Fondazione Skychildren ETS
Scuole per i bambini dei villaggi rurali
This project focuses on the schooling of children living in a rural community del West Bengala, a circa 60 km da Calcutta, one of the poorest areas in India.
The people living in these areas are mostly illiterate farmers and labourers who live day-to-day in conditions of extreme poverty and deprivation, and are therefore unable to guarantee their children an education and in some cases the fulfilment of basic needs.
Some of these children have never had access to education, others attend government school, but the quality of education in government schools is very poor,a recent survey showed that 60 % of 7 to 14 year olds attending school are unable to read a simple second grade story.
We therefore felt the urgency to commit ourselves to providing quality education to disadvantaged children who have never been to school and education to support and compensate the formal education to the most vulnerable children to help them and prevent them from dropping out and returning to child labour. As well as receiving an education, our children are protected from child labour,accompanied on an educational path and involved in recreational activitiesthat help them to develop their skills and learn about their rights and potential,develop their cognitive, social, emotional and cultural abilities and foster their self-esteem. They are taught how to recognise a good caress from one that is not, the risk of early marriage, the importance of personal hygiene, and non-discrimination.
The children are provided with backpacks, books, notebooks, uniforms, everything they need to attend school. In addition to quality educational support, the children are provided with nutritious meals and emergency health care.
Raising awareness among parents and the entire community is an essential component of the project. Mobilizing and empowering communities to improve the situation in schools is done through weekly meetings between parents and teachers. It is crucial to make parents understand the importance of education and how to support their children to continue their studies instead of pushing them into child labour and child marriage. This is the first initiative of its kind in the area.
Results achieved
Children enrolled in school: 123
Children with motor and cognitive difficulties followed by physiotherapist and speech therapist: 10
Rising Star School, a school for children with learning difficulties
In 2019, we built an extra floor at the school in the rural villages. The extension accommodates 4 new classes (kindergarten, pre-school for older children who have never attended school, class I and class II). E’ in itinere la richiesta per la licenza fino alla classe XII.
In 2022, we further expanded the facility and obtained 3 new classrooms and 3 toilets.. The classrooms have large windows to the green, electricity, fans, wooden desks and blackboard (these are not things to be taken for granted in India) and, above all, specialised teachers.
In these new classrooms, we have opened a 'special school' for children with learning difficulties. The objective is to diagnose the exact problem, distinguishing pathological situations from 'simple' behavioral difficulties,to direct the family to appropriate health facilities if necessary, and to manage the other cases with psychologists and specialized teachers so that the child can bridge the cognitive gap and follow a true educational path. Special programmes are drawn up for each child..
The Rising Star school is accredited by the Government Ministry of Education as an autonomous institute, capable of awarding diplomas equivalent to those of state schools.
Children with special needs
While visiting our children in their shacks in the villages, we became aware of some children with motor and learning difficulties who had never been able to leave their shacks. We felt a strong need to intervene. Since 2020, we have been actively and constantly a supporting these children who lack motor independence due to severe physical and/or cognitive disabilities.In addition to providing customised disability aids (wheelchairs and special walkers), we have set up a rehabilitation programme tailored to their needs.Once a week qualified personnel go to their pavilions, the speech therapist helps them with speech disorders and learning difficulties, and il the physiotherapist treats the children and teaches the mothers how to do the gymnastics necessary to take care of their children's motor dysfunctions. These treatments are yielding excellent results. In addition to offering concrete physical progress, they are also of great help on a psychological level, because they allow our children and their families to believe in the possibility of improvement, which is happening day by day.
Solar panel well
In West Bengal, access to clean water is a dream for millions of families, and arsenic contamination in the sources is a widespread problem that can cause cardiovascular diseases, skin lesions and other health problems.
To address this urgency in 2022 we built 1 well in the village of Sankerparulia where 2000 families live in extreme poverty. The well we built is solar-powered, the solar-powered pumps are powered by photovoltaic panels that produce the energy necessary for operation, ideal for those places where the electricity grid does not arrive or is often interrupted by monsoons. The well was dug down to 1200 feet (just over 356 m) in order to pump water without arsenic contamination. The water has been tested in government-approved laboratories and issued a certificate of purity..
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Via Tommaso Grossi, 6 20900 Monza (MB)
CF 94621150153
IBAN IT89 K 034 4020 4020 0000 0437 100
info@skychildren.org +39.335.66.52.279
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