ANNUAL REPORT – CHANGE PROGRAMME
UNDER CHANGE FOUNDATION, VIJAYAWADA
SUPPORTED BY
(January to December 2008)

Change Foundation

Change Foundation is an organization, located in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, working for the cause of children, especially the girl children from the Dalit and other marginalized communities. The Organization’s main objective is motivate the parents to stop sending their children for work; conduct bridge course for these child workers, preparing them to enroll and retain in regular schools; also, skills training and educational scholarships to the girl children so as to enable them to pursue their education.

Change Foundation continues to implement a special programs called “Change: support for the education and skills training of the underprivileged children, with a special preference for girl students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds,” through which we undertake all the activities supported by Posielek Stiftung für Straßenkinder and Menschwerdung Christi Parish, Nürnberg, Germany.

As the Foundation has not registered under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, presently it receives the support from Posielek Stiftung für Straßenkinder and Menschwerdung Christi Parish, Nürnberg, Germany through the legal holdership of Apple Society, located in Vijayawada. For the last two years, from April 2006 to March 2008, Apple Society carried out the ‘Change Programme”.

Some of the scenes from the inauguration of Change Foundation at Yanadi colony
The Function was Presided by the Local Panchayath President and Community Leaders
 

22 trainees completed their skill training in Desk Top Publishing in April 2008, 18 students were placed in gainful employment, fetching salary between Rs.2,000/- and Rs.4,500/- . Out of 22 who successfully completed the training, 21 are girls; that too, from Dalit marginalized families.

11 students, most of them provided with Educational Scholarships by Posielek Foundation attended DCA course in computer applications. This course too was completed in April 2008.

25 trainees completed successfully their skill training in Maggam Embroidery Works. OU these, 22 are earning good income either starting their own units or employed in other units.

Some of the passed out DTP 7& Maggam Embroidery Trainees

Mother Theresa Mahila (Women Society), being facilitated by Apple Society, could support 20 new students with educational scholarships @Rs.5,000/- , out of the amounts paid back by the old students supported in the past by Posielek Foundation. Though a small step, it was a leap towards realizing our dream of setting up of Women Societies to replicate the Education Scholarship programme, especially for the girl students of the Poorest of the Poor Dalit families, with the contributions from the old students who benefited from the Posielek Foundation’s support under “Change Programme”.

As we indicated in last year’s report, apart from the activities children and youth, activities undertaken towards restoring more than 80 acres of assigned lands back to the real owners, i.e., 80 Dalit families of landless agricultural labourers of Madicharala village will have far reaching effect. These activities were initiated by the Coordinator, Mrs. Rama Devi, whose salary and travels were supported by Posielek Foundation. At this juncture, we recall what we wrote in last year’s report:

Without own land and cultivation, these families will always remain poor and subjected to the exploitation of the dominant castes. The result will be that their children suffer most – which situation forces them to go for work instead of attending the school. Thus the vicious circle continues generation after generation. Once they are able to own land, their income goes up, and their self esteem increases, which will certainly make them send their children to school and to have basic facilities such as drinking water, health facilities, etc, for their children. Also, it will have positive impact on environment and sanitation.

 
Organizing the parents to claim back their lands, assigned by the Government,
from land-lords of dominant castes.

2. ‘Change Programme’ under Change Foundation

In the beginning of this year, “Change Programme” shifted its areas of operations to villages in and around Tadepalli Gram Panchayath located farther end of Guntur District, but lying adjacent to Krsihna river bank and just 3 kms away from Vijayawada.

After having done Area Mapping of more than 20 villages, between January and March 2008, 5 villages/hamlets within 5 kms radius were short listed and a door-to-door survey was conducted in these five villages to have first hand information on the ground realities. Most of the families are socially and economically excluded and belong to Dalits and tribal families who are the poorest of the poor (PoPs).

