'Holistic Development'for 300 Poor Kids in India

Dear Friends,

Warm greetings!  You will be glad to hear that our after school programmes have become a great support to children during this pandemic. It almost replaced the main stream schooling now as children hardly have any schooling due to lock down since last academic year.

Our after-school programmes were aimed to keep children from dropping out from school. It has become a great success and have helped thousands of children to complete education and realise their potential, because of the generous support from all of you.  Our programmes not only concentrate on keeping the children in school but also in ensuring that all the children enrolled are getting opportunities for their holistic development. Greater efforts are needed here to keep a continuous survey of communities as our project also cover tribal migratory population with illiterate parents.  Even during lockdown, our field workers are trying their best to reach out physically as the remote support was not very effective with less access to internet and lack of smart devices in some communities. To children without access to internet connection and smart phones , we provide hard copies of activity worksheets in these areas through our social workers and they make sure that the children complete their assignments on time. Children are encouraged to take photos of their work and submit it to the teachers for checking.

As it seems, virtual learning will continue for another year, we are helping our students to register with an educational app, an online education app for school children. Along with that we have also distributed school stationaries to children to ensure that all the students are continuing education. All our activities like self- defence classes, spoken English, career guidance, sports , art and craft .. etc are taking place on online platforms. Recently we have also experimented with  virtual exposure visits for our students and showed them places of historical importance. I am glad to share a feedback from a student about our program.

Harsha- our beneficiary-speaks…..

Harsha has been with  IDEA foundation for a total of 14 years. And in those years, she has grown from being a small, naive, fearful girl to a confident, independent, and fearless woman. The journey was not easy; there were times, as Harsha reminiscences,  where she felt that she would never sound confident while speaking English. However, after the first spoken English class that taught 9th-grade level English to her, she felt her confidence in her ability to master a complex language to come back. With the aid of courses that not only taught her to speak a universal language but also empower her with weekend classes of learning how to manage a bank account, self-defense classes, etc she became confident in her abilities. All the students, including Harsha, were provided with all necessary school supplies, including but not limited to books, compass, study materials, etc. Harsha believes that the knowledge and opportunities that the IDEA foundation has enlightened her with have made her a confident student and sister and most of all, a proud daughter to her family. She now firmly believes that she has a much stronger, holistic approach to tackling her studies and securing a potentially good job. Lastly, She also very admirably mentioned how IDEA foundation, even in the face of a global pandemic, managed to procure and conduct online classes so as not to deter students from their path to becoming successful individuals.

The year-long lockdown is a great loss of children especially from rural villages, but we make all the efforts to continue different offline activities and ensure that at least communities under our project get enough support during this pandemic.

Thank you for being a continuous support to us!

Dear Donors,

Greetings from IDEA Foundation!

IDEA Foundation is continuing to support the marginalized communities in Pune by providing access to reliable resources for the holistic development of children in this most challenging situation we have ever faced.

When IDEA started its study centres in 2002, the objective was to reduce school drop-out ratio among children from underprivileged communities by bridging the socio economic gap by interventions designed to motivate children to complete schooling, through academic support programs. As time progressed, we understood other areas in the life of these children which also needed attention, so we took the responsibilities to make sure that the children are healthy, by conducting health check-up camps wherever necessary and nutrition and hygiene awareness programs for parents. Instead of a focus merely academics, we have started concentrating on the holistic development of our beneficiaries through many extra-curricular programs.

 Now with the outbreak of COVID 19, as the schools are closed, many of the children are facing health risks, including difficulty to access health care services usually provided through school. The school was also a place for safety for these children when the parents go out for work. As we work closely among these community children, we understand that this social isolation is causing stress and anxiety in children. Added to which, less physical activity of our children for such a prolonged period is a major concern for all of us. Our social workers are in contact with all the children and keep a check on their well-being.

We have conducted many activities and sports competitions online to keep the children motivated and in good spirits during lockdown. Online drawing and painting competitions brought out the best creativity of the children.

Now that the government has withdrawn the lockdown, we have started physical sessions in many of our centres which were difficult to reach through digital medium. However, we ensure that we strictly adhere to all the COVID protocols. In remote areas, music classes are also being conducted along with the academics. Science day was celebrated and children were encouraged to make different scientific models. I am sure you will be excited to see the happy faces of the children back in our centres, though we might again go to online mode as the third wave is on the rise.

 We have conducted health check-up camps of all the children in IDEA’s study centres with the help of a team of doctors from Sahyadri Hospital, Pune. We have made the participants of this camp aware of the importance of health and immunity. We have distributed first aid kits, snacks and masks to all the children and insisted that the children on follow and develop a disciplined hygienic routine.

Dear donors, we are greatful to you for supporting us and enabling us to continue our work throughout these difficult period. We request your support in the coming months too.

Thank you!