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In this issue of the newsletter, we bring the plight of urban slum children to your attention. Children in urban slums stare resources in the face and are still excluded from them on account of their poverty. When government institutions fail them, NGOs like Saathi (Project Aasmaan) and Swami Vivekananda Vani Prochar Samity (Project Dishari) become their guardian angels. They provide them food, education, health care and most importantly, a path to a better future. Like our volunteer observed on her visit to Project Aasmaan, the belief that we can make a difference in the lives of such children gives Vibha its reason to exist and its volunteers a purpose.
Please join us in this journey. There are so many ways you can help. Our monthly donation program HelpThemGrow (HTG) is one way. Would you consider signing up for it? Or, visiting one of our projects to see for yourself the difference your participation makes in the lives of many children? |
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Vibha site visit - Project AasmaanVibha Volunteer Niyati Desai visited Project Aasmaan and filed this report.
My India trip last month was unlike most of my previous trips which are usually quite hectic, visiting relatives and friends, attending weddings and enjoying Bombaiya delicacies. This time, however, I spent an entire day at Aasmaan, a project Vibha has been funding for the last three years. Project Aasmaan works with people living on the streets of Morland Road, near Kamathipura, one of the oldest red light districts in Mumbai. Most of the families living on Morland Road are migrants from rural areas - they come to Mumbai in search of a better future and end up finding themselves on the streets. Walking down the road, I was shocked to see the families' living conditions - each family lives in a crammed, poorly lit shelter made of plastic or metal sheets, barely a hundred square feet in area. With three to four children in most homes, older children usually end up taking care of their younger siblings while the mothers work as domestic helps for extremely low wages. The men are mostly unemployed or semi-employed. Once the children reach the age of six or seven, they are sent away to work as domestic helpers and rag pickers. Living on the pavement, women and children are the most vulnerable groups of this community.
For families living in such adverse conditions where it is hard to tell where the next meal would come from, can parents be convinced to educate their children? It was a monumental task for Aasmaan staff members Sanober, Fauzia, Lata and Sharjahan - by knocking on each door and urging the parents to educate and send their children to the Balwadi and Support Class programs, dedicated Aasmaan staff members have built an amazing rapport with the community. Establishing relationships based on mutual trust, Project Aasmaan has provided the following to the community's children and families over the last six years:
During my visit, I met more than seventy children who attend the Balwadi and Support Class programs offered by Aasman. Project Aasmaan also provides scholarships to promising students. I met with Afsana, Sabrina, Rubina and Irfan, who have all been awarded annual scholarships for the last three years and now have access to private school education and private tuitions. Project Aasman addresses Vibha's core focus areas of providing nutrition, education and health care for underprivileged children. I am proud to be a part of Vibha where, as a volunteer, I can contribute to this high-impact project.
One of the amazing things about Vibha is the positive difference that it enables me to make in the lives of underprivileged children. I have been fortunate enough to afford a good education and have had ample opportunities to learn and grow. However, not everyone is fortunate enough - Vibha has given me a medium to ensure that every underprivileged child attains his or her right to education, health and opportunity. I urge you to take the first step of identifying a project that is closer to your home town and spend half a day in visiting the project. I am sure it will make a lot of difference in your own perspective. Visit us at www.vibha.org to learn more about the projects being supported by Vibha. Get involved with Vibha; empower yourself to make a difference in the lives of children who can only dream - Shape their Dreams into Opportunity. Help Them Grow - Easy as 1 2 3
Join Help Them Grow (HTG) - it's as easy as 1 2 3. HTG is an automated monthly donation program that makes it easy for you to help underprivileged children. Your contribution can provide these children: Education, health care, vocational training leading to livelihoods, shelter and more.
