12,000 sq ft of built-up area with 15 well ventilated, natural light class-rooms, full-fledged computer and science labs, well maintained library, restrooms, staff rooms, an inbuilt auditorium, a medical / sick room and a huge basement are a few of the advances that our school has gone through to give these children an education that will assist them in their journey of life.

This beautiful building successfully came together under the able leadership of Mr. A S Murali, our Administrator (who is an Engineer by profession) who supervised the construction and worked overtime to see that he met the deadline of 30th November, 2009 for the completion of this project that would touch the lives of many children.

We are also truly indebted to The World Servants Netherlands, who contributed enthusiastically and generously to the building with funds, time and labour. 108 Dutch men and women in three different teams worked hard in raising the walls of the school building, once again bringing hope to our children that people all around the world do care.  We are truly thankful to each one of them who have taken time off, sacrificing their vacations to support the ongoing work of YuvaLok.

On Dec 4th, 2009 the New School building was christened “YuvaLok Riha Community School” and dedicated  by

Mr. Marty Caldwell, Vice President, YoungLife International, USA.

On 11th Dec, 2009 Mr. K Subramanya, CEO, TATA BP Solar India Limited, inaugurated the New School Building.  Mr. D Guru, CFO and Company Secretary and Mrs Anuradha Mysoremath, Leader (TATA BP SOLAR’s CSR Team  ‘Community Delight’) along with some staff were present on this special occasion.

It is a blessing just to see the delight and gladness that emerges from these children when they come each day to school knowing that this environment provides a strong foundation for them to take the first step into the present challenging world.

In all this, we are eternally grateful to God for His providence for the construction of the building through various organizations, friends and well wishers.

Our sincere thanks go out to all the donors who contributed financially and in kind.  The building would not have been completed without your support.

The right environment is exactly what we at YuvaLok strive to provide for the children at the Riha Community School which is at par with any progressive school of today.

12,000 sq ft of built-up area with 15 well ventilated, naturally lit class-rooms, full-fledged computer and science labs, well maintained library, restrooms, staff rooms, an inbuilt auditorium, a medical / sick room, prayer room and a huge basement are few of the advances in infrastructure that our school has gone through to give these children an education.

This beautiful building successfully came together under the able leadership of Mr. A S Murali, our Administrator (who is an engineer by profession), who supervised the construction and worked overtime to see that he met the deadline of 30^th November, 2009 for the completion of this project that would touch the lives of many children.

We are also truly indebted to The World Servants Netherlands, who contributed enthusiastically and generously to the building with funds, time and labour. 108 Dutch men and women in three different teams worked hard to raise the walls of the school building, once again bringing hope to our children that people all around the world do care.  We are truly thankful to each one of them who have taken time off, sacrificing their vacations to support the ongoing work of YuvaLok.

On Dec 4^th, 2009 the New School building was christened “YuvaLok Riha Community School” and dedicated by Mr. Marty Caldwell, Vice President, Young Life International, USA.

On 11^th Dec, 2009 Mr. K Subramanya, CEO, TATA BP Solar India Limited, inaugurated the New School Building. Mr. D Guru, CFO & Company Secretary and Mrs Anuradha Mysoremath, Leader (TATA BP SOLAR’s CSR Team – Community Delight) along with some staff were present at this special occasion.

It is a blessing to see the delight and gladness in these children when they come each day to school knowing that this environment provides a strong foundation for them to take the first step into this challenging world.

In all this, we are eternally grateful to God for His providence for the construction of the building through various organizations, friends and well wishers.

Our sincere thanks go out to all the donors who contributed financially and in kind.  The building would not have been completed without your support.

]]> http://yuvalok.org/news2/feed/ 0 http://yuvalok.org/anna-vahin/ http://yuvalok.org/anna-vahin/#comments Mon, 20 Dec 2010 12:08:04 +0000 admin http://yuvalok.org/yuvalok/?p=64 Continue reading →]]> YuvaLok’s Nutrition and Health Program “The YuvaLok mid-day-meal program is the first in the country to provide nutritionally balanced calorie counted and fortified mid-day-meal to the most needy children.  It is highly commendable nutrition intervention program worthy of being emulated by all mid-day-meal programs in the country.  Only with this qualitative approach we will be able to break the back of mounting child malnutrition in the country”.  Mr. K.C. Raghu, Managing Director,  Pristine Organics Pvt Ltd. (YuvaLok’s Diet Advisor and Consultant).