As reported earlier, one of the hamlets is that of Yanadis – the most marginalized of the lot. (At this juncture, we would like to recall that the contributions you all made immediately after Tsunami was utilized to build 9 houses for Yanadis. Of course, these families were located near to sea coast). The present Yanadi community lives near by to the city of Vijayawada, earning a living by rag picking.

The Faces of Yanadi Colony, Near Vijayawada City

3. Activities undertaken since April 2008

Yanadi Colony Bridge Course

There exists a government run lower primary school in the colony with two teachers for over 50 children of the colony. But hardly these teachers attend school, so too the children. Parents are not bothered about sending children to school. They were more interested in taking them along for collecting rags from the roadside and other menial jobs around. Of course, they were more bothered about a meal a day for them and their children. Moreover, they have no much expectations or dreams in their lives.

It is in this background, as a first step towards making contact with the children and through children their parents, the Summer Bridge Course was launched from 1st of April to 12th June 2008. An average of 40 children between the age of 5 and 14 attended the course to prepare them for regular schooling. It was a painstaking to motivate the parents to send their children to Bridge Course. In the beginning there were only 10 to 15 of them, but within two days, thanks to the efforts of the Coordinator and staff, we could bring more than 90% of the children for the course which starts from 8 in the morning and end at 12.30 in the afternoon with a nutritious lunch for all the children. By the time, school re-opened, all the children were taught alphabets and made capable of reading and writing to a minimum level. Above all, the success of the bridge course was proven when more than 40 children joined school when it reopened on 12th June.

Another impact was that the children were made aware of keeping personal hygiene to some extent – taking bath and keep their dresses clean. The problem is that most of the do not have an at least a pair of good dress. The parents do not have the habit of using soaps for bath and other hygienic practices. We do hope that these hygienic habits could be inculcated gradually.

Children eating lunch after Bridge Course & Inauguration of Evening Tuition Centre

 

Evening Tuition Centre

The next step after enrolling children is to retain them in regular school without going along with parents for rag picking and other works. With this end in view, evening tuition centre was started in the colony, on all week days after school hours, in the evening from 4.30 hrs to 6.30 hrs. During the time, children are given recreational facilities and helped to do their home works in preparation for the school next day. In the end, they will be helped in taking bath and are then provided with supplementary nutrition – eggs, pulses, fruits, etc. This part, the teacher responsible for Evening Tuition also come to school in the morning to collect children from their homes and help children in taking bath and bring them to school. The Evening Tuition Centre teacher is paid Rs.1,000/- per month. Rs.250/- is paid as remuneration to the person who prepares supplementary nutrition every day.

Supporting our venture, the Pachayath President came forward for providing breakfast for all children who come to school. (This practice is now stopped for various reasons. We are negotiating with the President to resume the practice.)
 

Self-Help Groups – SHGs - in the Colony

Initially the process started to start 3 groups of 10 members each. Later it was reduced to two as the Coordinator who began the process resigned from Change Foundation to join in another organization. Now, the process is on to cover the remaining families under SHGs. The first two groups will become eligible for the Government sponsored loan from the banks within a month. Except the facilitation, so far Change Foundation did not help the groups financially. The members are raising the seed capital to obtain loans from their own savings.
 

Pragati Mahila Society

In line with Mother Theresa Mahila (Women Society), being facilitated by Apple Society, Pragathi Mahila Society is another one being facilitated by Change Foundation. The Society has been formed with members from Yanadi colony, mothers of students who received Education Scholarships from Posielek Foundation via Change Foundation and of skills trainees. The Mahila Society is governed by an Executive Body.
The students who received Education Scholarships from Posielek Foundation given through Change Foundation as Implementing Organization of ‘Change Programme’ is encouraged to pay back the amount with a minimum rate of interest in instalments which they can afford. The amount thus collected will be utilized in future to help other students to pursue their education. The collection of these instalments has been undertaken recently after its formation and opening the bank account for the Prgathi Mahils Society. The amounts collected back should be immediately deposited by the assigned person in the bank account of the Pragathi Mahila Society opened for the purpose and jointly operated by the president and secretary of the Board of Directors of Pragathi Mahila Society under the facilitation of Change foundation.

