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April intl newsletter

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SOUTH ASIA INTERNAL NEWSLETTER April 2014 ISSUE
Transcript
Page 1: April intl newsletter

SOUTH ASIA INTERNAL NEWSLETTER

April 2014 ISSUE

Page 2: April intl newsletter

IN FOCUS

Outside view of a CCLC in Chennai

Child Care & Learning Centers for the Children of Migrant Workers

“I get lunch at the Centre which is very good in taste. I get to play with my teachers (read facilitators) and friends. I like to come to the center daily,” says six years old Jama Majhi. She is one among 1749 children who attend the Child Care & Learning Centers started for the benefit of children of migrant workers in four cities of India -Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. The project has been i m p l e m e n t e d b y M i g r a t i o n Information & Resource Centre, AEAI with support from Bernard van Leer Foundation.

The aim behind opening the centers is to promote and ensure school readiness for young migrants particularly in the age group of 3-6 years and create better living conditions in the worksites. It also aims at creating linkages so that migrant children (0-6 yrs), pregnant women &

lactating mothers can access nutrition, health and education p r o g r a m m e s r u n b y t h e g o v e r n m e n t . T h o u g h t h e government already runs the Integrated Child Development Services programme on a very large scale, the children of migrant workers face difficulty in accessing these services as they often stay in places away from the mainstream communities.

We engaged intra and inter-state facilitators to provide care and support to the children. When the project was initiated, the facilitators observed that most of the children lacked basic stimulation in them and attended the center without taking bath or even brushing. So they mobilized the parents and explained them the benefit of practicing cleanliness, health & hygiene. Since then the parents have been taking good care in sending their children to the center after properly dressing them.

Initiation of the CCLCs has brought in holistic approach for the development of migrant children and the project has made provision of availing teaching learning materials by these migrant children. These TLM include posters, short story books, slate, drawing materials, colors etc. Special focus is laid on improving the cognitive and motor skills among the children by encouraging them to play with toys and games. “I feel happy when my children sing

Children with volunteers in CCL Center in Bhubaneshwar

Children playing in the premises of CCL Center in Chennai

Page 3: April intl newsletter

IN FOCUS

Heroes of Aide et Action

We are all aware that Aide et Action took active lead in rescuing 87 bonded labor in Karimnagar in the month of April. On this occassion, we would like to congratulate our field staff -

who courageously took part in the rescue operation and ensured that all the bonded labor were sent back to their villages. We also appreciate and salute their courage and

Sudhakar (State Coordinator), Sribacha, Yudhistir, Dayasagar (Volunteers) & Ramu, Driver-HRO

In the photo: (left to right) Yudhistir (Volunteer), Sudhakar (State Coordinator), Sribacha (Volunteer) & Ramu, Driver-HRO

songs and dance. We are very happy” a mother said joyfully. Also, the CCLCs have been painted with child friendly artworks so as to make the ambience attractive for the children.

Activities performed by children are often documented by the facilitators and are shown to the mothers during the Mothers Committee meetings. This makes the mothers realize the importance of their children attending the center and encourages other mothers to motivate their children to participate actively.

Not just this, we closely coordinate with the Health Departments and arrange health camps and immunization of the children. During the period from January to May, a total of 1764 children received polio vaccination and 795 have received immunization.

The uniqueness of the project lies in witnessing the positive transformation of the children in just six months. Children have gained confidence to smartly speak up, share their thoughts, sing, dance, act etc. Few among them have even taken lead in practicing cleanliness and keeping the centre clean.

On the other end, it is observed that

exploitation of migrants has reduced to a large extent in the places where Aide et Action has been working. The owners of the brick kilns and construction sites have been proactively supporting the project by way of providing safe space for the construction of the CCLCs and basic amenities like drinking water, electricity etc.

