" The Grassroot Project"; Global Health Corps Fellowship essays

I am applying for a GHC fellowship to be a Program Manager with one of their participating organisations " The Grassroot Project". Following are a few questions answers to which will be evaluated in detail for fellowship grant.

Kindly give feedback on improvements to be made, for my application to stand out and be counted!

Why do you want to be a GHC fellow? (200 words)

As a professional working in the field of physical and health education, I strongly felt the need to have an innovative and inspirational approach in implementing programs that tackle health and fitness concerns among children and adolescents in India

It is with this realization that I found my calling. With a firm belief in the philosophy of "Fitness through Sport" I continue to strive towards achieving specific and measurable outcomes in assessing health related physical fitness of school students

GHC and its fellowship program will help me in adding another dimension to my teaching by combining the elements of Health, Education and Sports to deliver an innovative school sports program

It will also help me refine and upgrade my leadership skills. In my current role as a Technical Associate, I am responsible for the recruitment- training - and monitoring of high performance coaches to deliver our programmes

As a GHC fellow I hope to learn different ways in which I can assess and refine my ability to work with others thereby improving my Leadership Skills

Hence I firmly believe that the entire experience will be a step in the right direction towards achieving my long term professional and personal goals

QUESTION 2 -

Tell us about a time when you were part of a group that faced an obstacle and you came up with a creative solution. What was creative about this solution? Please focus on your role and its impact on the group. (300 words)

When I joined the Operations team of a start up focussing on sports education programs, we were brainstorming on adopting a specific approach to be the base of our curriculum.

The previous approach on skill development being the central theme in teaching sports was not giving the desired results as each child has different interests and abilities. Because of this some children lose confidence or interest due to the repetitive nature of the drills

With my hands on experience in the field and personal approach to coaching, I shared with the team how learning by understanding generates the required curiosity and interest in learning new skills. In a PE environment, children's basic desire is to play games. Hence, using games first, followed by a questions approach, facilitates the understanding to learn new skills. This makes children proactively practice these skills in order to taste further success.

In order to test this, I prepared a pilot programme for Cricket using the tactical approach and took the initiative to train our coach in its on field implementation. The program was very successful in getting the right feedback and delivering on our commitment to an inclusive- participatory sports program.

With the desired outcomes, I am now given the responsibility to upgrade our entire curriculum (across all sports) and align it with the TGFU (teaching games for understanding) methods. I think what makes this approach creative is the fact that it focuses on meeting the needs of the participants and facilitates learning instead of imposing them with instructions they are unable to comprehend.

Can people please suggest if the response adequately answers the basic question of providing a creative solution? Please help guys....

Why are you applying for this particular position, and what skills or experiences do you have that qualify you for this position? What do you hope to accomplish in this position during your fellowship year? (Maximum 175 words each)

Being actively involved in the field of children and sport, I really liked The Grassroot Project's concept of involving promising young athletes from the neighbourhood to educate children about HIV/AIDS awareness and teach them life skills using a sports based curriculum.

My motivation to apply for this position is twofold -
a. As a curriculum developer in Physical Education, experience firsthand this innovative model to deliver life skills, health education as well as leadership programmes through the medium of sport.

b. Expand my knowledge and skills to design and conduct capacity building/train-the trainer programs for new recruits.
As a Programme Manager, I bring with me the following skills and experience-
1. Extensive experience of working with athletes across all age-groups and helping them reach specific goals and targets both individually and as a team
2. Demonstrated involvement in youth and community development as Volunteer for Global Exchange (a British Council, VSO initiative) in India and the UK.
3. Experience in working with the key stakeholders - children, school administrators and athletes.
4. Proficiency with Microsoft Word/excel/power point.

I am a firm believer in Sport as a powerful tool to promote education, health, development and peace. Given an opportunity I would like to learn as well as share best practices in the field of health and fitness education and take this learning back home.

During the fellowship year with TGP, I want to be actively engaged in developing specific intervention programs as well as enhancing the effectiveness of existing ones to mobilize the youth in making the right decisions regarding their health, safety, personal and social development.

