PROJECTS

Andhere mein Ujhala

Naina Kumari*, a 12-year-old girl who lives in the Sulav panchayat of Kotra. She was never enrolled in (government) school because her parents wanted her to help them with household chores.

Nearly 40 million children as such in India were out of school before the pandemic and these numbers are expected to increase. UNESCO estimates 1 year of school will likely be recovered only after 9-14 years of additional learning (article published by UNICEF).

Through the survey we conducted in 2021 in Sulav panchayat to identify how many children are out of school, we found 418 drop out & out of school (i.e. never been enrolled in a school). These children are left without any ecosystem to support them and these numbers are going to grow. Even if they are admitted to schools, there is a high chance that they will drop out of school within a year.

To address this issue, we created a support system outside the school for drop out & out of school children. We worked on their foundational literacy and numeracy skills integrated with children's compassion, curiosity, and creativity skills to build their confidence. After speaking with children & their parents, we supported the transition of these children into government schools which will improve their chances of completing schooling. The support system outside school is called the Night community learning center (known as रातपाली हिकवू केंद्र in the local language). As the name suggests, this center runs at night for 3 hours.

Why at night? You Ask.

This was mutually decided after speaking with community members, especially children & parents. These children were doing household chores & helping their families during day time and they were free at night. That’s why night time was chosen.

Reach

Through 5 Night community learning centers, we reached 369 (189 girls & 180 boys) children.
Out of 418 drop out & out of school children from the survey, we reached 310 children.

Impact

256 children’s learning level increased by at least 1 level in Hindi.
272 children’s learning level increased by at least 1 level in Maths.
239 (125 girls & 114 boys) children administered & continuing their schooling (these include school going children who are continuing their schooling)
Out of 239, we supported the transition of 183 drop out and out of school children into government schools.

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2

Ma ka Aahar

Seeta bai* (changed name) lives in Sulav panchayat of Kotra. When she was pregnant with her 1st child, she faced health issues like body pain, loss of weight etc. She was afraid to go for a check up in the nearest Health sub center as there were rumors in her village that they don’t treat properly in the sub center. Fortunately, her first child (girl) was born without any difficulty.

In Kotra many famiies live in poor economic conditions. While most are able to access three square meals per day, they are not always nutritious. In such a situation, one can only imagine the plight of pregnant women - in some extreme cases, the inadequate nutrition intake even leads to infant mortality, with the mother succumbing soon after. To Address this, we initiated the Ma ka Aahar program.

It is an awareness as well as a support program. Through Maa ka Aahar, pregnant and lactating women were made aware of health practices they should follow during and after pregnancy.

We created awareness by guiding them on proper care, encouraged them to visit government health machinery to avail benefits like prenatal vaccination, etc. In cases like that of Seeta bai, we visit along with them to make sure they feel comfortable & whatever their pre-existing notions are broken. To continue post-birth care, nutritious garden projects are undertaken so mothers have quicker access to nutritious vegetables.

We support them with the distribution of ‘Maa ka Aahar’ kits - containing ingredients and eatables like ghee, daliya, dry coconut and more - to ensure women eat healthier.

Reach

66 women
30 pregnant women
36 lactating women

Impact

All 66 women went to anganwadi for registration & health check ups
53 ‘functional’ nutrition garden were set up
300 Ma ka aahar kits distributed

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Andhere mein ujhala 2.0

In the academic year 2021-22, under Andhere mein ujhala, we supported the transition of 64 drop-outs and out-of-school children in government schools. However, at the end of the academic year, 22 of these children dropped out due to a lack of teachers in their schools. This led us to realize that administering children was only half the work done. Ensuring children don't drop out and continue & complete their schooling till grade 12 is the rest of the work. This led us to Andhere mein ujhala 2.0 (AMU 2.0).

In the academic year 2022-23, under AMU 2.0, we partnered with government schools to ensure less dropout rate, support government teachers, and build a connection bridge between school and community.

We are currently working directly with three government schools of Sulav panchayat where most of our children have taken admission and indirectly with two government schools of Sulav panchayat.

Our school intervention aims to ensure less dropout rate, support government teachers, and build a connection bridge between school and community through the following approaches:

* Ensuring less dropout rate by improving Foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) skills of primary grade children. We are working on FLN skills as they are the most important and basic skills that have value in any field/sector.

