CFHC ANNUAL REPORT President’s Letter We are pleased to present our thirtieth annual report (2016- 2017) for your kind perusal. Operating an NGO successfully over the last 30 years - a tremendous achievement indeed!! CFHC has carried out its activities hand-in- hand with the poorest, the downtrodden and the most vulnerable sections of children and women through a number of development projects and action-oriented interventions at the grass-root levels to promote health, education and social empowerment. We feel fulfilled every time we look back on our 30-year journey. I take this opportunity to express our gratefulness to the generous Donors and Supporters at the international, national as well as local levels; their generosity has helped us achieve the assigned goals within the stipulated time with accuracy and confidence. The entire team of CFHC deserves praise for the tireless toil to contribute at the highest level of performance in all the programs. We thank God for our new vocational training unit, the new “forever” families of our children, the renewed life bestowed upon our girls, and our children’s educational enhancement. We thank the other stakeholders and related authorities for cooperating with our initiatives and standing by us through all our hurdles and obstacles for achieving the desired results. This year has been a very challenging period, particularly with the advent of the “Vardha” cyclone; it brought about immense loss to the organization and compelled us to spend time and energy to build the capacity of our own team as the work load kept increasing. Moreover, the organization is now expected to improve the standard of its staffs and facilities and initiate capacity-building initiatives. Through all these, the satisfaction that our efforts yield is immensely elevating. Finally, I wish to reiterate that your continued encouragement and unstinted support motivates us to carry out our activities to the targeted groups at the maximum level with zeal and continued confidence. Dr. Mrs. Maida Raja Founder/President 1 CFHC ANNUAL REPORT Children’s Welfare Children need an enabling environment that is secure and encouraging in order to achieve their fullest potential. Towards this end, CFHC has been providing its services to deserted children, single parent children and orphaned children. With an atmosphere conducive to learning at CHFC, the children here have improved their academic performances significantly. The CHFC project encompasses certain developmental programmes that include residential care and temporary shelter for children facing challenging situations. Amongst the main components, the focus is on life-skill education and vocational training. Little Flower Girls Home Little Flower is a home for parentless and neglected girls. Located in Manapakkam (within the Chennai metropolitan area), this Home has a ventilated dormitory with bunker beds, attached bathrooms, a study hall, a library, a computer room and a playground. Peace Garden Boys Home Peace Garden is a home exclusively for boys of the age group 6 to 18 years. It is located in Kumuli village, which is 11 km from Guduvancherry on the outskirts of Chennai. Besides other amenities, the Home has a cross-ventilated residency hall, bunker beds, study desks, a fairly large playground and a computer room to impart computer education. The children of our homes are provided the necessary provisions with extreme care and attention. The children are nurtured physically, mentally and emotionally through Morning Prayer, evening play, adequate and timely food, clothing and special attention to their studies. We provide all the essentials for each child’s balanced growth as well as to cultivate an optimistic mind-set. We facilitate them to obtain a strong educational foundation and train them in a suitable vocation for self-support. Our homes housed 40 boys and 35 girls during the year. Target beneficiaries Children deserted by relatives, children of single parent, abused children and other children facing challenging situations (age group—6 to 18 years). Education for the homes’ children The children from Little Flower home receive education in primary and higher secondary school. Their safely on the way to school and back is ensured through pickup and drop facility. The children attend special tuitions conducted with the help of volunteers who are staffs of corporate organizations including banks such as Barclays. Children in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades receive special coaching in maths, accountancy, English, physics and chemistry. 2 CFHC ANNUAL REPORT Residents of Little Flower (top) and Peace Garden (bottom) 3 CFHC ANNUAL REPORT Public exam results of our children We are delighted to report that the Home’s children have passed their exams with an average mark of 70%, higher than that of last year. Remarkably, two of our girls joined college to pursue their engineering degree (undergraduate). Interestingly, both of them are the first graduates in their respective families. Similarly, all our children who appeared for the high school public exam (10th grade) have also been promoted to higher secondary school and are continuing their studies. From Girls’ home: Mohanapriya, Sabana and Prema passed their 10th grade with good marks. Ranjitha and Pavithra passed their 12th grade and joined engineering college for higher studies. From Boys’ home: Suriya, Vignesh and Aaron passed their 10th grade and are continuing their education at higher secondary school. Career guidance class In April 2016, we conducted a carrier guidance class for our children studying in the 12th grade in order to enable their capacity for optimal career choices. The key input (inform of presentations and discussions) during the class was on the options available after completing 12th grade, with focus on job-oriented courses, job opportunities that each of these promises, scholarship facilities, etc. They were advised to select a career that complements their interest, skills and values and significantly increases their chances for success and personal happiness. Motivational lectures and Counselling We counsel the children to address both their physical and mental characters. The girls attended several motivational lectures and underwent special counselling to help them cope with the challenges of adolescence. Extra care is taken to shield them from false enchantments by societal elements and secure their peaceful and happy life. Computer Course and Spoken English Course During this year, CFHC has undertaken a series of steps to improve English fluency and computer knowledge among the resident children. As a crucial step, CFHC has arranged for training in spoken English and computer skills, helmed by volunteers from Barclays. The classes were conducted every Friday for both the girls and boys at their respective homes. The computer course syllabus covers the fundamentals of computers, MS Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and Internet concepts. CFHC staffs took turns to train the students based on the lessons learnt during the training sessions to improve their skills. 4 CFHC ANNUAL REPORT Our children participate in various events The homes’ children participated in various events including inter-orphanage competitions, talent competitions at their school and other events such as “Bhumi Nakshatra” and “Vivega” etc. Stress was placed on identifying and developing their skills and talents according to their interests. Volunteers from colleges and corporate organizations proved to be a tremendous support in preparing the children for these events. The children participated in the following events and won several prizes: Drawing, Newspaper Dressing, Oration, Group and Solo Dance, Singing, Pot painting, Mehandi, Rangoli, Chess and other sports events. Special mention is due to employees of Barclays and Dot Org, students from St. Joseph Engineering College, Chennai and SRM College, Chennai and numerous individual volunteers, who had generously contributed with their talents and time to train our children. CHFC Homes’ children display their medals and certificates Parents / Guardians Meet CFHC has made it compulsory for the parents/guardian to visit their children at least once every month in order to ensure adequate bonding with their parents or extended families if any. Children’s day celebration and Festivals CFHC celebrated Children’s day programme on Nov 14, 2016. Children enjoyed the day participating in games and cultural competitions, and the winners of the competitions received prizes. It was a colourful program focused completely on entertaining the children. Apart from this, the children celebrated all the state and national festivals through the year, including Diwali, Pongal and Christmas. 5 CFHC ANNUAL REPORT 6 CFHC ANNUAL REPORT Health Program CHFC gives utmost attention when it comes to the children’s health. A doctor visits the Home once every two days. While the warden herself addressed minor health issues (cold, fever and first aid) among the children, the visiting doctor referred cases of severe illnesses to a hospital. The children receive dental and general health examinations every alternate month. Students from Tagore Engineering College conducted a medical camp at the Home. On the occasion, they presented a short film on dengue before the Home’s children. The children found the film quite interesting, and it enhanced their awareness about the seriousness of the disease. Blooming Buds Blooming Buds is CHFC’s joyful and peaceful home that provides custodial