CINI ASHA
Calcutta, West Bengal
Calcutta, West Bengal
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CINI ASHA
Calcutta, West Bengal |
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Organization DescriptionCINI Asha is the urban unit of Child In Need Institute (CINI). CINI is a non-governmental organization founded in 1974 by Dr. S. N. Chaudhuri, a paediatrician. CINI mainly focuses on improving children's health in the rural areas of West Bengal. CINI Asha was established in 1989 with a mission "To improve the quality of life of the socially disadvantaged children living in the urban areas through education, health and social mobilisation." CINI Asha works to bring children abandoned on the streets, slum dwellers, children of sex workers and child labourers into school and to provide jobs for these children after graduating from school. In addition, CINI Asha works towards spreading awareness of the problems and issues facing street children among the middle class urban population, and also increase awareness of violence towards girls and women, and the dangers of HIV and AIDS.http://www.cini-india.org/ Project DescriptionThe first step in the process to restore some semblance of a normal childhood is to establish trust between the children and the staff and volunteers of CINI ASHA. For this purpose, about thirty drop-in centers have been established close to places where street children congregate (such as Sealdah Station and near Park Avenue in Central Calcutta). Each such center caters to about 50 children. The children are encouraged to come in and feel at home, and are provided a warm and supportive atmosphere. These centers are meant to be a safe environment for children while they make the transition to regular school goers. As an incentive to drop in, the children are provided with individual lockers. It sometimes takes two years for children to learn to trust the staff at these centers. After trust is established, children are given literacy classes and counseling, and are coached to the point where they can enter schools at a level roughly commensurate with their ages. CINI ASHA interfaces with major schools in Calcutta to sensitize them to the special needs of the street children that they receive. It also runs six coaching centers where children enrolled in school are tutored. CINI ASHA also provides a placement service for these children after they graduate from school.Tijala, on the eastern fringes of Calcutta has around 2000 children who are out of schools. Preparatory centers for 900 children have already been set up with the support of the community. Asha is providing funds for additional educational aids, teachers' salary and community sensitization programs which will support a new drop-in center. The goal is to get the remaining 1100 children (who are either engaged in labor or are just spending time out of school) into school. Type of EducationPreparatory: children are coached to the point where they can enter schools at a level roughly commensurate with their ages.PhotosNewsArticle in India Currents: written by Prof. Sethuraman |
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