Post by Banishwar Singh

The name 'My Village' has stayed with me since my early days at Pratham Education Foundation, where I witnessed the rollout of a programme of similar spirit called Hamara Gaon. In Punjabi - my mother tongue - it reads 'Mera Pind'. Said quietly, those two words carry you straight back to childhood: the smell of the soil, lush fields, the unhurried pace. Said a little louder - 'Mera Pind' - and something shifts. It fills you with a sense of responsibility and care towards the land that gave you everything. It urges you to take the problems of your village into your own hands and find solutions that belong there. That spirit is exactly what the My Village programme is built on. Started in 2022 across Nepal, Tanzania, and Kenya, My Village is PAL Network's common action programme - designed to tackle the low foundational literacy and numeracy levels. It is grounded in local volunteers who show up every day, quietly determined to make their villages better, piece by piece, one child at a time. We recently gathered with our teams from UWEZO TANZANIA, ASER Nepal and PAL Network for a workshop on the design and future of the programme - reflecting on what has worked, what has not, and where we go next. Our new blog with Winny Cherotich, PMP® captures that conversation. PS: Community ownership means something different in every context we work in - and we are still learning what it truly takes to nurture it. Thoughts from those who have navigated this in their own communities are very welcome. Armando Ali Baraka Mgohamwende OTTO MILLINGA Rajib Timalsina Gunjan Jha Prokshani Ghimire Najme Kishani (PhD) Maryanne Kimani Daud Siwalaze Aimtonga Amani