CSA Newsletter | Jan-2014
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
AFFECXN (Read: AFFECTION), is a Newsletter published by Catalyst for Social Action (CSA). Established in September 2002, Catalyst for Social Action (CSA) is a Not-For-Profit organisation dedicated to the cause of child welfare and adoption. CSA works as a “catalyst” focusing on a holistic approach to child welfare and rehabilitation in the following domains - ?Transforming lives of orphan children via initiatives ranging from providing education and training, health and hygiene plans, nutritious meals and overall well being ?Promoting and facilitating adoptions wherever possible In the area of enabling holistic care of children, we support a number of child care organisations in the Children's Committee - In Focus! News Flash - CSA Happenings! areas of Nutrition, Hygiene, & Health, Education & Vocational skills, Infrastructural support and Children's Committee - In Action! CSA Activities - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Recreation activities. We have made and continue Words! to make a valuable difference to 1600+ children across 48 homes in 4 states that we support. Adoption Facilitation - Adoption Rocks! As part of our Adoption Facilitation process, we Lend Us a Helping Hand! work with existing rural institutions to facilitate adoptions. We have successfully facilitated over 200 adoptions so far since inception. CHILDREN'S COMMITTEE - In Focus! In this edition, in focus is the formation and running of Children's committees. Its relevance, roles & responsibilities of members - all these and much more.... Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act [JJ Act], 2000 is the primary legal framework for juvenile justice in India. The Act provides for a special approach towards the prevention and treatment of juvenile or children and provides a framework for the protection, treatment and rehabilitation of children in the purview of the juvenile justice system. An offshoot of the JJ Act is the formation of Children's Committees at every childcare institution. Officer in Charge of every institution for juveniles or children are to facilitate the setting up of Children's Committees to ensure involvement of children in running of the institution. The committee shall be constituted solely by children. CSA has been mobilizing childcare agencies we work with, to form Children's Committees and we have been successful in guiding children to help form these committees. The children's committees are to maintain a register for recording the activities and proceedings, and place it before the managing committee meeting every month. There are also provisions for setting up of a complaint redress mechanism in every institution and a Children's Suggestion Box – accessible to children – where children can drop their complaints in writing. The underlying purpose is to provide guidance on how to function and equip children in improving their confidence levels, engage in decision making, come up with ideas to improve conditions of the institution, develop educational, vocational & recreational plans, support each other in managing crisis, make suggestions that would be beneficial to all the inmates. We have helped children with selecting their leaders, explained the roles & responsibilities of each member, get them to conduct periodic meetings, maintaining records and minutes of the meeting. It has been observed that on the whole, children are very receptive and have been enthusiastically participating and contributing their time, talent & ideas for various initiatives. Some of the younger children are still in the process of learning to execute their tasks as committee members but in general are quite excited! Some of the initiatives / tasks that Children's committee members have been managing - ?At all locations, committee members are keeping stock of hygiene kits supply and following up with their peers to ensure that they are following do's and don'ts shared during oral & personal hygiene awareness sessions ?In Goa and Mumbai, 'Health & Hygiene' minister demonstrated hand washing techniques and encouraged their friends to follow ?In Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha, members have been planning different recreational & cultural activities on different occasions all by themselves with little or no help either from the institute's management or CSA Children's Committee is an excellent means of empowering children and gaining hands on experience on various life and management skills right there at the orphanage itself.... Children's Committee - In Action! Children's Committee members in Goa - demonstrating A Drawing competition organized in Goa - hand washing techniques to other inmates President of Children's Committee handing over Prizes to winners Children's