By Saath Team | SAATH
CHILD FRIENDLY SPACES (CFS) PROGRESS REPORT
(October – December, 2013)
SAATH CHARITABLE TRUST
SAATH is a non-government organization registered as a Public Charitable Trust in Gujarat, India. In Gujarati the word SAATH means, “Together, Co-operation, a Collective or Support.” SAATH’s one-stop, integrated services reach over 4,00,000 individuals in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Since 1989, SAATH has facilitated participatory process that improves the quality of life for the urban and rural poor. SAATH caters to multiple needs of the poor by providing them with one-stop centres, through which they have access to services such as health, education, employment, micro finance and affordable housing. SAATH engages institutions, corporate and individuals throughout the world as partners and supporters for the integrated development of India.
Vision: Saath envisions inclusive and empowered communities and individuals.
Mission: To make human settlements equitable living environments where all residents and vulnerable people have access to health, education, essential infrastructure services and livelihood options, irrespective of their economic and social status.
CHILD FRIENDLY SPACES
SAATH designed Child-Friendly Spaces- a unique, 4-hour non-formal education course with an aim to later enrol the children of construction labourers in formal education. With a steady influx of migrating families to urban settlements and poor quality of education, creating alternative education spaces for quality education has become important.
OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAMME
The main and objective of this programme is to reach the children of labourers and help them gain formal education eventually and there after making them skilled and self-sufficient. Children from the slums, child labourers as well as children of labourers on construction sites all require a strong base in education and access to quality education. Dropouts from school need to be continuously counselled and encouraged to go back to school. The education programs designed at Saath recognize this need and aims to bridge this gap.
IMPACT
Currently, there are 7 Child Friendly Space centres; 4 in the slums of Ahmedabad and 3 on construction sites. Through our CFS centres, we have enrolled more than 2,000 child labourers and children of labourers in our CFS classes.
QUARTERLY STATUS OF CFS (October – December)
For overall development of a child during October to December, 2013 various activities were conducted at the child friendly centres and special care was taken that a nutritious diet is provided to each child coming at the centre. The month of October and November were not much active at some of the classes as the children went back to their native villages for the celebration of Diwali. Our two centres run in Khodiyarnagar area were shifted in the nearby vicinity and a new centre in the area Ram – Raheem tekro was opened for the children of these 2 centres. During the 3 month period various activities were done with children along with learning activities. Children celebrated Diwali and Christmas, went to the Kakariya festival and warm clothes were provided to the children for the winter by many donors that approached Saath. In October the children of all the centres went to Udaipur, Rajasthan for training for 3 days on the topic of Child Development.
Given below is the brief of activities at each individual centre:
Fatewadi
In the Fatehwadi (Juhapura) Center, in Gujarati language the children learned various sentences, songs, stories and words. In English the children learned alphabets in capital letters and small letters and reading-writing numbers from 1 to 10. In Mathematics the children 10 to 100 numbers, basic examples of addition, subtraction and multiplication and tables.
The children learned about the festivals of Dashera and Diwali, importance of cleanliness and various national songs including the national anthem. Various sport activities were done and the children drew pictures related to Diwali. In October the children took part in rally to create awareness regarding Malaria and made Diwali cards.
The children took part in a craft activity for making masks, celebrated Christmas and went to Kankaiya Carnival.
Khodiyar Nagar – 1
In the Behrampura (Khodiyarnagar) CFS, kids were taught to read and write basic alphabets of English, Hindi, Gujarati and basic Hindi Grammar along with it. The children wrote an essay on Diwali, made Diwali greeting cards and drew pictures related to it and coloured them. The children also learned about the celebration of Diwali and Navratri and sweets were distributed in children among the children during Diwali.
The children learned tables of 5 and 6 in mathematics. Various games were played and in October the children were taken for picnic to Kankariya lake. Also Gandhi Jayanti was celebrated on 2nd October and the children also did ‘Garba’s’ during Navaratri. A parents meeting was also during the period along with a health checkup of all the children at the centre.
At the end of November the children were shifted to the new centre at the Ram – Raheem tekro.
Khodiyar Nagar – 2
During the period of two months the children played various games such as Kho – Kho, Catch etc. Learning activities were carried out with the help of Charts and Pictures.