What is a school for the underprivileged, without a proper meal?  YuvaLok took the challenge of meeting this vital need through its Anna Vahini Project.  MTCF (Mother Theresa’s Children Fund) donated a vehicle specially equipped with Stainless Steel racks and containers to transport food while YuvaLok centralized its kitchen so as to cater to a maximum capacity of 3000 meals a day.

The project was formally launched on September 01, 2007 by Mr. EAS Prasanna, India’s famous cricketer of yester years.

‘Winning they back to School healthier’ that’s our base line for this project.  1/3^rd of the nutritional needs required by a child in a single day is met by a single meal.  From 350 meals a day in 2007, today over 1000 meals is being served through this project.   This project offers excellent partnership potential.  YuvaLok is open to the idea of either a corporate or individual partnership so that more children can benefit from this program.

The right environment is exactly what we at YuvaLok strive to provide for the children at the Riha Community School which is at par with any progressive school of today.

12,000 sq ft of built-up area with 15 well ventilated, naturally lit class-rooms, full-fledged computer and science labs, well maintained library, restrooms, staff rooms, an inbuilt auditorium, a medical / sick room, prayer room and a huge basement are few of the advances in infrastructure that our school has gone through to give these children an education.

This beautiful building successfully came together under the able leadership of Mr. A S Murali, our Administrator (who is an engineer by profession), who supervised the construction and worked overtime to see that he met the deadline of 30^th November, 2009 for the completion of this project that would touch the lives of many children.

We are also truly indebted to The World Servants Netherlands, who contributed enthusiastically and generously to the building with funds, time and labour. 108 Dutch men and women in three different teams worked hard to raise the walls of the school building, once again bringing hope to our children that people all around the world do care.  We are truly thankful to each one of them who have taken time off, sacrificing their vacations to support the ongoing work of YuvaLok.

On Dec 4^th, 2009 the New School building was christened “YuvaLok Riha Community School” and dedicated by Mr. Marty Caldwell, Vice President, Young Life International, USA.

On 11^th Dec, 2009 Mr. K Subramanya, CEO, TATA BP Solar India Limited, inaugurated the New School Building. Mr. D Guru, CFO & Company Secretary and Mrs Anuradha Mysoremath, Leader (TATA BP SOLAR’s CSR Team – Community Delight) along with some staff were present at this special occasion.

It is a blessing to see the delight and gladness in these children when they come each day to school knowing that this environment provides a strong foundation for them to take the first step into this challenging world.

In all this, we are eternally grateful to God for His providence for the construction of the building through various organizations, friends and well wishers.

Our sincere thanks go out to all the donors who contributed financially and in kind.  The building would not have been completed without your support.

At YuvaLok Vidya Vahini School, Kannur, we have the opportunity to play a part in the lives of children who are the first generation of school goers.  The parents feel an immense sense of pride that their children can use their mind and intelligence to grow and develop.  90 children are on the rolls and their parents either  work at a nearby quarry or cement hollow / solid block factories.  These children enjoy every moment of being part of the learning experience at school.

This school has the support of the local Village Panchayat and its leaders.  It is also supported by TARGET-USA, an MNC that saw the worth in investing in the lives of these children.

At present we have LKG, UKG, 1^st Standard and 2^nd Standard.  In the next 5 years we plan to expand it to the 7^th Standard.

WHAT IS CHILD LABOUR?