As Program Manager, I hope to achieve success in -
1. Empowering student-athlete leaders with skills and experience to become a change agent. During the course of the year, I would like to help strengthen their initiative through collective and individual learning opportunities, mentoring and support

2. Developing a monitoring and evaluation mechanism that encourages sustainability and establishes a system which delivers results irrespective of changes in the people involved
3. Upgrading my training and programme coordination skills in a vastly diverse cultural and community setting

in the first question, giving another reason beside improving your skill as your motivation is necessary to make them interested.

in the next paragraph


should be program

Consider to add the process about your pilot project specifically, it would help the reader easier to reach your message.

It's better if you could elaborate a bit more on what those measurable outcomes are. Then tell them how this program would help you achieve that knowledge or exposure to fine tune your approach.


Give an idea about what kind of dimension it would add.... It's important that you give more detailed explanation as to how it's going to help you with your goals.

Thank you SHanafi and Dumi, for your valuable insight. Actually , I am a bit confused in correctly addressing the 1st question " Why do you want to be a GHC fellow?" and the other " why are you applying for this particular position?"

I have made substantial changes to my answer 1st prompt. But it exceeds the word limit. Any suggestions for that?
Also please see answers to both my prompts below and I would appreciate feedback in knowing whether they accurately capture my reasons to apply for GHC fellowship and The Grassroot Project in particular

Why do you want to be a GHC fellow? (200 words)
As a professional working in the field of physical and health education, I strongly felt the need to have an innovative and inspirational approach in implementing programs that tackle health and fitness concerns among children and adolescents in India

It is with this realization that I found my calling. With a firm belief in the philosophy of "Fitness through Sport" I have strived towards achieving specific and measurable outcomes in assessing health related physical fitness (HRPF) of school students, identify those in the Obese as well as Underweight category and prepare nutritional and exercise plans to achieve healthy fitness levels.

The motivation behind applying for a GHC fellowship is to widen the scope and outreach of my involvement within the health and fitness domain. Through its partner organisation TGP I hope to gain experience in delivering an innovative Life Skills through Games program

Personally, joining the Health Corps will be an opportunity to combine my passion for sports and expertise in physical education with the desire to give back to the society. The corporate setup restricts my ability to make an impact only to those who can afford our services. I want to change this and the Health Corps will help me in making that transition by giving an opportunity to work for a dynamic NGO that utilizes Sport as a medium to achieve global health equity

Why are you applying for this particular position, and what skills or experiences do you have that qualify you for this position?
I really like The Grassroot Project's (TGP's) concept of involving promising young athletes from the neighbourhood to educate children about HIV/AIDS awareness and teach them life skills using sports based curriculum.

My motivation to apply for this position is twofold -
a. As a curriculum developer in Physical Education, experience firsthand this innovative model to deliver life skills, health education as well as leadership programmes through the medium of sport.

b. Expand my knowledge and skills to design and conduct capacity building/train-the trainer programs for new recruits.
As a Programme Manager, I bring with me the following skills and experience-
1. Expertise in co-ordinating design and delivery of high quality activity programmes at partner schools
2. Extensive experience of working with athletes across all age-groups and helping them reach specific goals and targets both individually and as a team
3. Demonstrated involvement in youth and community development as Volunteer for Global Exchange (a British Council, VSO initiative) in India and the UK.
4. Experience of working with the key stakeholders - children, school administrators and athletes.

Hello everyone. I have this final revision to all the prompts. Urgently, require feedback if its good enough, as the submission date approaches (26th Jan)!...

Why do you want to be a GHC fellow? (200 words)

As a professional working in the field of physical education, I strongly believe in the philosophy of "Fitness through Sport" to develop innovative PE programs that have specific and measurable outcomes in assessing the 5 components of health related physical fitness of school students (viz. cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition)

Joining the Health Corps will help me to widen my scope and outreach by delivering health education through sports. By working for The Grassroot Project, I hope to gain experience in implementing an innovative Life Skills through Games program that encourages participatory learning of issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention information, stigma and discrimination

It will also provide a platform to combine my passion for sports and expertise in physical education with the desire to give back to the society. The corporate setup restricts my ability to make an impact on only those who can afford our services. I want to change this and the Health Corps will help me in making that transition by giving an opportunity to work for a dynamic NGO that utilizes Sport as a medium to achieve global health equity amongst the youth

Tell us about a time when you were part of a group that faced an obstacle and you came up with a creative solution. What was creative about this solution? Please focus on your role and its impact on the group. (300 words)

When I joined the Operations team of a start up in sports education programs, we were brainstorming on adopting a specific approach to be the base of our curriculum.

