We Are The World

Prisoners’ kids in classroom

2009-08-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

Santanu Saraswati
Kolkata, August 9— Kiran Bedi did it in Tihar Jail. So did the additional director general of police (state correctional home services), B D Sharma, in state jails changing the lifestyles through education and cultural therapies.

First it was the children living with their mother imprisoned in the state correctional homes, who are getting education in good schools in and around the city. Now it will be the children of the prisoners, whose life get shattered after the main earning member of the family get imprisoned behind the four-walls of the state correctional homes for committing a mistake.

Probably for the first time in the history of country’s correctional home services, the state department has assigned a non-governmental organisation—the Rajabazar Education Awareness Development Society (READS)—to carry out the light of education among the children of the prisoners, who had to leave studies after their father or main earning member got imprisoned.

“We will start the project on an experimental basis. First it will be the children of prisoners living in Presidency and Alipore Correctional Home. If the project becomes a hit, we will carry it out even in the district,” the ADG & IG (state correctional home services), B D Sharma told Hindustan Times, on Tuesday.

The state correctional home service department has already sent notification to the jailors of the Presidency and Alipore Correctional Home for making a list of children who were forced to leave studies because of poverty after the head of the family got imprisoned. The list is almost ready. “READS has its schools and tutorials in areas like Garden Reach, Metiabruz, Rajabazar, Khidderpore in Kolkata and Mallickpore in South 24 Pargana, just an hour journey from the city. It gets students from abroad for imparting education on poor and deprived children of the society. For this project, too, students from all over the world are coming to teach the children the best of English, History, Geography, Mathematics and Environmental Studies. We are very optimistic about this project,” Sharma added.

READS, the non-governmental organisation is carrying out these types of work for over 15 years in and around the city. Most of its projects are funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India and the social welfare, women & child development department. “Especially for this project, we have invited students as international trainees from countries like Slovakia, Holland, Nigeria and Japan. These trainees will work with us for 12 weeks. Then next batch of trainees from countries like Australia, New Zealand, UK, France, will be joining. This way the process will continue,” said secretary of READS, Sarfaraz Ali.

Why this type of projects? According to Sharma, the effluents have the advantage of fighting the case in the court of law and even get bails. “But its difficult for the poor convicts getting bail and lead a normal life outside. Most of their families get devastated. Some of their family members may even take up odd jobs or leave the children alone forever. Life somehow is only darkness for these families. So we are trying just to show some lights at least,” Sharma added.

Ali informed that Ejoke Rachel, Chete Nwamaka and Nwasokwa Ifeoma from Nigeria, Midori Oyama from Japan, Anneriet Kodde and Sanne Klifman from The Netherlands and Nina Ursinyova from Slovakia are joining the organisation from next week. They will be teaching children, understand their psychology, find where they are lagging behind, find sponsors for them so that they could carry out their education in formal and good schools and teach the knowledge of alternative employment.

“We only take dedicated students from abroad, who will never get enticed by this life, rather would dream to build a new world for these children—helping these deprived and hapless children developing their personality, help them getting sponsors for continuing education in a better atmosphere, if not possible forever, just do it for a year only…. but never forget their grim, shaken eyes, with tears falling without a sound, unknowingly, un-noticing for those people living in a complete different world of all worldly pleasures available at the tip of their fingers. We believe these students can. Now they have to prove that we were wrong,” said Ali, with a big smile.
EOM
santanu_saraswati@hotmail.com

From President's desk....

2009-07-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

Who are we, really?

Everyone is born equal. But circumstance made everyone discriminated to a certain extent. Our children are innocent for their current situation, which stuck them both in poor educational condition and living standard.

While children from affluent city families have the privilege of enjoying the happiness of studying in good schools in a beautiful and relaxed atmosphere, children from the slums have to struggle for earning their bread even at a age when others use to play in the park. They even have to fight for the rights to study in dark dingy rooms without lights, sitting on the uneven ground, sharing the limited pencils.

As a part of education, we think the schools also should take up the responsibility to give the students a chance to get to know the situation of the kids, of the same age, but from poor family. For one hand, it can help the students build up the sense of responsibility for the society, for the other hand, it can also give the poor children more support—both economically and psychologically—in order for them to feel the concern from others, benefiting their development.

