Mentor Mondays with Nirmala Naik
Nirmala Naik’s first job after her Masters programme was with Reap Benefit, and it started right in the middle of the pandemic lockdown. But Nirmala didn’t let that stand in her way of enthusiastically becoming a key member of our team in Nelamangala District. Recently she started working with Government Schools and Affordable Private schools mentoring Grama Ninjas. We caught up with her over a Zoom call to find out about how she came to work at Reap Benefit, what her proudest moments have been and what she wants to do next.
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself Nirmala.
A: I am 23 years old and was born and brought up in Katagarkoppa (near Murudeshwara), a town in the Bhatkal Taluk of Uttara Kannada district. My parents are both farmers, and though they didn’t have access to education they made sure that my sibling and I went to school.
I studied at our local Kannada Medium School till grade 12 and then pursued my B.Com. Towards the end of my graduation, many of my friends were applying to Azim Premji University in Bengaluru for their Masters programme, and I also decided to apply. I couldn’t believe it when I got selected to attend the interview. I was the only girl from Bhatkal to be selected. I was very scared. I had never been to Bengaluru before, and I was not very fluent in English or Hindi. There would be students from all over the country coming to the University from very different backgrounds than mine. Plus, I didn’t want to leave my friends and family. But my college lecturers convinced me to utilise the opportunity. So, I attended the interview was completely shocked when I found that not only was I accepted but I also received a 100% scholarship! It felt like a miracle.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your Master programme and how it shaped you.
A: I joined APU to do my Masters in Education where we learned about education, philosophy, child development psychology and more.
I had many moments of doubt if this was the right thing for me to do. For the first time I was in an almost entirely English speaking environment, all my course materials for class were in English. Up until I finished my B.Com I was only conversing in Kannada.
The APU classes were very interactive and required students to participate in discussions. I was mostly silent in my first semester in class, but many of my professors and classmates drew me out and told me to speak in Kannada and not hesitate. With each passing semester, I became more confident and more participative.
Q: How did you get interested in social work?
During our Masters programme we were sent for a number of field immersion visits to study and research a range of topics. It was on these trips that my interest in the area of social work and education came about.
From visiting Yadgir to studying Government Schools in the region to studying why there was a high school dropout rate amongst tribal students in Hosahalli to studying the success factors of the Nanhi Kali program in Uttara Kannada, my eyes were opened to the challenges so many young people face in getting an education.
I knew that I wanted to pursue a career that wold let me work more closely with these young people.
Q: How did you come to join Reap Benefit?
When the 2020 Covid19 Lockdown was announced I was at home studying for my final exams and looking for jobs. What was meant to be a week long trip home go extended indefinitely.
I saw that Reap Benefit was looking for people for a partner project in Nelamangala, so I applied and got through!
It was a challenging time, as I was still studying. I would wake up early study till 9am, attend my orientation sessions and team meetings till the evening and then again do my course work till 2am. I was very planned and focussed though and that helped me get through this time.
Q: Tell us about your role at Reap Benefit.
I started working in Nelamangala with the Reap Benefit partner organisation team in August/September. We were using Public Problem Solving as a tool to impart constitutional values in youth.
When the project wound up, I joined Subhani Sir and the team in mentoring Grama Ninjas and activating their problem solving skills. Our goal is to reach 1000 Solve Ninjas by March 2021 and get them to solve civic and environmental problems in their homes, communities and schools.
Subhani Sir has been a real mentor to me through this entire time, and other team members like Archana Ma’am have been there to answer all my doubts and questions.
Q: What’s it like working at Reap Benefit?
The culture in the organisation is one of trust and freedom. Even as a junior member of the team I can interact freely with senior management and founders talk openly to them.
I ask so many questions, reflect a lot and ask for lots of feedback — but rather than get annoyed, team members have been appreciative. If I ask any question at any point of time or have any doubt I know it will always be answered.
Q: What kind of opportunities have you had so far?
From something as simple as conducting activities during our TGIF sessions to hosting our Town Halls, to conducting a session for the first time, there have been many firsts for me in the last few months. The Town Hall and TGIF sessions helped me get to know members in other teams and interact with them. Something important when many are still working from home, and opportunities to interact are few.
After observing Subhani Sir in session I had an chance to lead a session for 33 Grade 7 students in a school in Kuluvanahalli. Subhani Sir’s feedback was very valuable to me. Till that point I had visited many schools, observed teachers and interviewed students and teachers but I had never taken a class.
Q: What’s been a memorable moment for you?
I took a session at the Sunrise Private English Medium school for 60 students 60 of Grades 8 & 9. After the session the HM and teachers all gave me good feedback and the HM even called other teachers and HMs of other schools in front of me and told them about the session and asked them to also bring Reap Benefit sessions to their schools.
I also really enjoyed our recent Black Spot Fixing at Jayanagar during Holi.
Q: Have you met any amazing Solve Ninjas in the past few months?
A: At the Vijay School, Solve Ninjas Chinmayi and Anjana Devi discovered and investigated a garbage dumping issue near the high way. They made a video about the issue and then reported it to the Panchayat officer. After a week the spot was cleaned!
I am very impressed with Chinmayi’s enthusiasm. Every day she texts me asking me about the problems she has identified and her ideas and plans for solving them. She is also very active on the chatbot. She regularly goes into the community and spreads awareness about single use plastic, the problems with burning waste and plastics and more. She even took a context setting session for younger students. She’s doing an amazing job and I want to support her however I can.
Vidya and Chidanand are also two Solve Ninjas who have impressed me with their work ethic. They have solved many problems around pot hole related issues and conduct regular online meetings as mentors.
Q: What do your parents think about what you do?
My parents always thought I would get my degree and join a corporate job. They didn’t know what the social sector was initially, but now they understand the work I do.
During my APU days when I went to do research, a local school honoured me with a shawl and wrote about my work in the local newspaper. My mother felt so proud that I was doing something for society.
When my friends and family see my social media posts about our work at Reap Benefit they call my mother and tell her and she feels proud, so do my school teachers. Many of my school teachers can’t believe that I am doing this work as I was very silent and shy in school.
Q: A proud moment in the past year?
A: I want to share this one story. Yogesh is a student from Uttara Kannada — whom I have known for some time now. Yogesh was always playing video games or being on his phone. He came to me one day and said ‘Akka, I want to do something. Please guide me.’
So I told him about the Grama Ninja program and asked him to find 20 Solve Ninjas for mentoring. I took a chance on him. He found them, made a WhatsApp group with 20 students aged 11–23. Since then he has done online sessions on chat bot training for students, has been campaigning in every home in the community about dry and wet waste segregation and about the accidents caused by speed breakers. In fact he even painted the speed breakers white to prevent accidents at night. Just this month he he received his first salary from Reap Benefit. I feel good to know that I can change one person’s life a little bit and make a small difference.
Q: What do you have planned next?
A: There’s no NGO working in my home town. I want to take Reap Benefit’s work the the students here. I have already formed a group of 21 students interested in public problem solving. I want to give back to my community.
