Education India Project #14504

Educate Children Living on Construction Sites

by Mumbai Mobile Creches

Educate Children Living on Construction Sites

Project Report | Jan 22, 2019
Book Week and Annual Children's Camp

By FR and Communications Team | FR and Communications Team

Children created rockets during book week

Dear Supporters,

Wish you all a very happy new year!

We are back again with lots of updates about our programme. The last two months at Mumbai Mobile Creches were packed with many learning events and activities for children.

Book Week:

This year the Book week was celebrated from 12^th to 17^th of November at all our day care centres. The theme was ‘We are going to Space!’ The Book Week started with a grand inauguration at every centre. Guests were invited to conduct Book Reading sessions to start this exciting week. Our guests included site officers working on the construction site, authors, members from other NGOs, and supporters. Each day during Book Week our children focussed on a different book. The Book Week started with a very interesting activity called ‘Look Up!’, wherein all the children and teachers at the centre went out and observed the sky outside. The teachers asked the children about what all they could see while looking up. Many other interesting activities were planned at the centre. Children from the Crèche section made fluffy clouds out of cotton. They also learnt two new Hindi rhymes related to the theme of space Children in the Balwadi section enjoyed ‘read-a-loud’ (Read to me) session. Under this activity, parents choose a book and read a story to their children attending our centre.Children created artworks, played games, made charts and various craft items. Primary students also read out stories to children in the crèche and pre-primary section. It was a great way to make primary students feel comfortable reading aloud and to inspire pre-primary children to practice their reading readiness skills! They made amazing space suits out of scrap material available at centre. Children in the afterschool section wrote small poems which were then pasted on the walls of the centre by teachers. On the last day of the book week, over 1000 received books as gifts. With active participation of MMC’s teachers and children the book week was a grand success.

Annual Children’s Camp:

We organised an Annual Camp for our children between 10^th -21^st December 2018. Annual camp is one of the few opportunities that these young children get to step out of the construction site and spend two funfilled days away from the monotony of the concrete and cement that constantly surrounds them. This year, the camp was organised for children above six years attending its day care centres on construction sites in four batches from 10th to 21st December 2018. The batch of children went to the Yusuf Meherally Centre, Panvel and the other to Vidhayak Sansad at Vasai. 352 children from our centres spread across the city attended the camp. The two days were filled with fun and learning activities, cultural programmes, a fancy dress competition among the children and art & learning based sessions. Children thoroughly enjoyed different activities at the camp.

We thank our donors for supporting our programme. If you would like to continue contributing to the programmes of the Mumbai Mobile Creches, you can consider making a monthly recurring donation at the following link: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/mumbaimobilecreches/

Primary children created space suite out of scrap

Children enjoying games at annual camp

Children set to go for annual camp

Children received books as a gift!

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Oct 29, 2018
Health Camps for children on construction sites!

By FR and Communications Team | FR and Communications Team

Eye Check-up camp at our centre!

Good health is the foundation of a happy childhood. However, adverse living conditions on construction sites such as continuous exposure to debris, mud, cement make our children especially vulnerable to eye, ear infections. They are constantly exposed to pollutants, loud noise posing huge risks to their sensory development. Many of our parents on construction sites find it difficult to get their children checked due time and resource constraints. Hence we at MMC organise regular dental, ear and eye check-up camps for children at our centres. Here few achievements in MMC’s health programme in the past six months April 2018 to September 2018:

Total No. of Health Camps: 29
Total No. of Children Reached through Health Camps: 1376
No. of Ear Camps: 17
No. of Children reached through ear camps: 753
No. of Eye Camps organised: 11
No. of Children reached through eye camps: 569
No. of Dental Camps: 1
No. of Children reached through dental camps:54

We would like to share two stories of our children who were benefitted from the health camps organised at our centres.