‘Child labor’ is a term which means ‘working child’ or ‘employed child’. ‘Child labor’ is any work done by a child for profit. It translates into child exploitation and inhumanity according to sociologists, development workers, medical professionals and educationists. Child labour has been identified as being harmful and hazardous to a child’s developmental needs, both mental and physical. “Failure comes only when we forget our ideals, objectives and principles.” “It is only too easy to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say.” Both the quotes mentioned above are by Jawaharlal Nehru. He must have made the quotes in a different context but it still does hold good in relation to child labour also. The society as a whole, the nation as a whole, our political class, our elected representatives, our laws and bills, everything has failed miserably when it comes to child labour. We all seem to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say.

CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA

Some of the common causes of child labor are poverty, over population, parental illiteracy, social apathy, ignorance, lack of education and exposure; exploitation of cheap and unorganized labor etc. Parents are forced to send little children into hazardous jobs for reasons of survival, even when they know it is wrong. Monetary constraints and the need for food, shelter and clothing drives their children in the trap of premature labor. Over population in some regions creates paucity of resources. When there are limited means and more mouths to feed, children are driven to commercial activities and their development needs  are not provided for. This is the case in most Asian and African countries.

Illiterate and ignorant parents do not understand the need for wholesome proper physical, cognitive and emotional development of their child. They are themselves uneducated and unexposed, so they don’t realize the importance of education for their children. Apart from this, the other major cause is that child labour has become an accepted norm in most parts of our country. Sociologists, NGO’s, medical professionals and educationists have all identified child labor as harmful and hazardous to the child’s development needs, both mental and physical. Sometimes it is the family practice to pass on traditional skills to the children. This also pulls little ones into the trap of child labor, as they never get the opportunity to learn anything else. Absence of compulsory education at the primary level, parental ignorance regarding the ill effects of child labor, the redundant child labour laws in terms of implementation, non availability and non accessibility of schools, boring and impractical school curriculum and cheap child labor are some other factors which encourage child labor. Adult unemployment and urbanization also causes child labor.

PREVALANCE OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA

How often does a person think of what goes into making those shimmering sarees or dresses where there is elaborate use of zardosi and other hand embroidery? Behind all that sheen and shimmer of the evening wear of the cocktail circuits lie the harsh reality of child labour. Child labour is prevalent in home-based manufacturing work like embroidery and zardosi. Small units are set up in the crowded bylanes where children are engaged in this handmade embroidery work. Tiny hands are perfect tools for the carpet industry. Child labour is cheap and hence factory owners find it more beneficial to employ children. This exploitation is particularly visible in garment factories of urban areas. Adult exploitation of children is also seen in many places. For instance, begging which is an organized syndicate. Some of these issues have come into focus recently. Thanks to the sensitive films which have been made in the recent years. Now people are at least aware of the existence of the begging mafia. Hundreds and thousands of children are toiling as bonded labor in India’s silk industry, beedi units, cracker industry, construction business, etc and the government has done precious little to protect their rights. Indian sweet shops and hotels are notorious for profiting from child labor. These shops use small and vulnerable children in the manufacturing process. Children as young as eleven and thirteen toil in these shops for hours on end and suffer from exertion and fatigue. They have no fixed working hours, no proper food, and are constantly threatened by the owners and are deprived of their childhood. Children are also sexually exploited by the owners. But as always, their cries are muffled and just die a natural death in the din of the chaos that prevails around them.

STOP CHILD LABOUR

“WE CAN. WE MUST. WE WILL.” It is urgently required to save our children from the murderous clutches of social injustice and educational deprivation. We must ensure that they are given opportunities for healthy, normal and happy growth because the future of a community is in the well being of its children. Going back to Nehru’s quotes “Failure comes only when we forget our ideals and objectives and principles.” “It is only too easy to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say.”

At YuvaLok we are doing our part.  Over 35% of our children have been rescued from child labour.  Today they are on the road to a bright future.  They can hold their heads high looking at the opportunity that is there before them with dignity.

So let’s not forget our ideals and objectives and principles. And let’s not make suggestions and later forget them. Our children are our future. Let us remain united and take a stand for this genuine cause. Save our children. Save our planet and save our future generations. Like the saying goes, “we have not inherited our planet from our forefathers, but borrowed it from our children.” So let us think ahead and act today to save tomorrow.