JOY

Since I joined Asha-Kiran in 2007, I have been travelling to India three times a year. The country never seemed foreign to me. Quite on the contrary, it always felt like home, probably because, having been born in a third-world country, the beneficiaries of our projects reminded me of the people from the disadvantaged social groups I grew up with - different language, different dress, different religion, but so much the same heart.

Spending time with the children from our projects -‘our’ children- brought me very close to them, just as if they had been part of my family. Considering the terribly hard lives they had led, their blooming after joining Asha-Kiran is something to behold. It is hard to imagine children from ‘developed’ countries having so much resilience and being so grateful.

Soon, I’ll get to visit and communicate with our children in sign-touch language once more… a most welcome prospect. I will also meet my Indian coworkers and see our new Day Care Centers at construction sites. I look forward to feeling the warmth of the people and their relaxed inner pace, seeing and hearing the bustle and constant horn-blowing in the streets, watching the monsoon rain pour, and feeling the mosquitoes mercilessly eating up my legs in the evening.

As my journey is about to begin, my wish is that everyone who hasn’t felt the welcoming embrace of these unassuming and sincere people will have the chance to do so some day.

Sadhana – Volunteer at Asha-Kiran

IMMUNIZATION CAMPAIGN AT THE DAY CARE CENTERS

500 children from six different Marvel Builders’ construction sites participated in the vaccination campaign that Asha-Kiran carried out along with Marvel Builders, the Builders’ Association and Pune Municipal Corporation.

250 of the children who got immunized came from five Day Care Centers that Asha-Kiran manages at said construction sites. The children, aged 0 to 14, were vaccinated according to their age and previous health records. Their mothers received ample information on the importance of vaccines at the various stages of a child’s life, together with an immunization card with clear explanations of the timetable to follow to complete the full immunization schedule.

Parents who work at the construction sites where Asha-Kiran operates the Day Care Centers will receive support and special monitoring with regard to vaccinations and consultations at the health center.

NO SILK LINEN FOR THEM

It is easy to get money in exchange for child labor in the silk industry in India. As the amount offered on loan - from 40 to 350 Euros - is higher than in any other industry, parents are encouraged offer their children as payback as a matter of course.

According to South Asia Coalition, 80 million children have been kidnapped or forced by their parents to pay off family debts or payment of loans with high interest rates.

Leela borrowed 2,000 rupees (30 €) to repair her house. As collateral, she committed her ten-year-old son to work twelve hours a day in a local loom and thus pay her debt. The child's work consisted in stretching meshes and manually feeding thread to make the designs of silk saris, earning the paltry sum of 10 rupees (15 cents) a day.

Most of the families that nurture the child labor market are below the poverty threshold, but the main reason for this practice seems to be greed, not poverty. Mothers always express remorse, but the use of cheap child labor continues. In addition, according to The Times of India, contractors cheat the farmers by buying silk cocoons for just 150 rupees (3 €) per kilogram.

Those with vested interests argue that poverty will increase if silk stops being sold, but if such patronage over generations had improved the standard of living of the needy, parents would not continue forcing their children to long working hours for such low pay.

Nowadays, most ‘slaves’ are women and children unable to break free from inhumane working conditions, while many factories of the so-called called civilized world are still crowded with innocent beings - human and nonhuman – who are doomed to be exploited or exterminated.

Source: ivu.org

CHILDREN'S VIEWS MATTER

The children were aware that two teachers in their school had not been coming to class for a few days. After asking around, they decided to ask their principal to check the teachers’ leave applications. Seeing that there were none and no sign of the teachers returning, they took up the matter with the ‘sarpanch’ (head) of the village. When that didn’t work, they called a local journalist and brought the issue into the open.

These are the ‘baal gats’ - activist children’s groups that have sprung up in two of Maharashtra’s districts where the agrarian crisis has worsened the already crippling rural poverty. These young crusaders have zeroed in on issues like education, child labour, cleanliness, etc., and taken it upon themselves to transform their villages. Though they are only between seven and fourteen, the collective power they exude is unparalleled.

With the help of Save the Children and other local organizations, the children’s groups were formed in over 900 villages with the issue of child labour in mind. All the children of the village are encouraged to be part of the groups and join the monthly meetings to discuss what ails them and their village. The youngsters then devise ways of tackling issues linked to child labor and education, directly or indirectly.

In one of the villages, the children basked in their victory of getting Manda (12) admitted to school. When they went door to door to see if all the children were getting a formal education, they realized that Manda had been working in the fields. "She was a very quiet girl who never spoke to anyone. She hadn’t been going to school for two years because her father made her work in the field. It took us a long time to convince her and her father", says 12-year-old Vishakha. Convincing her younger brother, however, has been an unfruitful task. “Every time he sees us, he starts running away from us. He just doesn’t like going to school,’’ the children say.

