Name of the Project   : Education and Nutrition Support to 40 School (15 B0ys & 25 Girls) Children (Orphans) living with HIV Positive and Make them as Change Makers Project Goal : The Goal of this project is to facilitate the poorest of poor dis advantaged marginalized poverty ridden high school children to continue their school education to progress their lives and motivate their Grand Parents to support their child to continue education without dropping out from school in spite of the ostracized and discrimination.   Name of the Organization and Address: Chaithanya Kala Bharathi (CKB) Office  Address  : 29-178-22-H, SBI Colony Nandyal 518501 Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh State, India Contact Person and Phone Number and Email ID  and website of the society: : Mr.V.Vijaya Bahsakr.M.Com.,M.Phil in Rural Development : +91 9440464877, Email : ckb_ndl@yahoo.com : http://www.ckbngo.org Management of the Proposed Project :  This project will be implemented directly by the team of the organization. The proposed interventions need of One Field Coordinator cum Facilitator for Health Education . The CEO of the organization will take care of overall planning, implementation, monitoring and documentation. The coordinator will take care of follow up of the after providing health and educational support to trace out the change in their academic and health status. CKB has committed team to work towards children’s issues. Project Description: The Proposed project intended to provide educational support to 40 Girl children who are poor Orphans from vulnerable family background .Their parents also died with HIV. Hence these are living with pathetic vulnerable conditions. All the 40 girls are living with HIV. These are all from various socio economic back ground and living near by the villages which is 4 to 5 kilometers distance from the Municipal area of Nandyal. Many of the children are discontinuing their education due to lack of transportation, poor economic background of their families and discrimination facing by other people in their villages and school as well. They are living in a painful life, frustrated in daily routine leading vulnerable life. Education support to these children will provide healthy, safe and secure school environment that can protect children from health hazards, abuse and exclusion. Its helps to ensure quality education because children who are healthy and well nourished can fully participate in schooling and gain its maximum benefits. Quality education in turn leads to better health and nutrition outcomes especially for girls. Studying High School Girl children have become the victims of their circumstances and denied the opportunity to be free of their background and deprived of an environment conducive to healthy, physical and psychological development. These children are suffering from many aspects viz nutritional deficiencies, minimal health care, non availability of basic needs education and social handicaps. Though free primary and High school education is constitutionally mandated in India. But the real cost of schooling for parents is turning out to be quite high. The hidden costs include school bags, textbooks, stationary, transport, Examination fees, sanitary pads etc. Children who are studying in High schools are seen discontinuing their studies as they have to go to near by the villages for pursuing higher education. This problem is very severe in case of girl children. Because of poor economic family background they could not afford to bear transportation charges and also unable to provide them like  better  study material , sanitary pads , bags  etc. During our personal interactions with these school children they had expressed many causes for their discrimination and impediments for continuing their education These school children had expressed that they do not have proper transport facilities, no proper infrastructure for transportation and roads, so they could not reach the schools on time While most of children residing in these remote villages has to walk barefoot for a long distance of 4 -5 kilometers in the hot sun, rain and cold and mostly on the mud roads along the bushes to reach their schools in time, holding books and bags in their hands. This is causing them drudgery by the time they are reaching the schools Apart from that there is discrimination while going along with other school students. Majority of the children among they are staying with guardians such as maternal and paternal aunts/uncles, and near relatives. Some of them are staying with grand-parents who are elderly people who are in a stage of dependent on others for their needs. Here three categories of needs identified for extending support to these 40 girl children.

1. Need of the transportation: Transportation facility is required to attend the school and complete higher education for these 40 school children as they have to walk long distances to go to school and attend classes.
2. Need of the Educational Support: Due to poor economic family background they are unable to buy books and other reading material.

3 Nutritional Support as they are HIV Positive and required sufficient nutrition to maintain stable health To overcome the prevailing situation, CKB felt the need to create adequate educational support and the well being of the vulnerable deprived children to attend the schools regularly and to continue their education without dropping in the middle and to stop taking up arduous work by orphans’ children and earn for their living by toiling for 14 -16 hours a day in hazardous occupations without attending the school. With the above backdrop CKB proposes to support the children to continue their education through providing bicycles, educational material and nutrition kits. Education support to these children will provide healthy, safe and secure school environment that can protect children from health hazards, abuse and exclusion. Its help to ensure quality education, because children who are healthy and well-nourished can fully participate in schooling and gain its maximum benefits. Quality education and nutrition support in turn leads to better health and nutrition out comes especially for girls. As health is very important for every one It shall be more focused in case of HIV positives as the target group are adolescent girls reproductive and menstrual health is very important to them. In our Society Elders at homes not allow to talk about menstruation openly, so there is no scope for girls to know about menstrual hygiene due to which they faced lot of health problems. These target children are pure orphans there is no scope to know about this. Hence, we propose to conduct a work shop on menstrual hygiene and reproductive health and rights.   Project Objectives:

1. To access schooling through providing transportation (Bicycles) to 40 schoolchildren
2. To generate awareness among 25  children  about the importance of girl education
3. To enhance health status of 25 adolescent girls through nutrition support
4. To equip children with better hygiene practices through health and hygiene education.
5. To reduce dropout rate, to reach on time and improve attendance rate of the girl children in school and stop taking a wrong decision to work as child labour.
6. To motivate the parents about their ignorance and community to change their attitude and stop discrimination again these vulnerable and ostracized school going children
7. To make lasting positive change in the lives of 40 children and make the children as agents of change to bring behavioural change in their families and the immediate community.

  Description of activities:

1. Providing 40 Bicycles to adolescent girls to attend schools regularly
2. Educational support which includes study material, tuition and examination fee and school bags etc
3. Nutrition support kits through providing nutritional foods which includes snacks made with protein/vitamin rich grains
4. Organizing health awareness sessions in schools to maintain better hygiene practices and also importance of nutrition
5. Providing IEC Material on personal and menstrual hygiene and best health practices
6. Two-day capacity building on menstrual hygiene and reproductive health.

  Indicators of the Project : 

1. 40 school children get transportation support  and continue their education  without any interruption
2. 40 children successfully able to complete their schooling
3. Awareness levels of 40 children have been increased on health, hygiene and importance of nutrition
4. Improved health status and nutrition levels of 40 children
5. 25 girls and their categories are aware of the importance of girls education and health
6. 25 Girls are aware off menstrual hygiene and reproductive health and behavioural change among them
7. Most effective way of elimination of school dropout
8. Laying the foundation for higher skills
9. Enhances quality in education
10. Greater confidence and self-sufficiency  in 40 families
11. Improved self esteem of 40 school children and their families.

  Duration of the project    : 6 months from January to June 2023. For implementing the interventions including provision of bicycles, educational and nutrition kits, organizing health and hygiene education sessions and workshop on Menstrual Hygiene management it takes minimum 180 days after sanctioning the project. We will be able to complete the activities by the end of June 2023.     Outcomes of this project : Follow up of the implementing organization since the children completing their high school education which leads to sustain the impact of the proposed project. Our entire goal is to enable the girls to complete their high school education without any barriers and discrimination. Our organization team will also meet the school teachers to support these girls to meet their academic standards. Sessions on hygiene practices and nutrition kits will help them to maintain good health. In the long run it also helps in concentrating their future goals too The capacity building workshop for girls on menstrual hygiene will helps them to maintain hygiene as well as stable health.  They also  empowered  in health grounds by equipping  with best menstrual hygiene practices .  They also became as change agents among other children in the schools in which they are studying. V.Vijaya Bhaskar Project Director                      

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St. Josephs centre project newsletter 2016