Concerns Universe Foundation

Annual report April 2010-March 2011

catrionaindia — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:08:49 +0000

CONCERNS UNIVERSE FOUNDATION

ANNUAL REPORT April 2010 – March 2011

Address: #4, Patel Hanumantha Rayappa Layout, Byrathi Cross, Doddagubbi post, Bangalore-562149

Telephone/ fax: 080-25475027, 09886720448

Email: l_chitra@rediffmail.com & concernsu@hotmail.com

INTRODUCTION

In our country, all that an average human being aspires for is nothing more than economic independence and social dignity. With the population bursting every effort employed by the government does not reach people for the better, so non-government voluntary agencies play a vital role. In this context, Concerns Universe Foundation comes with its strong commitment to contribute for the cause of the marginalised in the city of Bangalore. CUF was founded in the year 2001 and it attempts to identify and fill in the critical gaps to empower the disadvantaged and thus enable them to emerge economically independent and socially dignified.

VISION:

To build a new social order founded on equality, justice and peace where all people will have equal opportunities to optimise their potentials and emerge economically independent and socially dignified duly dispelling the disparities of caste, class and gender.

MISSION:

To realise the above vision, CUF commits to embark on the mission of enhancing the knowledge and skills of those less endowed; whereby they get empowered to avail their rightful share of power, status and resources.

In doing so, CUF focuses its attention on the pre-school children and their mothers and also young women of the disadvantaged section of the community through structured interventions in the areas of health and sanitation, literacy and education, environment and ecology, skill and employment etc.

PROGRAMMATIC ACTIVITIES:

Overall objectives of this program

To help the Community understand the importance of education and to prepare the children to enter the formal schools and perform better academically.

To prevent as opposed to cure. To work with children and adults to give them the information and education needed to prevent illness and death.

To help women develop outside the domestic environment.

To train the community members in health, nutrition, computers and life skills to make them more independent.

Specific objectives of project

Ensure that all the children of preschool age are prepared for formal school.

Support school going children of illiterate parents to perform better academically and prevent school dropouts or failures.

Motivate and educate the community members about preventive health measures and practice home remedies to treat common illnesses and use low cost, nutritious, well-balanced food for their family, educate them on personal health and hygiene and waste disposal practices as well as money management.

Provide appropriate information on educational opportunities, skill training, health facilities and other welfare facilities.

Develop certain skills in women to enable them to become confident to help themselves and help others in their community.

AREAS OF OPERATION:

CUF works in 18 pockets of urban slums with 4000 families in Bangalore city and 100 families in a cluster of 3 villages in Chitradurga District.

Accountability

Concerns universe foundation is registered under the Deed of Trust on 11.07.2001 in Karnataka.

Concerns Universe Foundation is registered under Act 1961 vide register no.DIT (E)/12A/Vol.I/C-581/W-1/03-04Dtd. 29.04.2003.

All contribution to Concern Universe Foundation is Exempted DIT (E) BLR80G/715/AAAAC1523H/ITO (E)-1/Vol2009-2010.

Income Tax Payment Account number on AAAAC1523H.

Registration under Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976. Registration number 094421129.

THE GOVERNING BOARD:

No.	Name	Age	Gender	Occupation	Position held
1	Mrs. Gnana Chitra	49	Female	Executive Director of CUF	Executive trustee
2	Mrs. Vanita	40	Female	Executive in a Private Company	Treasurer
3	Mrs. Sheila	36	Female	Official of a Private Company	Member trustee

Major Accomplishments

CONCERNS PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION: In the past year the CUF team encouraged community parents to enrol their children for pre-school education. Children were taught different concepts including alphabets, numbers, animals, vegetables, fruits, shapes and sessions on safe transport & how to follow basic instruction and inculcate healthy habits such as washing hands, using hand kerchief and regular chapels (footwear). The CUF team found that by encouraging the parents to ensure their children attended regularly, dropouts were minimized and the maximum of children completed the academic year with all children developing better vocabulary &communication skills.

Child Care Children doing warm up activities

No.	Name of the centre	Attendance
1	Jeevanahalli	50
2	Janakiram Layout	72
3	Tannery road and Bagalur layout	34
4	Gajendhranagar	30
	Total	186

101 children were admitted in formal education in March 2010, 17 migrated and so education was discontinued. The remaining children will continue with Concerns in the following academic year.