Pragati Mahila Society

In line with Mother Theresa Mahila (Women) Society), being facilitated by Apple Society, Pragathi Mahila Society is another one being facilitated by Change Foundation. The Society has been formed with members from Yanadi colony, mothers of students who received Education Scholarships from Posielek Foundation via Change Foundation and of skills trainees. The Mahila Society is governed by an Executive Body.
The students who received Education Scholarships from Posielek Foundation given through Change Foundation as Implementing Organization of ‘Change Programme’ is encouraged to pay back the amount with a minimum rate of interest in instalments which they can afford. The amount thus collected will be utilized in future to help other students to pursue their education. The collection of these instalments has been undertaken recently after its formation and opening the bank account for the Pragathi Mahils Society. The amounts collected back should be immediately deposited by the assigned person in the bank account of the Pragathi Mahila Society opened for the purpose and jointly operated by the president and secretary of the Board of Directors of Pragathi Mahila Society under the facilitation of Change foundation.
 

Computer Centre

The first batch of 33 trainees (23 girls & 10 boys) in computer applications started in 25th June 2008, inaugurated by District Panachayath president. The same day, the Pragathi Mahila Society was also officially launched. The centre is located in a rented house @Rs.1800/- per month, excluding electricity charges. Rs.5,000/- per month is paid to Ms. Valli, the computer faculty who is with us since two eyars and doing a wonderful job in teaching the students. Under 4 slots (6.30 am to 8.30 am & 8.30 am to 10.30 am & 10.30 am to 12.23pm & 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm), 32 joined the course. In the end, 23 successfully completed the training. Out of these 23 passed out trainees, 13 (8 girls & 5 boys) are presently employed and fetching salary between Rs.1500/- to Rs.5,000/-. Some of them were working before joining the course, but received a hike in salary after completing the course. Also, the course enabled them to find other lucrative job placements.

Rs.300/- was collected as contribution from the students for the course. The amount thus collected will be used towards the repair charges of computers. Also, out of this, one month salary of Rs.5000/- was also paid to the computer faculty.
Originally, the duration of the batch was supposed to be three months. It was extended to one more month as there was no supply often as the centre is located in rural areas which suffer from interrupted power supplies. This apart, the course combining the basic course (DCA) & Desk Top Publishing usually lasts 6 months. We tried to finish it within three to four months, which we now realized that it is not practically possible. In this regard, we request the donor organizations to extend the course duration to 6 months. That means, we have to give some extra training sessions to these passed out trainees so that they are equipped well for competing successfully and obtain gainful placements.

The 2nd batch of 32 students (21 girls & 11 boys) started on 1st November 2008 and it still continues – in four slots.

We are planning to start one more slot from 4pm to 6 pm to provide additional inputs to first batch of students.
 

Tailoring Centre

The first batch started in a rented room with 18 trainees, all women from Yanadi colony and neighbouring Dalit colony. The course duration is for 6 months. The tailoring teacher is paid a very minimum salary of Rs.750/- which is to be raised to at least Rs.1,000/-. The room is rent is Rs.500/- per month, excluding electricity charges.

Education Scholarships
During the present academic year 2008-09, altogether 21 students (19 females & 2 males) were given scholarships, especially to pursue higher education – B.Sc. Nursing; General Nursing, Medical Lab Technology, Graduation, etc. Out of 21, 9 are old students who were allotted one more year of education scholarships. Out of the sanctioned amount of Rs.190,500/-, Rs.121,500/- has already been released. The remaining amount of Rs.69,000/- will be released in the coming two months.
(Please see the List of Students & Skills Trainees in the Annexure)

Quarterly Meeting
Quarterly meetings of the students and skills trainees were held to take stock of the situation, where current issues were discussed, gap areas identified and Action Plan drawn to address them. During these meetings, the account of Change Foundation is also presented as part of building transparent and accountability mechanisms.