Committee members in Madhya Pradesh - Formation and explanation of roles & responsibilities Children's Committee members in Maharashtra - Committee Members in discussion Chart showing names of children in charge of different roles Adoption Facilitation - Adoption Rocks! Adoption is a beautiful, life transforming experience. It is a blessing for the child and parents and unfolds joys which know no bounds! Some angels who found their families in the past few months can be seen below. This poem beautifully illustrates the feelings of an adoptive parent the moment they set their eyes on their 'miracle' angel... Kissed an Angel Today I kissed an angel I knew it from the start The first time my angel smiled at me Rajesh Duraiswamy and Ramesh KV and Mamatha Neelakantan P. and Sindhu N I gave away my heart Subhashini adopted 4 months old Ramesh adopted 10 months old adopted 6 months old girl child girl child Nethra - Nov 2013 male child Idhant - Oct 2013 Supriti - July 2013 Today I kissed an angel This angel child of mine Though not of my creation My child by God’s design Today I kissed an angel My heart is dancing wild A family, by a miracle Blessed by this angel child --Author Unknown NEWS FLASH - CSA Happenings! Support to Children in Orphanages:- Health & Hygiene Support - ¬Medical camp conducted in December 2012 in Mumbai for 100 children by doctors and specialists from Wockhardt Foundation. De-worming done, children in need of spectacles have been provided with the same, vaccine administered to all kids, children above 12 years of age were given teeth fortifying toothpaste. For girls found to be anaemic, doctors suggested intake of leafy vegetables to reduce iron deficiency and iron fortifying capsules were provided. ¬Skin Care sessions are being conducted this month across the board to educate children on how to take care of their skin and how to identify common skin infections such as insect bites,hives,rashes,dandruff etc and seek help & timely medication. ¬In Pune, as a follow up to Health checkups, children in need of spectacles have been provided with the same at the Observation Home Boys,Observation Home Girls and Nirankar orphanage. At BVJSS, Budhrani Eye hospital sponsored spectacles, eye surgery, medication etc. ¬A Dental Mobile Van regularly visits orphanages on voluntary basis to address dental problems. Regarding ENT treatment, case papers have been prepared and the BVJSS institute can take children to the hospital for follow up treatments; expenses will be borne by CSA ¬In Odisha, dental treatment was carried out at 3 orphanages and many children have been treated for dental decays and other dental issues ¬In Goa, Hygiene kits distributed to 230 children. CSA also conducted an awareness session on good hygiene practices via a presentation and also showed a video on dental care. Treatments for dental and eye problems have also begun. 5 children have been prescribed spectacles too ¬In MP, de-worming session has been done for children from few orphanages Nutrition Support - ¬Many children were found to be underweight post medical health check ups. Hence, additional food items such as pulses and ghee is being provided on a monthly basis to improve the diet of 25 children from Girija orphanage at Kharghar, Mumbai ¬12 children from Matoshree children’s home, Pune are being supported with grocery items to supplement their regular food intake ¬Around 110 children from Bapuji Seva Sadan, Odisha will be receiving nutrition support to boost their overall health ¬130 children from Bethesda Life Centre, Goa are being provided with milk, pulses and ghee to help overcome underweight issues ¬36 children from KSSS, MP are being provided additional nutritional support in the form of milk Education & Vocational Skills Support - ¬BVJSS, Pune were finding it challenging to fund uniform stitching expenses for 400 kids. We helped fund a larger portion of the costs while BVJSS paid the rest. Children received new uniforms on Republic Day, 26th Jan 2014 ¬Children from Nirankar orphanage, Pune are provided with a tuition teacher who helps with their homework and assignments ¬CSA is taking care of the transport expenses / school bus fees of children going to school from Nirankar,Pune ¬With a view to helping girls from Observation Home at Bhiwandi stand on their own feet, CSA commenced a Basic Tailoring unit in December 2012. Over this period, they have mastered basic tailoring, gone on to do an advanced course and then, around 40 girls also underwent a course in hand embroidery. They have made beautiful hand embroidered handkerchiefs. A fresh batch of girls commenced course from January 2014 ¬ Batch of 20 girls will complete their 3 month tailoring course by January 2014 at Observation Home-Girls Pune ¬ In MP, we have set up a Computer Training facility at Asha Kiran orphanage inorder to