team had volunteered at ‘Hundred Hands’ Sante so we could understand a little bit about how a Preloved stall works and the overall working of it. This was another winning experience for me. It showed me a whole other part of Bangalore which I had never seen and it was really touching how so many people had come together to help each other and our society. Back to our project.
We were a team of 3 so all of us divided the work of coordinating, sorting the clothes at the Preloved store and getting people to come to our stall. At first we had very low expectations because our stall was at the corner and did not look as pleasing as the others. We were completely wrong. Raised money that went over our expectations in an hour. During the day, before lunch we met this lovely senior citizen who was a journalist. She told us how we could do better and attract more customers and about her life experience and gave us a piece of her wisdom which I will be forever grateful for. The day passed. Had hours where there were people all around the stalls and hours where we sat idly. Around 5 pm we started packing up and called it a day.
Throughout this internship I have learnt a lot. From communication to opening my comfort zone. It taught me to have confidence in myself and to put myself out there. To see if I would fail or not because you never know without trying. I explored new people and culture within the same city which I am grateful for. The internship also made me reflect about myself and the days I spent on it and made me process the things and information I am learning instead of just simply leaving it. In another way, it helped me be more in touch with myself. I thank this internship for helping me evolve as a human being.
Sophia
Mount Carmel College
Post Graduate in Communicative English
I remember one question from our application that stayed with me throughout my journey at Project18:Why do you want to be a part of this internship? Until then, I was joining because I wanted to do something, intern somewhere. But while answering that question, apart from forming a conviction, I was also looking to connect with the story in hand, the story of a young person like myself reaching out for their dreams.
My time at Project18 was filled with curiosity more than expectations. I was quite new to the concept of care homes and the government policies concerning these children past 18. Coming into this brand new space, I was lucky enough to meet very understanding and experienced individuals who not only introduced me to WeLive, Root Bridge and the Project18 program but also treated my voice as a valuable one in the space. My major takeaways were from the group work sessions, especially while we ‘felt’ each other through the ‘theatre of the oppressed’ exercises. As an individual, I am usually withdrawn and require a good amount of time to express myself in a space; I’m generally concerned if others will agree with my thoughts and if will I be able to ‘fit in’ to a certain space that deals with issues that are not familiar to me. But the team at Project18, along with the other interns, instantly gave me a very welcoming energy, allowing me the freedom to share my personal space with ease and comfort. It was honestly relieving to be able to share my thoughts, reflections, and evaluations and be acknowledged as they are, errors included. The activities that we were asked to engage with on the first face-to-face session, not only helped me to dig into the organisation's aesthetic but also get comfortable around my fellow interns.
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Over the course of the internship, I learnt the basics of creating a story around the cause of the foundation, and its importance in engaging the community in contributing to it. I was also introduced to the fundraising process, its stakeholders, its role in the functioning of the organisation, etc. I also heard various success stories of causes that have received financial support from creative and innovative fundraising attempts. Our online sessions, exercises and frequent evaluations kept me in the loop, helping me to constantly think differently, not really in terms of what could be materially possible, but just facilitating thought The greatest challenge I faced was the actual fundraising event. Since I’m not much of an assertive and interactive person, I was initially anxious that I wouldn’t be able to contribute well. But in reality, I received an enormous amount of help from the WeLive team, our mentor Benson sir, and especially my team members, Vanshika and Diya. To get myself comfortable with the process and also get an idea of how the system works, I took part in two events where Preloved Co. was holding a fundraising event. During our brainstorming sessions, we came up with different outlines for our event, and different possibilities as well.
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They seemed feasible and practical in theory, but we faced obstacles in the process of applying them. The challenges we faced were from an administrative perspective or a financial one, causing two of our events to not reach fruition. But here, I learnt resilience, and a determination to finish what we had started to do.
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In the process, I realized that as much as the cause is a part of me, I am also a part of the cause. I learnt to see the cause being bigger than me, therefore requiring me to push myself and see beyond my limitations. This included joining hands with others and putting in everything I had, in terms of time, ideas, skills, and energy.
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An important skill I developed during this process is listening and learning to disagree. While the goal takes precedence, it is important to let the goal decide every step. Further collaborating with others opened me to see the possibilities within a given idea, assess the outcome beforehand and weigh the profit to the cause as well. It is with these experiences that my team and I, with the help of our mentor and the Project18 team, held our fundraising event ‘Fund A Future’ at Milton Park on 26th October 2024 and raised Rs.13,500.00 It would be insufficient to say that I am grateful for the experiences gained and the skills learnt during this process. I have grown as an individual, a conscious individual who is now also a part of a contributing community, and understands that even the little I have to offer is valuable. I have grown into a family that is convinced of the chances it can provide to build someone’s future. I can say that I have achieved what I wrote as a response to my application question - I want to help someone because, whoever I am now, is because
someone reached out to me at the right time.
Vanshika
Mount Carmel College
Post Graduate in Communicative English
I went in without knowing anything and came out as a more confident person. I did not know what to expect when I joined the internship. I just knew it would be a breakdown of how to fundraise for various social causes. Even though the online sessions were very important, what left an impact on me were the meetings we had in person. I connected more with the cause because I was learning to empathise with the people around me. I made many friends from the WeLive Foundation and we are still connected. I was more determined to make a difference as it directly affected my new friends. The more time I spent with them, the more they made me feel loved and appreciated.
Most important learnings came from working at the Pre-loved collaborated events. I learnt many skills by implementing them practically. And eventually, I got the hang of it. We would calculate the sales we made that day, and it made me feel as if I was making a direct difference by participating in this way. Even though helping on an individual level, I became a part of something bigger than any of us. It prompted me to work for something that leaves a direct impact on society rather than for money.
Vanshika on the Soul Sante fundraiser
It started out with sorting of clothes in the store itself a few days before the event. I did that with two of the WeLive volunteers who I really came to bond with.
On the event day, we set up the stall early in the morning. Met more WeLive fundraisers who also were a part of the event. I formed a very special bond with them as well and even though everything was very new to me, they helped me settle emotionally. They would frequently come check on me and talk to me. Those conversations were relaxing between all the rush.
I was working with Bhavya at the Preloved stall. And it came with everything. I had to do the customer interaction, packing, transactions, literally everything because we were very short of people. Even though the morning sales were literally zero, it picked up during the afternoon. I felt thrilled and high on energy. I really started enjoying it after a while. I couldn't catch many breaks but that stopped being a problem once I got a hang of it. Meghna kept on checking on me and the sales frequently and would also tell if something should be done differently.
All in all, I felt very satisfied after we closed because the sales were impressive. I went and enjoyed the rock concert for a while before leaving. A few days later when WeLive and Preloved collaborated on a post that show on a post that showed the funds raised, I felt a sense of importance because I was a part of it and witnessed it all very closely.