IN THEIR OWN WORDS

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is, at present, the most unanimously ratified treaty on Human Rights. India adopted it in 1992 and since then, every five years, the Indian nation must draw up and send reports to the International Committee regarding the enforcement of the rights set forth in the CRC, and about the steps being taken there to guarantee the rights of all children.

Aside from the official report that the Indian government sends the Committee, non-governmental organizations and other social entities that work in the country can – and must – draw up alternative reports so that the Committee may have a more encompassing perspective of the children’s status in India, and may formulate recommendations. This year, Asha-Kiran became a key element in this process. In previous years, the Committee against Child Labor (CACL) – a network of NGOs that work for the wellbeing of children, and of which Asha-Kiran is an executive member – used to be the only one in charge of drawing up the alternative report.

This year, however, a process was launched whereby the children had the chance of drawing up the report themselves – an innovative way of promoting the children’s participation, and giving the report more credibility, since it was written from the findings of the children’s surveys, their discussions, and their own experiences and expectations.

The Children’s Report on the Status of the United Nations Convention on Children’s Rights in the State of Maharashtra, which had Asha-Kiran as one of its main organizers of the process, was published on the 25^th of November. In a few weeks, all the states in the country will finish their reports, which will then be compiled into a single document to be sent to the International Committee of the Children’s Rights Convention.

This time, it will be the children themselves who will make their voices be heard.

ORIENTAL DANCES IN MÁLAGA

Thanks to everyone who came to see the Fundación Asha-Kiran Oriental Dances Show.

Thanks to the dancers, for giving us their Art through their performance.

And thanks to them, for being our daily driving force.

ASHA-KIRAN KEEPS THE PROMISE

"Let’s stop Aids. Let’s keep the promise."

With this message, World Aids Day was commemorated on December 1^st, as Asha-Kiran joined the international effort to keep this promise and to disseminate information about Aids among the population in Pune about the methods of prevention, the advantages of early diagnosis and the ways of detecting it.

As part of the awareness-raising activities, this year, we organized a petition campaign in especially populated locations of the city. The main purpose of the campaign was to inform the children from Yashodhara Shelter Home and from the Day Care Centers the ways of preventing this disease, the ways in which it can be transmitted, and the situation of the millions of people in the world who have it. Thus, we prepared them so they could be the ones, together with the staff from Asha-Kiran, to approach other people and disseminate this information, hand out informative brochures, and gather more than 800 signatures to support the campaign. Aside from information, the almost one thousand people who joined the campaign got a sticker of the Foundation with a red ribbon by which they are committed, in turn, to spread said information and keep the promise of helping stop the spread of Aids.

We also organized an informative session for families and communities with the help and participation of experts from the National Aids Research Institute. Although the general public already has some information on the subject, there are still many myths about this illness that should be cleared up. This time, aside from clarifying misinformation, we discussed symptoms, fears, available treatments, the possibility of having early detection tests and the social integration of people who are HIV+ or have Aids.

HEALTH PROGRAM IN HADAPSAR

As part of the Health Program implemented by Asha-Kiran, performing general health checkups on the children who will attend new Day Care Centers (DCCs) are a regular procedure. The new DCC at Hadapsar was no exception.

Before actually inaugurating the DCC, we had already done a medical screening in the slum, and detected a high percentage of malnutrition and anemia among its children, aside from serious skin problems caused by their habit of playing and bathing in the highly contaminated canals that crisscross their villages. We also found out that the children had never been vaccinated against common diseases. In view of this, we set to work right away. Before the end of October, all the children had individual health records, which will allow us to do a personalized follow-up of every child. The most troublesome part of the activity was giving the tetanus vaccine, since slum children are not used to getting vaccines and they were scared of being given a shot.

Fortunately, the children’s parents, the medical team, and the teachers and social workers from Asha-Kiran patiently explained the importance of the vaccine and managed to persuade to be inoculated. Tetanus is a fairly common disease in the slums of Pune because children often play barefoot in areas full of sharp metal objects which can easily cause wounds. By the end of the day, 32 children had been screened and vaccinated. And this is just the beginning…

THE JOY OF BEING CHILDREN

Every November 14th, India celebrates Children’s Day. This date was chosen in memory of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent India, who showed great devotion for his country’s children. After his death on November 14th of 1965, this date became National Children’s Day. All the schools and social organizations in the country organize various cultural and children’s ceremonies this day to reiterate the care and dedication that the Indian State must provide to its children.

In keeping with this tradition, Asha-Kiran also celebrated Children’s Day at Yashodhara and the DCC’s. For the children, this day means fun and games – no classes, just play. At Yashodhara, we had a drawing contest and a movie session. For both activities, the theme was teamwork and daily perseverance. Our objective throughout the day was to give the children the message never to lose hope, not to underestimate our teammates and work together in order to reach our objectives – an all-important message to strengthen the ties of the children at the Home, and further foster the atmosphere of brotherhood and comradeship that it has.

At the Day Care Centers, the celebration was somewhat different. There were games and sports competitions for the more than 80 children who attend. The children had a fun-filled day that was undoubtedly more than they had expected.