Hansraj a two and half year old child from Beed district of the state of Maharashtra migrated with his family to Mumbai. His father works as a daily wage worker on a construction site while his mother works as a domestic helper in residential areas close by. During an ear check-up camp organised by MMC, the audiologists reported earwax blockage due to which Hansraj was experiencing pain and decreased hearing. He was referred to the hospital nearby. MMC staff accompanied him and his parents to the nearest municipal hospital where he was recommended ear drops and cleaning. His mother also went for follow up visits diligently and got his ear cleaned. His mother says, “He feels much better now and I am happy MMC conducts such camps otherwise it would have been difficult for me to find time and to know what my child is going through. I also am informed regularly about my child’s health and development and I am glad MMC is there to take care of my child while I am at work.”

Rahul is a bright, 11 year old boy from the state of Assam. He attends the local Municipal school in the afternoon and spends his mornings at the MMC centre. But since the last six months Rahul was finding it difficult to reading the writing on the black board at school and also suffered from frequent headaches. During the camp the ophthalmologist diagnosed a refractive error and referred Rahul to the nearest municipal hospital for further treatment. MMC staff accompanied him to hospital. Doctors at the hospital recommended use of eye drops and spectacles. Rahul is wearing these specs regularly since the last one month and has reported that his frequent headaches have reduced considerably. He is also able to see better in school.

We thank our donors for supporting our health programme. If you would like to continue contributing to the programmes of the Mumbai Mobile Creches, you can consider making a monthly recurring donation at the following link: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/mumbaimobilecreches/

Child screened during Ear Check up camp

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Jul 31, 2018
"A Holistic Education: MMC's New Chess Initiative"

By FR and Communications Team | FR and Communications Team

Check and Mate! Children enjoying chess !

“I am surprised by the energy these children have to learn and play the game of chess. We have started playing test games with the children and their mind application (the way they think and solve problems) is amazing.” Kunal a trainer from a renowned chess training academy who comes weekly to teach our children, happily shared his thoughts with us.

These encouraging words from our trainer affirm MMC’s belief that if given the opportunity, our children can excel. Playing chess helps our children develop numerous skills needed to achieve their goals; it improves strategic thinking, problem solving, and patience. Last year we incorporated chess into our education programme at two centres. After seeing the children’s enthusiasm and positive educational outcomes, we expanded the chess program to six centers, reaching a total of 150 children.

Two brothers from one of our centres, 10 year old Raju and 8 year old Sonu, are among many who eagerly wait for chess class. Raju and Sonu’s father migrated from a small village Begunsarai, Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai in search of livelihood and now work as a mason on the construction site where our centre is located. Both brothers have mastered the strategy of the game. The younger, Sonu, says “I ensure my king is always safe and I am always attentive of the opponent’s move. With practice I have become better. I win all games and now my friends don’t want to play with me”.

It was a proud moment for us when both Raju and Sonu, along with one more classmate, won silver medals in the entry level group at a chess tournament organized by the South Mumbai Chess Academy. The teachers have also observed that after learning the game, Raju is able to articulate his thoughts much more clearly and is able to think critically before making a decision. Playing chess has also proved beneficial for Sonu, who had struggled with a limited attention span. Now, with prolonged exposure to the game, his listening skills in class have improved and he remains engaged for the entirety of classroom activities.

Like Raju and Sonu, the chess programme is helping many children from our centres build life skills and grow in confidence. Another student, Kedar, shared that “I am enjoying playing chess with my classmates, and we mutually help each other if we get stuck or go wrong”. Alisha shared that “I did not know the game earlier, and hence was very hesitant to learn the game. But as sir (trainer) started teaching us, I started understanding the game and now I enjoy the game very much. I love the queen. She can move in any direction.” The chess initiative has undoubtedly been a valuable addition to our education programme and has had a positive impact on the lives of our children.

We thank our donors for supporting our education programme. If you would like to continue contributing to the programmes of the Mumbai Mobile Creches, you can consider making a monthly recurring donation at the following link: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/mumbaimobilecreches/

Child engrossed in learning the techniques of play

Trainer teaching techniques of the game to our chi

Girls from our centre practicing chess

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