The main social problem we met in our society in the course of modernization is the big gap and inequality between people who have it ideal presupposition but a complete different economic initiative condition. The instability and threat to society will be found within less than one decade if the underprivileged people became aware about the “proto-sin” which left a deep scar on their life from this Leviathan-Society.

To keep the good nature that has been born with a kid, we must manage a mutual understanding circumstance and necessarily some proper condition that may provide our children a healthy and prospective future.

READS is a formally registered, non-profit, non-governmental organization founded by dedicated social workers just for the cause of these hapless, unnoticed, uncalled section of our population—the children. Our target group is the most underprivileged children including slum children, street children and especially children who were caught in child labour.

Currently we are running 10 primary schools for approximately 600 children in slums of areas like Raja Bazaar, Garden Reach, Metiabruz in Kolkata and Mallickpore in South 24 Pargana district. The children who are brought back from hazardous streets and labour places are provided with primary education and vocational training at our schools. The aim of our education project is to save the children from perilous conditions and help improve their living condition by giving them a tool to earn a living in the future.

The children are also provided with a meal per day and 100 INR per month to be kept away from child labor. Health care, awareness programs, family counseling services are additionally provided to enhance the quality of life of the children.

Objectives

We at READS are here to deliver, what should have been by any administrative body. We work towards an improved quality of life and the total integration of children, reach benefits to the people irrespective of caste, creed, religion and race, alleviate human suffering, try out universal enrolment of all children including girls, using both full time formal school and part-time non-formal arrangements, reduction of dropout rate from the existing 45 per cent to 20 per cent, minimum level of learning to all children at the primary level, advocacy & mobilization for promoting education, convergence for optimal utilization of resources for maximum impact, reduction in disparities by emphasis on girls’ education and special measures for girls belonging to the Muslim community, micro planning through people’s participation and decentralization.

How We Function?

To be just beside the children and deprived women folk of our society, READS carry out a base-line survey, do participatory appraisal, performing situation analysis through planning, hands on experience through exposure and training, identifying the problem, prioritisation of problems, selection of community based resources, project formulation with people, joint action with NGO’s & local administration and people, and formulating participatory monitoring and evaluation.

Mission of the organization:

--To contribute without political, religious or social prejudice, to the full social recognition of the rights of children, specifically unprivileged children and their right to education, and the full empowerment of women by uplifting their social and economic status in the community. This should be with a mission and devotion and sacrifice own’s well being.

What we expect from our International Trainees?

--We are for the children—just to help them blooming like any other children living in a classy apartment just on the reverse side of the street. See these hapless children through our eyes, join us stride by stride, understanding the psychological needs of these uncalled, unnoticed children and help them living in a better world.

We admit, there will be lots of obstacles on our roads to fulfill this dream. We admit, sometimes, one who is coming from a completely different culture and society—where one can’t even see this type of hapless children even in their most weirdest dream, could get carried away and go back to the same mixing with other trainees coming from across the globe, working in different organisations, but staying in a same trainee house under the same roof, get busy enjoying the night life of this 325-year-old city on the bank of River Hooghly—once founded by an English merchant, Job Charnock—totally forgetting for what they are here.

We need only dedicated students, who will never get enticed by this life, rather would dream to build a new world for these children—helping these deprived and hapless children developing their personality, help them getting sponsors for continuing education in a better atmosphere, if not possible forever, just do it for a year only…. but never forget their grim, shaken eyes, with tears falling without a sound, unknowingly, un-noticing for those people living in a complete different world of all worldly pleasures available at the tip of their fingers.

We believe you can. Can you prove us wrong?

Write Back: santanu_saraswati@hotmail.com

READS

2009-04-17T03:31:00.000-07:00

I DON’T WANT TO STUDY, I WANT TO WORK

BECAUSE STUDY DOES NOT PROVIDE ME MONEY

I AM SUNNY

No, I don’t want to study. Will it give me money? I earn Rs. 20/- per week and give it to my mother. Occasionally I buy biscuits/snacks from it but if I leave my job my mother will beat me because both the brothers of mine are engaged in work. Only my eldest sister studied, but none of other brother and sister studied. What’s there in a study? It is better to work.