Children being administered with polio drops in Hyderabad

Children playing with toys in a center

Contributed by Puja Mishra & Chandra Kiran with inputs from Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal, Chennai & Hyderabad Regional Offices

Page 4: April intl newsletter

International Director General along & IDG designate visit Aide et Action International, Jaipur

Region

The Jaipur Regional Office hosted a management workshop on 4th April. The event also marked the presence of Ms Claire Calosci - IDG & Ms Gunilla Bjorner, IDG (Designate) along with a fleet of officials from Aide et Action International. A welcome dinner was arranged in their honor. The feast was attended by key government officials, academicians and state representatives of the civil society and non-government organizations. The dinner gave us an opportunity to introduce our partners and key stakeholders with the international team and present the programmes of South Asia. The international team visited various iLEAD centers to understand our initiatives.

New iLEAD chapter named “My Gakidh Village” initiated in Bhutan

The much awaited iLEAD chapter in Bhutan titled 'My Gakidh Village' was launched by Her Majesty the Queen Mother Ashi Tshering Pem Wangchuck along with Mr. Ravi Pratap Singh, Regional Director, Aide et Action International, South Asia. The project will be implemented by Youth Development Fund while Aide et Action would play the role of technical support partner. The project will be operational in 25 villages of Bhutan with a special focus on disadvantaged youth; the project would enable Bhutanese youth to realize their potential and open livelihood opportunities in many avenues. It provides opportunities to needy youth with a special emphasis on disadvantaged girls who have not qualified for higher education nor met the admission criteria of the state run vocational training institute. It is an effort to address the problems of unemployment, rural-urban migration which are the greatest challenges that confront Bhutan today.

One youth from each village would be given training on Eco Tourism/ Community Tourism and girls would be trained in art based courses in the production centers of YDF. One of the main aims of the project is to create a viable souvenir and handicrafts production business. With the development of tourism in Bhutan, souvenir production continues to be a lucrative business for young people, and one that helps in curbing rural-urban migration by offering self-employment opportunities to rural communities. The project would help the beneficiaries to establish community units, and encourages women enterprises and community development through the use of locally available raw materials. The curriculum prepares its participants to become entrepreneurs by offering training in small business development, production, marketing, and basic business accounting skills, Life skills training, extracurricular activities, sports and literary activities.

NEWS & EVENTS

Page 5: April intl newsletter

Link Workers Scheme gets extension for six months

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Aide et Action International, Jaipur and Rajasthan State Aids Control Society for the extension of the Link Worker Scheme. It has been agreed the AeAI, Jaipur will continue implementing the programme in six districs viz; Ajmer, Bhilwara, Udaipur, Pali, Ganganagar and Jodhpur. The programme has been extended for five months from April 2014 to August 2014.

Youth Development Fund delegates visit Jaipur region

A team of seven people from Youth development Fund, Bhutan visited Jaipur regional office to understand the iLEAD programme. During their 3 day visit, the delegates met Dr. Aishwarya Mahajan, Head-Livelihood Education and other iLEAD staff who briefed them about the issues to be focussed during their visits to iLEAD Centers. On day 2, the members visited iLEAD Pratap Nagar and iLEAD Youth Spark, Malviya Nagar to understand the programme processes and insights; during the course they also met some of the alumni and employers their feedback on the programme. On the last day, a training session was conducted by Mr. Sajeev, Head – PDSU and Dr. Aishwarya Mahajan on the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) techniques viz; livelihood mapping and social mapping etc. that could be useful in initiating and carrying the ‘My Gakidh Village'.

iLEAD entrepreneurship model to address nutritional needs of school children

The Certificate Awarding Ceremony

Sinhalese New Year Day celebrated with enthusiasm

The iLEAD Dharamapuram centre started an innovative entrepreneurship model of producing and selling an herbal drink “Vallarai/Gotukola Juice” at a very low price. The drink is extracted from Vallarai/Gotukola plant which is abundantly found in rural environs and is very rich in nutrients especially iron. The team aims to target school going students who often feel lethargic due to loss of energy. All the necessary clearances were obtained from the Medical, Health and Environmental Offices to start the production of the energy drink. On a pilot basis, the drink is being sold to students of a local school at a price of LKR 10. Depending on the success of this pilot innovation, the center plans to expand its market.

iLEAD Centre, Oddusuddan, organized Certificate Awarding Ceremony on 11th April 2014 at C.C.T.M School Auditorium - Kachilaimadu to give away the Course Completion Certificates to the 2nd and 3rd batch students from both iLEAD-Oddusudan and iLEAD-Thanniroottu . The Chief Guest of the event was Col. Asoka Wijenayake, the Commanding Officer of the 641 Brigade of Sri Lanka Army.