Step 1: Choose how you want to help these children A monthly contribution of:
Step 2: Based on your choice, pick a monthly amount you want to contribute
Step 3: Download the form, fill in the required information and mail to address on the form. You will receive monthly reports via our Vibha Xpressions newsletters which will give you insight into how your contributions are truly making the dreams of these children come true. Write To Us... | |||
Project ProfileSwami Vivekananda Vani Prochar Samity: In 1984 Swami Vivekananda Vani Prochar Samity (SVVPS) started with a goal to provide primary education for unprivileged children through informal coaching of a handful of students belonging to the slums of Durgapur, West Bengal. Since its inception, this tiny effort has sprouted into a full-fledged mission by expanding its teaching initiative to three centers and reaching out to the slums through vocational training programs, medical camps, and other activities such as health, sanitation, and cleanliness awareness programs.
SVVPS runs its educational and slum area development activities through sporadic and insufficient individual donations of well-wishers. With Vibha's financial support, project Dishari started in 2005 to strengthen SVVPS's educational tasks. The primary aim of this project has been to increase the number of students by restructuring educational activities and systematic implementation. SVVPS has divided their educational activities into formal education, support coaching classes and vocational training classes.
The children from KG to grade V are provided with formal education since they have never been to school. Besides education, music, drama, dance and drawing lessons are provided. Educational tours such as visits to toy parks and science centers are conducted on a regular basis. These children are provided with books, uniforms and Tiffin as an increased effort to keep these poor "too hungry to learn" kids interested and reduce the number of drop-outs. Appropriate coaching classes are also offered to prepare students for admissions to formal schools in upper level classes after 4th grade. Along with primary education, these young impressionable minds are exposed to the basic lessons of brotherhood, human interdependence and core values of education that help them grow up as responsible citizens. Support coaching classes are offered for children from grade VI to X, who attend government schools but cannot afford private coaching to cope with academic pressure. These support coaching classes help these underprivileged students to solve their difficulties, give enough practice and guidance through individual attention that is lacking in most government schools. With Vibha's support, the number of teachers has been increased and the ratio of 10-15 children to 1 teacher is maintained. Under Dishari project, a new vocational training facility has been set up to provide mothers and older girls from 8th-9th grade with employment opportunity. SVVPS has set up a soap-bar and a gunny bags manufacturing unit and so far 14 mothers and 6 girls have been employed under this center.
In the past year, Vibha suggested and funded two teachers' training workshops for SVVPS in order to improve the quality of teaching while incorporating new and innovative teaching methods. These were conducted by an organization called Swanirvar who are highly reputed in the field of teachers' training in West Bengal. The workshops were quite successful, serving as a motivating factor for the teachers and ultimately benefiting the children. The good percentage of attendance, reduced number of dropouts, improvement in the number of new enrollment, increased number of children in higher grades, overall increase in direct and indirect beneficiaries are the positive indicators of quantitative impact. Improved academic performance and increased self confidence demonstrate the qualitative impact of Project Dishari. As many as 258 children have benefited under this Vibha funded project. Contributions of around $7000 have been made by Vibha during the year 2005-2006. Success stories: Ralch Akure, a 19 year old son of a bonded farmer, passed 10th grade from a government aided school with the support of SVVPS. His visit to his maternal grandfather who lives in one of the slums of Durgapur proved to be a boon. He got involved in formal learning at SVVPS center and stayed back to continue his education. He was then taught driving and secured the job of a driver. In addition, during his free time from his job, he has been offered hourly driving freelance work by SVVPS. Ralch would have been an illiterate bonded farmer like his father, but he did not. SVVPS helped him to become financially independent. He plans to learn automobile mechanics course and take up a job in a car repairing workshop.
Chotten joined SVVPS center as a six year old and continued till 10th grade. His father is a mason/construction laborer with a meager daily wage that depends on the availability of work while his mother works as a maid. Last year he passed 10th grade and SVVPS plans to send him for a 7 month automobile mechanic course since there is a demand for these mechanics due to the increased number of vehicles. After passing his 10th grade exam with the help of SVVPS, Dasru continued on his own efforts and completed a Bachelor's degree in Arts. Now he works in a grocery shop and is actively involved in SVVPS community development activities. He is a role model for children in these slums. If you would like more information about SVVPS, please contact us at projects@vibha.org. |
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Vibha is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit, non-religious, non-political
organization that seeks to restore to underprivileged children their
basic rights to food, shelter, health and education - in short, a future.
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