Community Parent Education

The CUF team conducted 33 parent education sessions and an average of 24 parents attended in Jeevanahalli, Janakiram layout, St. Alphonsus and Gajendhranagar areas. The sessions were done using methods like discussion, role play, demonstration, songs etc . The common topics dealt with were how to prepare low cost of nutritious food and home remedies for minor ailments like Worms, Family planning, Antenatal diet, HIV/AIDS, Balanced diet, Anaemia, Importance of Preschool, Weaning food, importance of Protein. The importance of child safety and a nutritious diet were emphasized. Topics such as awareness on chicken guinea and swine flu as well as wider ranging health issues were discussed. In addition teachers checked the children lunch boxes to ensure that a nutritious homemade food was sent every day. The food habits of the family had improved to a large extent by use of raw vegetables and greens (salads) and use of homemade High Protein Mix. They understood that homemade foods are more nutritious, cheaper and good for health. Two of these parents education sessions were conducted by Karnataka State Council for Child Welfare trainee teachers.

Health Care program in Child Care Centre

A full assessment was completed of the nutritional and medical status of all children .Based on the health status of the child, parents were given nutritional advise along with appropriate referrals in cases of health issues. It was found that 90% of the children showed a marginal increase in both height & weight. All children were given polio and vitamin A drops and de-wormed.

Special programs in Child Care Centre

The children were taught and now have a better understanding of national and cultural events. Nine celebrations, including independence day, Children’s day, Diwali, Christmas and Gandhi Jayanthi took place with the children being given special foods and dressing in colourful costumes. In addition, on the 13^th of February 2011 sports Day was organized for all the children and prizes distributed by community college students. On 26^th January 2011 Concerns celebrated a great 10^th year Anniversary event (Arcana) in St. John’s School auditorium. All concerns beneficiaries participated in dance, drama, songs etc.

STUDY SUPPORT PROGRAMME

Enrolment of school dropout

During community visits the CUF team metup with 124 families and identified 48 school drop outs and motivated both children and families to continue their education. With regular follow ups this resulted in all 48 going to regular school and being more academically successful along with being better discipline.

Free Tuition

Following identification of certain educational needs, appropriate teachers from within the community were found which resulted in better academic achievement and more regular attention at school. The children were coached on good study practices and how to do home work. On the 25^th January 2010 a parents meeting was conducted and all the children were given a school bag, lunch box, water bottle and geometry box from one of our funding agencies.

No.	Community	No of Children benefited from tuition
1	Jeevanahalli	45
2	Janakiramm Layout	55
3	Gajendhra Nagar	30
4	Harihar	80
	Total	210

Adolescent Educational Support

115 children were sponsored to help identified their educational needs and to motivate them to focus on studies. The CUF team conducted 3 parents and teachers to better understand the economic status and extend support by payment of fees. They then conducted regular follow ups which resulted in better schools attendance and academic achievements.112 successfully completed their academic year with the 3 remaining students migrating away for various reasons.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Students were motivated and enrolled in community college and regular attendance was encouraged. Two trades in Office Administration and Early childhood Education integrated with work skills, life skills, community health as well as computing and English were taught. The importance of punctuality, time management and organization were addressed. This has lead to the women feeling more independent in both their work and home life. The education they have received has empowered them with dignity and self worth. In 2009 – 2010, 42 women successfully completed the course and this resulted in 29 women gaining employment, 11 women have gone on to higher education, 3 women are now home makers. In 2010-2011, 55 women enrolled in community college and 42 have gone on to complete the course. The rest of the women did not complete the course due to various reasons such as sickness, family problems and difficulties coping with the language. 23 completed Early Childhood Education and 19 Office Administration. There were 7 instances of women gaining placements before completing the course.

In- service training for CUF team

44 training programs were conducted for pre-school teachers and community workers. 8 half a day pre-school training session were conducted by pre-school trainer as well as three half- day training sessions given on health. One member of the team attended 4 full days of training on Pre-school management. This has resulted in the CUF team becoming more confident in conducting the program and in developing new methods and techniques.

COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Individual contact

The CUF teams have in the last year interacted with 756 new families to build a rapport and gain confidence to enable the families to make use of concerns’ services. 108 families were visited upon to do follow ups on school drop outs. Based on various needs and issues 3028 individual contacts were made. 158 children under 358 have received vitamin A and polio drops.207 pregnant have received antenatal care and 186 new mothers post natal care. 349 parents have been motivated towards immunization. This has resulted in the community being made more aware of the facilities offered and having confidence in concerns to use them.

Visits to Tuberculosis Patients Homes

Concerns have interacted with families impacted by T.B with initial visits given and follow up visits after treatment was completed. 37 patients have benefited from this and completed treatment. At present 8 patients are continuing their treatment through CUF. However 3 have discontinued due to alcohol problems and 2 unfortunately died due to severe health problems.

Women’s Health Awareness Group

Groups were formed by CUF team consisting of 12-16 members. In 463 group awarenes sessions through demonstration, role play, group discussions, debate and case studies, general awareness about health rights and facilities was better understood by the women among the 74 groups in 12 different communities.

Referral Services

The CUF team has worked towards building a rapport with the community which has lead to the referral services of 944 community members and services including hospitals, schools, training and jobs. 90% of referred members have benefited from using appropriate affordable services.

Women’s Saving Group

During this period towards economic self-reliance, 108 community women saved Rs. 2, 14,491/- in local bank, CUF contributed Rs.10, 401/- and total women received Rs.2, 24,892/-This was mainly used for their children’s education

Savings distribution April 2010- March 2011

No.	Name of the area	Name of the leader	Account no.	No. of women	Monthly savings	Drawn from Bank	CUF contribution	Total Rs
	Chettiappa front I	Sugunamma	18796	18	3,300	41,027	1,873	42,900
	Chettiappa front II	Swarna	18787	19	3,300	41,027	1,873	42,900
	Krishnappa lane II A	Adhirathamma	13904	9	1,300	16,020	880	16,900
	Krishnappa lane II	Shakuntala	12172	20	3,400	42,293	1,901	44,194
	Chettappa lane II	Prabhavathi	20445	6	600	7,439	359	7,798
	Krishnappa lane II B	Bhujamma	19704	22	2,900	35,812	1,888	37,700
	Krisnnappa lane	Lakshmi Devi	10873	14	2,500	30,873	1627	32,500
			Total	108	17,300	2,14,491	10,401	2,24,892

Details of savings 2011-12

No.	Name of the area	Name of the leader	No. of women	Account no.	Date of starting	Monthly savings	Date of maturity
1	Krishnappa lane III	Shakuntala	18	28614	23/7/2010	3,500	23/7/2011
2	Krishnappa lane II B	Bhujamma	18	49167	19.01.2011	2,800	19.01.2012
3	Krishnappa lane IIA	Adhirathamma	13	32130	24.8.2010	1,800	24.8.2011
4	Chettappa lane Front A	Swarna	20	46179	21.12.2010	3,700	21.12.2011
5	Chettappa lane Front BDA block	Cheeniyammal	18	26713	11.6.2010	3.200	11.6.2011
6	Krishnappa lane I A	Venkatamma	10	56398	15.02.2011	1,600	15.02.2012
7	Krishnappa lane I B	Christina	7	61178	17.03.2011	1,000	17.03.2011
					Total	Rs. 17,600

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Summer Camp Computer Classes:

From April 2010– May 2010 during school holidays, 149 children from the community were taught basic computing skills by a teacher and community college students. Skills taught included Microsoft word, Excel, PowerPoint, paint and touch typing. PICTURE

Bhagya lakshmi scheme:

CUF team motivated 350 families to register in Bhagya Lakshmi scheme. 190 families received the bond for Rs. 1, 00, 000/- . The girl child will get this amount when she turns age 18.

CUF team motivated 58 families to register for Ration card and Voter identity card and 45 received it from Karnataka Government.

Computer Classes for Girls community:

Young girls from two communities were taught basic computer skills in a 4 month course.This encouraged them to become more familiar with a range of computer programs. To date 46 girls have completed the course and three have gained positions as office assistants.

Summer camps picture

152 children from Jeevanahalli and Janakiram communities attended a summer camp based on environment. Various activities were organized focusing on issues of social responsibility and personal impact including protecting and encouraging others to be more aware of their environmental responsibilities. Creative activities were also organised based on the topic and a rally was organized in the local community educating others by shouting slogans on environment and health. The summer camps helped in identifying school dropouts as well as raising consciousness in the community.

