1. What is FF all about?
FastForward is aimed at finding creative and powerful ways to tackle problems that could impact the lives of millions in India/developing/under-developed countries. The major ground work required in this effort will be carried out by young and enthusiastic college student (FastForward fellows), which will not only make them more productive during their stay in college, but will also help them brainstorm with experienced intellectuals in the field.
2. Who is a fellow?
A fellow will be an active participant of FastForward who will do a major part of ground work required to successfully carry out projects. S/he has to be a college student.
3. What is the criterion to be a fellow?
Nothing specific. Someone who is motivated enough to make a difference in people’s lives using his skill-sets and keen enough to learn while doing so.
4. What are the criteria to be a mentor?
Someone who has volunteering experience with NGO(s) and who is willing to share his experience with the wannabe fellows. Needless to say, s/he should be more than willing to come forward to help the fellows with new ideas/suggestions, when needed.
5. Who all can volunteer?
Students, as fellows, and experienced volunteers as mentors.
6. Who will gain from FF?
People, who will be directly affected by the projects, and students, who while working on the projects will get to learn from experienced intellectuals.
7. How will the projects be selected?
Projects can be in any area, but they must directly benefit some community (such as a literacy programme), provide a strong research experience, or be meaningful to the community in unique ways. Special preference will be given to projects which attempt to improve the lives of underserved people and communities. In general, the fellows will be able to work on a broad range of topics.
8. How long will a typical project last?
8 months to an year.
9. How will the fellows work on a project?
Once the projects are shortlisted, a group of fellows will be selected. They will then be assigned a suitable mentor to carry on the project. With the progress of the projects, fellows will make a field/study onsite trips depending on results and requirements.
10. What are some of the sample projects that fellows can work on?
• A wishlist similar to Craig’s for teachers in India.
• A Wiki that would enable educators, volunteers and NGOs to share their experiences with each other. Currently, all such experiences are documented in the form of reports, and filed away in offices. This project will create a space where all such useful reports as well as ideas and experiences can be shared among various organizations and individuals working in a common area.
• Making instructional (flash?) videos documenting ‘what works’, ‘what to expect’ and so on using the experiences of people working for NGOs in the field.
• Using FM stations and other media more effectively for awareness campaigns, such as AIDS and TB prevention.
• Building a system for identifying and tracking pregnant women with difficult pregnancies, and providing them priority treatment in emergency or complications.
• Finding a solution to the desperate traffic problem in cities such as Mumbai and Bangalore by using a combination of network analysis, innovative design and social engineering.
• Finding a way to provide housing for the millions of slum dwellers in large Indian cities.
• The ongoing pilot projects like Jagriti, Rakhtrekha and Ujjwal (please refer to the following link [ ... ]).