Atghara, 24-Parganas (N)
IKP Foundation supporting organization: Society for Equitable Voluntary Actions
Two projects, Anandakendra Home and Road-to-Life, are managed by an organization named Society for Equitable Voluntary Actions (SEVA) with an office in Kolkata, West Bengal. The organization was established in 1985 with the spirit of “Together We Can”. Both projects are in the village of Atghara, North 24-Parganas, West Bengal, close to the border of Bangladesh.
Project 1: Anandakendra Home
SEVA has three buildings in an area of ~2 acres of land. One of the buildings is used to shelter 14 resident girls of ages 6 to 18, 23 adult women of ages 18+ to 55-, and 6 small children of ages 2 to 6. Many of the children are orphans or social orphans.
Click on the picture above to see all the pictures with captions
Family members desert adult women when they are unable to function with the social norm. When these young girls and women were under extreme financial and emotional distress, SEVA offered them food, shelter, and healthcare. Unlike most orphan-care centers, this combination of children and adult women living together in Atghara created an outstanding symbiotic family environment that worked for both. It also helped the young girls to understand the pain of rejection of these women from their families. Children attend local public schools and enjoy many cultural activities they organize. In a dance drama presented to the IKP Foundation members, the young children beautifully expressed women’s power and determination of being self-sufficient. To stimulate education, the children get coaching support from senior students and local teachers. While senior students help younger girls in education, they also get coaching support from local teachers. On October 01, 2019, IKP Foundation funded SEVA with a computer and related accessories, web access, and training service to make sure children are familiar with modern age technologies.
IKP Foundation supports nutrition for twenty resident children and twenty-three adult women, all are in extremely distressed condition. Also supports computer education to school-going children.
______________________________________________
Project 2: Road-to-Life
Beginning of January 2021, SEVA started a new program for children who dropped out of school. Discontinuation of education is due to poverty, neglect, and lack of understanding of the value of education. Initially, about forty children were selected and separated into two group
Click on the picture above to see all the pictures with captions
School-going age: Twenty-two children ages 6-18, went back to public school. To be sure that they do not drop out again, SEVA provides the children with coaching classes, discipline, basic health, and moral support. In the beginning, the children were given a meal, but after a year it was withdrawn.
Non-school-going age: Twenty children, some never went to school and others have less than minimum education and dropped, were selected for tutorial coaching. Many of them who cannot read or write, belong to a nomadic and tribal group (Mal and Kahar: snake charming, roadside animal-play showing, fortune telling, offering plant medicine, witching). To attract children to continue their education, meals and annual excursions are included. Instead of sending them to school, SEVA started coaching the children to bring them up to the level of school- education. Once achieved the goal, the children would be sent to school with continued SEVA-supported coaching. The health of the children is also checked. Moreover, few children who may not be interested in education at all will be given the opportunity of life-skill training so that they can be integrated into the social norm. Otherwise, they may be prey to social evils.
Project progress: In the year 2021, forty-two students were enrolled in the Road-To-Life program. With the help of the coaching, twenty-two started going to public school. The remaining children are still under coaching until they are at par with the school education.
IKP Foundation supports: Coaching, nutrition, and health to forty-two young children who were left out of education.
Loading…
Reload document 
Open in new tab