My employer is quite good He does not beat me. I have to work from morning to evening. I work with the elder boys who earn more than me. I want to earn like them. I work in a pull machine to cut threads. My mother Roshan Ara works. She packs the snacks, locally made. My father used to be engaged in beedi binding but he is now sick. So we have to bear the cost of his medicine.

I also fell sick frequently. Yesterday I have stomach upset and also have fever a week ago. My mother used to sit beside me when I fell sick. I like to sing and dance during festival.

If all of my brothers and sisters start studying, my mother would not be able to run the family properly. If you can teach me something, which will generate income, I will definitely learn the skill.

I am Sunny; I am working for last one year. I am 8 years old

Introduction

Child rights are fundamental freedoms and the inherent rights of all human beings below the age of 18.
Children are innocent trusting and full of hope. Their childhood should be joyful and loving although for many children is different.
The disadvantaged children suffer from hunger, deficient health care and limited opportunities for basic education. Childhood can and must be preserved.
READS focused on the 4 basic rights of children and work to ensure these rights to the disadvantaged children. In 1992 India ratified the United Nation Convention on Rights of the Child. The Charter of Child Rights confers the following basic rights on all children across the world:
Ÿ The right to survival
Ÿ The right to develop
Ÿ The right to protection
Ÿ The right to participation
These rights have to be applied to every child, disregarding the child’s parents’ race, color, sex, creed or other status. The equality of opportunity must be a reality for all children.

What is the problem?

In the city of Kolkata the incidence of the problem of the underprivileged children is uncountable and child rights are not preserved properly. The problem regards all the children whose rights are negated. The following project aims to work with child labour and with children living in difficult circumstances including street children, slum children and discriminated girl children.
The reasons behind the problem are various; poverty is a cause and a consequence of child labour, when children start working at a young age they remain illiterate, unskilled and unable to demand their rights for equal wages and better conditions of work.
In the slum of Rajabazar and Belgachia the elevated poverty and illiteracy brings to a diffuse disinterested attitude of the families; the behavior should be eradicated through a general sensitization of the whole community. Overpopulation and lack of the basic health care notions are increasing the disadvantaged situation of the area.

Where is the problem?

The current project aims to cover the slum area of Rajabazar and Belgachia, both are very prominent localities located in the Northern part of Kolkata; Rajabazar has got five municipal wards 28, 29, 36, 37, 38 while Belgachia has got one municipal ward and is covered by three wards borders. The total census population is about six lakhs (600,000).
The mentioned areas have worn a dismal and miserable look because thousands of workers have been retrenched from their work due to industrial decline. The problem of the unemployment people is now important in both areas.
Under this critical situations a group of young people, imbued with social consciousness, working at the local grass-root level; banded themselves together to become social workers of their own community. They devote their time and energy in eradicating the obstacles to the development of human resources, and overcome ailments such as social malaise, economic exploitation and irregularity in different spheres of life under the banner of Rajabazar Education & Awareness Development Society (READS).

How big is the problem?

The city of Kolkata has a population of 1.32 Crore (census 2001) which is four times its capacity. The city has, and still is, attractive to migrants and refugees – a mayor factor that is contributing to the growth in population and urban poverty. The city has reported to have the largest slum population of all cities in India (Calcutta Plan of Action for children, Government of West Bengal)
Nowadays in the city of Kolkata the presence of street children who are not getting a proper education and forced to child labor is increasing because of the migration from rural areas. An estimate of the percentage of people leaving under the poverty line varies from 32.95% (Town and country planning organization) to 50% of Kolkata’sr population (micro-studies and other unofficial source). Comprehensive data on poverty in Kolkata is not available.
Based on the results of the surveys, studies and resources done with 50 families in Rajabazar they show that 35 of them (70%) have their children engaged in different occupations.

Who are the beneficiaries of the project?

The direct beneficiaries of the project are the children in difficult circumstances and the ones under child labour. The first area includes street and slum children of minority communities especially Muslim, emphasizing on girls. All children must have the same rights and the same opportunities to enjoy an adequate standard of living.
Indirectly the whole population of Kolkata as well as society in general is affected by these problems present in the poorest areas mentioned.

What has been done so far to overcome the problem? By whom?

