Concerns Universe Foundation

August 2011

Dear Friends of Concerns!

Concerns News letter August 2011

Dear friends of Concerns,

Warm greetings from all of us at Concerns!

Wish this mail would find you in good health & cheer.

•  I have great pleasure in writing mails to share news of Concerns to all of you, who are part of Concerns in your own way though live in different part of the world, .Hope you too will be glad to hear from us. It would be great if you respond, which would encourage us to continue to work.
•     This academic year started in June and we have 182 new children in all the four Child Care Centre and 30 children of the previous year are continuing to be in CC for the second year. All the other children who got prepared to go to formal school have joined different school in the locality. Last week we had celebration for Independence Day by dressing up children like national leaders and special songs and special food were given.
•     All the children who attended Concerns tuition classes have got promoted and gone to higher class. At present tuition classes are organized in three centres for 150 school going children attend.
•     We could  pay  school fees for an average of 108 school going children  through Education Sponsor program supported by Vathsalya Charitable trust. We are planning to conduct parents meeting for these sponsor children to motivate to continue their education and to prevent school drop outs.Among the 42 who graduated from Concerns Community College, 33 are employed in various jobs like Pre School and Primary school Teachers, front office managers, Data entry and Tele callers, three are continuing their higher education and the few others are with family responsibilities and on the look for jobs.
  The new academic year for community college started on 27th June 2011 and we had a formal inauguration by lighting the lamp and at present 53 students of varied age, language, education background etc. are enrolled in Community college for Early Childhood care Education and Office management. On the occasion of Independence Day celebration, the students displayed their talents of singing, dancing, rangoli, art work, speech, poem etc. which was well participated and appreciated.
•     Getting faculty for teaching for the students of the community college and coordinating the teachers and the students was a hard job for Yeshoda and me. This year we have Mrs. Augusta to teach English and coordinate the since Mrs. Yeshoda Kotian  discontinued due to her health issues and Mrs. Premila Ferns has joined s to teach Office Management. At present, Neil and Sylvia are serving as volunteers to teach English.
•     In Anaemia prevention program we enrolled 114 married women and 194 Adolescent girls and 27 pregnant women who were given intensive nutrition education through demonstration and follow up to take iron rich food was done.  With medical advisor s advice, de worming was also done for all subjects   since due to unhygienic practises worm infestation is one cause for any one being anaemic. The assessment revealed that they are keeping better health.
•     Though there has been struggle with regular intake of treatment for Tuberculosis, with the hard work of Community Health workers except one all completed their treatment and keeping good health. At present 7 were identified with TB who would be under our care who are treated for TB through us.
•     This year we have good rainfall which is good but the other side our child care centre one had big leakage and weak wall and roof almost to fall on. Few days ago with great difficulty we got it done but the walls are wet and the electric lines need repair. Hope we can sort the issues soon and we can work smoothly.
•     We request you to be part of Concerns by volunteering to teach different subjects in Community College for our students and work in the child care centres. We encourage you to get in touch with us earlier, so that we can plan the dates and the programs.
•     We are still pursuing on the purchase of land for concerns, either it is beyond our budget or documents are not appropriate .somehow it is not working .We are waiting that will happen soon.
•    Also we  are glad to  inform that one our well wisher who is dear to Concerns, has encouraged and initiated  a Corpus fund with  seed money ,so that  in future  Concerns  basic expenses will be met and programs can be sustained. We believe when we work towards sustainable development of the community, it is relevant that Concerns also focus on its sustainability. If you too want to be part of this you can contribute, encourage your friends & families to support for this same reason.

Ok! I think I better stop for now and wait for your reply.
With lots of wishes & thanks for all

Closing with lots of wishes & thanks

Chitra & all at Concerns.

For more information you can see these sites:

http://concernscommunitycollege.net/

http://concernsuniversefoundation.org/