One For The Books

The Magic Bus programme helps underprivileged children in India break out of the poverty cycle. Founder Matthew Spacie tells Terence Lim why education is the most powerful tool in this operation.

- Terence Lim

WHEN MATTHEW SPACIE first started working in the travel industry in Mumbai, India in 1996, he noticed many teenage boys living on the streets, skipping school, and getting into the occasional bout of trouble. In the hopes of instilling discipline into these boys, the Englishman set up a football team for them to enjoy kickabouts. This simple act of charity planted the seed for the larger-scale non-governmental organisation Magic Bus, which Spacie formally set up in 1999.

Today, Magic Bus works with some 400,000 children and 10,000 young people living in poverty across 22 states in India to help them break out of the cycle. It takes a long-term approach with its Childhood to Livelihood programme, and provides support to youths aged 12 to 17 with a holistic seven-year journey that ensures that they stay in school, and are well-trained for the workforce at the end of the period.

“We’re committed to holding their hands all the way through the seven-year journey. We want them to go to school, stay in school and get graded and certified properly,” explained Spacie when he was in Singapore in April for the eighth Magic Bus gala dinner. “We work with their schools to put technology into the curriculum and environment so as to prepare them for the workforce in the future.”