AEAI-South Asia December 2011 News Letter

8/3/2019 AEAI-South Asia December 2011 News Letter

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South Asia Monthly Newsletter December 2011

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Active anganwadi* services to reduce mal-nutrition among children

Malnutrition is a serious issue among children in most partsof India. A recent survey done by a national NGO revealedthat 42 per cent of children under ve years of age are

underweight. As part of our efforts to address the rising

number of malnutrition cases in the project area in MadhyaPradesh, our partner Sopan organised several meetings incoordination with the Integrated Child Development Ser-

vices (ICDS).

Several meetings were organised at Nagandevri andDhuma villages in our project area in Madhya Pradesh withthe aim to understand the severity of malnutrition and dis-cuss the ways through which it can be prevented. A totalof 94 members, including ICDS ofcers, anganwadiworkersand supervisors took part in the meetings. Additionally, itwas recommended that several malnourished children be

sent to rehabilitation centres. As an immediate measure,the team has decided to provide regular services to the

beneciaries of the anganwadi centres and to celebrateMangalservices in each anganwadicentre.

The discussions, which took the shape of a village-levelcampaign against malnourishment, built awareness on vari-ous issues, including nutritious food for malnourished chil-dren; need for prevention of child marriage since this isconsidered to be one of the main causes for the rise inmalnutrition; and encouraging immunisation among the beneciaries in the area.

For more information, please contact: [email protected]

Further information on the project is available at https://sites.google.com/a/aide-et-action.org/ind04/*Government sponsored child-care and mother-care center in India.

Literacy programme for women

iLEAD Guwahati conducted a month-long free computer literacy programme for women from marginalisedand economically poor communities. The classes for the women from the neighbouring areas of iLEADbegan on 27 December, 2011, and were conducted every day for two hours from 11 am to 1 pm. The targetedwomen were from different localities in Guwahati such as Birubari, Rupnagar, Jonakpur and Hatigaon localities.A total of 20 women participated in the special course, with 17 of them completing the course successfully.

The initiative was targeted at building rapport with the community and developing iLEAD Guwahati as a

resource centre for all other target groups in the area. It is to be mentioned that iLEAD Guwahati has alreadybeen developing inter-linkages with the children of neighbourhood communities.


To read more on iLEAD, please visit the site: https://sites.google.com/a/aide-et-action.org/ind053/


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NEWS LETTER

A study of social skills among primary school children

Our new study of social skills among the primary school children in Chennai (India) indicates the inuence of

the Home Life Experience and the School Life Experience of the pupils in the development of their social

skills. Poor home and school environments tend to lower the development of social skills, and thereby increase

the social problems of the children.

Aide et Action International South Asias (AEAI-SA) Chennai team conducted the study with the objective

to understand the social skills among school children and to know the inuence of their home life experiences

and school life experiences on the same.

The assessment was done for 860 randomly selected school children from the Arumbu Child Development

Project as well as school children from Chennai (where we are no longer intervening). A comparison between

school life experience, home experience and social skills among the respondents from the Arumbu Child De-

velopment Project and that of children from the non-project area was also conducted. In this study, Home Life

Experience refers to how the pupils feel about their life

in their homes. It is the relationship with members of thefamily and treatment met with. The School Life Experience

refers to how the pupils feel about their life in the school.

It is the relationship between teachers and peer group and

the experience he/she gains in the school, said Radhika,

Programme Manager, Chennai ofce. Tools were developed

to collect data on home and school life and also to rate the

social skills of children.


World AIDS Day: 'Getting to Zero'

The theme for World AIDS Day

2011 is 'Getting to Zero'. After 30

years of the global ght against

HIV/AIDS, this year the global

community has committed to

focusing on achieving 3 targets:

"Zero new HIV infections. Zero

discrimination. Zero AIDS related

deaths".

AEAI-SAs Link Worker team

organised several events in De-

cember; one such was the poster

exhibition held at an open pub-

lic place in 22 different villages in

Rajasthan (India). In villages were most women and men are illiterate, poster becomes the best medium to

spread awareness on HIV/AIDS. The team also shared booklet and pamphlets to create a common under-

standing and motivate them for HIV testing.


A large number of boys, as compared to thegirls, had a very good home life experience

Most of them do not have good school life

experiences

Arumbu Project respondents have better so-

cial skills than children from non-project area


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NEWS LETTER

Education centre for

children

Evening centres targeting quality

education, Shiksha Evm Sanskar

Kendra, were started in 19 villagesin the Chhindwara district in Mad-

hya Pradesh (India) in December,

2011. The primary aim of these

centres is to provide extra coach-

ing to school-going children with

the help of active volunteers who

belong to the same villages. Since

then, there has been increasing in-

terest in education among the chil-

dren in all the 19 villages, thanks

to the efforts made by the volun-

teers. The main focus has been to

identify children who are weak in

studies and help them learn bet-

ter by using teaching learning ma-

terial (TLM); providing extra at-

tention to children who are poor

performers by making education

more interesting and joyful; and

helping children improve their

general knowledge.