* Supporting government teachers by co-planning & co-facilitating with them

* Building connection bridge between school & community by improving school governance through School Management Committee (SMC), Parents Teacher Meeting (PTM) and Child Parliament (CP).

Reach

5 government schools (3 direct intervention and 2 indirect intervention)
260 (134 girls & 126 boys) primary grade children
17 government teachers

Impact

To be updated soon

4

Ma ka Aahar 2.0

Ma ka aahar was initiated as an awareness and support program for pregnant and lactating women. One of the key learnings from Ma ka Aahar was (in Kotra) pregnant women don’t opt for institutional delivery because of many misconceptions and they go for home delivery which many times results in infant mortality. Hence, we initiated Ma ka aahar 2.0 (MKA 2.0) to also focus on creating awareness as well as supporting the safe and healthy institutional delivery of pregnant women.

The primary objectives of MKA 2.0 are:

To create awareness among pregnant women about the benefits of safe and healthy institutional delivery.
To support pregnant women in institutional delivery whenever required.
To collaborate with the government health machinery to support in the successful implementation of the government's health related programs.

We also encourage pregnant women to get themselves registered in aanganwadi, which is entitled to provide nutritious kits during pregnancy from the government. As they are receiving nutritious kits from aanganwadi, we have discontinued distributing Ma ka Aahar kits.

MKA 2.0 aims to address the crucial issue of safe & healthy institutional delivery along with inadequate nutrition during pregnancy and after childbirth among underserved women in Kotra. Our efforts ensure that pregnant women receive the required nutrition and support, opt for services by aanganwadi, and also opt for institutional delivery, thereby reducing the infant and maternal mortality rate.

Reach

80+ pregnant women
30+ 1st time pregnant women

Impact

Pregnant women (whom we have reached) went to anganwadi for registration & health check ups
60+ safe and healthy institutional delivery

5

Aawaz Aagaz Anjaam (AAA)

According to FSG’s Menstrual Health Landscape India report, there are over 355 million menstruating women and girls in India, yet millions of them still face significant barriers to a comfortable and dignified experience with menstrual health. Girls do not consistently have access to education on puberty and menstrual health, with 71% of them reporting having no knowledge of menstruation before their first period. Girls often turn to their mothers for information and support, but 70% of mothers consider menstruation “dirty,” perpetuating taboos. Moreover, girls do not have consistent access to preferred, high-quality menstrual health management (MHM) products, and almost 88% of women and girls in India use homemade alternatives such as old cloth, rags, hay, sand, or ash. Premium commercial products are unaffordable or not consistently accessible for women and girls in low-income communities. Women and girls also lack access to appropriate sanitation facilities, with 63 million adolescent girls living in homes without toilets. Despite national efforts to improve sanitation, women and girls lack appropriate facilities and community support to manage their menstruation privately and in a safe manner.

In Sulav, a focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted with 30 adolescent girls and women to know about their experiences of menstruating for the first time. It was found that all participants had no knowledge of menstruation before their first period. All participants’ female family members, especially mothers, presented menstruation as a dirty and impure process. All participants have experienced discrimination during menstruation. They used old clothes, and in some cases, leaves during their menstruation. 60% of the participants contracted infections which was a direct result of unhygienic menstrual practices. All participants wished someone had spoken to them regarding menstruation before their first period, and they don’t have to face discrimination during menstruation.

Aawaz Aagaz Anjaam (AAA) was initiated as a result of this.

The primary objectives of the AAA are:

To create awareness and sensitize adolescent girls and women regarding menstruation

To clear misconceptions, assumptions, and myths related to menstruation

To create a safe space where adolescent girls and women can talk about their bodies, menstruation, and share their experiences

To introduce different menstrual health management (MHM) practices

Approach:

Groups of adolescent girls and women are formed either in a village or in a hamlet.

Sessions are conducted with these groups on a weekly basis i.e. one session per week.

The sessions include four sessions and are divided into self-awareness, adolescence, menstruation, and menstrual health management.

Reach

118 adolescent girls and women
All 5 villages of Sulav panchayat

Impact

To be updated soon