APPEAL FOR FINANCIAL AND OTHER FORMS OF ASSISTANCE TO KADAM RESOURCE CENTRE FOR GIRLS , SHELTER HOME AND ONE STOP CENTRE FOR EMERGENCY NEEDS OF ORPHAN GIRLS AND NEGLECTED GIRLS WHERE THEY WILL BE CARED FOR AND BE ENABLED TO SECURE EDUCATION – FORMAL AS WELL

AS VOCATIONAL

Introduction

Kadam Education Initiative (KEI), which emerged out of the interventions of Centre for Development, Ahmedabad,has been working in the underprivileged areas of Ahmedabad city where due to various circumstances large numbers of children are not able to access and continue education. More vulnerable among them are girls, especially girls who may have lost one or both parents. Mostly these girls are forced to drop out of schools due to poverty as well as family and community pressures. They eventually end up being victims of child marriage, and many a time disguised trafficking. KEI has closely observed this unfortunate process of children being deprived of their childhood and an education in Ahmedabad city and over 26 villages around the city.

KEI has also seen at close quarters and interacted with the significant number of girls, almost 25-30 children a month, arriving at the Ahmedabad Railway station who are initially rescued by an NGO associated with the Childline India Foundation (The Centre for Development, Ahmedabad), and eventually sent to ill-equipped shelter homes. KEI personnel have been occasionally providing counseling services to these girls who reveal shocking stories as to how they have been ‘sold off’ by their own parents and relatives, forced to leave their poor and disturbed homes and finally end up being trafficked or abandoned in places like railway stations. Many girls would be unwanted from birth as a result of the male child preference of the parents; or it could be that one or the other parent would have died and the living parent would then get married again, making these girl children liabilities, and they would be left with old or ailing and poor grandparents or relatives to be taken care of; in many cases their mothers, widowed at a young age would be mentally tortured and many a time killed or forced to commit suicide, leaving the girls unwanted, in a highly vulnerable situation. Some boys might be fortunate in being taken care of by the relatives, but even they are forced to work as child labourers, slaving to sustain the family. Girls in such situations are ‘sold off’ in the name of marriage or domestic labour in cities or into begging rackets. These young girls end up abandoned and abused, their childhood deprived, their rights violated.

These orphans are definitely the responsibility of any civilized, humane society; and KEI intends to build a home for these children. Male siblings if any would be accommodated in a separate wing of the same homeso that they are not separated again, and would retain family bonds. This home should have all the basic amenities and an environment that takes care of the physical and emotional needs of the children, and helps the children to learn and grow.

Present Focus: Before we would venture onto this grand plan for constructing the Girls Home, we would like to first of request the donors to support the Kadam Resource Centre for Girls which would also serve as a one stop centre for children in emergency, especially the ones who are rescued by the Child line team of sister concern Centre for development. We would need dedicated support for the Kadam Resource centre for making it more vibrant and effective. We are in the process of mobilizing funds for the purchase of land and construction of the shelter home, but that would require sometime.

Kadam Home for Girls

We would like to strengthen our work under the Kadam Education Initiative (KEI) with the adolescent girls (daughters of mothers who may have been divorced, widowed or deserted) vulnerable to trafficking and abuse. This intervention has been going on since 2012 and by now we have developed the Kadam Resource Centre for Girls (KRCG) which provides various educational, vocational and life-skill building opportunities to the girls who are selected for this programme. This residential component of the KEI programme, which currently includes stay with Meera in her residence for an extended period, especially for 2-3 girls who may be preparing for board or university examinations or who may need personal attention and extended counseling services to deal with trauma (of abuse and/or violence/constant humiliation).Eventually we intend to develop this into a Home for Girls where the KRCG with educational and life-skills opportunities would be housed.

The facilities, environment and activities in the Kadam Home would be designed to enable the children to grow and develop in a healthy and holistic manner so that they become self-respecting, confident and responsible citizens who would eventually contribute to society. The personnel associated with the Kadam Home would follow educational modules that havebeen tested out with orphan girls or girls of single mothers. The Kadam Home and its functioning would be founded on the inviolable rights of the child as enshrined in the UNCRC summarized as follows:

1. The right to life (Adequate Standard of living)2. The right to protection (from exploitation, abuse and violence)3. The right to participation (with freedom of expression, thought and association)4. The right to development (Education - to develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to

the full; to encourage the child’s respect for human rights, other cultures, and the environment.)

