With thousands of volunteer mentors across India and a unique organizational model designed to help maximize its impact, Magic Bus uses sports and other activities to help children and teenagers live, learn and grow well.
The Magic Bus's roots were planted over 16 years ago, when its founder and chairman, Matthew Spacie, began teaching teenagers from the wrong side of the Mumbai tracks how to play rugby. It grew to an organization that today helps about 300,000 children and teens find a better path in life by playing games with meaning beyond the immediate reward of the winning kick, bat or dash.
The idea of using sports as a teaching tool caught on, and on, and on, as over the years Magic Bus kept getting recognized by national and international foundations, funders and governments at all levels. It now operates in 22 of 29 Indian states, serving its one quarter-million clients through a network of 8,000 mentors, known as Community Youth Leaders, who volunteer their time and follow the same Activity Based Curriculum, known as theABC, which evolved over time in consultation with educators, healthcare professionals, social workers and behavioral psychologists.