Government T.B program :

In 2010-2011, 6 half a day awareness sessions were conducted by doctors and health visitors from Cox town, Broad way and Robertson road dispensaries of tuberculoses. This lead to a better understanding of the 4 CUF team members attending on treatment and investigation procedures .These inputs are invaluable in both community and child care work. On 18^th March 2011 T. B awareness program was organized for Janakiram community members in the Community hall. Local Counsellors sponsored snacks and the PA system. Program organized by RNTCP DOTS of Cox Town dispensary, Broad way dispensary, St. John’s and Ambedkar hospital medical team were part of the team. 250 community people participated in the program.

RNTCP DOTS Broad way Dispensary gave certificate for DOTS CENTRE .

DEVELOPING COMMUNITY BASED APPROACH FOR PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT OF ANAEMIA: Was initiated in November 2010 by Dr.Michael & Dr.Bhagyaraj.

(All India co-ordinated project) * CW’s identified adolescents and young married women in Janakiram layout.

*Displayed recipe demonstrations on using locally available green leafy vegetables and other iron rich food created awareness about the same for the identified group.

*Anthropometric and biochemical measurements was done and haemoglobin was assessed and were dewormed .Frequent follow-ups were done to encourage their dietary habits to prevent anaemia. * Contacted 700 families and motivated 650 adolescent girls and married women from Janakiram layout community.

* Enrolled 195 adolescent girls and 114 married women.

*Haemoglobin tests and deworming done for 125 adolescent girls and 62 married women.

*Green leafy vegetables9 live demonstration sessions done for 175 adolescent girls and married women.* People have better understanding about the causes of anaemia now.

*People understood the importance of utilizing locally available foods to prevent anaemia.

*People started practising better methods of cooking to retain nutrition.

Internship for Karnataka State Council trainees in Child Welfare.

8 trainers of KSCCW partook in 15 days practical teaching over 6 months to improve their teaching skills and practical knowledge on child care. The children of CCC benefited from activities organized by the trainees.

Monitoring visit from Karnataka State Council

Mrs. Theresa and the team from KSCCW visited concerns 15 times to suggest ways to improve the quality of work through evaluation of the program.

Monitoring visit from CIF (Concerns India Foundation)

On the 7^th &20^th of September 2009 Mrs. Fatima (Mumbai) and Mrs. Anitha Mathew visited concerns projects to give suggestions for improvements. Evaluation was conducted to help improve the program and remedial inputs suggested .

CALENDER OF EVENT

No.	Date	Event	Remarks
	1^st April , 23^rd October 2010 & 28^th February 2011	Khel Khel Annual sports	Conducted by Concern India Foundation for 14 schools. 90 children from the community participated from Concerns and won prizes.
	7^th April 2010.	Team from Vathsalya Charitable trust visited Concern centre and 3 schools	Regarding Education sponsorship planning and summer camps
	9^th April 2010	CUF team met Mrs.Hema Hattangady	Got advice of the functioning of the organization and introduced to new organisations and individuals
	In April 2010	8 community college students registered in IGNOU for BPP course	For vertical mobility.
	On 25^th August 2010	Community College Academic committee and Board Committee meeting was held in Community	To evaluate and plan further programs.