Nowadays READS has pursued the following projects:
Street children programme: The educational project launched in 1998 has as its main objective the mainstreaming of the street children aged between 4 and 14 to attend full day formal school so they can complete their education successfully. The project achieved its target to mainstream 50% of all children into formal school. In the process READS has taken support from GOAL / CLPOA.
National Child Labour Project: The initiation included a child labour Special School, which consisted of 50 children withdrawn from child labour, an Awareness Generation Programme and a Rehabilitation Programme, including the mainstreaming of the children. The Ministry of Labour, Government of India, has supported the project.
Shikshalaya Prakalpa: The scheme aims to provide compulsory free elementary education to all up to the age of 14 years children in India. Under the educational guarantee scheme Government of India.
In context to the scheme the Government of West Bengal had set up a state Resource Group of Education for deprived urban children.
To start the scheme under the banner of Shikshalaya Prakalpa in Kolkata for age group of 5 to 9 year old children. Since September 2002 the project has been shifted to SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN. The Shikshalaya Schools are given equal status as Government primary schools and also used the same syllabus and textbooks.

Formal School Support: In 2003 and 2005 a financial support was given by the funding agencies like BBWS/ GOAL/ CLPOA and the local contributors to sustain the mainstreaming into formal school which was implemented by READS. The received funds have been contributed to cover the expenses of school fees, books, uniforms and stationary.
Pulse Polio Immunization Booth: KMC in cooperation with UNICEF provided to us the oral polio vaccination as READS could participate to the Pulse Polio Immunization Booth vaccinating in the 2005, of 300 children against polio.

Health Program / Healing Wheel: GOAL and CLPOA provided for the doctors and medicine through the Healing Wheel programme. READS has gave the children of Rajabazar general health check ups as well as information to the community about general health issues.

Why, despite the previous interventions, the problem still exists? What is the gap to be filled?

Particular parts of the society in India face the problems of ignorance, poverty and overpopulation. Due to these causes their social economic condition is deprived and not increasing as their quality of life is unimproved.
Despite all the enactment {The Child Labour (prohibition and regulation) Act 1986, “Juvenile Justice” (care and protection) Act 2000 etc.} the implementation part is very hard.
In the area of interest, together with the general prevailing reasons, the conservative attitude of the community brings the problem into criticality.
The actual gap lies between the public and the implementing agencies along with the Government due to improper ways of communication.
Therefore there is a struggle to give proper opportunities to children, through a powerful tool such as education, which will enhance them to a better future and help them on the development of their communities.

Now we want to cover the children those who are most victimize in our area of operation. We proposed to take the children from 8 to 14 years of age in both sex i.e. boys and girls. Special emphasis to be given to the girls’ child those who are living under at risk situation. One hundred children upto 11 years to be taken in Non formal Education’s beneficiaries with fifty each for boys & girls and fifty children to be included in vocational Training those who are above 12 years of age. Presently these children are working in various sectors like leather, Zari, Paper cutting and domestic worker. These children also belong to very poor family having poor income & big family size (8 to 10 members’ family).

It is also noted that our project is fully Non-Institutional and we promote the idea of Non-institutional services in our project area. But is also taken into consideration if any child found at Night or who has no facility to stay (i.e. Single Migrant Working Children) , we definitely take case with carefully and we are members of various network we could explore our networking to get services for these kind of children, like Child Line, Juveniles Homes run by Govt. and NGOs, Short Stay Homes for Girls ( it is high time to note that READS has run a Short Stay Home supported by Govt. of India). If any case found in future to rescue any child, we have that mechanism to protect the children from all possible violence and take its proper care to send the Child any homes or Night Shelters.

Now we want to cover the children those who are most victimize in our area of operation. We proposed to take the children from 8 to 14 years of age in both sex i.e. boys and girls. Special emphasis to be given to the girls’ child those who are living under at risk situation. One hundred children upto 11 years to be taken in Non formal Education’s beneficiaries with fifty each for boys & girls and fifty children to be included in vocational Training those who are above 12 years of age. Presently these children are working in various sectors like leather, Zari, Paper cutting and domestic worker. These children also belong to very poor family having poor income & big family size (8 to 10 members family).

It its also, noted that we don’t want to establish a Mobile Night Unit in first phase of project, let allow to run the project as we designed in first two years. If any requirement is found near future for Mobile Unit at Night by which our objective can be fulfilled to a desire level then we can proceed and design any kind programme relating to Mobile unit.

