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Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
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Information
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Project Name:
Swayam Shakti Project
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Project Year:
October 2018
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Project Status:
Ongoing
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Beneficiary group:
Girls between 5-12 years of age from BPL families/slum area.
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Project Objectives:
Academic Learning support through remedial education and life skills coaching to enable girl children to get admission/stay at grades in mainstream schools.
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Location:
Bihari Colony, Panchkula district, Haryana
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Share:
Project “Swayam Shakti” has been launched as a CSR initiative of the Federal Bank under “Promotion of Education”. Enabling young girl children from BPL families to join a regular school and giving them a platform to complete their education. The program was focused on enabling young girls (age group 5-12) towards ‘Remedial Education’ that helps in their skill development for employment and livelihood opportunities. Most of the girls in these communities have never been to school or have dropped out of middle/high school due to either lack of remedial support system within the confines of the village/slums and/or various traditional/patriarchal/social-cultural factors which make it challenging for the girls to move forward and fulfill their aspirations and dreams.
Project Activities:
| Activity Number | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Educating the girl children. |
| 2 | Organizing Field Trips for children (Educational, Science and Botanical Garden, etc.). |
| 3 | Mid-Day Meal (MDM) for girls on a daily basis. |
| 4 | Providing Antenatal Care for Pregnant women. |
| 5 | Providing Post-natal care for women post their pregnancy. |
The Impact:
| The students go through regular classroom sessions as per their State Board/Curriculum to bridge the gap and facilitate academic support from their schools. All subjects would be covered. Our primary research showed most of the girls do not go to school and was at home taking care of their younger siblings. Hence, it was decided to conduct workshops around life skills, general awareness, and day trips for awareness building would be scheduled for the training program which would aid in reducing feelings of inadequacy and encourage them to join their regular schools and complete their education. |
Project Accomplishment:
| There are about 500 huts/jhuggis in this area and most of the girls do not go to school for various reasons. The project team met with the residents and created awareness about the importance of education and the Swayam Shakti program. Before the right to education, there was a huge challenge to bring these children to classrooms as they were an added source of income for their families. With the awareness campaign, the girl children were enrolled in the Swayam Shakti Program. |
Additional interventions: Regular visits in slum:
| More than 120 visits were conducted between April 2021 to March 2022. The purpose of these visits was to meet and persuade local people to send their children to Swayam Shakti centers for education on regular basis. They were informed about the role of education in children’s life and its positive impact on other family members. During our visit, it was found that parents were not willing to send their children to centers/schools as they believe earning money through labor work would bring more money into the family and they would be able to feed their children. Our members conducted regular meetings involving discussions with these people and convince them about the importance of school education which would not only help in skill development but they would also be able to earn more money after completion of their education. New students were also enrolled in Swayam Shakti during these visits. A meeting with pregnant ladies was also organized and they were told about existing free ration schemes of the Haryana Government for pregnant ladies. They were guided about the vaccinations recommended during and post pregnancy on the registration process to avail of this facility. Most of the slum communities did not have any prior knowledge about these facilities and had various misconceptions regarding vaccination. Other important topics covered during meetings in slums were sanitation, personal hygiene, safe drinking water and the protection of girls. The community people are advised to visit Swayam Shakti center for any issues related to girls health and protection. To provide some relief into the lives of these devasted families, the Himalayan Social Institute distributed ration kit with the help of the Gram Panchayat, local Self-help group of social workers. |
Addition Interventions: Field Trip & Ration Kit Distribution to Fire Affected Families:
| The staff of Swayam shakti took students on a field trip to the Rock Garden located in Chandigarh. The trip was organized for creating a different level of excitement and fun for children. During the tour of the garden, all the students were taught about importance of recycling and artistic beauty of the monuments. All of them enjoyed their visit and were mesmerized by the sculptures of the garden. Apart from all the above-mentioned activities, Swayam Shakti staff also visited a fire affected jhuggies and families in Marrawal slum. The fire broke out in this area due to the burning of plastic waste. Due to this fire, 41 jhuggies were completely destroyed in which 21 families girls were student in Swayam Shakti. To provide some relief into the lives of these devasted families, Himalayan Social Institute distributed ration kit with the help of the Gram Panchayat, local Self-help group of ladies and one social worker. |
- Himalayan Social Institute” NGO, a voluntary association established in 2005.
- Himalyan Social Institute, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, INDIA
- +91 83750 46049