The nurturing and educational activities in the Kadam Home would ensure that children grow into ideal citizens with a sense of belonging, social conscience and sense of responsibility, human values such as mutual respect and compassion, and respect for other cultures and the nation inculcated through informed celebration of national days and religious festivals

Details of Activities designed:

i. Land purchase and building infrastructure: The KHG is a long-term programme, which would slowly unfold as we appeal to Civil Society – Indian as well as International - to support this endeavour. This requires land and infrastructure. Some of those closely associated with KEI have started looking out for land in the outskirts of Ahmedabad. The educational activities would be carried out by the KRCG would be the main activity undertaken in the KHG.

ii. Kadam Resource Centre for Girls(KRCG)KRCG has been supported mainly by Asia Initiatives since the past 4 years (2013-14 to 2017-18), with significant additional contribution from LitWorld in terms of space and equipping children to move on into KRCG and of course the service provided by volunteers in all logistical arrangements, accounting and other administrative functions.

Compilation of Learning ResourcesUpgrade the learning resources available. Training to effectively use online educational resources for knowledge and skill building.

Remedial coaching This would be based on the academic requirements of the students would be provided by the two teachers for English language & humanities, Math and computers. These teachers would assess all the new students to determine what kind of assistance they would require. The KRCG volunteers would also continue to take feedback from the teachers of these students during the PTA meetings.

CounselingThis is a very crucial service that is offered in KRCG. The life situations from where the girls come in have a tremendous impact on their lives. It has a deleterious impact on their self-esteem, and destroys their confidence to learn, to make their own choices. Counseling helps girls to deal with the trauma of their past and present life, overcome their fears, understand their mothers and the familial and social

pressures on them, and thereby understand how their life situation is determined by a patriarchal society. At an early stage in their stint at KRCG all girls go through emotional crisis situations which they learn to handle on their own, with counseling support. This has a positive impact on their subsequent learning and performance in KRCG. Developing Self Confidence

- Reproductive Health Workshops twice a year – understanding one’s body, accepting hormonal changes and their impact on one’s psyche. Helping girls to be comfortable with menstruation and eliminating from their minds all taboos that society imposes on them; being able to talk about menstruation and reproductive health freely. KRCG girls engage with other girls regarding this issue and teaching them too.

- Workshops on gender, leadership development, effective communication – 4 -5 events during the year.

- Understanding and recognizing sexual abuse and harassment, and equipping girls to prevent and counter such occurrences. Workshop on legal provisions for the protection of women and justice in cases of violence against women.

- Personality Development - The above points give the girls a

sense of security and eliminates the sense of shame that always restricted them and their ability to make choices.

Exposure visits and interaction with illustrious women role models

- Girls are taken to government offices, industries, shopping malls, restaurants and hotels, women’s police stations, banks and many other establishment, especially those where there are women officers and professionals. The girls interact with these women professionals and understand that there are many openings for which they could equip themselves. In addition the KRCG girls sometimes attend workshops organized by CfD at times; as some of them did last year, attending the advocacy and campaign workshop of CfD that was organized for community volunteers and leaders.

- The other way of interacting and being inspired by strong women role models is when they are invited for various events such as International Women’s Day and the Day of the Girl Child.

Life skills Training- Self-esteem and sense of equality as a girl- self-confidence- managing interpersonal relationships- effective communication- preventing and countering abuse- understanding the provisions for protection and legal action)

Remedial Coaching and Training Centre- Those girls who need to continue formal education in schools and complete

matriculation would be helped to do so. Others for whom it may not be feasible to resume formal education but are still capable of completing matriculation, National Open School (NIOS) is an excellent option. As of now many girls have already registered and cleared 10th standard exams under the NIOS.

