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FORUM OF COMMUNITIES UNITED IN SERVICE (FOCUS) 6, Tiljala Road Kolkata-70046 ANNUAL REPORT OF FOCUS FOR THE YEAR 2014-2015 Dear friends & Honorable Members of FOCUS, I am pleased to inform the audience at the AGM of FOCUS and express our thanks and gratitude to all the members and supporters of the organization for their kind co-operation and regards. We are submitting audited statement of accounts for the year ended 31st March 2015 along with activities report for your kind approval after consideration. FOCUS has completed three decades of its community services in the slums and squatters of the city. During the last year we have successfully implemented educational program for the slum children (500 nos. of children) and they have shown good results in studies and there is also insurance of continuation of the study. We have also provided manifold humanitarian services to the urban poor and we always stood by them at the time of emergencies. The prestigious project for rehabilitation of street children has also yielded results. 138 no. of children have been mainstreamed and permanently placed in the institutional and non institutional care. We have also assisted and facilitated slum people to get their entitlements though this is a challenging task especially for squatter and roadside population. Through networking we have addressed the issues of Fundamental Rights of the people living in difficult circumstances. Anti – Child Labour project has also been successful and 60% of the children have been admitted in the formal school were they are studying under the provisions of Right to Education follow up and where strict monitoring has been designed to ensure retention and prevention of drop outs. During the last year we have also conducted in house and residential trainings for the different level of staffs, functionaries, and volunteers in order to enhance their capacity and efficiency in the delivery of the services to the urban poor. We have approached corporate and individuals for their generous support to the organization. We are in the process of digital power presentation to the corporate for their CSR and generous support. Overall the organization has strategies to combat new challenges of urban poor and Government roles for the good governance of the NGO’s in tune with new guidelines of Government and concerned donors. We are trying our level best to cope with the emerging situation. 1 FOCUS-Annual Report 2014-2015 Anand Paul Education Support Programme: This project is organized by FOCUS in collaboration with Apeejay Surrendra Group. It takes place in slums and squatters of six different wards of KMC which are 59, 60, 61, 62, 64 & 65. The project aims to provide sustainable education services under Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 to the children of these areas who were dropped out and who have never been to school. The program was flagged off in 2009 in the month of November and this is the fifth consecutive years of FOCUS in serving the downtrodden children under this project. The Goal: Regaining of childhood and sustainable education for children in crisis. Empower community towards their rights and entitlements The program was started with 150 children and till date it has covered 500 children in providing remedial coaching support including all other needs and requirements for continuing their schooling and enjoying their childhood rights. The main motive behind running this project is to provide Right to Education and not just Right to Schooling which ensures retention of the child from being dropped out and providing quality education. Table No.1 School going children in 2014-15 covered under the project Class Total Children V 50 I X VI 95 II 11 VII 82 III 50 VIII 64 IV 89 IX 45 Total 150 X 14 Total 350 Grand Total 500 2 FOCUS-Annual Report 2014-2015 Table No.2 Sex wise break of children in 2014-15 Total 500 Girl Child 308 Boy child 192 Table No.3 Class Section No. of student IV - V Primary to Upper Primary 142 VI- VIII Upper Primary to Secondary 213 VIII, IX, X & above Secondary to Higher 64 Secondary Major activities of the program for 2014-2015 are as follows: All 500 children are mainstreamed in Government schools and were given remedial education classes on regular basis in 20 units in Wards No. 59, 60, 61, 62 and 64 of KMC areas as per the action plan of the project. 350 Primary students have successfully transited to Upper Primary classes without dropping out from the education system. Therefore 150 children are in Primary classes and 350 children are Secondary students in 2015 session out of which 62 students are in standard 8, 9 and 10. Retention of girl child through our program under which from 500 total students, there are 308 girl students who have grown interest towards education and are now regular in their schools as well as in the remedial education classes. Health & Nutritional Fair conducted on 14th Dec. 2014 for 500 children at A.M.O. Ghani School with 9 qualified doctors namely; Shahnila Mullick Haque Gynecologist, Dr. P.K. Gupta Eyes specialist, Dr. R. N. Singh, Dr. Ramesh Sharma, Dr. Barkha Sharma, Dr. A.H. Khan Chest specialist, Prof. Dr. Subhashis Ganguly and Dr. Sanjay Goswami Homeopathic and Dr. Md. Nayeemuddin General Physician. School Kits Distribution Programme arranged for 500 children on 19th and 20th February 2015 for supporting them with stationeries items like; bags, copies of different types, exam board, geometry box, drawing kits, pouch bags, shoes and other related items for preventing them from being drop out for these reasons. 