For most of us becoming a professional in any field was but a natural progression of good education. School was a place that everybody went to, including friends and family. Sadly opportunity is not egalitarian; even now a completely different and desperate demography exists. Thousands of children work for a living and for this marginalized segment school is a luxury. The Projects section this month talks of Door Step School (DSS), a project which caters to such children. DSS's motto is "If the child cannot come to school, the school will go to the child". Vibha is a proud sponsor for DSS. Additionally, in this edition, we also outline Vibha's project focus areas in further detail. As always, your feedback is critical, please write and tell us what you think.

Vibha Projects

Vibha Projects: Our Partners in Change in India

Vibha is currently partnering with 30 grassroots organizations that work on child-related projects in India. This is how the collective efforts of all the volunteers, donors and supporters bring hope to the lives of thousands of children every year.

Vibha selects the child development projects without any discrimination based on gender, caste, religion, political affiliation or language. We follow an exhaustive evaluation process which includes quantitative metrics like the number of children impacted, the cost per activity or cost per child and qualitative measures such as the impact on the local community, structure and long term sustainability of the organization.

All the projects supported by Vibha are primarily targeted towards children. However, they span a wide range of focus areas related to children and child care. The broad areas of our current focus and the corresponding projects in each category are outlined here. For detailed descriptions of these projects, please visit our projects website.

Our focus areas are:

1. Education – We believe that Education is the key to unlock the potential of children and for breaking the vicious cycle of poverty. Hence, about 50% of our resources go towards education. A large number of our funded projects are imparting education in different ways, each responding to a specific need in their respective communities.

• Pre-primary Education: With the motto of “catch them young”, children are encouraged to develop school-going habits before they fall truant while their parents do daily labor. Vibha supports Vidyarambham (Tamilnadu) that has developed a scalable model in starting pre-primary centers and prepares thousands of children to go to school. Another project we support is Baikunthapur Tarun Sangha - BTS (West Bengal) which reduces the burden on daily-wage earning parents and older siblings by providing child-care centers.

• Primary and Secondary Education: In places where the Government school system has completely failed or is non-existent, several projects have started primary education centers to ensure basic literacy skills. Examples are Alamb (Delhi), Rachana (Maharashtra), Visakha Rural Development Society -VRDS (Andhra Pradesh) and Sevalaya (Tamilnadu). Rachana, in particular, has gained tremendous expertise in the approach of integrated development of children and is rapidly developing into a resource center for other organizations as well.

• Bridge Schools: In communities where there are already a number of out-of-school children, some projects have started Bridge schools. These help the children to “catch-up-quick” and get them mainstreamed into the regular school system. Examples are - AWARD (Andhra Pradesh), Verala (Maharashtra), Swami Vivekananda Vichar Prashar Samiti – SVVPS (West Bengal) and Door Step School (Maharashtra).

• Support Structure to Children: Some projects help the children by providing tuitions, school fees, uniforms and moral support. They ensure that children do not drop out of mainstream schools due to lack of resources at home. Sharada Kalyan Bhandar - SKB (West Bengal), Aasman (Maharashtra), Hope Foundation (Karnataka) and Gulge Trust (Maharashtra) are excellent examples in this category.

• Support Structure to Schools: In several parts of India, the Government schools have good infrastructure but lack motivation due to insufficient community involvement. Citizens in these communities have taken this up as a challenge. They are supporting the schools by funding additional teachers, facilities, computers and field trips. This approach is resulting in the reduction of drop-out rates of children from these schools. In this category, Vibha is funding Gandhian organization for Rural Development -GORD (Andhra Pradesh), Mobile Science Van (Tamilnadu) and Children Toy Foundation (Maharashtra).

• Residential Education : A few of the more experienced projects like Bhagavatula Charitable Trust - BCT (Andhra Pradesh), and Bodh Shiksha Samiti - BSS (Rajasthan) have taken up residential education for underprivileged children. Vibha is proud to be supporting their efforts to completely transform the lives of those children.

2. Vocational Training – Many of our projects - Alamb (Delhi), Rajasthan Mahila Kalyan Mandal - RMKM (Rajasthan), Sebama Foundation (Tamilnadu) and Odanadi (Karnataka)- have vocational training as a significant component of their overall approach to development for older children. Income generation skills such as tailoring, embroidery and mechanic work help them stand on their own feet and break the cycle of poverty. These children would otherwise have to turn to more desperate measures for a livelihood. At Vibha, we source our own holiday greeting cards from RMKM.