- All the girls would be provided systematic educational inputs based on a 100-days learning module specifically developed through our 20 years of work experience with children who have dropped out of the formal educational system. This would provide them with skills and competencies that enable them to work and earn a living.i. Learning to use the computer (Ongoing)ii. Basic English comprehension and communication (Ongoing)iii. Managing an office (Office assistance training) – (Ongoing)iv. Health worker Trainingv. Home caretaker (professional domestic work with ability to operate modern

domestic gadgets machines) - (Ongoing)vi. Understanding of geriatric care: (taking care of senior citizens)vii. Professional baby care

viii. Training to become a beauticianix. Production of sanitary napkins (apprenticeship in a production unit being run by

Kadam) – (Ongoing)x. Shampoo making

iii. The Short Stay Home( One stop centre for emergency needs)KEI intends to develop a short stay shelter facility with the requisite legal permissions from the government to accommodate the children rescued from Ahmedabad Railway Station through NGOs associated with Childline Foundation and the Government of India (Ministry of Women and Child welfare and the Ministry of Railways). These children would be provided a joyful stay in this Home, with counseling that would help them deal with the trauma that they may be going through, and also get information on their families - parents and relatives- so that they could be traced and handed over to them if that is in the interest of the child.

iv. Counselling CentreThe counseling centre would be an integral part of the Kadam Resource Centre and Home, considering the trauma that the girls may have undergone and also the special needs for adolescent girls. This would be essential to deal with their past and trauma and overcome them to move proactively forward. Some of the issues that counselling would help resolve would be Trauma undergone due to physical and mental abuse and exploitation The need to confide their deepest feelings and dilemmas. Sometimes this would be taken

care of through a ‘Want to ask box’ where they could put inanonymous questions and suggestions.

Career counselling Overcoming lack of confidence in communication Help in becoming autonomous in their decision making and become self-reliant.

Key stakeholders

1. The trustees of Kadam Education Initiative – they would maintain a general oversight ofall the projects to ensure that they fulfil the vision and mission of KEI

2. The mothers of the girls – they would be key to the success of the project as they would be the most significant persons that overcome social barriers and pressures to stand by the girls in order to complete their education.

3. The Centre for Development, as the parent organization and partner that provides all forms of institutional and project management support.

4. The project team of CfD-KHG-KRCG that will implement the proposed project.

APPEALWe appeal to all conscientious citizens to help us in our endeavour to fulfill our collective social responsibility towards these orphan girls, by contributing generously towards building the Kadam Resource Centre for Girls and One stop centre for girls in emergency situation. The Kadam would be a space where their rights and self-respect would be protected and enable them to develop into confident, self-respecting persons.Proposed Funding request to donors of Global Giving- $66474.7(One time cost and recurring cost)

Stories that inspire us…..

Geeta Bhavda, 24 years

(Behrampura, Ahmedabad)

Life was never too kind to Geeta. Daughter of a poor vegetable vending couple, she had a very deprived childhood, struggling to have even one square meal a day. Life in that congested Dalit locality of Behrampura with little or no basic amenities was tough; her parents tried their best to make two ends meet selling vegetables and taking on casual labour works. Geeta was the youngest of three children and as a girl child her education was the least of all priorities. She could barely go to school as shewas burdened with household chores; and at other times helping her mother to sell potatoes and onions. She discontinued school completely after the 5th grade. And of course, as is the usual story, she could never learn to read and write despite 5 years in school.

As is the tradition, Geeta’s parents got her married when she was just 19 years old; and her young husband was murdered by some criminals within 6 months after their marriage. And Geeta came back to her parent’s place as a ‘child widow’, only to be entrusted the care of her brother’s children. Her brother too had just died an untimely death leaving their very young children in her care. Tragedy after tragedy, which could have broken the will of any ordinary person; especially a young girl as Geeta….She had lots to complain about; but never chose to.

But life has changed for Geeta ever since she came in contact with the volunteers of KEI in May 2015. She started coming every day to the Kadam Resource Centre for Girls. She used to feel so diffident. But now she is determined to change her life situation. She browses through books; she knows how to view and listen audio visual material on the laptop and learn from it and also learning to use computers. She has been working hard, trying to master the alphabets. And above all, she has become a confident girl now. She also earns some money by supplying potatoes and onions to the CfD staff!

