Free Health Screening Camp at Breakthrough

On October 25, 2015, a free health screening camp was organized at Breakthrough, Bangalore. This was organized by the Bannerghatta Neighbourhood Association (BANA) in collabouration with Apollo Hospitals. The health screening included Pulmonary function test, Bone Mineral Densitometry and ECG with Cardiology consultation.

The camp was held from 10 AM to 5 PM ably supported by the Breakthrough team. Moatasim Sheikh, Executive- Healthcare services, Apollo Hospitals appreciated the team saying “We have never had such backing before…. You guys were amazing. Thank you”.

Robin Paul, CEO, Breakthrough said “We are happy to have conducted the free health screening camp at Breakthrough”.  It was a wonderful opportunity for Breakthrough to connect and impact the local community.

A snap shot from the life of Robin Paul, CEO and Founder of Breakthrough

At a young age growing up in Bangalore, Karnataka, Robin, had the opportunity to enter the world of sports and began to find success. He represented India at the 100, 200 metres and relay. At that time, he was coached by the famous coach Lingappa who still coaches today at the age of 90.

After years of peak performance, he went through a rough patch which brought a lot of disappointments. The down-side to being embedded in sports is losing. This made him search for purpose. He became a follower of Jesus during that phase of his life and began to find meaning.

As a runner, he was able to stand against the challenge to get short term results by unethical means because of his faith in Christ. He was training for the 1978 Asian games in Bangalore. In those days Kanturva stadium had a cinder track. In the national camp the team will be selected to participate in 4 X 100 relay for the national team if the qualifying time of 40.5 seconds was achieved. The rain disrupted practice before the race. At that time, the team discussed, what they had done the previous year. In the 4 X 100 metres relay, you have to stay in your tracks. If the third runner cuts into the first lane he cuts the distance and time. Being the third runner they wanted Robin to cut tracks, to which he refused. The two judges who were also from Karnataka, came to him saying “Robin, you are from Karnataka, do what you want and we will not disqualify you”. But, Robin refused to cut tracks and the team did not qualify. He was disappointed but was glad that he was able to stand for the right thing.

He became a Chaplain at several sporting events like the Asian Games in Seoul, the Seoul Olympics, World Athletics Championships in 1993, 1995 and 1997 and finally the Sydney Olympics 2000. He had the opportunity to travel around the world rubbing shoulders with sports stars like Carl Lewis, Madeline Mims and Jonathan Edwards.

During one of his visits to the US, he had the opportunity to attend a conference by the Association of Experiential Education, which opened his eyes to the world of experiential education. This led to the formation of Breakthrough, a project of the trust, Sports Outreach India in 2000.

Today, as the CEO and Founder of Breakthrough, Robin impacts organizations in India and different parts of the globe through experiential learning. He has facilitated Outbound training programs for CEOs and top management in a number of multi-national companies. Under his leadership and guidance Breakthrough has grown to have three campus in South India, two of which are partnered centres. We hope to grow across India and Srilanka in the coming years impacting lives through experiential learning. Srilanka is the next focus for Breakthrough with the ground work that has already begun for the upcoming centre. 

Breakthrough’s offsite programs

Breakthrough currently has three campuses one in Bangalore, a campus in Coimbatore in Partnership with the PRR Training Centre and the third campus in Hosur which is a partnership with Esther Enterprises. The three centres have enabled Breakthrough to provide Outbound Training services for leading corporate organizations and educational institutions in South India.

However, Breakthrough has been able to provide a similar quality of program in different parts of the country and around the world. We have conducted programs in the US, Srilanka and several other countries. This is possible because of the uniquely developed offsite kit which has enabled Breakthrough to create an impact in the offices and campuses of our clients.

One of the top priorities for organizers of Outbound training programs in organizations is the location. The offsite kit constituting of activity equipment, welcome kit, writing and presentation materials etc has made offsite training programs conducted by Breakthrough uniquely engaging. Based on the training needs of the clients the materials can be customized as well.

As Breakthrough looks to expand in different locations our capacity to conduct training programs in varied locations through our offsite kit has enabled us to be dynamic in our vision of impacting lives. 

Strategic Transformational Training Methodology

Robin Paul and Timmy Connors from Breakthrough, participated in a three day Program on Strategic Transformational Training Methodology organized by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, which featured the Strategic Development of managerial capability being the key element in strategic survival and growth.

The program focused on developing a methodology for putting together strategic transformational training by examining pre-training, through training and post training variables and addressed the following:

• Criteria for identifying partner organizations/trainers for delivering training

• The importance of pre-training diagnostics for capturing organizational felt and unfelt needs to steer the design and delivery as close to the reality confronting managers in fulfilling roles and responsibilities and in producing the desired results

• Review of various approaches to gaining training organization/ trainer sensitization to the client organization’s ecosystem

• Identifying ingredients of training content design which can be re configured into various permutations and combinations to produce the desired learning impact from a strategic transformational perspective

• Gaining understanding of premium training delivery ingredients to enhance training engagement value for participant development as well as to achieve the strategic transformational purpose of the delivery in an integrated flow of the content

• A comprehensive framework for assessing training impact

• A methodology for assessing long term impact and long haul achievement both at the individual level as well as at the organizational level

 

Breakthrough @Camp Revive the first Outbound training and Camp Centre inaugurated in Hosur

 

Breakthrough, in partnership with Esther Enterprises, a renowned property development firm inaugurated an Outbound training and camp centre called Breakthrough @Camp Revive in Hosur.