Strategy

The project aims to improve the quality of life for the underprivileged children through education and development.
To achieve the main goals READS is taking the following steps:

Awareness programme

To sensitize the community READS intends to pursue the awareness strategy as the core of intervention.
The mentioned causes of the critical situation present in the slum area have to be faced and struggled by convincing the population about the relevant role of education.
In order to create a culture of a school instead of a culture of work and to combat the child labour and the dropouts of school the organization aims to reach the highest number of the population of the minority communities of Rajabazar and Belgachia.
The campaign must be towards children, families, Local Opinion Leaders, Religious and Political Leaders as the representatives of the entire community.
Every sector of the society must be co-ordinate as every leader can interact with each other in sensitizing all the community.
The programme will propose several activities like formal meetings, cultural activities developed and leaded by experts, street dramas and road shows organized by READS’s Personal.

The campaign works also to build a consciousness of children directly involved in the project through Children Empowerment Training (CET); the programme consists in a life skill training for children by children and aims to empower and aware them about their own rights which are often still unknown. The preparation desires to make them feel responsible for themselves and to teach them how to interact in a peer group. During the training everyone must participate and interrelate with other participants; through cooperation the activity aims to improve leadership as well as listening skills and their consciousness. Different methods will be used and suggested to facilitate the task.

The impact of Children Empowerment Training is to form peer educator among the Children and these peer Educators will disseminate the information to all the children those who are part of this project and also other children those who are indirectly linked with. Because we always put some in-house event to share the training which is being imparted to the children.

Education

Education is one such tool that enables and empowers children to beak the vicious cycle of poverty.
Both areas of empowerment and poverty are composed by children whose right to develop have been negated.
Already there exists the option for formal education but it is not easy to hope for the child labour and / a children in difficult circumferences.

SARVA SIKSHA ABHIJAN (SSA) is Government of India’s flagship programme for achievement of Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE). In a time bound manner as mandated by 86th amendment to the constitution of India making free and compulsory education to the children of 6-14 years age group a fundamental right SSA is being implemented in partnership with state Govt. to cover the entire country the needs of 192 million children in 1.1 million habitations. The programme seeks to open new schools in those habitations, which don’t have schooling facilities and strengthen existing school infrastructure through additional class rooms, toilets, drinking water, maintenance grant and school improvement grant. Existing schools with inadequate teachers strengthen and provided with additional teachers is being strengthen by extensive training, grants for developing teaching learning materials and strengthening of the academic support structure at a cluster, block and district level. SSA seeks to provide quality elementary education including life skills. SSA has a special focus on girl’s education and children with special needs. SSA also seeks to provide computer education to bridge the digital divide.

Mainstreaming process is an activity to progress in the way of education.

The children who have never been to school or school dropouts due to reason are given the education to bridge up the gap between the two.

Building the gap is not easy. Because the school drop outs might have the preliminary literacy level. So, a target group is first being developed for school drop out by conducting some kind of admission test and target groups would be categorized.
Questionnaire in this regard has, been so developed, so that the less knowledgeable students will score low marks.
The questionnaire would be at par to the syllabus of with the prevailing formal education.
We will categorize the student according to their need level. We will divide it in 5 categories based on the performance level at par with the targeted formal educational standard in which they are going to be mainstreamed.

Problems identified during educational programme & mainstreaming and the possible solutions of it.

Introduction From The Secretarial Desk

2009-04-17T03:15:00.000-07:00

Respected Reader,

I am happy to present before you the READS annual report for the year 2006-2007, which will give you an insight in our day-to-day activities. Before you start reading this report, I would like to emphasize that we could not have made this happen without all of those who helped us achieve our goal by their direct or indirect guidance and co-operation. My sincere gratitude therefore goes out to you. Special thanks go out to our esteemed donors without whose’ support we would not have been able to undertake all the actions we wanted to undertake. I would also like to express my gratitude to our sincere staff / local club / school / Kolkata Municipal Corporation / Government of India / Government of West Bengal and local people.

