CHARITABLE SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER 2012 - 2013MONTH : September 2013

Day Care Centre

Numbers always tell a story! A story of continued success, 2027 children in 13 years. This is the story of Jeevan Asha Charitable Society's impact working at the micro level to bring social change in the community through quality education.

The focus is reaching out to a population of 30000 in 5 slum pockets along Ghodbunder road, Thane city. The 99 children enrolled in our DCC this academic year, have grown in their literacy and mathematical skills. Along with education a daily nutritious diet has end resulted in improved health facilitating better development, one of our major goals, the others being a safe, secure and clean environment with personal care and attention.

Parents take pride in sending their children to the DCC knowing full well that it would be financially beyond their reach to enroll their child in a similar facility elsewhere.

PROJECTSŸ Day Care Centre Ÿ Community Development

Programme Ÿ Adult Literacy Programme

working odd jobs to supplement family income. Today, having completed this literacy programme, their confidence and self-esteem is worth noting. No longer do they look at themselves as second rate but as equals in a changing and growing India!

The same has been replicated in Orissa for the last 12 years. Our latest endeavor being a remote village in Khandhmal district, where 70 children are imparted excellent education with nutrition and care by our dedicated staff.

Ours is a story not of sad endings but of new beginnings, as these little lives receive hope to see a better future.

Adult Literacy Programme What chance will Society give illiterate women to lift their heads high and conquer a niche of self respect in a heartless male-controlled culture? The Adult Literacy P (ALP) has done just that.

22 women stand testimony to the success of this as they have learnt to read and write in Hindi. Most of these women are housewives,

rogramme

Programme

“He who opens a school door closes a prison”

Learning NumbersLearning to Write Learning Shapes Playtime Nutrition

– Victor Hugo

Community Development Project

Community Development Programme (CDP)“Who can trust Government Health Centers in India?” a question asked by many because of years of poor service and apathy. Most people prefer to avail services of a private medical practitioner, with the poor borrowing exorbitant amounts to pay to avail their services.

But this perception is changing in the communities in Sai Nagar and Anand Nagar where our dedicated staff has put in patient, persistent labor to enroll pregnant women to avail subsidized Government facilities.

The last two years have seen a higher utilization of Government maternity health facilities like Pre-natal Care

visits, IFA (iron folic acid) tablets, TT vaccinations, Institutional deliveries, Post-natal visits, etc. in these communities.

We are also delighted to announce our partnership with Helpage India, an NGO that works for the welfare of senior citizens. Along with the mobile clinic of Helpage India, our staff and volunteers visit the elderly and provide them basic medical assistance at no cost.

Thank you for your ongoing support. Our work continues to thrive because of your generosity.

Special thanks to CONCERN INDIA FOUNDATION for partly supporting our DCC project.

Rosita and Vidya, our CDP staff.

As a girl child her parents did not feel the need to educate her saying, “you will live with your husband someday so you don't need education.” Married at 18, all that Sheela knew was to look after the needs of the household. She never had the right to make choices, just did what was told. Her world - cooking, cleaning and tending to the cows that her in laws' owned. Every time she saw a book, newspaper or a notice board, a desire to read arose in her. At last, one day, someone from JeevanAsha asked if she would like to be literate. Sheela grabbed the offer to attend the ALP. A year later she is thrilled that she has the ability to read and write in Hindi. “Light has come into my dark life” says Sheela.

THE RIGHT TO WRITE