She is the only non-school going member of the centre. But an asset to the centre; committed to learning. She motivates all the children in her neighbourhood to take studies seriously and even getting them enrolled in school. Despite being illiterate, she understands the value of education. She wants all the drop-out children in her area to go to school. She attended a training programme organized by KEI-CfD under the Asia Initiative Programme for women leaders where she learned about the Right to Education Act. Then she did an amazing thing; she went ahead and took action – she went to the education office and the schools in the vicinity and got to know the procedure of application for admission under the 25% quota provision. With the help of young local volunteers from her area she listed out the children who were eligible for admission under this provision and assisted the parents of those children to apply. This resulted in 7 children secured admission in nearby private schools. At KRCG she is a hard-working student who loves learning; in her community she is a young leader.

Shirin Iliyas Hussain

(Bombay Hotel area, Narol, Ahmedabad)

Situated in the outskirts of Ahmedabad city, the ‘Bombay Hotel’ area is fast becoming a ghetto of poor people who move into Ahmedabad in search of livelihood. Finding residential space in the city is becoming difficult for the poor, especially Muslims and Dalits, with increasing segregation of communities. Surrounded by small and medium scale industries, people (mainly Muslims) move into Bombay Hotel area hoping to find casual wage labour in the factories and ancillary cottage industries around, or start small businesses like auto repair shops, tea-stalls or pan-shops. Also, following the violence in 2002 a large number of Muslims who were displaced from Ahmedabad city as well as other areas moved into this area to take refuge in a ghetto which is considered safer.

Shirin comes from such a family; in happier days, her father was a canteen manager and they could make the two ends meet. But post-2002 he lost his canteen contract and was rendered jobless. They had to shift to the Bombay Hotel area, both for security as well as possibilities of livelihood. Shirin is the eldest of the 3 children, with one sister and a brother who is the youngest. The father Iliyas Mohammed Husain was partly disabled and was unable to find any stable job. He would sometimes disappear for days on end and Najmaben, the mother would be forced to fend for the family all on her own. The whole of the last 2 years he was just playing truant, not at all there to take care of the family; he would just come in erratically and leave again. Shirin was going to school, but was highly irregular, and was on the verge of discontinuing her studies to do household chores and also engage in full-time kite-making or any such seasonal labour work to contribute to the sustenance of the family.When the KEI volunteers met the family they were just eking out an existence.

It was a turning point for Najmaben and her children – Shirin, Mehezabeen and Rehan. To their delight, KEI volunteers came to know that Najmaben was educated and could teach children. The KEI volunteers got her immediately her to engage children in the Bombay Hotel area as part of the education centres being run by CfD, and later on the LitClubs too. Najmaben also started meeting the women in Bombay Hotel area, motivating them to form Self Help Groups (supported by Asia Initiative). In a few months she was able to mobilize the women in the area to advocate for basic amenities such as drinking water and

sewerage facilities. The formed an advocacy committee in the area for this purpose, and their achievements have been manifold. The greatest impact has been that all these women have pledged to educate their girl children at any cost.

All these have had a profound impact on Shirin’s life. She started going to school regularly and became an active member of the adolescent group formed under the Asia Initiative programme. Shirin, an otherwise shy and timid person, has now become a leader of the adolescent girls’ group, engaging 30 girls. Also a volunteer in LitClub, she learned a lot from the training given to LitClub mentors. She says: “I have learned so much after joining the KEI; I was so frightened to step out of my house; so diffident to speak to anyone except family. The greatest change that has happened in my life is that I have gained confidence to do the things I do today. I do not fear anymore. I am able to lead over 30 girls, speak to them about their reproductive and emotional health issues. I enjoy teaching young children and motivating them in their studies”.

Ever since she was in the 10th grade she has been supported by KEI through its educational support programme. She has just passed the 12th grade Board Exam and has joined St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad as an undergraduate student of Psychology. She wishes to become a journalist. “My life has been so tough. I would like to work towards changing the life conditions of children so that they would not have to go through such ordeal. I would like to be in a position where I can work with KEI to change the lives of children”.