Giving back: Pooja Bohra | Director, Projects, Society of Universe Lovers - WeAreTheCity India | Events, Network, Advice for Women in India

Tell us about Soul

SOUL is a registered NGO with a mandate to provide education to under-privileged children. Presently 62 children living in slums in Village Besai, Noida are being provided quality education in our school. We wish to reach out to more and more such children.

When was the organisation established?

We started our social initiatives in the 2012 but SOUL was formally registered in Sept 2013.

Which cities are you operating from?

Noida and Delhi

Why was SOUL set up?

I am very passionate about child education. I feel that every child should get an opportunity to get a n education so that he can live a life free from crime and becomes an asset to the society. With this in mind, I gathered five children living in slums in Village Besai, Noida and started teaching them at the weekend. As more children started joining, I kept a full time teacher to teach them for three hours daily. After a few months, about 35 children started coming to this informal school regularly.

To meet the growing expenses, I started connecting my friends to this initiative and more children were admitted to the school. Then we decided to formalise our initiative by registering our NGO in the name of SOUL, which stands for Society of Universe Lovers. So anyone who loves this universe and wants to give back something to the society can join us and become a part of the change in the lives of the children supported by us.

What’s your involvement / How did you get involved?

I am part of the core body of SOUL. I regularly visit the NGO and evaluate the progress made by the children. I am concerned about the overall development of these children and hence I spend considerable time in training the teachers. I also spend my weekends in connecting with like-minded people to expand our network in order take this initiative to the next level.

What is the mission of the organisation?

To work consistently and effectively for bringing visible and measurable positive impacts among the living beings and non-living things of our universe.

I am very passionate about child education. I feel that every child should get an opportunity to get a n education so that he can live a life free from crime and becomes an asset to the society.

What are your short term goals?

Better the level of education being imparted in our school

Reach out to more and more children living in slums in the village

Bring the teaching facilities to the best possible level

What are your long term goals?

Connect with some schools in Noida and ask them to allow us to use their premises after school hours to teach children from under-privileged backgrounds. Open similar schools in various slums in Noida and Delhi

Are you currently running any special initiatives?

Yes, our initiatives to educate under-privileged children are special in the sense that we try to bring them the best education facilities such as audio visual aids, extra-curriculum activities, etc. Soon we will be starting theatre classes for these children to help build their confidence levels, enhance team work and explore their hidden talents

How do you fundraise?

Fundraising is the most difficult part of running any social initiative. However, once the people realise the genuineness of your work, they keep connecting and help the initiative to grow. For this it is pertinent to maintain high transparency levels in the NGO.

With the basic principle of transparency in our minds, we invite people to connect with us and participate in our work. Soon many of them start contributing for the cause. Each donor is asked to adopt the education of a child and contribute Rs.250.00 for this per month. The details of the child and his/her progress are sent to the donor every month.