Schools4Freedom Project Report

Quarter 3 2016 (July-Sept.) Sept. 2016, Follows Q1 Report in June

(Rec’d/sent to Rotary and other donors 1/17

Background

1. Location  of  Village/Hamlet:  Outside  of  Varanasi,  Uttar  Pradesh,  India                                                        

2. Demographics  and  Community  Info  as  of  January  2016:  Total  population  of  hamlet  –  400  (85  households).  132  are  enslaved;  others  at  risk  for  debt  bondage  because  of  dire  poverty.  Some  trafficked  to  other  states.    

Only  2-­‐3  individuals  in  this  community  could  write  their  name;  most  were  illiterate  and  innumerate.  Their  economic  condition  was  dire.  People  were  enslaved  in  debt  bondage  at  the  slaveholder’s  farm,  construction  projects  or  brick  kilns.    

During   Q1,   the   school   was   built,   teachers   were   hired,   classes   started   and   frontline  workers  began  talking  quietly  to  villagers  about  change.  

During  Q2,  6  children  were  freed  from  brick  kilns,  29  villagers  received  medical  exams,  and  30  (including  some  women)  formed  a  Community  Vigilance  Committee  (CVC).  Solar  street  lamps  were  installed  in  the  community.  

Exciting  New  Developments  (Q3)  July  –  Sept.  2016:  1. The CVC meetings were organized on the issues of bonded labour, human

trafficking & government schemes. 2. Community members now started demanding their rights and entitlements

through putting complaint and application before the administration on Tehsil Divas. (Tahsil Diwas are the legal and social service days organized by the Government of Uttar Pradesh in each district. This is usually conducted on 1st and 3rd Tuesday every month at different subdistrict headquarters on a rotation basis. On that day all the chief officers of the concerned department have to be

   

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present to get the complaints of citizens. Complaint made in Tahsil Diwas is registered legally and the officials have to take action accordingly).

3. 11 Children and 3 pregnant women were registered in ICDS services to access the benefits of supplementary nutrition and health care.

4. 8 children were immunized with the support of health department. 5. 18 children were mainstreamed to government school from S4F School. 6. 2 self-help groups formed with the active participation of 22 women from the

community.

Community at Tehsil divas demanding their rights

Project  Challenges:    

1. During CVC meetings the slaveholders come and try to listen to our discussions. Then the slaveholders threaten CVC members and pressure them to not take part in CVC meetings.

2. Some parents in community take their children with them on work site. 3. Still some people are taking loans and advances from their slaveholder. 4. Village head does not support efforts to access government schemes [programs]

i.e. most of the people of community are deprived of Housing scheme. 5. The slaveholders are trying to push community members from the land they are

living on (the land is owned by the slaveholders).

   

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CVC meetings where slave holder tries to spy and then threaten attendees

Next  Steps:  

1. S4F team will work closely with village head and sensitize Panchayati Raj People (the local governance) in the village in favour of the community members.

2. Interface and co-ordination meetings will be organized with Community’s people and village head and service providers and updated about new scheme.

3. We will provide skill training to make Self-help group’s women self-dependent.

SHG members in SHG meting

   

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Teacher’s  Report    Chandraprkash

Overview  

• At present 56 children are enrolled in the S4F School out of which 40 children attend regularly.

• After CVC meeting, [parents] understand the value of education and pay attention to their children’s education.

• Children also learn through different games. • Teachers are teaching in school without any discrimination.

Progress

• On average, 75-80% children come to S4F School on time. • The children, who used to wander here and there or gamble in the beginning of

S4F School are now taking interest in S4F activities and getting education towards their rights by coming to school.

• Now children have started recognizing Hindi and English alphabet. • Now children are taking much interest in art.

Problems

• Some children go with their parents to work because slaveholder pressures the parents and the children.