The previous approach of focussing on skill development was not giving the desired results as each child has different interests and abilities. Because of this some children lose confidence or interest due to the repetitive nature of the drills

With my hands on experience and personal approach to coaching, I shared with the team how learning by understanding generates the required curiosity and interest in acquiring new skills. In a PE environment, children's basic desire is to play games. Hence, using games first, followed by a questions approach, facilitates the understanding to learn new skills. This makes children proactively practice these skills to taste further success.

In order to test this, I prepared a pilot program for Cricket using the tactical approach and took the initiative to train our coach in its on field implementation. The program was very successful in delivering on our commitment to an inclusive- participatory sports program.

With the desired outcomes, I am now given the responsibility to upgrade our entire curriculum (across sports) and align it with the TGFU (teaching games for understanding) methods.

I think what makes this approach creative is the fact that it focuses on meeting the needs of the participants and facilitates learning instead of imposing them with instructions they are unable to comprehend. As a facilitator, the coach sets problems or goals by organising a game form, and students are given an opportunity to solve these problems. Through questions, the coach helps the students explore possible solutions to the problem and these solutions then become the focus of a situated practice.

Describe a time when you identified a social problem or injustice and took action to make a change. What did you do and what did you learn? (250 words)

According to UNESCO -
Right to Education is a fundamental human right which promotes individual freedom and empowerment and yields important development benefits.
Yet millions of children and adults in India remain deprived of educational opportunities, many as a result of poverty.
In my time as a volunteer for Global Exchange, our team identified this as a social program where we wanted to make a change and so in collaboration with URMUL (Rajasthan) and Pravah (Delhi), we undertook a survey on Education in two villages of Rajasthan to understand the extent of impact made by the recently launched RTE (Right to Education) Act in ensuring that children in rural areas get access to continued education.

The survey provided critical information with regard to the following aspects:
1. Enrollment of Students: Figures of enlisted students as against those who actually go to school.
2. Male to Female ratio of children going to school.
3. Average grade to which students go to school.
4. School dropouts and reasons behind it.

Based on these findings and with the help of the local NGO (URMUL) we tried to increase awareness by doing door to door campaigns, street plays and meetings with the local Panchayat.

We also realized that by providing innovative solutions like donating a bicycle to girl students goes a long way in ensuring their continued education, as most girls would drop out after grade 5 due to the long distances they had to travel on foot in isolated areas to reach school everyday

What principles or values guide your actions? Describe a specific time when you acted according to these principles or values. (200 words)

I firmly believe that every person in this world has to find his true calling to live a life of content and happiness. If we devote ourselves in doing the things we are passionate about, there will always be growth as we focus towards achieving excellence rather than success which is temporary.

I had always been passionate about sports. Hence, after graduating top of the class in school, despite severe parental and peer pressure, I chose to pursue my sporting ambitions. As I look back now, both as a player and a professional working in the sports industry, I am living a dream, a job where I love the work; can contribute and can't wait to get to work.

Apart from Passion, Fair play and honesty go a long way in shaping my values and belief system. For me, the means are more important than the end.

I try to inculcate these values in students through my coaching. After each game play I engage students in discussions regarding the importance of respecting the laws of the game, respecting your competitors as well as sharing and cooperating with your team mates as opposed to the winning at all costs attitude.

Why are you applying for this particular position, and what skills or experiences do you have that qualify you for this position? What do you hope to accomplish in this position during your fellowship year? (Maximum 175 words)

My motivation to apply for this position is twofold -
a. Experience firsthand this innovative model to deliver life skills, health education as well as leadership programs through the medium of sport.
b. Expand my knowledge and skills to design and conduct capacity building/train-the trainer programs.

As a Programme Manager, I bring with me the following skills and experience-
1. Expertise in co-ordinating design and delivery of high quality activity programmes at partner schools
2. Demonstrated involvement in youth and community development as Volunteer for Global Exchange (a British Council, VSO initiative) in India and the UK.
3. Experience of working with the key stakeholders - children, school administrators and athletes.

During the fellowship year, I hope to achieve success in -
1. Creating and maintaining collaborative partnerships with schools and community based groups
2. Empowering student-athlete leaders to become change agents.
3. Developing specific intervention programs that fit the particular needs and cultural context of the at-risk community in DC
4. Building collaborative leadership.
5. Developing a monitoring and evaluation mechanism that encourages sustainability.