Just the same, the children from these villages have succeeded in ‘waking up’ the adults in their communities to their own reality and have successfully promoted change as a result. Their near-perfect view of the world and their vitality empowers them to do so. Perhaps we, as adults, should stop and listen to children more often with an open attitude, and then do our best to integrate their outlook in decisions that matter.

Source: The Times of India

YASHODHARA, BIGGER THAN EVER

We are starting a new period in the implementation of our projects in India. The children from Hadapsar, Yashodhara, and the schools we work with have enjoyed a well-deserved vacation after an intense academic year. We have also assessed the objectives attained and looked for new ways to make the projects as efficient as possible.

Bearing this in mind, and always having as our main goal the true benefit of Yashodhara children, we succeeded in associating with SAMPARC, a local NGO with many years’ experience in managing Shelter Homes. Until June of this year, SAMPARC operated a Shelter Home located a few hours away from Pune. However, their main sponsors were severely affected by the crisis in Europe and SAMPARC suddenly found itself lacking the funds to continue managing its project while having to care for 120 boys and girls aged between 10 and 15, who depend on them to access development opportunities for their future.

On the other hand, the laws applicable to Shelter Homes in the State of Maharashtra changed drastically in the last yearly period and Asha-Kiran had to quickly adapt to these changes in order to go on offering the same care and protection to Yashodhara children. To continue managing the Shelter, we are required to have our own premises and they have to be a certain minimum size; this involves a monetary output that is presently impossible for us to bear.

The missing piece of the puzzle was put in place after the first meetings with the people of SAMPARC - they needed support to finance and manage the Shelter, and we needed new premises to house the children and continue working as before. The result: Yashodhara Shelter now has a new building in a beautiful area in the outskirts of Pune, which is now home to a total of 140 boys and girls from 6 to 16 years of age. With the support of SAMPARC, who in addition to letting us use their facilities, is committed to managing the project jointly with us, we have managed to TAKE A STEP FURTHER AND ENLARGE THE SCOPE OF YASHODHARA EVEN MORE.

The same as every year, our commitment is to move towards the ultimate goal of reaching out to and supporting more and more vulnerable children in India.

SCHOOL AND WORK: INCOMPATIBLE

Save the Children points out the need for amending the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (CLPRA) to bring it in line with the Right to Education Act (RTE). The CLPRA prohibits employing children below 14 as domestic help. Unfortunately, child labor, which is analogous to modern-day slavery, is still endemic.

Children who work as domestic help are forced to work long hours with little food, are paid minimal wages or not paid at all, and are largely invisible to the outside world because they live with their employers. This invisibility is one of the main reasons for the vulnerability of child domestic workers to exploitation and abuse.

“You cannot have one law that promises elementary education to all children and another one that regulates child labour. With the RTE now in place, there just cannot be another law which regulates child labour”, a spokesman said. The ‘regulation’ part of the CLPR is in direct contradiction with the constitutional guarantee of free and compulsory elementary education for children between 6 and 14.

Also, around 70% of child laborers work in agriculture. Yet, this form of child labor is left out of the purview of the CLPRA. Any law that attempts to tackle child labor cannot overlook the category of children in agriculture since the majority of child workers are in this sector.

If the Indian government is serious about implementing the RTE, then it must amend the CLPRA urgently. India is one of the very few countries that has not ratified ILO Convention 182 on banning the worst forms of child labour. According to the 2001 census, there are 12.6 million children under the age of 14 engaged in child labour, but civil society places the number of child labour at a more realistic 40 million or so.

While poor families need all the help they can get in their effort to make a living and this often entails pushing their own children to work, society must be educated on the equally pressing need of extracting its disadvantaged children from the vicious circle of poverty and lack of education.
 

 
Source: Save the Children

ABOUT SCHOOLING

One out of four places in private schools in India will be reserved for socially and economically disadvantaged groups. This resolution is a result of the Indian Supreme Court having recently endorsed Clause 12 in the Right to Education Act. Some private educators challenged the constitutional validity of this clause, arguing it violated their autonomy, but the Supreme Court certified that this applies to both public and unaided private schools.

Approved in 2009, the Right to Education Act (RTE) makes education a fundamental right of every child aged 6 to 14 and specifies minimum regulations in elementary schools. It is the first legislation in the world placing the responsibility of education directly on the State.

“We celebrate the Court’s decision. However, it is crucial to ensure a proper implementation of the Act, allocating the resources needed and effectively monitoring its application while enhancing the public education system”, said Mr. S. Eswaran, General Secretary of the All-India Primary Teachers’ Federation. He explained that key issues such as gender balance and preventing discrimination within the classroom should be taken into account.

“We, as teacher unions, believe that an egalitarian education system would aim to enhance the quality of public education above all. One of the main challenges is solving the current shortfall of teachers through quality recruitment and professional training,” Eswaran concluded.

According to the 2011 Indian census, the literacy rate has gone up from 65% to 74% in the last decade - an important attainment in the second most populous nation in the world. Although this can be considered a success, a lot more has to be done to meet the Millennium Development Goal of achieving universal primary education by 2015.

Source: ei-ie.org