	On 7^th October centre	Team from Bangalore press visited Concerns with CIF team.	To get information to add in media
	On 14^th October 2010	personal counselling was done to all the Community College students by faculty team	To understand them better and to help them to move forward in life and in Education.
	On 29^th October 2010	Zoe Timms NGO Madurai	Visited Concerns centre to understand community college system.
	29^th October 2010	To understand community college system.	Zoe Timms NGO Madurai visited Concerns centre
	25^th November 2010	Mrs. Hema Hattangady visited Chid care centres and college and gave suggestions for CUF programs.	Encouraged those to have aims in life and work hard also met few families in the community.
	27^th October 2010	Visited Cox Town Police station	to understand social responsibilities by study group children Create awareness on social responsibilities in children of the community by Inspector of police and constable
	28^th November 2010	Coordinator visited UK Prime Minister Mr David Cameron in a Common Purpose module In Infosys	Yesodha had briefed about Concerns. We all were very excited about her experience. PA of the president had written a mail of appreciation.Friends at UK is trying keep up the link developed.
	On 1^st Novembers 2010,	Three Community College faculties	Attended one day Teachers training by Initiative Fellowship in Bangalore .
	0n 4^th December	2010Community college students participated in competition with other community colleges in St. Joseph’s Community college hall.	They participated in Elocution,Rangoli, Throw ball, dance and singing competitions.
	On 16^th December 2010	Conducted sports day for Community college in ITC colony play ground	All students participated and gave special snacks and prizes.
	29^th January 2011	Concerns celebrated a great 10^th year Anniversary event (Arcana) in	St. John’s School auditorium, all concerns beneficiaries participated in dance, drama and in songs etc.
	On 25^th February.	2011Community college students did exhibition and displayed all the visual aids prepared during the course	Evaluation was done by an retired teacher and teachers and children of Marianiketan School visited.
	On 26^th February 2011	All Community College students had exposure visit to different health institutions like Rajivgandhi Hospital, Indira Gandhi Hospital and Kidwai Hospital	To learn the medical facilities.
	26^th February 2011	CUF team had meeting with Mary Paul in Vathsalya Charitable trust.	Regarding Education sponsorship program
	2 days in October 2010.	Consultation meeting at Credibility Alliance in New Delhi .Consultant of CUF Mr. Emerson Samuel participated in the program.	Norms to be followed by NGO’s. Better understanding about other NGO’s and their operational systems.
	2 days seminars sessions in IGNOU New Delhi In November 2010	CUF director participated	Expertise from various fields and functionaries of community colleges shared the experiences. Better understanding about other community colleges and their functions.
	Every fort night attended modules for 5 months	International Navigator leadership training on in Common Purpose	Different exposure visit to NGO, Corporate sector, Government offices etc. Met new leaders and people with various responsibilities and different leadership qualities from NGO, Corporate sector, and Government offices. Had new experience and awareness about different leadership styles by visiting various institutions. Learnt different ideas to handle situation.
	Two days seminars sessions in ICRDCE Chennai for community colleges 26^th & 27^th January 2011	By a Community college faculty team member Mrs.T. Chitra	To understand the quality management of the community college. Understood the significant of quality of curriculum, resource material, staff commitment and certification of the community college. One faculty member

OUR SINCERE THANKS TO

Coordinator and volunteers of i-to-i

Concern India Foundation Bangalore

Mrs.Hema Hattangady & Mr. Mukund Bapat team members of Schneider Electrics Pvt. Ltd. Bangalore

Cox town dispensary DOTS centre RNPTC Bangalore

Karnataka State Council for Child Welfare Bangalore

Vathsalya Charitable Trust Bangalore

Indian Centre for Research and Development of Community Education, Chennai ( ICRDCE))

Living Hope Community Church, the ISLE OF MAN &ASK outreach trust (Action Saves Kids )The ISLE of MAN

HI (Help India ) UK

Network for Social Change UK

National Union of Teachers, Birmingham,UK

Rotary, Manchester breakfast

Rotary, Rams Bottom

St Peter’s Church India fund (Manchester)

Credibility Alliance Mumbai and New Delhi

Indhra Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) New Delhi

Common Purpose team

Committee members of Concerns Community College

THE GOVERNING BOARD & ADVISORY COMMITTEE:

STAFF DETAILS

Gender	Paid full time	Paid part time	Paid consultant	Volunteers
Male	0	0	2	0
Female	5	17	5	4

Distribution of staff according to salary levels as on March 2011

Paid to staff INR	Male	Female
>5000	0	27
5,000- 10,000	2	2
10,000- 20,000	0	2

Issues and Challenges

Most programs planned were implemented.But we had to do more related programs for better impact.The challenges were lack of infrastructure, trainers and discontinuation of trained staff.

Since our programs are in different premises which are away from each other, difficulties are faced in co-ordinating various activities and more timeconsuming.

The interference and nonco-operative nature of land lords of our rental buildings to run programs continuously affect our working atmosphere.

Even though there are many challenges, we are encouraged to continue to work and move forward to make some difference in the life of the underprivileged community.