3 FOCUS-Annual Report 2014-2015 Internal evaluation conducted on 18th and 19th March 2015 with the 500 students on Reading and Writing Test which built up confidence of the child to participate in different activities for their growth. In house training for staffs to improve their knowledge on teaching with innovative methods and practical learning with the help of teaching leaning materials prepared by themselves. 252 class test conducted in all the units for tracking child development which has improved Child performance and regularity in attending school as well as in the coaching centres, grown interest, competitive attitude developed, interaction, sharing and participation skills built up. 12 meetings of Children council conducted through which leadership quality developed within the child, participatory attitude developed, and confidence built up and competing nature grown, enhancement of their knowledge on current events have also improved. 12 CBO’s meeting conducted in which guardians and parents took active participation which shows their growing interest as well as aware community towards education. On 27th August 2014 more than 250 parents have opened their bank account through our Camp which has been organized to link the community with Govt. Scheme of Jan Dhan Yojna in which bank account was opened with minimum documents and on zero balance. Awards & Recognition: Apeejay Karmayuga Awards for best Community Worker is awarded to Mr. Jamil Ahmed who bagged two awards Karmaveera Chakra (Bronze) medal & National Silver Karmaveera Chakra Apeejay Karmayuga Awards for runners up Community Worker is awarded to Ms. Rubina Qaiyum who was given Karmaveera Chakra (Bronze) medal. Functional Literacy and Vocational Training program for adult women between the age group of 18 and above is also a part of Anand Paul Education Support Program in which basic literacy with some hand skills training have been given to the targeted adolescents. The vocational trades include; beautician, henna art, hand embroidery, zardozi works, qurashia, pot making, glass painting, show piece making with beads, hand bags, purse, mobile covers, wall hanging etc. training have been given to the adults. Along with all these hand skills some Livelihood skills have also given to them so that they get empowered to handle daily hurdles of life. We are also linking with National Urban Livelihood Mission and Skills Development schemes of Central Government which has been flagged off by honorable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. 4 FOCUS-Annual Report 2014-2015 The Goal: Improve the condition of adults and women in the society. Opportunity for unemployed to get employed through hand skills. Along with this some other activities of the program of the program are given under: 50 adults get enrolled every year in Functional Literacy and 50 adults get transferred in Vocational Training class for hand skills this process makes them independently strong. Awareness program with Adult women and adolescents between the age group of 16 – 55 years of age on 6th and 11th June 2014 on “Stages of Women Life and Related Health Issues”. An exhibition has been conducted at Apeejay House on 10th Sept. 2014 to marketwise the hand made products of our vocational students so that they can gain knowledge of market price and other information regarding sale. Exposure visit for Adult learners and Vocational learners took place in the Handi Craft Mela on 20th January 2015 to develop their knowledge on production, distribution, and rates and demands of handmade items. International Women’s Day celebrated on 18th and 19th March 2015 at Life Welfare Society and Auddy Bagan Centre with adult learners to encourage their interests towards learning and getting education. Participatory session conducted to enhance their freedom of expression and sharing skills with different Life Skills training like ice braking, debates, decision making, role play and others. Generate awareness on other rights and sensitive issues like early marriage, child marriage, domestic violence, abuses of different types and others for their empowerment. Formation of Self Help Groups (SHG) and other community group struggling themselves for the better future. 5 FOCUS-Annual Report 2014-2015 Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) This project is a Central Government Sponsored scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, implemented in partnership with the state Governments and Civil Society Organizations (CSO).

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