In Hindi the children learned the alphabets, name of the months and weekdays, simple mathematical examples, name of the birds their colours and voices and simple words. In English the children learned the alphabets. Links:
A balanced diet was given to the children during this period and the festival of Diwali was celebrated in which the children drew various pictures related to Diwali. On the 18th October a parents meeting was also held for discussing the children development with their respective parents.
At the end of November the children were shifted to the new centre at the Ram – Raheem tekro.
SW Park – Naroda
In SW Park Naroda, the kids were taught simple words and sentences and they learned about the Gujarati alphabets. Similarly the younger kids were taught the alphabets and basic words. In Mathematics the children were asked to fill identify numbers on the basis of pictures. In English the kids learned the alphabets and the basic grammer. Various songs were taught to children with storytelling activities.
Apart from this learning through charts was also done. The kids were taught the names of fruits, vegetables, vehicles, animals and their voices, parts of body etc. Information regarding Diwali was given to children and they were cautioned against using firecrackers during the festival. The festival was celebrated by children during which sweets were distributed among them. Many of the children at the centre went back to their villages during Diwali. Hence when they returned a meeting was done with their parents to inquire how the children spent their holidays and did they study back in the villages or not.
Various games and sports were played by the children during the three months as part of their outdoor activities. The children were also taken to Kankariya Carnival in the month of December.
SW Park - Vasna
At SW Park Vasna Center, during the 3 month period the kids learned simple addition and subtraction examples, Gujarati and English alphabets and simple words and sentences in both the languages. The older kids were given to read and write the alphabets along with the addition/subtraction examples.
The children were taught the names of animals, importance of discipline, wishing ‘Good Morning’ – ‘Good Bye’ etc. Information regarding Diwali was given to the children and the children drew various pictures related to Diwali. In December the Kaknakariya Carnival was visited by the children.
Devnandan Supreme – Vastral
During the three month period the children were taught basic alphabets of English and Gujarati, calculation examples and some simple words and sentences.
The children did various craft activities at the centre and they were about paper cutting techniques. The children celebrated Diwali and they were taught about precautions to be taken during Diwali and sweets were distributed among the children. Kankariya Carnival was visited by the children in December.
Umang Lamba
Kids were taught English and Gujarati alphabets, names of flowers, fruits, vegetables, birds and animals, domestic and wilds animals, colours and shapes. Many new children were enrolled in the class and slowly with the help of games, songs and storytelling these children were accommodated with the environment of the classroom.
The children were taught about the festivals of Diwali, Dashera and Navratri. During Navratri the children did Garba’s and during Diwali a drawing completion was organised among the children. The children were taken to the Kankariya Carnival in December.
Ram – Raheem Tekro
This is our newest centre where the students from the Khodiyarnagar 1 and 2 centers were shifted. In the month of December the children were taught basic alphabets of English and Gujarati language. The children learned simple words, various children songs were taught to them along with various sport activities. Along with this a balanced diet was given to the children for their development.
The children of the centre were taken to the Kakariya Carnival which the children enjoyed the most.
CHALLENGES
Workers keep on migrating to different sites and different cities which creates a hindrance in tracking trained children.
Lack of funding stops from opening up of new classes.
Stationary, Toys, Teacher Expenses, Snacks are becoming costlier.
The attrition rates of students are increasing.
Children are from scattered age groups and so the activities cannot be standardized.
Education is a barrier to the parents of such children and thus it takes time to make them aware and understand the importance of getting their children enrolled to CFS.
STATUS OF CFS
Child Friendly Spaces- Status in December'13
Sr. No. Name of the Centre No. of Children Note
Boy Girl Total
1 Fatehwadi 10 20 30
2 Behrampura- Khodiyarnagar 1 - - - Centre’s closed in November’13
3 Behrampura- Khodiyarnagar 2 - - - Centre’s closed in November’13
4 Naroda- Swaminarayan park 17 23 40
5 Lambha- Umang Lambha 9 18 27
6 Shahwadi- Swaminarayan park 14 21 35
7 Vastral- Devnandan Supremus 20 36 56
8 Ram – Raheem Tekro 8 19 27 centre opened in December’13
Total 78 137 215
Child Friendly Spaces (October’13 – December’13)
Newly Enrolled Children Children enroll
Kankariya Carnival Visit 2
Kankariya Carnival Visit 3
Kankariya Carnival Visit 4
Cristmas Celebration
Sweater Distribution
Fatehwadi Class 1
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