Genesis: CLT was conceived in 1997 and started with one program - School-Mid-Day-Meal in one Government School for day labourer’s children.
“From my apartment window I would see children building castles out of mud. Kids who should be spending their time in school were out accompanying their parents at the construction.
This scene which resonated with me would repeat itself day after day until I realized a universal truth - Children loved building castles, homes - a place of belonging, whether at a beach, a playground or here at a construction site. Children's Lovecastles Trust (CLT) was borne out of a passion to keep kids in school. To give them the education they deserve, so they can go build on their dreams and aspirations.” Bhagya Ragachar, Founding Trustee
Today CLT has evolved into an Education and developmental alternative model that is scalable, replicable and sustainable!
CLT started adopting schools many years before the Department of Education put in a process for Adoption of Schools. Our school-lunch was Community-owned kitchens run with their full participation. This program ran for 7 Years in many schools till it became a State Government policy to implement it in all schools.
Education with ICT Tools was launched in 2000 for a village school with 1,000 children coming from 10 villages. Most had not seen Computers and a few thought of it as a smart calculator. No one thought it could be used as an aid by teachers for technology-aided teaching. This whole process brought a shift in how teaching was perceived and learning was experienced in Jakkur community!
Year 2008 marks ten years and CLT has made some inroads to unfamiliar territories, engaging in some path-breaking initiatives. CLT’s e-learning initiative - e-Patashale program- is integrated into many government schools with CLT’s own curricula-based, locally relevant content in regional and English languages. CLT has an After-school Learning Center- our flagship program- that is self-directed and mentor-driven and is part of the Intel Computer Clubhouse Network.
Philosophy: CLT acts as a Catalyst and a stimulus in strengthening communities and
‘Cultivate a Community of Young Learners’ – The future change-makers
Rationale - Mainstream India can afford only government schools. CLT believes that every child has a right to good school and Government schools should be strengthened and private schools should be an option. CLT does not engage in setting up parallel structures, but, rather endeavours to strengthen the existing social structure with an overlay of CLT network of support for pedagogy, technology, infrastructure and mentoring programs.
CLT Management
Bhagya Rangachar (Founder and Managing Trustee) - lived in the U.S. and worked as a Software Professional. She also has an extensive background in the field of social service in the U.S., having worked for the Blind Association for many years both as a volunteer in the rehabilitation program as well as an Executive Director for the organization. She has also worked for the adult literacy programs in the U.S. She believes that each child that is set free with education, in turn, will set a chain of actions that frees many others.
Aravind Sitaraman (Trustee) - Is a Computer Scientist with over 23 years of work experience.
As the Managing Director of the Cisco Dveleopment Organisation, Aravind has management
responsibility for all R&D activities in India. He also sponsors an Innovation Hub to incubate new
technologies. Recently he started a new business unit to focus on products and solutions for
emerging countries, called ECSSBU (Emerging Countries Solutions and Services Business Unit). After
pioneering work in several startup companies and experience with US high-tech companies such
as Novell Inc and Oracle Corporation, he became one of Cisco Systems leading inventors. He
has 54 US patents to his name. He was the co-Chairman of the Voice on DSL standard and Chairman of Auto-Configuration Forum in the global DSL Forum. He has presented several research papers in the DSL Forum, ATM Forum and IETF.
Since his relocation to India in 2000, Aravind has reestablished whatisindia.com in Bangalore.
Kentaro Toyama (Trustee) - Is Assistant Managing Director of Microsoft Research India, in Bangalore. He leads a group that conducts research to identify applications of computing technology in emerging markets and for international development. From 1997 to 2004, he was at Microsoft Research in Redmond, where he did research in multimedia and computer vision and worked to transfer new technology to Microsoft product groups. Kentaro graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in physics and from Yale with a Ph.D in Computer Science.
Harsha Murthy (Trustee) - is currently Executive Vice President and Corporate Head- Strategic Planning and Business Development for King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He currently serves and has served on a number of corporate and not-for-profit boards of directors. He received a Bachelor's degree from Duke University and a Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School and completed additional course work at Harvard College and Oxford University.
Saroj Gandhi (Trustee) - grew up in North India. She was working on her master's degree in English Literature when she got married and moved to the states as a World Bank spouse. She has given her time to various causes as a volunteer over the years. She is a student of Vedanta and that is a big part of her life now. She says she has been extremely blessed and wishes to share her good fortune in any way that she can.
Jai Shree Poddar (Trustee) – is a Textile designer from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad in the year 1980. Some years of designing fabrics for the hand weaving industry, led her to join the organized industrial sector. She has been working as Design Director for the company 'Himatsingka Seide' for the past seventeen years. “The villages of India, its peoples and living environment have always been a source of joy and inspiration for me . . .”
Gurushri Swamy (Trustee) - is a development economist with more than twenty years of experience with the World Bank, Washington D.C., working on several countries in Africa and East Asia. Her work has covered many areas, including poverty, human development, gender and food security. She has also taught at George Washington University in Washington D.C. on development, and lectured at IIMB, NAIS and ISEC in Bangalore, and consults for donors and aid agencies.
Dr.Krishna Challa (Trustee) - is a graduate from IIT. He holds two Master's Degrees in Engineering and Operations Research. He also holds an Master's and Ph.D. from M.I.T. (Sloan School of Management and Economics/Finance). After a brief tenure in the U.S. private sector, he worked in the World Bank to become the manager of a variety of Units and Divisions. He recently left the World Bank with an early retirement from a senior executive position.
Volunteers
The main strength behind CLT is the volunteers. There are several overlapping layers of volunteers that make it possible for the organization to function at an optimum level with minimum salaried staff. The essence of CLT's activities is the inter-connectivity and involvement of these groups at various levels.
Young Professionals: This is a group of young professionals (from the art, media and technology industries) who contribute time, resources and energy. They meet periodically in informal settings and come up with ideas and plans.
Women:A wide and energetic network of women taking responsibility of running nutrition and health programs in various schools.
Community:The main reason for the success of all CLT programs is the direct involvement of volunteers from the local community. CLT works with local community leaders, teachers, parents, housewives and youth to enable continuous and effective functioning of the programs through the year.