On 14^th May 2010 Concerns team (Emerson Samuel, G.C and Y.S.) visited B.E.O. officer regarding registration of concerns Child care centre which was an issue related to Annie’s repayment of building advance.

Irregularity of the students of the community college is also a big challenge. This hampers effective training.

CONCLUSION:

The all round year reporting was indeed so eventful that CUF has a sense of satisfaction in achieving its objectives in tune with whatever envisioned on behalf of the communities of its concern. CUF, over the years pledges to continue with its vision driven programs to fulfil its commitment to the disadvantaged communities and thus make a distinct mark and difference.

Newsletter December 2011

catrionaindia — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 10:38:35 +0000

Concerns News letter December 2011

Dear friends of Concerns,

Greetings from all at Concerns!

This mail brings special wishes of the season. We, all at Concerns are fine and busy with our own programs. Later, we may do a simple Christmas celebration. Weather at Bangalore is just wonderful and giving the feel of Christmas.

After our email id got hacked, we lost some of our contacts. Hope no one is misusing our contacts. We have tried our best to revive most contacts. If you know anyone who needs to get in touch with us, you are welcome to share our id and their id to us.

Coming to the news of Concerns in the past few months….

As you know our community college is monitored by three committees with representative from IGNOU, in October we had an academic committee meeting with Dr Pankajam, former Vice Chancellor of Ghandi Gram University, it was a good time of learning and we are working on all her valuable inputs to improve the community college.

Though sometime we feel low, we feel so encouraged to see and hear from our old students of the community college. I met one of our student of previous batch. When she was in her young adolescence stage, and was longing to study but was pushed in to marriage with her uncle much older than her. Now she has joined BA English literature and doing her 2nd year through correspondence and simultaneously mastering her computer skills in an institute.
Children of all the Child care Centres were taken on a picnic to Cubborn Park by CIF one of our local supporters.

The students of our community college participated in various competitions with other community college of Karnataka and won few prizes. In Rangoli we won the first prize and in declamation and public speaking we won 2^nd prize. In Rangoli it was a team work of 4 students and the main student who did the freehand drawing has vision only in one eye and she said that in her lifetime this is the first time she had participated in competition and won prize and gone to stage. Also all the married girls did a special dance with sticks. Every one participated in some items or the other like singing, dance turn quote and throw ball. We were excited about their enthusiasm and it was a good day .All the teachers worked hard to prepare them.

All the students did internship for 2weeks, related to their trades in different institute as preschool teachers and assisted in office administration. The good news is for few students their jobs are assured for the next academic year. We are excited about it but we need to still prepare them much more.
We have a retired person from November, helping us in maintaining the accounts of Concerns, which is gradually reducing my workload of handling finance.
We took the community college students to Royal Archid a star hotel and they have agreed to give a free intensive training for them in the end of our course and get placement for the students , we are motivating the students for the same, since hotel industry is a flourishing and can get decent salary and their life will be better.
On Childrens day ,we celebrated Vidya s birth day who is a special child of Concerns at CCC with community college students.

One of the volunteer Jenny Reily, who was here with us and became a part of Concerns did a walk and raised support to purchase a laptop and desk top and printer cum scanner, which has come in right time and we and the students are much benefited. .
For the students of the community college, along with teaching of the present course, our aim is to make them go upward in their education, so we will coach them simultaneously and prepare them for exams which they need to complete.
we are yet to update all the information in our website. I am glad that Joy who is an software engineer has volunteered to come on weekends and help in that aspects. Hope we can do it soon.
There will be a regional workshop on review of the community colleges of Karnataka on 17^th Dec 2011, organised by Fr Alphonse pioneer of the community college. We are asked to do a presentation about concerns community college; I think it is great privilege to share our work.
There is a land we have identified seems to be appropriate in many aspects for concerns .Some friends of CUF have come forward to support to some extent and if you want be apart this concern, you are welcome to do .Also we would be glad if you can connect us, with probable donor for supporting this cause.
Our community health program ,especially the anaemia prevention program going smooth and you can see the demonstration in the community.

Closing with lots of Christmas and New Year Wishes

Chitra& all at Concerns

Newsletter August 2011

catrionaindia — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:42:50 +0000

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/

10 Year Anniversary Function 29th January 2011

catrionaindia — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:39:54 +0000

Concerns Universe Foundation 10th year Anniversary Celebration

On Saturday 29th January 2011

at St Johns high School Auditorium, Frazer Town Bangalore.

