We have recognised that in order for children to progress towards a comfortable and sustainable life, they need extra support at various levels from age 10 all the way till age 28 till they are financially independent. Our commitment to vulnerable children is to provide that continued support as they transition through various developmental milestones.
This program focuses on building core literacy, numeracy, life skills, and emotional well-being. This age is critical for children to feel a sense of care, safety, and confidence, so that they are motivated to continue learning and pursuing their dreams. We ensure that these young children are equipped with the necessary emotional and functional skills to support more advanced development at a later stage.
This is the age where we see a lot of drop outs. The Ed Support Program ensures that children stay in school or go back to school, helps children catch up academically, clear Grade 10, and explore future paths. It combines tutoring with life skills, career awareness, and personal development to empower informed choices for the next stage in their life beyond schooling.
This program focuses on youth who are going through complex challenges of managing their academics, dealing with adolescent pressures, figuring out their future. It prepares youth for life after care through mentoring, counselling, and career guidance. At this stage, MAD volunteers also engage with other stakeholders like family members to ensure that the required emotional and practical support is given at home as well.
This program focuses on youth who are going through complex challenges of managing their academics, dealing with adolescent pressures, figuring out their future. It prepares youth for life after care through mentoring, counselling, and career guidance. At this stage, MAD volunteers also engage with other stakeholders like family members to ensure that the required emotional and practical support is given at home as well.
Radhakrishnan (RK) came from a small village near Coimbatore. His father left them when he was 9 years old, and his mother found it increasingly difficult to support her two sons alone, so she put him in a shelter home. MAD volunteers started mentoring RK and were blown away with his curiosity and thirst for knowledge. They spent hours providing academic support so that he could catch up with his peers.
By the time he got to high school, RK was interested in pursuing a career in medicine. Doing MBBS felt like a distant dream given his economically weak background, but he worked hard and persevered.
While studying for his 12th grade exams, he simultaneously prepared for the NEET exam (a mandatory requirement for MBBS). Despite his best efforts, RK scored 169/720 in his first attempt and was unable to secure himself a medical seat. All this while, pressure was mounting on him to return home and look for a job, but his mother would not let him give up his education and his dream.
Charged with his mother’s encouragement and tuition & housing support from MAD, RK took a year to prepare and re-attempt the entrance exams. This time, he scored 406/720 and was successfully placed at the Cuddalore Government Medical College. Since then, RK has successfully finished his first year of medical school and is well on his way to becoming a doctor!
An Impact performance evaluation funded by Omidyar in 2021 compared MAD’s beneficiary performance with over 180,000+ beneficiaries across 60+ countries. MAD’s depth of impact was benchmarked top 20% with one of the highest Net Promoter Scores recorded. Reported outcomes being: Access to formal education, Improvement performance in studies, and Received employment opportunities.
At the heart of it, there needs to be a volunteer who acts as a mentor for every child. But a mentor cannot do it alone. They need an ecosystem of support. MAD provides the ecosystem for the mentor to succeed, and is also investing in other ecosystem enablers to do the same.
how to be a volunteer
We are investing in leaders on-ground (Community Organisers) who are rapidly building self-sustaining communities across India, that can support and run volunteer-based mentoring programs.
