From Child Labour to a Chance at School

QUARTERLY STATUS OF CFS (March, 2016 - May, 2016)

For overall development we conducted various learning activities for their physical and mental development and special care is taken on their nutrition and hygiene. Currently we have 10 centers 7 CFS classes at construction sites and 3 in slums. We have 5 more centers in pipeline

We inaugurated a new center at construction site.

This quarter we celebrated festival of colours, holi with our children. This is also summer time so lot of donors donated king of summer fruits, mangoes. One of the donor provided school kits to children of two centers.

We also gave school kits to the new enrollees in all the classes and at the new centers.  

Lot of corporates did voluntary work at our centers. One of the corporate ATE distributed colouring kit to the kids. They also gave scholarship for a year to 6 deserving underprivileged kids. Another corporate SNL Financials taught children their body parts in English. 

During this quarter “Jewellery Workshop” was organized for under-privileged children. They were taught how to make jewellery. The workshop was held for 4 hours every Sunday for a month and after a month an exhibition was held to display their creations. Now these kids make jewellery on regular basis for their family, friends and ofcoure for themselves.

We have divided the children at the centers in three groups according to their age:

Group A: Children who very young, prayers, poems and basic body parts are taught here

Group B: Children are taught Alphabets and Numbers in English and Gujarati

Group C: Children are taught how to write and also they learn addition, subtraction, multiplication.

Given below is the brief of activities at each individual centre:

Fatewadi

Different activities were done with children according to their age groups. The children were taught English – Gujarati alphabets, names of fruits, animals, birds, colours and they learned about various shapes. Craft activities were also done with the children and they were taught to make various things out of paper and colouring them. They have been taught to make toys from waste material. They have also taught about glass painting and learned different colours names.

Ram – Raheem Tekro

During the 3 month period the children were taught English and Gujarati alphabets, names of vegetables and fruits, they learnt numbers from 1-100, stories were told, sang songs, learnt how to write simple words and draw basic shapes. Few out-door exercise sessions were done for the physical development.

 Vejalpur

 At this center the kids continue learning different letters in Gujarati and English. They learnt writing numbers from 50-100. They learnt new nursery rhymes and songs.  Children were taught about craft and painting. They have learned new techniques of drawing.

Mahadev Residency – Naroda

Here children learned simple words, reading and writing the alphabets and small words in English. In Maths the children learned numbers from 1 to 20. The children learned about colours, learned from charts, played various interactive learning games and children songs.

 SW Park – Shahwadi

 At this center, younger kids were taught alphabets in two languages English and Gujarati, the older kids were taught to read and write the alphabets. In Maths, kids learned basic examples of addition. Apart from these children were taught basic disciplinary manners. They were taught general knowledge. Mythological stories were narrated.

Aaryan Opulence - Ambali

In this center children were taught to write numbers 1-50 in English and 1-100 in Gujarati. Songs in Gujarati were taught. We had a volunteer who taught these kids different body parts in English language and few songs and poems in English. They also had regular sports activities at this center. Children also learnt basic manners. They learnt how to greet and meet in English. 

Rajyesh Revanta                                     

In the class the children were taught prayer songs, reading alphabets (English and Gujarati) and reading from 1 to 100 numbers. With the help of interactive games the children were taught about how to give their introduction, identify various colours and counting digits. Children were taught season names and importance of cleanliness.

Aakruti Aangan - Lamba                        

This is the new center that was inaugurated in this quarter. Parents were invited so that they can come and see what activities are conducted here. First month only went in registrations, Children played with toys and few games were played every day so that children get comfortable with teachers. Second month songs and poems were taught.

Makarba – SG Highway

 This is the new center that was inaugurated in this quarter. Parents were invited so that they can come and see what activities are conducted here. First month only went in registrations, Children played with toys and few games were played every day so that children get comfortable with teachers. Second month songs and poems were taught.

CFS; Mainstreaming the Marginalized children

 Nazneen Ansari Nur Mohammad, (Name Changed) 12 years’ old girl from the child labor classes, which is part of the Child Friendly Spaces programme of Saath. She studies in Class 6^th at the Sunrise school, Vejalpur. Her father suffered from heart attack, so the he had to leave his work and sit at home. Her mother had to take up all the responsibilities of the family. She started working as domestic help in the nearby bungalows and residential complex. Her mother used to get food from the houses where she used to work, which was generously given by them and the family used to share that food during their meal time. The CFS teacher Sanjida ben had reported the Saath office about the financial crises the family was facing. The Saath team understanding their condition had also sent the family food kit, for supporting them. Her mother had back breaking work which affected her health adversely and as a result she was asked by doctor to take rest. Her father was not able to recover after the heart ailment, so he started selling vegetables through cart opposite the house, which was not sufficient for a decent living. Due to financial constraints faced by the family, her mother was forced to tell her daughter, that they would not be able to educate her any further.  This was a heart breaking thing for Nazneen, who was keen on continuing her education. Since her parents could not pay her school fees on time, she was barred from attending the classes and that is when Sanjida ben, the teacher at the CFS class thought of supporting the girl by approaching the Nirma interns for help, who had visited Saath for the Internship. These students got together for fund raising, which enabled them to gather amount of Rs.4000/-. This raised amount was used to pay off her pending school fees and as a result she could get back to school.  Nazneen said, “I wish to study further, and become a doctor one day, but since my family’s financial condition is not good so my mother was forced to tell me to sit at home.” I am thankful to Saath and Nirma students for supporting me and my family. I am looking for more support in near future, so that I can pursue my higher goals. My sister also wants to study further and become a police officer one day.”

CHALLENGES

ü  The attrition rates of students is high

ü  Parents don’t think it’s important for their child to attend such activity classes

ü  They think they are losing household income if children go to school

As the children are from Migrant families, it becomes difficult track the kids once they move to different sites

ü  Stationary, Toys, Teacher Expenses, Snacks are becoming costlier.

ü  Regular funding is not there for this program

STATUS OF CFS

Child Friendly Spaces- Status in May, 2016

Sr. No.     Name of the Centre                             No. of Children

                                                                 Boy        Girl         Total   

1                Fatehwadi                                  18          17           35

2            Ram rahim no tekro                        13          17           30

3                  Vejalpur                                   18          17           35

4       Naroda- Mahadev Residency                 7          11           18

5       Shahwadi- Swaminarayan park             16         24            40

6            Rajyash Revanta - Vasna                29         31           60

7          Aakruti Aangan- Lambha                   17         18           35

8          Aaryan Opulence- Ambli                     7           9           16

9          Le Jardin- Law garden                       16         15           31

                      Total                                    141        159         300

 Child Friendly Spaces (March – May, 2016)

Sr. No.      Name of the Centre                    Newly Enrolled Children                  Children enrolled to School

                                                           Mar.16  April.16  May.16  Total           Mar.16  April.16  May.16  Total

1                    Fatehwadi                         1            6         -            7               -            -           -          -  

2             Ram rahim no tekro                   -            -           -           -                -            -           -          -  

3                     Vejalpur                            2          -           -            2                 -          -           -          -  

4       Naroda- Mahadev Residency           1           1          -            2                -            -           -          -  

5     Shahwadi- Swaminarayan park          2           -           -            2               -            -           -          -  

6      Rajyash Revanta - Vasna                 7          -          17          24              -            -           -          -  

7      Aakruti Aangan- Lambha                   3          -            7         10               -            -           -          -  

8     Aaryan Opulence- Ambli                    7            5          3        15               -            -           -          -  

9       Le Zarden

• CFS Progress report March-May, 2016 (PDF)