The Chief guest Ms Hema Hattanagaddi, and Ms Malini Krishnamurthy.

A programme of dance and song illustrating the theme of DIGNITY.

David Cameron visits Bengaluru

catrionaindia — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:34:47 +0000

On July 28th 2010, Yeshoda, deputy director of CUF, went for her weekly training, which was being held in a large IT institution in Bengaluru. Who should be visiting on that day but the Prime Minister of the UK, David Cameron! He sat down at the table where Yeshoda was sitting and straightaway chose her to speak to and asked her about her work. She spent the next 10 minutes telling him of all the work that is carried out in CUF. He was most impressed. A DVD of the work has been sent to him, we hope he will have time to look at it and see for himself the wonderful work that is being done in Jeevanahalli and surrounding neighbourhoods.

Photo Gallery

catrionaindia — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:52:53 +0000

Last report – 2009-2010

catrionaindia — Sat, 15 May 2010 20:24:17 +0000

Pre-School Provision

In small centres, children are not only prepared for school by learning basic concepts but also learn healthy habits, develop their vocabulary and can communicate better.
Extra nutrition is provided to help physical growth
Parents learn the importance of education and are encouraged to send their children to school
Children increasingly attend regularly. (They have fun too, especially at celebration times)
A sure start for life provided!

In 2009-10 so little provided so much!!

n All children had nutritional and medical assessments, Vitamin A and polio drops and were de-wormed

n 90% of children increased in weight and height

Centre 1

CC 1

53 children

Centre 2

CC 11

85 children

Centre 3

CC 111

34 children

It is important for CUF to involve parents and build rapport with them. Through meetings and other methods parents are encouraged to:

Send their children to pre-school and school
Learn better methods of health, hygiene, child development and child safety
Handle adolescent problems more effectively
Support their children in education and provide better nutrition and for them
Appreciate the importance of education – (and they do seem to, looking at the numbers attending)

9 parent education sessions were provided in

2009 – 10 with an av. of 22 parents attending

CUF does not only do educational work with the pre-school children, their parents and college students, it also offers important study support to school drop-outs and troubled adolescents from under -privileged communities. They do this by:

n Identifying school drop-outs and encouraging them to focus on their studies

n Contacting parents and teachers and where necessary helping with fees

n Monitoring academic progress

n Providing supportive tuition within the community. In 2009-10:

150 families from 8 communities were approached and 46 school drop-outs rejoined educational programmes

195 young people were provided with extra tuition

Of 125 sponsored children 122 completed their studies

n The Community College teaches work skills, life skills, community health, computing and English to young women. Through this the College helps to improve the confidence, status and most of all, the economic potential of young women from the less privileged communities. To educate the mother is to invest in the future. Through the provision the students:

n Gain familiarity with learning

n Become confident in speaking English

n Learn to manage time

n Become more independent and gain dignity

n Can hope for employment in offices rather than manual work

And it works :- Of 37 completer in 2008-9

27 are working, 3 self-employed, 3 in Higher Education

A great deal of CUF’s work is done within the communities themselves , often using local people, including Community College graduates, to deliver on the spot help, guidance, advice and support on education, health, community development and other matters. This local service is very much attuned to the particular needs of different areas and circumstances. These activities:

Provide information about facilities and help available and increase their use
Build confidence in the CUF team and in the local people themselves and improve health

Some examples of CUF’s work in the community during 2009-10 are:

489 new families were contacted and encouraged to use services
75 families were visited to follow up school drop-outs
2031 individual contacts were made to deal with various local needs and issues
45 under fives were given Vitamin A and polio drops
113 pregnant women were motivated to attend Ante Natal care
130 to attend Post Natal care
143 parents encouraged to undertake immunisation and take advantage of Family Planning services and other appropriate health care

So few delivering so much!

Other important activities in the communities are:

Visiting Tuberculosis patients who are supported to complete treatment and prevent the spread to the families and neighbourhoods
Health awareness groups. Using many methods these create awareness about health, rights and facilities. 54 of these women’s groups meet regularly in 10 different communities
Referral Services. By building rapport with members of the local community, they accept advice about the use of services in hospitals and schools. They also learn about job opportunities and training