Cricketer Ajinkya Rahane Mentors Students from Salaam Bombay Foundation’s Fitness Program
Salaam Bombay Foundation’s “Fitness Monitors” had the unique opportunity to interact with Mr. Rahane and receive insights on his fitness journey
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Mumbai, August 24th, 2023: Salaam Bombay Foundation’s (SBF) Sports
Academy organized a mentoring session with Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane for
its ‘Fitness Monitors’ adolescent students studying in municipal or government-aided schools, who are trained under the Academy’s Fitness Program and
handpicked for their long term interest in fitness. The goal of the event was
to inspire adolescents to adopt a lifestyle of fitness while becoming change
agents within their communities. As part of the session, the students had the opportunity
to interact with Mr. Rahane where they learned about his journey of fitness on
his way to becoming one of India’s top cricketers. SBF also organized for Mr.
Rahane and the students to engage in fun fitness activities which combined
aspects of cricket, fitness, and motor skill development.
SBF’s 100-hour-2-year Fitness Program has been designed to help
underprivileged adolescents maintain fitness levels while increasing their
participation in various sports. The program also provides a platform for
adolescents to explore career opportunities in fitness and other areas within
the sports industry. SBF has gone one step ahead with the “Citizens Initiative” where
enthusiastic students showcasing a motivation to make an impact on their
communities with a potential to pursue a career in sports and fitness are
selected as ‘Fitness Monitors’. These Fitness Monitors then advocate the
importance of fitness by mobilizing and conducting sessions in the community
while also digitally tracking each community member’s fitness levels throughout
the sessions. SBF provides students tablets for the digital tracking of fitness
levels where Fitness Monitors review and guide community members on their
fitness levels. This also
ensures that the adolescents are being updated with technological skills
relevant to the sports industry.
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With the hope of contributing to the
Indian Government’s ‘Fit India Movement’ launched in August 2019 by Prime
Minister Shri Narendra Modi, SBF expanded the ‘Fitizens Initiative’
from slum lanes to Ganpati Pandals, Community Gardens, MCGM Bus Depots, Old Age
Homes and Corporate Offices. SBF and the
adolescent Fitness Monitors work together to identify target groups and also
customize fitness sessions based on the age and fitness levels of the target group.
Every community member enrolled is taken through a cycle of 5 fitness sessions
including ‘Strengthen Your Everyday Movement’, ‘Fitness Anywhere and Anytime’,
and ‘Change Your Mindset to Change Your Lifestyle’ among others.
Mr. Ajinkya Rahane said, “Salaam Bombay
Foundation’s “Fitness Program” as well as the “Citizens Initiative” is a great
way to promote fitness amongst underprivileged adolescents and their
communities. This unique format of appointing these adolescents as ambassadors
of good health will definitely have a catalytic impact on their lives. I
believe that every child studying in a municipal or government school must have
access to fitness programs like the one conducted by SBF, while encouraging
them to spread the spirit of good health, both for mind and body amongst their
communities. I am happy to have shared my principles of fitness and inspired
these bright and motivated students. They have promised to hold up the torch of
good health for their communities. I look forward to mentoring more young minds
at Salaam Bombay Foundation.”
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Ms. Padmini Sekhsaria,
Founder, of Salaam Bombay Foundation said, “We are honored
to have a youth icon such as Ajinkya Rahane mentor our students and inspire
them to reach for the stars. We work with underprivileged adolescents from
difficult backgrounds, who have little or no access to physical activity and
sports. At Salaam Bombay Foundation, we believe that the playground can be an
effective tool to achieve a Healthy Body
and Healthy Mind. Our vision is to bring about an attitudinal
change amongst these adolescents through Sports and Fitness, motivating them to stay in school and complete their education. His presence on the
ground will help galvanize this section of society, where lack of resources
invariably leads to disinterest in health and fitness. We hope Ajinkya will
continue to conduct more such inspiring sessions for our students. We commend
his efforts and his commitment towards creating a Fit India for future
generations.”
To date, the Salaam Bombay Sports Academy has trained 2,200 students
(1,050 or approximately 48% are girls) through the “Fitness Program” out of
which 100 have been selected as ‘Fitness Monitors’. In the last one year, more
than 4,400 community members across India have been trained by our adolescent
‘Fitness Monitors’ through the “Citizens Program”.
About Salaam Bombay Foundation:
A CHILD IN SCHOOL HAS A FUTURE
Salaam Bombay Foundation started in 2002 to work with 12-
to 17-year-old adolescent children growing up in Mumbai’s slums. These children
live in extreme poverty and in “at-risk” environments. The municipal schools
they go to do not have the resources to give them individual attention, career
guidance, or access to activities that stimulate the mind. Many are
undernourished and face the risk of substance abuse. They come from
financially challenged homes and are pressured to drop out of secondary school
and seek jobs to support their families. Given these ground realities, Salaam
Bombay Foundation has harnessed the ability of child-friendly, innovative
education tools to develop life skills and coping skills necessary to ensure
that these adolescents develop into well-rounded personalities, able to meet
the challenges they face and take on leadership roles within their communities.
The Foundation keeps children in school by empowering them
to make the right choices about their health, education, and livelihood thereby
ensuring that they can thrive with a bright future. In-school leadership and advocacy
programs equip "at-risk" adolescents with the life skills they need
to lead change. The Sports, Arts, and Media academies encourage them to express
themselves and provide performance opportunities that build self-esteem. The
skills@school program broadens their career horizons and empowers them with
vocational skills for sustainable careers. Through its DreamLab initiative,
SBF has provided a continuum of skills training and market-based
internships to youngsters in the age group of 14 and 18 years. Launched in July
2019, DreamLab has been able to furnish stipend-based internships to 163
skills@school alumni across nine job sectors. DreamLab also creates a talent
pool of grassroots entrepreneurial adolescents. Salaam Bombay initiatives increase
confidence, give vulnerable adolescents the means to earn part-time and stay in
school and provide the tools to explore their full potential.
For more information, please visit www.salaambombay.org
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