For more information, please

contact:

[email protected]

Log on to https://sites.google.com/a/

aide-et-action.org/ind04/ to know

about this project

Seasonal hostels for children of migrant families

In December, 2011, AEAI-SAsHyderabad team started twoseasonal hostels in Krishnadistrict of Andhra Pradesh. Mr.

S.A.M. Rizvi, Collector and Dis-trict Magistrate, Krishna Dis-trict, who visited the Edurmon-di and Swarlgondhi SeasonalHostels situated at Nagaya Lan-ka Mandal, said that the hostels, which are primarily for the shermen

community, will run throughout the academic year. He also provided cy-clone shelter for the seasonal hostels and instructed the district admin-istration to construct toilets and bathrooms within a period of 10 days.


Log on to https://sites.google.com/a/aide-et-action.org/ind061/ to know

more about the Migration initiative in South Asia

Migrant youth completes training at iLEAD Bolangir

In December, 22 youths frommigration prone area in Odi-sha completed residentialtraning in plumbing, weldingand electrical trade at iLEAD

Bolangir. These youth usedto move out from Odisha(India) and engage in meniallabour work in Mumbai andother states in the last mi-gration cycle, said Sreedhar Mether, Regional Manager, AEAI-SAs PatnaRegion. After training, we are planning to track their career growth- toknow if the training has helped them earn a better livelihood, wages anddignity at work. All the 22 youths have been placed with good salary inOdisha (India).

For more information, please contact: [email protected] on to https://sites.google.com/a/aide-et-action.org/ind061/ to read

about migration initiative in South Asia.

Theatre training workshop

With the aim to provide a platform where children can express themselves, as well as explore and enhance

their hidden skills, a ve-day theatre workshop was organised at the Child Right Project at Moradabad, Uttar

Pradesh. About 56 children were selected for the performances such as Jimmedar Kaun (Who is respon-

sible?) and Anpardh Jindagi ka Safar (Journey of an Illiterate Life). This workshop helped to raise pertinent

social issues and create awareness in the community.


Log on to https://sites.google.com/a/aide-et-action.org/ind067/ to know more.


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NEWS LETTER

Working towards child friendly learning processes

Nepals primary education is char-acterised by inadequate schoolinfrastructure and lack of a child-friendly and joyful learning atmo-

sphere. As a result of the lack ofteachers trained in child-centredlearning processes, traditionalteaching methodologies are stillused in the classrooms. This kindof inefcient school management

system proves to be a major bar-rier for providing quality educationto children.

In order to address this issue,

AEAIs NGO partner, AasamanNepal conducted a two-day training session for social mobilisers on the need for child-friendly school atmo-sphere and child-centred learning processes in Pokhara, Nepal, on December 22 and 23, 2011. This training willsupport teachers in developing their schools yearly plan and make the utmost use of the specially designedchild-friendly learning materials in the classroom.

Aide et Action International - Nepal implements theBack to Basics Programme in 98 schools in Baglungand Saptari in Nepal, reaching out to over 7534 chil-dren. The aim of Back to Basics is to help childrenof primary schools achieve acceptable competency

levels, enable teachers to practice competency-based teaching methodologies and ensure effective

and quality monitoring and supervision mechanisms.


Log on to https://sites.google.com/a/aide-et-action.org/nep001/to know more about the project in Nepal.

Children's fair in Golaghat, Assam

A Sishu Samaroh (Childrens Fair) under the Access andQuality Education Project was held on 25 and 26 De-cember, 2011, at Missimiati Amguri village in Golaghat.The members of Child Clubs formed in 30 project vil-lages participated in several competitive events at theSamaroh. More than 500 children participated in theevent while children from neighbouring non-project vil-lages formed a large chunk of the audience. The mainobjective of the Sishu Samaroh was to create a platformwhere children can get together in an informal way andshare their thoughts. This in turn helped foster self andgroup learning to promote an awareness of and pride in local and indigenous skills and knowledge systems.

The Sishu Samaroh also had a mini book fair to inculcate the habit of purchasing and reading books among the

children. The book fair witnessed an encouraging number of book-loving children while the sale of childrensbooks highlighted the growing trend of increased reading habits among the children.


Log on to https://sites.google.com/a/aide-et-action.org/ind044/to know more about this project.