On the 22nd of April, iLEAD Centre, Vavuniya, held a Certificate Awarding Ceremony to give away the Course Completion Ceritificates to its 5th and 6th batch students. The Chief Guest & Guest of Honor were “Kalanithi” Dr. Tamil Mani Alagan, a retired Tamil Teacher, the Central Collage , Vavuniya and “Eelakiya Sudar” Mr. Kathirkamasekaram, Tamil Teacher, C.C.T.M School, Vavuniya.

Three prominent ethnic communities - Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims, came together to celebrate the Sinhalese Tamil New Year on 11th April. The festival marks the end of the Harvest season. The celebrations commenced with the traditional “boiling a pot of milk”, considered to be auspicious by both Sinhalese and Tamils. A food table comprising different sweets and traditional foods such as Milk Rice, kawum(Oil-Cake) etc were served for the lunch. The event was an opportunity for the youth to understand the cultures of other communities and promotes integration and tolerance.

NEWS & EVENTS

Page 6: April intl newsletter

iLEAD Youth Conferred Course Completion Certificates in Guwahati & Shillong

Convocation Ceremony of iLEAD Guwahati and Shillong centres were organized separately on 9th and 12th April 2014.

Course Completion certificates were given to 242 youths from 8th, 9th and 10th batches who have completed their training at the iLEAD Guwahati centre. Noted Assamese Film Actress and Celebrity Moitr i Pr iyadarshin i at tended the convocation along with other dignitaries. Speaking on the occasion, Ms.Moitree Priyadarshini praised the iLEAD team members for providing employability training to marginalized youth.

The iLEAD Shilong organized its 5th Convocation Ceremony where a total of 236 iLEAD youth were conferred course completion certificates.

The students belong to batches 7th and8th (3rd and 4th batches under the Sir Jamshedji Tata Trust assisted project).

For the first time, the course completion certificates were certified by IGNOU - Institute for Vocational Education & Training (IIVET). Mr.K.P.Ram – Director of Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) was the Chief Guest of the occasion.

AEAI-NEADS Project Quarterly Review undertaken

The quarterly review of the AEA-NEADS project was undertaken from 22nd April to 24th April 2014 by our Guwahati Office & NEADS Program staff.

It was observed that in year 2011 & 2013, the percentage of children who scored A grade was 35 against an expected percentage of 60 in 2013 and 90 in 2014. The major reasons o f low competency of children were attributed to:

Ÿ Lack of parents or guardians guidance to study of their children at home.

Ÿ Need of quality teaching or proper use of TLMs from teachers in some of the schools.

Ÿ Irrational deployment of teachers that leads to non maintenance of pupil teacher ratio in most of the schools.

Ÿ Poor follow up of CCA result and preparation of Child Centric Plan (CCP) in the field by the staff.

Ÿ Poor school infrastructure and reading environment as many schools were ventures (community run) which are now approved for grant by the government.

Based on the above reasons, decisions were taken to strengthen the CCP and the gaps identified would be addressed through consultations with the concerned teacher, parents as well as the child.

NEWS & EVENTS

Page 7: April intl newsletter

NEWS & EVENTS

Village Development Committee Federation meet held under the Guwahati Regional Office -NEADS Project

A meeting of the Executive members of the Gulung-Dushuti Village Development Committee Federation was organized on 11th April at Paschim Gulung Temera lower primary school with the following objectives

Ÿ Strategy of undertaking the upcoming activities in the coming month

Ÿ Preparation of Wall Magazine & editions

Ÿ Child Club activity, Games and sports, exposure etc

Ÿ School Development Plans preparation by SMC

The meeting was presided over by the president of the Gulung Dushuti VDC President Mr. Domboru Mili. Addressing the Village level VDC, SMC, members of mothers group etc, he thanked all for selecting him as a president to preside over the meeting.