Background of the Organization

Initially a group of young people imbued with social consciousness, working at the grass-roots level, banded themselves together to form a team of social workers in order to devote their time and energy in eradicating the obstacle to the development of human resources, social malaise, economic exploitation and irregularity in different spheres of life.
The movement was launched in 1997 under the banner of Rajabazar Education & Awareness Development Society. READS is an organization of people from the socio-economically weaker section of the society and its main thrust is to organize Urban & Rural communities of the poor to enhance their condition through participatory methods. While carrying out its activities READS has emphasized three basic principles: Participation, Development and Peace.
It has tried to build up consciousness among the people in the project areas, which in tern helps READS to participate in the process of development.

Organization and Management

READS is being run by an executive committee of individuals drawn from various walks of life, who are called every year at the Annual General Meeting. The office bearers are selected from amongst these members. The secretary is empowered to monitor the activities and is accountable to the executive committee. A team of development professionals spend their time for the purpose of planning and monitoring the projects.
The Society in non-political, secular, non-profit making, social welfare, voluntary organization, which is registered under the West-Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961.

Project area of Operation

Rajabazar: is a very prominent locality of north Kolkata and it has got five municipal wards 28, 29, 36, 37, 38. The total census population is about 3 lakhs.

Garden Reach & Metiabruz: is also a very prominent locality of south-west Kolkata, having nine municipal wards 133 to 144 with 8 to 10 lakhs population of which more than 60 % people in slum and shanties.

Topsia & Tiljala: is a very prominent locality of south Kolkata under K.M.C., ward no. 66 which has the largest minority population. Anti social activities always peak in this area.

Mallickpur: A small hamlet in South 24 Pargana district, just an hour journey from the heart of the city. READS developed a free school for the poor underprivilege children

Registered office:
2B/H/50, Gas Street (Rajabazar), Kolkata-700 009, West Bengal, India

South Kolkata office:
I/24/A, Kasab Para (Garden Reach), Kolkata-700 024, West Bengal, India

Contact No: +91 9831274907; +91-9874052663

E-mail: reads16@yahoo.co.in; readssociety@gmail.com;

Legal status:

a) Registered under West Bengal Societies Registration Act, XXVI, 1961
b) Registered under Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976 under Ministry of
Home Affairs, Govt. of India
c) Registered under Income Tax PAN.

Membership and Recognition:

I. Nehru Yuba Kendra, Govt. of India
II. West Bengal Social Welfare Advisory Board
III. Ministry of Labours, Govt. of India
IV. DFP Govt. of India
V. West Bengal DPEP
VI. West Bengal State Council of Sports
VII. Kolkata Child Labour Rehabilitation –cum- Welfare Society
VIII. City Level Programme of Action (CLPOA)
IX. Kolkata NGOs Forum
X. SHNF
XI. SHEF
XII. CHMU
XIII. AICPE
XIV. L.D.S.
XV. UNICEF
XVI. GOAL
XVII. CACL
XVIII. SACCS
XIX. W.B. NGOs Form
XX. Directory of India Institute of Management
XXI. Directory of School of Women Study J.U.
XXII. Save the Children (U.K.) West Bengal
XXIII. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
XXIV. American Information Resource Centre
XXV. Life Line Foundation
XXVI. Directorate of Social Welfare GOWB
XXVII. West Bengal Pollution Control Board
XXVIII. Tata Consultancy Services
XXIX. Singapore Management University (SMU)
XXX. Humming Bird, UK
Vision of the organization:

a) To work towards an improved quality of life and the total integration of children.
b) Reach benefits to the people irrespective of caste, creed, religion and race.
c) Alleviate human suffering

Mission of the organization:

To contribute without political, religious or social prejudice, to the full social recognition of the rights of children, specifically unprivileged children and their right to education, and the full empowerment of women by uplifting their social and economic status in the community.

Objectives of the organization:

a) Universal enrolment of all children including girls, using both full time formal school and part-time non-formal arrangements.
b) Reduction of drop-out rate from the existing 45% to 20 %
c) Minimum level of learning to all children at the primary level
d) Advocacy & mobilization for promoting education
e) Convergence for optimal utilization of resources for maximum impact
f) Reduction in disparities by emphasis on girls’ education and special measures for girls belonging to the Muslim community
g) Micro planning through people’s participation and decentralization.

