SCB Staff Visit Jaitpur!

On Wednesday, the 15th of September, the Goal Delhi site in Jaitpur was visited by several SCB staff from all over Asia. Mark Devadason, the Group Head of Regions for Corporate Affairs from Hong Kong, Sreeram Iyer, the Regional and Chief Operating Officer of South Asia, accompanied by Sumeet, Pratima Harite, and Karuna Bhatia all from SCB Mumbai came to the Jaitpur site to witness a match between the Jaitpur girls and Aali Gaon girls and see first hand the changes Goal is making in the lives of the girls.

After arriving, Mr. Devadason spoke to each and every one of the Goal participants and Goal champions separately asking how long they had been involved in the program and how they have changed because of it. The visitors were happily surprised to see girls of all ages, some even married, coming from long distances away just to learn and play with each other. Pratima and Karuna, who have been helping out with the Goal program for a long time and know many of the girls, shared their stories of how they’ve seen many of the girls grow through the program.

After some drills, the girls split up into their teams and began their match. The girls who weren’t playing that day held a session on the side with Pratima on how much they had learned through the different modules and how they’ve tried to implement their teachings into their own lives and with their own families.
The Jaitpur girls played their hearts out and the Aali girls were running everywhere trying to keep up with their pure enthusiasm. When it started pouring rain, the girls were all pleading “Please just 5 more minutes!!” The match continued and finally the Jaitpur girls won 11-2 against Aali for the first time! All the girls from Jaitpur erupted with joy and even the Aali girls were clapping in appreciation of a great game played.

The girls finally head inside to share some individual stories with the SCB staff. They shared how much they have learned about themselves and about how important it is to play like a team if you want to succeed at netball. Mr. Devadason shared with the girls that his wife who is 48-years-old still regularly plays netball and inspired the girls to never stop playing and keep working hard at their game. He also mentioned how grateful he was to all his fellow SCB staff who volunteer and help with the Goal program on top of their everyday duties. Mr. Iyer taught the girls that in any sport and in life it is very important to play like a team and that the girls should learn that above all else while playing together.
The girls shared the snacks provided by the staff and thanked them for their lessons and time. Even the pouring rain had a hard time dampening the mood that day!