Youth find happiness in spending time with senior citizens

The newly formed iLEAD Shillong Alumni Association was christened as “Na I Ban Mer. To mark the formation of the association, the members visited the Home of the Aged at Demthring on the 19th of April to spend a day with the residents and bring smiles on their faces who are otherwise neglected by their families.

The residents were so happy to meet these youngsters. They interacted and shared their stories and experiences. The alumni members too entertained the residents by singing songs and performing dances. The most touching act was giving haircut to the residents by the Beautician course alumni. The residents were truly overjoyed.

Dear youngsters, Aide et Action is very proud of you…keep up this good work!!!

Patna Office and Jaipur Rugs Foundation come together to assess the scope for job market in Carpet IndustryAide et Action (AEA) and Jaipur Rugs Foundation (JRF) came together for the piloting of iLEAD programme in Carpet Industry. The initiative focuses on assessing job opportnities for youth, especially women engaged in the Carpet weaving. The staff of Aide et Action Patna regional office and Jaipur regional office has made efforts in mobilizing the communities, villages in Madhupur to become part of the carpet weaving industry. The motivation and selection of master trainers will enable them to receive a four months technical as well as soft skills training support from JRF in order to establish centres in different village locations in and around Madhupur.

Page 8: April intl newsletter

Awareness Drive to identify School Dropouts

In order to increase enrollment and bringing drop-out rate in schools, a rally cum awareness drive was organized in B2B project area in Madhubani District. The event was aimed at reaching out to the children who are school dropped-outs, never enrolled and or not regular children. Many school (Both Boys and Girls) children participated in the rally wherein the data was collected through door to door survey. The role of Maata Committee was prominent in entire process of identification of children and meeting with teachers.

SDO visits Pali Government School

The well-coordinated effort of our partner (Abhigyan Disha) in Madhubani has resulted in organizing a meeting in Govt Primary school, Pali in the district of Madhubani where SDO Benipatti, Mr. Mithilesh Mishra (IAS) has visited the B2B operational area and took part in the meeting. He has appreciated the efforts being made by Abhigyan Disha for ensuring quality education to children studying in schools. The issues like construction of building, boundary walls in schools as well as in the villages were brought to his attention. The teachers have updated him that the required funds have been sanctioned and the works will be started very soon.

Regarding few issues related to fixation of boundary wall and encroachment of govt land by some people he gave assurance that if a written application is submitted to him, he will take immediate action for which he instructed school head master to follow.

Orientation Camp on Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness held for TEACHERS

An orientation camp for school teachers was organized on 24th May 2014 at District Resource Center, Tajpur in Samastipur district. The camp was aimed at orienting school teachers on Disaster Risk Reduction and preparedness. A total of 54 teachers including 6 female teachers have participated the camp.

NEWS & EVENTS

Research & Publications

An Abstract based on “Socio-Cultural Practices and Gender & Equity Dimensions In Nutrition Among Korku Tribal Communities” by EduAction team got selected for poster presentation under the thematic area of 'Nutrition Policies and Programmes' to be held in July in Delhi.

Paper on "Gender and Equity in Nutrition" selected for poster presentation at South Asia Conference on Policies and Practices to Improve Nutrition

Page 9: April intl newsletter

Migrant Children re-integrated in School

Sponsors Visit B2B operation village in Samastipur

A study conducted to assess the role of iLEAD’s Gossip Circle for Empowerment in development of youth

Our Migration project organized child club meeting in 27 places of our operational villages to reintegrate migrant children in schools who have returned to their villages and are in a process to returning home. A total of 344 children participated in the meeting and discussed on reintegration of migrant children, school education systems, child problems, health challenges etc. As a result of this exercise, a total of 140 migrant children were enrolled in schools in their villages.

Mr Jean Paul Droz with his daughter Miss Pauline visited B2B operation village to meet Puja Kumari, a child sponsored by them as well as to see the progress being made in her village covered under B2B project. The father-daughter duo have visited Primary School in Narayanpur and interacted with the teachers of Puja. Few classmates of Puja had welcomed them by singing a group song. Impressed by the active participation of children, Mr. Droz and Miss Pauline gifted drawing books, crayons etc to the children.

