Musical instruments for 17 slum children in India

BEAT OF THE STREET

The musical instruments handed over to the children made a tremendous change in their lives. The children who would've spend their time idly are now engaged in productive activities. It has also made a significant impact in the lives of children as well as their families. They learned how to perform the musical instruments. Now, they are performing in various avenues such as public functions, school programmes, community celebrations and many more. This also helps them earn an income which in turn supports their family.

This project helps children to enhance their skills and inspires them to be self- sufficient. This would mould their future and help them reach heights rather than following the path of their older generation. This way the community would grow and develop.

The Childline Trivandrum conducted a campaign for prevention of covid 19 while children go to schools.The campaign was held in the city of Trivandrum. Our Chendamelam crew was given the opportunity to showcase their abilities to the general public. The chendamelam and the children caught the public's attention and praise. The campaign's biggest attraction was the children's excellent performance. The children were excited to be a part of the childline promotion as well. Throughout the campaign, the crew delivered an outstanding performance. Our chendamelam team was continually encouraging additional slum children to join and practise the chendamelam. As a result, we intend to increase the number of children who practise chendamelam.

Since the outbreak of pandemic in Kerala, the situation and survival of the families are continously fluctuating according to the rise in case of Covid 19. The government is imposing restrictions over the public as per the increasing cases. evenat the midst of pandemic Don Bosco Veedu Society was able to gift musical instruments for the potential children across the slum so as to trian them in musical instruments and make them capable of handling those instruments. 

Due to sudden outbreak and continous rise in number of cases of Covid, the families of these children were in trouble as they were facing the risk of getting infected by the pandemic. Don Bosco Veedu Society managed to mobilise the funds from the project toprovide their families a home prevention kit which included Sanitisers, soap mask, glucose, gloves, vitamin tablets, disinfectant liquids, oxymeters, thermometers and vapourisers.

Good mental health and building a safe space for kids where they can bare themselves open are still frowned upon by our society, and even by parents. These children are always at risk of exploitation if not given proper care and guidance. Several reports reveal that many students do not make it to school and are often seen running away.

The KEEN (Karimadom Education and Empowerment Network) initiative, implemented at Karimadom, aims at empowering women and children through education and skill development. As part of this initiative various community projects have been launched at Karimadom.

This project has been introduced so that children who are interested in learning are required to attend school, thus preventing school dropout. Don Bosco Veedu Society has initiated this project since 2 years and has trained 11 children from slum initially and they have done their arangettam (graduation ceremony) before the outbreak of COVID. Don Bosco Veedu Society has helped these children to form a troop so that they can perform infront of public which they have acquired through the professional training. Before pandemic the children were having hand full of stages for carrying out their performance. Inspired by the success of project, another set of children has approached us for acquiring training. Here we included drop outs aswellas school going children who are keenly interested for getting trained in Chendamelam.

 Don Bosco has identified 12 potential students from the Karimadom Slum and has hired a professional instructor to train them. Once training is done and the students are prepared for their Arangettam (graduation ceremony in music),Don Bosco will gift Chendas to each of  the students performing and by doing so, aim to empower and motivate the underprivileged children in the slums. Due to pandemic protocols the group is divided into two batcjes each consisting of 6 children and are practising alternate days. Once the graduation is done, children will be able to earn for themselves and their families by participating in festivals and cultural expos. They will also acquire various life skills such as comradeship and teamwork.

Currently  through mobilising funds from GlobalGiving donors, we were able to buy 3 chendas (Instrument for performing) to three children among the group where the rest are practising with the borrowed chendas from the former beneficiaries. We are in need of 9 more chendas for distributing to the children.

Don Bosco Veedu Society has initiated earlier the formation of Chendamelam troop consisting of children who were dropped out from various institution due to their lack of interest in studies. They were enrolled in the troop with the condition  of re – enrolling themselves to the institutions.  This initiative is purely for building interest to get educated so as to be a better citizen in future rather than spoiling their brightful future.

The pandemic situation has affected the functioning of the troop as  the government has issued ordinance against the gathering of people for any reasons till the situation is under control.  The children thus missed opportunity to perform in the special occasions which they used to do before lockdown has started in our country which was by the mid of March 2020. Thus the need of instillation of hope in their mind has to be done at regular interval for avoiding the feel that they are left alone in their lives.

With the help of donations from GlobalGiving, we were able to supply food kits for the children from the chenda melam troop inorder to ensure that they are receiving sufficient food and nutrition in the midst of pandemic so as  to fight the disease and survive.