Strategy and approach:
a) Base line Survey
b) Participatory Appraisal
c) Situation Analysis through planning
d) Hands on experience through exposure and training
e) Problem identification
f) Prioritisation of problems
g) Selection of community based resources
h) Project formulation with people
i) Joint action with NGO’s & local administration and people
j) Participatory monitoring and evaluation

Project Kolkata

2009-04-16T01:08:00.000-07:00

We are a group of students from the Singapore Management University (SMU) passionate about providing children around the world with access to education. Many a time, children in the lower strata of developing countries are denied education due to financial difficulties, inaccessibility to schools and parental ignorance to the benefits of education.
Starting with a village near Kolkata (India), we hope to deal with these issues. Project Kolkata aims to raise funds to construct a free school within the village, as well as conduct a mixture of English, Science and Arts courses to benefit the children.
After the project, READS India (NGO) will continue to ensure that the village children have free, sustained access to education through the provision of teaching services and maintenance of facilities at the newly-built school.
Join us in our humble cause!
How can you help?
Join our "Support a child" project! For S$100 (INR 3000), you can help one child realize his or her dream for education for 4 years. We are looking for 100 kind sponsors to support the initial intake of 100 children.
Your donation will go towards the construction of a basic 4-classroom school that will be run by READs (NGO). This free primary school will have an initial intake of 100 underprivileged children ages 4-9 in January 2009.
Help us make their dreams a reality, and do spread the word around=). We welcome any forms of donations! Please refer to the photos for more information about the proposed school.
For any queries, do contact Denise @ +6598366023 or denise.lim.2005@smu.edu.sg
Contact InfoEmail: reads16@yahoo.co.in or readssociety@gmail.com

An overview of READS

2009-04-16T00:48:00.000-07:00

The mission of READS ("Rajabazar Education and Awareness Development Society") is to improve the situation of underprivileged children in some of the worst slum areas of Kolkata. The situation of the people living in these areas is extreme. Since 1998, this organization has been working with these slum children in an effort to give them a chance at a better life. The children READS works for do not have choices. They come from very poor families with many mouths to feed. Most cannot even satisfy their basic needs. They do not have access to clean drinking water, food or basic health care. The children of these areas are too poor so their families cannot afford to send them to school. Most of them have to work over 14 hours per day to support their families financially. The activities to obtain some money include begging, criminality, child labour or even child prostitution. There is no chance for them to improve their situation by themselves. READS wants to help improve their situation but also enable them to make life choices. READS is doing this by providing education and vocational training. Through education and training these children are being given the tools they require to build a respectable life for themselves in the future.
READS programmes:
School programmes
Currently, we run 10 schools in three slum areas with a total of approximately 500 children. We provide the pupils with basic primary education (mother tongue, English, mathematics). Furthermore, the older children are taught various practical subjects such as sari craft, tailoring, painting etc. This knowledge significantly improves their chances significantly to earn a living in the future.
Additionally, the children get a warm lunch every day and 100 INR per month. The children’s parents wouldn’t be able to allow our pupils to go to school without this small payment, as they are reliant on the money their children earn with child labour.
Orphanage at Garden Reach
READS has a girl’s orphanage in Garden Reach which is currently home to 30 girls and young women between 12 and 17 years. The girls living at this home are not just orphans, some come from very poor families who cannot afford to keep them at home – or who do not want to. In the orphanage in Garden Reach the girls live together, cook and eat together, have proper medical surveillance and psychological support from the staff and older girls. The orphanage is a short stay home where the girls are provided with education and vocational training so that after three years, when they usually leave the house, they are able to earn to go out into the world and earn a living for themselves. This home, like the schools for street children, seeks to empower these underprivileged members of society and give them a chance at making a respectable life for themselves.
Awareness Programmes and Counselling
To improve the situation of the people in the slums, they have to be informed about various threats and social problems. We show them how to handle difficult situations, make them aware of their rights and possible solutions. This is why READS organizes various awareness programmes in regular intervals for children and grown-ups in cooperation with other organizations. We also offer counselling connected to the most important issues. We particulary focus on topics such as children’s rights and child labour, trafficking, early marriage and drug abuse. Furthermore, we run workshops about topics like contraception, the social and economic status of women in India or health awareness including HIV/AIDS, clean drinking water and hygienic education. READS does this in an attempt to improve social responsibility in the slums, and thereby improve the situation of their society as a whole.
Events
READS organizes several events to celebrate certain occurrences. Every year, we give an award to the best social worker of READS or connected organizations to reward remarkable dedication for the needs of underprivileged children. The event includes a party with food and performances of the children who take part in our programmes. We also celebrate events like the Children’s Day and the Teachers’ Day.
The organization is also currently in the process of organizing a conference/ fund-raising event to generate greater awareness of the situation of children in the slums and gain support for the various projects READS is working on. The dates for the next event have not been set as yet, but the plan is for sometime at the end of September. The programme will include a talk and presentation but also a culture programme performed by the children.
Funding:
Currently, READS requires 21 Lakh per year to function. READS gets its funding from the central government. The organization receives 12 lakhs per year from the Union Ministry of Social Welfare and Labour to run all of its programmes. This amount is barely enough to ensure survival of its current projects let alone expand its reach further which is the ultimate aim of the organization. Often READS faces financial difficulties, a situation which is most acute at the present moment as the organization has not received any grant from the central government authority for the last 18 months. READS is always trying to generate funds abroad from sponsors and private donators and we are currently involved in some new initiatives for this purpose.