Our Patna Regional Office (PRO) conducted a visit to all the iLEAD centers in Bihar to conduct interviews of more than 100 youth from all the iLEAD centers under PRO to capture the responses on various structured questionnaires developed to understand the changes in personality and social awareness of youth studying/studied at iLEADs. It was observed that most of the youth remember their GCE (Gossip Circle for Empowerment) classes and there have been instances of acting on issues like Child Marriage, importance of education etc.

NEWS & EVENTS

Patna Regional Office maps the mood of “FIRST TIME VOTERS”

It is our Fundamental Right to Vote. At the same time, it is our responsibility to vote for the right candidate. Our iLEAD students in Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand, mostly first time voters, participated in an activity where they discussed about their hopes and aspirations, manifestos of various political parties and their expectations from them.

This activity gave these first timers an opportunity to choose the best candidate and party which can work for their betterment.

It is once again proved beyond doubt that Aide et Action's iLEAD is not just 'Skill Building initiative' but promotes Holistic Development among Youth who will contribute in the process of nation building.

We are proud of our future LEADERS.

Page 10: April intl newsletter

iLEAD alumni inspires youth to build a better future

iLEADS to a bright future

Breaking Myths

Subhashree’s life took a turn when her two older brothers deserted her family after getting married. Due to poor financial condition and the helplessness of her parents, she had to discontinue her education after XII standard.

At this time, she came across a friend who was also an iLEAD alumni and successfully running his own business. She was inspired by him and without wasting time she visited the iLEAD center in Berhampur and got admitted into electronics trade after undergoing all the necessary procedures.

After successfully completing her course, she was offered an on job training from where she got placement opportunity to work as Computer Hardware Technician in E-Objective consultancy firm. Today she earns Rs. 3800/- per month and happy to take care of her old parents.

Subhashree’s parents are very proud of her and are thankful to iLEAD Berhempur for all the support.

“We had no vacancy, but we did not want to lose such a good worker like Sumit; so we took him in before he completed his practical training”, says Hemen Deka, proprietor of Kamakhya Bajaj.

This is one of the many feedbacks from the employers about the youth trained in our iLEAD programmes. It has been once again proved beyond doubt that marginalized youth need a proper direction and one chance to prove themselves.

We are really proud of you Sumit Marak, an iLEAD alumni who underwent training in Automobile trade offered by iLEAD and earns a INR 3500 a month working as a Automobile Mechanic.)

“We, in the Hotel Industry, tend to hire young legs. But after I happened to observe & interact with Rupali, my views changed”, says the General Manager of a famous Hotel where Rupali works.

Hotel industry tends to hire young people whom they think are quick at doing the tasks assigned. However, with her strong will and hardworking nature coupled with the training she acquired at the iLEAD, Rupali, 36 years old, succeeded in breaking this myth.

After completion of the three months classroom training in Hospitality Trade she was sent for On Job Training (OJT) at Hotel Nakshatra, Beltola. Subsequently, she joined Hotel Aryan Atithyaa, Six Mile with initial salary of Rs.2700/- + meal and accommodation. She worked for few months and joined Hotel Brahmaputra as she got better opportunity there.

Now Rupali Boro is working at Hotel Lily, Khanapara, Guwahati with the pay of Rs.5500/- + meal and accommodation.

We are proud of you Rupali.

Success Stories

Coming Soon: Migrating Childhoods – a documentary on the lives of children of migrant labors

Page 11: April intl newsletter

Contributors: Pranab Panging; Deepika Palwasal; Radhika Ramesh; Suresh Gutta; Vijay Kiran; Nitin Kumar; Dananjay Kumar; Anamika; Safina Parween; Sanjay Kumar; Atul Kumar; Sujan Neupane; Kapila Dhanapala; Mohit Chandrasekhar; Roshan Minz

Edited and layout design by: Chandra Kiran Katta, Communication Unit

please share your feedback to: [email protected]


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