• The slave owners and higher caste people are trying to divide and disrupt villagers uniting for freedom. Upper caste folks are telling lies and scaring villagers. The slaveholders are offering some villagers land and other enticements to get them to denounce the other villagers. The community members quarrel with each other many times. S4F team tries to talk to everybody and make them understand about the modus operandi of the slaveholder.  

Process  

• We tell the children about child labour and the value of education through different stories and videos.

• We teach the children varieties of flowers through pictures and counting through games.

• Now we are teaching the children about symbol of plus, minus, multiply (+,-, x) etc.

   

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• Weak and intelligent children are taught in different groups and weaker children are given more attention.

• Children’s mistakes are immediately improved by checking their homework.

How do you think the school is impacting students?

• The children who never been in school before now have joined the S4F and share their experience and importance of education

• Now children are maintaining hygiene

How do you think the school is impacting the entire village? • Children are getting free education and mid-day meal in S4F School due for

which their parents are very happy because it may be the only meal they get.

What are you doing well? What could you do better? What would it take to do it better?

• We are engaging children and creating their interest in education • Through stories we tell importance of education and inculcate values by

sharing stories of famous personalities • Children who are deprived from education until now are still being motivated to

leave work and the parents are also sensitized. • We are also creating awareness on child labor, bonded labor and human

trafficking.

Case Study – Student: Pramod Vanvasi

15 year old male mother, father, 4 brothers, 2 sisters

Pramod used to work for the slaveholder with his parents before starting S4F School. Pramod sometimes went alone to the slaveholder and to do farming and domestic work for him because Pramod’s father has been working in generational debt bondage slavery. His father could not afford to send Pramod to school. After starting S4F School in the village he was enrolled in S4F School and now Pramod and his siblings are in S4F School.

Tell us what you do in school? What are you learning? I am going to school daily and play and study there. Now I am learning Hindi and English alphabets how to read and write.

   

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What is your favorite thing about school? I like playing and reading with our friends in S4F.

What don’t you like about school? I don’t like when other kids do not share sports equipment and disturb the class.

How did you spend your days doing before you started school? I used to work for slave holder at his farm and house. I did cattle rearing, cleaning the courtyards, getting grass out from farms.

What does your family think about you going to school? Now my mother regularly sends me to school and we get scolding if we miss school.

What is the most important thing you are learning in school? I am learning to play badminton, making art and learn measures of sanitation.

What do you want to be when you grow up and why? How do you think you will be able to make that happen? I want to be a farmer and I will be interested to grow my own vegetables and I want to start vegetable business and I will purchase the land for agriculture.

What have you learned about your rights? Rights to prevent punishment and exploitation. Rights to play, right to education and right to love, too. What do you think you have learned about yourself, your personal strengths and weaknesses as you have been going to school or working to improve things? Earlier I did not feel like studies but now I feel good to see my friends studying as well. Now I do all my lessons which are taught in S4F School. What do you hope for in the future, for yourself and your family? In future all the problem of our family will be sorted out and I will do agriculture farming.

What would you like to share that we haven’t asked? I wanted to learn study but because of lack of money I could not study. Now I feel very happy studying in S4F school.

Case Study – Adult: Ramavati, 55 year old female, widowed with 3 children

Job profile before S4F intervention - Used to work for Slave holder in agricultural farming as debt bondage.

Job profile after intervention - She is earning daily

   

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wages but according to her terms and conditions.

Describe how she joined the program: Ramavati used to take her children with her to work for slave holder as debt bondage slave. She took a debt from slaveholder and slaveholder did not give wages and only gave food grains to eat. She could not feed her children properly. She was encouraged by S4F team to participate in CVC and now she is freed from exploitation and she is struggling for a better life.