READS is currently looking into getting financial support from international organizations such as CRY and the European Commission. READS proposed a project for funding to the European Commission earlier this year, which was selected in the last two, however the money went to Ghana’s health project. Despite this however, READS received much praise from the European Commission who urged them to re-submit the project next year for consideration, as they believe we have a good chance at receiving the funding.

Our plea: Come and join us to support this cause....the cause for the uplift of these underprivilege children of our city......

Dear All.....

2009-04-16T00:43:00.000-07:00

Dear All,

I am writing this to you requesting your support for the organisation and its honourable cause.

READS is a formally registered, non-profit, non-governmental organization founded in 1997. It provides social support without political, religious or social prejudice to underprivileged people in some of the worst slum areas in Kolkata.

READS is a voluntary organization of dedicated social workers which aims to support children in the poorest areas of Kolkata. Our target group is defined as the most underprivileged children: slum children, street children and children caught in child labour. These children are too poor to afford any kind of education. Their alternatives are begging, child labour, criminality or child prostitution. READS is dedicated to giving these children a chance to create a decent life for themselves by providing them with education and vocational training, thus giving them the tools to change their lives for the better.

I understand that you are very busy, but I would very much appreciate it if you could make some time to meet with me to talk about the project I am working on. Please contact me to arrange a meeting.

Kind Regards,
Santanu Saraswati

About READS

2009-04-16T00:40:00.000-07:00

READS is a formally registered, non-profit, non-governmental organization founded by dedicated social workers. Our target group is the most underprivileged children including slum children, street children and especially children who were caught in child labor. Currently we are running 10 primary schools for approximately 500 children in slum part of 2 areas (Raja bazaar, Garden Reach). The children who are brought back from hazardous streets and labor places are provided with primary education and vocational training at our schools. The aim of our education project is to save the children from perilous conditions and help improve their living condition by giving them a tool to earn a living in the future. The children are also provided with a meal per day and 100 INR per month to be kept away from child labor. Health care, awareness programs, family counseling services are additionally provided to enhance the quality of life of the children.

Background of Hand-in-Hand Program
Everyone is born equal, but circumstance made everyone discriminated to a certain extent. Our children are innocent for their current situation which stuck them both in poor educational condition and living standard. While some children enjoy the happiness of study in the school with beautiful and relaxed atmosphere , some other kids is struggling for the rights to study in dark dim rooms without lights, sitting on the uneven ground ,sharing the limited pencils. As a part of education, we think the schools also should take up the responsibility to give the students a chance to get to know the situation of the kids, of the same age ,but from poor family .For one hand , it can help the students build up the sense of responsibility for the society , for the other hand, it can also give the poor kids more support ,not only economically ,but also psychologically , in order for them to feel the concern from others , benefiting their development. The main social problem we met in our society in the course of modernization is the big gap and inequality between people who have same ideal presupposition but a complete different economic initiative condition. The instability and threat to society will be found within less than one decade if the underprivileged people became aware about the “proto-sin” which left a deep scar on their life from this Leviathan-Society. To keep the good nature that has been born with a kid, we must manage a mutual understanding circumstance and necessarily some proper condition that may provide our children a healthy and prospective future.