Family Get Together & Presentation of Accounts
Quarterly Meeting of Trainees, Scholarship Students and their Parents
 

Children’s Day Celebrated
Perhaps for the first time on 14th November Children’s Day was celebrated at Yanadi Colony, boosting the confidence and morale of the parents and children, which was very evident in their faces. Finally we have seen a ray hope in bringing some positive changes in their  minds.

First Children's Day Celebrations in Yanadi Colony -
Attended by the District Panchayath President,
Gram Panchayath President, Mandal Revenue Officer -
Yanadi Children with their Evening Tuition Centre Teacher -

Gap Areas

• The resignation of Mrs. Rama Devi, the Coordinator to take up another job, created a set back to certain extent in the implementation of the programme, especially the promotion and facilitation of Yanadi Women Self-Help Groups, follow-up of Education Scholarships, etc.) as she had build up contacts at the officials as well as with the people of the villages, especially of Yanadi colony, the primary target area. Of course, presently Mr. Elia fills the gap efficiently but he is not in a position to give full time as he works with another organization. We are on the look out for a new coordinator with experience and certain amount expertise to perform the tasks, but the difficulty is to find one as the rights candidates requires to be paid higher, a minimum of Rs.6,000/- to coordinate the present activities and to take up new tuition centres as originally envisaged.
   

• This year only a limited number of education scholarships were given. This is done purposely because we need time to study the socio-economic situations of the applicants.
   

• As noted elsewhere, the DCA cum DTP training has to be extended at least up to 6 months to cover all the topics and to provide enough time for the practical without which the trainees may not be able to compete with others and to fetch gainful employment opportunities.. There is also need for appointing a lab assistant in helping the trainees during practical sessions. Moreover, we need to buy at least two more computers so as to provide practical training to all the trainees on an equal and viable basis.
   

• Due to lack of full time coordinator, we could not launch skills training in Maggam Embroidery which has much scope in the local market.
  
   

Future Thrusts

• Appointing of a full time coordinator.
   

• Launching of three to four evening tuition centres as part of retaining children of the marginalized communities in regular schooling.
   

• Identifying and processing right candidates for Education Scholarships from the marginalized communities.
   

• Covering of all Yanadi women in the colony under Self-Help Groups, making them eligible for Government Sponsored loan from the Banks at subsidized rate of interest of 3% per annum.
   

• Motivate Yanadi parents to send their children regularly to school and to have hygienic family surroundings.
   

• Providing Career Guidance and Communication Skills to the Trainees and Education scholarship Students.
   

• Facilitating the target families to obtain ration cards, old age pension, widow pension, etc. from the respective Government Line Departments (which may in turn increase the extra income of the families and thus indirectly benefiting children).
   

• Awareness creation on HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases with special emphasis on Tuberculosis and Malaria, especially among the youth.

Thanks a Lot!!!
We at Change Foundation take this opportunity to thank primarily the Posielek Stiftung and Menschwerdung Christi Parish, Nürnberg, Germany. We gratefully remember the activities undertaken on their behalf by the children of ‘Die Sternsinger’, H. Pfr. Thaddaeus Posilek and his parish community of Menschwerdung Christi Parish. We remember with gratitude the sacrifices the members and friends of Posielek Stiftung make to save money to support our activities, especially Mr. Joachim, Mrs. Joanna, Dr. Damian & Dr. Barbara and their family, Mr. Fabian and his family, Mr. Gerhard, his sons and their family members.

We also take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to our District Panchyath President & Gram Panchayath Present, Ward members, all the village elders, especially Mr D. Elia and Mr. James, for their whole hearted cooperation in all our humble ventures. We also thankfully remember Mrs. Rama Devi, the former Coordinator for her efforts to launch ‘Change programme’ in Yanadi colony at Tadepalli. Last but not least, we thank specially Apple Society as Legal Holder - its Board members, especially Mr. T. Nagaraj, the President and Mr. Ramesh, the Secretary - for channelling funds to ‘Change Programme’ being implemented by Change Foundation.

Thank U Dear Posielek Family Foundation Members !!!