Can you tell us about the loan your family took that trapped you in debt-bondage slavery? I used to work for the slaveholder with my husband in the village and was getting food and some cash from the slave owner. After my husband’s death I continued working there. Three years ago for my son’s marriage I took Rs.10000.00 [$147.00] debt from the same slaveholder. I told the slaveholder to deduct the debt from my wages. In spite of this, my debt increased almost Rs. 20000.00 to 25000.00 in one year. Slaveholder always threatened me to repay. In this way we were trapped in debt bondage slavery. In a CVC meeting I explained my status to another member and S4F team members in the village. The senior team member of MSEMVS also met me. I was freed by the S4F team through pressure building on slaveholder and involving the officials. Now I am free. I still do labour work to earn my living but with my own working conditions, time and wages. Highlight how you benefit, as well as describing if there are ways that you contribute. Now our children are studying in S4F School and I am active member of CVC. I keep motivating the community members not to engage children in work. The children should be in S4F School.

What do you think you have learned about yourself, your personal strengths and weaknesses as you have been going to school or working to improve things? Without education and knowledge we made wrong decisions and slaveholder and trafficker cheated us. That is why education for our children in S4F school is very valuable.

What additional skills or abilities do they want to work on, for themselves? My elder son should be provided a tricycle as he is physically challenged and he needs to learn something for earning income so that our economic condition can be improved.

What impact do they believe the school is having in the village? My two children studying in S4F School and all children are getting copy, books, stationery school bag and mid-day meal to eat.

How do they you to help you children with schooling? What do you do to learn

   

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with your children? I am not taking my children on work. I send them to school.

How has your life changed (practically and in how you are feeling)? Earlier we are trapped in debt bondage slavery but now we are freed and our children are studying in S4F School with the help of S4F team.

What do they hope for in the future, for yourself and your family? I want to educate my children, earn money to build my house and many more things And see what God thinks about my family. Once my children get good jobs our family should be happy.

If they feel your village has stopped slavery, how do you think it happened? By giving skill training to women and involving the men in income generation and assets building activities.

What would they like to share that we haven’t asked? In last 3-4 months wages for the work done under MNREGA have not been paid; for that we have complained to administration for our due wages.

Statistics

   

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Read me and smile. Voices4Freedom works with partner, MSEMVS to address the issue of slavery in a holistic manner. People are trapped in slavery in northern India villages because they are extremely poor, illiterate, innumerate and vulnerable to exploitation. And there are people ready to take advantage of their desperate hope to take care of their families. There are great government programs for the very poor in India but most of the poorest people don’t know how to navigate the system and like many places in the world, the villagers don’t even exist for their government because their birth was never registered. There is no record of them. All that changes with the S4F program. A large part of the Schools4Freedom work is to educate the parents about their rights and help them register with the government and it also helps them to get identity cards that are needed to access all programs. This gives them socio-economic benefits which reduces their vulnerability and helps to sustain their freedom. The numbers at the end of each report indicates the access people are gaining to specific programs. The numbers can look so bland but they represent another gigantic step to freedom. *Acronyms The alphabet soup can be confusing. Understanding and accessing these programs can be the difference between freedom and slavery. CVC - Community Vigilance Committee - Group of survivors/vulnerable people in a

   

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village who come together to resist slavery and protect their communities. As these committees learn about their own rights they are empowered to stand together and grab freedom. They also empower other communities and help them come to freedom. One of the first things frontline activists do is help villagers form CVCs and Self Help Groups (SHGs). The villagers are enslaved together and learn to unite to come to freedom together. ICDS - Integrated Child Development System - This scheme is basically for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children below 5 years of age. The women get immunizations and food supplements. The children get supplementary food and pre-primary education. This service is free of cost. MGNREGA - Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act - This is a highly-regarded Indian labor law and social security measure that guarantees poor villagers the 'right to work' at least 100 days in rural areas during each financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. The workers help create durable assets such as roads, canals, ponds and wells.

SHG – Self Help Group - Women in groups of 12 or more organize themselves to multiply their income collectively. SHG members do savings in groups which is often used for emergency so they do not fall prey to loan sharks and slip back in debt bondage slavery. They also learn about hygiene and other issues that help the community get healthier.