KhelMel

Sharing our Jan–March newsletter—a glimpse into how sport is helping children build emotional skills and safer relationships.

Read here:

👉 https://mailchi.mp/24b07e83d7b5/oct-dec-quarterly-newsletter-17479305

Would love to hear what you think!

Show, not tell: Stories from the ground For a long time, we’ve wanted to create something that truly shows what we do rather than just talking about it. We believe this video captures both the intent behind our work and the real outcomes we’re seeing with children in a much more authentic way.

As we begin piloting our sports program in a government school in a rural village of Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, we conducted a small orientation with both children and teachers to introduce what the program will involve.

For most of them, this was the first time they were hearing about a structured sports program. In fact, many of the children and teachers had never experienced organised sports as part of learning before.

During the session, we sensed some hesitation. It was difficult for them to immediately imagine how sports could meaningfully impact children’s lives beyond just playing.

To spark curiosity and motivation, we shared short testimonials from children and teachers who are part of our existing community program. Hearing peers speak about their experiences helped them begin to visualize what this journey could look like.

Moments like these also remind us how far our existing programs have come.

Children who have been part of Monkey Sports programs for some time now communicate more confidently, collaborate better with others, and show greater discipline during activities. Most importantly, they appear more joyful and expressive.

Starting in a new community is always a humbling experience. It shows us both the distance we still need to travel and the meaningful change that is already possible. Tripti Yadav

Our founder, Kushal Agarwal, joined as a panellist on the topic “Sustainable Funding to Enhance the Role of Sport” at the Krida du Paribartan Conference.

Thank you, Pro Sport Development, for inviting us to be part of this important conversation.

It was a humbling experience to learn from fellow panellists who brought diverse perspectives and rich experience from across the Sport for Development ecosystem.

Two of our team members, Tripti Yadav and Ripu rabha, conducted an 8-day training in Golaghat, Assam.

50 volunteer coaches attended the training. Through their work, they will reach 1,500+ children across 50 villages in Golaghat district.

The key topics covered during the training included:

- Sport for Development vs. Sport for Excellence.

- Understanding the difference between children’s behaviour and their underlying emotions.

- Child Protection Policy.

- Community Mobilisation.

- Roles and Responsibilities of Volunteer Coaches

खेल-मेल कार्यक्रम का मकसद बच्चों को शारीरिक और मानसिक रूप से ताकतवर बनाना है।

इसी दौरान अगर बच्चे ज़िला-स्तरीय टूर्नामेंट में दूसरे नंबर पर आ जाते हैं, तो उस से हमें बहुत खुशी मिलती है।

New Year Greetings from the Khel Mel team!

Hope you have a wonderful year ahead.

Fundraising in the Community - Day 1

In any work we do, whether for profit or for social good, the real impact is measured by the value we create for people.

One important part of that value is how much people are willing to pay for that service.

With this belief, we have launched a community fundraising campaign (Simple Bhasha Mein – Chanda Collection) for our upcoming Annual Community Event.

On Day 1, children, especially girls, came forward in full strength to support this effort. Wherever we went, we were welcomed with smiling faces of parents.

Parents contributed amounts ranging from ₹50 to ₹500. From 20 homes visited on the first day, we raised close to ₹3,500.

While this amount is small compared to the total cost of organizing the event, what matters more is that we have started. This is our first step towards building local ownership and collective responsibility.

We hope to make this effort stronger and more effective. This is just Day 1.

We will continue sharing our journey, new experiences, learnings, and the final amount we can raise.

Keep following. The journey has just begun.

Kushal Agarwal Tripti Yadav Asan Lakra

✨ A New Chapter for Us — Introducing KhelMel ✨

As we complete the magical milestone of 7 years, we are proud to reflect on how far we’ve come.

Our team has grown, our budget has strengthened, and we now have an office space. We have also built systems to capture data and make better decisions for the children and communities we serve.

Today, we’re excited to share an important update:

📣 Monkey Sports is officially becoming KhelMel.

Changing our name after seven years is a bold decision, but one that comes from deep reflection. We wanted our identity to represent what our work has truly evolved into, using play to build emotional strength, empathy, and positive childhood experiences.

Alisha Jalan Kushal Agarwal Nishi Kant Sharma Asan Lakra Tripti Yadav Ankit Sultania

We had the opportunity to conduct two separate one-hour sessions at FLAME University, where we spoke about our work at KhelMel (Monkey Sports) — covering program outreach, impact, limitations, and challenges.

The students asked thoughtful questions, particularly regarding the limitations of conducting surveys with children and how we support children who face various adversities at home.

A big thank you to Gayatri Kotbagi for giving us this platform.

Kushal Agarwal

We had a wonderful experience at the Manotsava - National Mental Health Festival.

Our team conducted a 1.5-hour workshop on using rural sports like Kho-Kho to improve the mental and physical well-being of children.

Two of our facilitators, Kushal Agarwal and Tanuja Sahu, also attended workshops across both days, learning from experts and connecting with people working in different areas of mental health from across India.

Nishi Kant Sharma