Krish Dhanam, Global Ambassador, Ziglar Group was part of the inaugural event and addressed members of the NHRD, Hosur Chapter and Junior Chamber International on the topic “The Art of Top Performance”. This was based on the book “Top Performance” by Zig Ziglar which he had co-authored. It was a fitting topic to the inauguration of the centre that will strive to bring the best from teams in corporates, colleges, schools and NGOs.

Hosur is the third Breakthrough centre to be opened. The centre houses challenge courses including Low ropes and a High ropes course and camping facilities which will be used for Outbound training for corporates, colleges, schools and NGO’s. Speaking on the inauguration, Robin Paul, CEO, Breakthrough said “We are excited in entering into the Hosur market. We hope Breakthrough @ camp revive will open doors for corporates, colleges, schools and other groups to experience Outbound training and camping in a fun and impactful way”.

 Camping which is also a key focus of the facility includes a variety of outdoor games like football, Volley ball, paint ball, along with an amphi-theatre and other camping facilities. Speaking on the opening, Francis Selvaraj, CEO, Esther Enterprises, said “The project began with a vision to provide an opportunity for people of all ages to build character through sports and to be better citizens of our nation.  We hope to give opportunities for people to revive, rejoice and rejuvenate”

Breakthrough @Camp Revive will promote a balanced lifestyle at a time when 24/7 work places have invaded the Indian Economic Scene. Due to target oriented work places, people in general have slipped into a highly depressed and inactive lifestyle. Hence, everybody needs a Revival mentally and physically.

Breakthrough affiliated as a Community College

 

Breakthrough is excited to announce its affiliation as a Community College to Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong, Meghalaya. As a Community College, Breakthrough will provide University Certification for its Outbound training programs. Facilitative Learning and Development, Leadership Enhancement, Alignment, Paradigm Shift, Faculty Development Program, The Art of Project Planning are some of the programs offered to colleges, that have been accredited by the University.

Speaking on the affiliation Dr. Vijila Kennedy, Director, KCT Business School who is one of the clients of Breakthrough said, "I have been associated with Breakthrough for over 10 years and every batch of my students have immensely benefited through their powerful and dynamic training. I am delighted that they will be offering University certifications. This is an ideal association since like Breakthrough, MLCU emphasizes Skills and Experiential Learning and real-life expertise needed to pursue gainful and fulfilling careers. I am sure that the certified programs will be a big boon to students and corporate employees”. 

Some of the objectives of the affiliation include enhancing the University’s outreach of its unique educational philosophy and academic objectives and combine the dissemination of academic knowledge and practical training. Commenting on the affiliation, Dr. Glenn C Kharkongor, Pro Chancellor of Martin Luther Christian University said “The collaboration between MLCU and Breakthrough will strengthen both institutions in our joint endeavour to provide relevant and meaningful life learning experiences to the youth we serve.”

 

Robin Paul, CEO Breakthrough said, “Experiential learning is a crucial connect between self, academic and vocational learning. It promotes meaningful and engaged learning by helping students to connect self- understanding to academics and vocational skills”.

 

 

The focus of the community college movement in India was to develop courses that may be offered in collaboration with industrial, commercial and professional service sectors for the promotion of employment and business development. Enhancing Employability and Life-skill development being the key focus of the programs at Breakthrough, will further be structured with the accreditation of its courses.

The Vision of Impacting Lives

Breakthrough’s vision is impacting lives. This vision guides us in our recruitment, facilitation, relationships and even in our day-to-day decision making. Outbound training is the means for us to impact lives. The stories of impact that we hear from our participants is what keeps us going day after day.  

We believe a warm smile translates to create many more smiles. Hence, we practice welcoming each participant with a smile and sweets.

We strive to have one-on-one conversations with participants which builds lasting relationships.  Appreciating participants for each step of involvement during activities is where our ‘connect’ begins when we observe and appreciate.

In addition, to corporate organizations and educational institutions we deem it a privilege to impact the lives of the underprivileged and the differently abled.  This brings us joy that cannot be expressed in words but etched in our memories as days we cherish.

We have seen lives been impacted in the last 14 years. College students have given up drugs to focus on what is most important in life. School children have built their confidence and have grown to be leaders. Corporate organizations have transformed their culture and built teams that work together guided by organizational values and objectives. This is what the Breakthrough team works towards each day, one life and one team at a time. We hope to build that impact in the coming years spreading across the country and abroad.