3. Physically and/or Mentally Challenged Children - These children have insignificant support from the Government and surprisingly even from the general public in India. Vibha has taken up the cause of these children and is supporting RMKM (Rajasthan), Janmadhyam (Delhi) and Shrishti Special Academy (Karnataka). Apart from providing education and training through special teachers, they are doing a great job in awareness generation and sensitization of the general public about the needs of these special children.

4. Children in Vulnerable Conditions - Certain groups – children of sex workers, children in bonded labor - are particularly vulnerable. Vibha is supporting projects that are focused on this segment of the population. Odanadi (Karnataka), Guria (Uttar Pradesh) and Aasman (Maharashtra) are protecting such children by providing shelters, education and vocational training for alternate income generation. Action for Welfare and Awakening in Rural Development - AWARD and Health Education Adoption Rehabilitation Development Society - HEARDS (Andhra Pradesh) are fighting the issue of child labor through community mobilization and education with bridge schools. Pratidhi (New Delhi) is bringing out the issue of sexual abuse of children by partnering with the Delhi Police, sensitizing the public about this issue and helping the affected children and families with counseling.

Project Profile

Door Step School
Mumbai, Maharashtra

Genesis: The concept of Door step school (DSS) was born in 1988-89 out of a study project in Mumbai and Pune. The study sought to understand the reasons behind the high drop out rates among slum children living around Municipal schools. It was determined that an alternative was necessary – one that would take education to their doorstep and would develop the supporting infrastructure which would keep them in the formal education system once they enroll there. Over the last 15 years DSS has evolved into an organization of dedicated individuals reaching out to more than 40 communities with over a 100 projects that cater to 8000 children in Pune and Mumbai.

Projects supported:

School on Wheels: The flagship project which attempts to take a school to the child. This project targets the less settled groups of children including those who live on pavements, station platforms or street corners and are often seen begging. As these groups are mobile a bus provides the most suitable alternative for a classroom. The program also targets slum children whose parents are motivated enough to enroll them in school but are unable to drop the young ones to school regularly resulting in high school drop-off rates by providing them with a School Bus Service. The School-on-Wheels classes are being run since 1998 in Mumbai and Pune. About 65 children attended basic literacy classes conducted in Mumbai and between 50-70 students at any one time in Pune.

Study Centers: DSS has started Study centers for children that attend school and need help coping with schoolwork. A majority of these children are first generation learners with little or no support at home. DSS runs 25 such centers in which about 500 children are enrolled.

Balwadi (Kindergartens): DSS gets youngsters (age 4-6) to have fun 'learning' with toys, creative material, teaching aids, etc, so that they are more inclined and better equipped to go to school. In 2003-2004, DSS ran a total of 25 Balwadis in Mumbai and Pune with 35-40 children enrolled in each Balwadi totaling approximately 960 children.

Out of school programs (Non-Formal Education NFE): These programs are custom fit for children who cannot attend school because they have to work. DSS conducts classes close to where they live or work. It also identifies communities, like migrant workers' children, street children, fishermen’s' children etc, and tries to establish Non Formal Education classes for them. The aim is to get them to the level where they can enroll in regular school.

Libraries: DSS has 3 such facilities in Mumbai and Pune. These provide an infrastructure to conduct Study classes and provide children access to a children’s library, a reference library and a Computer center.

Brief Project Description

Non-Formal Education (NFE) for Construction Worker children: A DSS survey conducted recently in Pune covering ~380 construction sites found that almost 4500 children were not in the school system. In 2004, DSS started NFE classes at 15 such construction sites and ~500 children enrolled. In addition to literacy, the program aims include educating children on basic hygiene, providing mentorship, including them in health camps and other check ups, engaging the parent and creating awareness about the plight of these marginalized kids. Where possible, DSS also endeavors to channel children into the mainstream schooling system. The support provided for this includes procuring age certificates, help in appearing for external examinations, help in admission to corporation schools and in extreme circumstances providing for sponsorship for school material such as uniforms, books and transportation.

Vibha is a sponsor for DSS and through them we achieve our primary goal of providing children with opportunities for a better future armed with education and a chance to dream.

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