The training was aimed at enhancing their

understanding and knowledge of:

Activity-based approach

Participatory and creative learning process

Development of child-friendly learning materials


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NEWS LETTER

A new iLEAD in Sri Lanka

A new iLEAD centre called iLE-

AD - Vavuniya was inaugurated

in the northern province in Sri

Lanka on 4 December, 2011. It

was declared open by Profes-

sor Rajiva Wijesinha, Member

of Parliament and the Advisor

to the President, who is also

a board member of AEAI-SA.

Colonel Ranasinhe, Civil Affairs

Ofcer, Security Forces Head

quarters, Vanni and Mr. K Ved-

haraniyam, IOM Co-ordinator

for North Sri Lanka, also attended the ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Professor Rajiva Wijesinha said that vocational education along with the English

language is extremely benecial for the youth in Sri Lanka. He further added that the cultural exchange pro-

grammes between the students of iLEAD centres in Vavuniya and Ambalangoda should take place in the future,

so that reconciliation among the youth belonging to two main ethnic communities can take place. Professor

Wijesinha said that the opening of more iLEAD Centres in Mulative (Northern Province) and Trincomalee

(Eastern Province) districts by AEAI will benet the youth in these areas too.

iLEAD Vavuniya will train students in market oriented courses in Computer Hardware, Room Attendant,

Beautician, Computer Application and the English language.


Log on to https://sites.google.com/a/aide-et-action.org/ind053/ to know more about this project.

Education of migrant children: Stake holders meeting

Our Hyderabad team organised a stake holders meet on 16 December, 2011, in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.

Around 200 participants from 23 districts which included the partner NGOs from across the state, Alternative

Learning School (ALS) Co-ordinators and representatives from Rajiv Vidya Mission participated in the meet-

ing. Chanda Khan, Principal Secretary, State Education, pointed out the need for greater co-ordination among

the ofcials and those on the counter parts. The central governments focus is on regions such as Hyderabad,Mahaboobnagar, Khammam and Adilabad. Each of

these districts has been selected on the basis of

specic criteria, challenges that are unique to the

respective areas, said Ms. Khan. She expressed

her concerns on the lapses that were witnessed

during the previous seasons and suggested ways

out for tackling them in the current cycle. She also

laid emphasis on the need for an effective aca-

demic monitoring system while running the work

site centres and the seasonal hostels for migrant

children.


The migration project in Andhra Pradesh is one ofthe few innovative initiatives in todays context. It hasthe potential to catch attention on the global stage,

said Ravi Pratap Singh, Regional Director, AEAI-SA. Helauded the team for the concerted efforts shown inreaching out even to the last neglected child as wellas the multi-pronged approach taken for addressingthe needs of a socially disadvantaged class.


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NEWS LETTER

Satya Narayan: An entrepreneur in the making

Life seemed to offer Satya NarayanKarna, 20, a resident of MahadevaVillage Development Committee(VDC) in Saptari district, Nepal

nothing special other than per-petual drudgery and biting frustra-tion. Hailing from a poor agrarianfamily, Satya Narayan and his familyearned their bread through daily

wages.

He had no choice but to followhis parents' footsteps and workin elds despite his success in the

School Leaving Certicate (SLC)

exams. Family circumstances andabject poverty nipped his dreamto enrol in a college to pursue hishigher studies in the bud.

However, the deity of luck smiled on him the day Satya Narayan heard of the iLEAD training programme. Hewasted no time in inquiring about the free training programme (with the people on community mobilisationdrive) provided by Aasaman Nepal with nancial support from Aide et Action International -Nepal.

Satya Narayan realised that skill training was the best opportunity available to him to improve his livelihood

options. He personally consulted a boy who had already graduated from the iLEAD centre and applied forenrolment upon the latter's recommendation.

Today, Satya Narayan is the proud owner ofa mobile repairing shop and earns around Rs.7000 per month. He frequently visits the iLEADcentre and renders his unconditional supportwhenever required. In future, he wants to de-velop a business model of his own to motivateothers in entrepreneurship. A couple of yearsdown the line he envisages himself providingOJT (on job training) opportunities to local iL-

EAD students and much-needed support to theiLEAD trainees.


Log on to https://sites.google.com/a/aide-et-action.org/ind053/ to know more about this project.

Coordinated & Edited by AEAI-South Asias

Communication Unit

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Satya Narayan graduated in cell phone repair-ing trade under the iLEAD Training Programme(Third Batch) from Rajbiraj centre, headquar-ters of Saptari district, in central Nepal. It wasnot easy. During his training period, he travelled20 kilometres (to and fro) to reach the iLEADcentre.

AEAI-South Asia December 2011 News Letter

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