VELLORE - ITS RURAL AND TRIBAL PALCES

GUYS WE HAVE BEEN ANALYZING VELLORE - " THE FORT CITY " IN TAMILNADU, INDIA, FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS WE HAVE GOT LOTS N LOTS OF FUN FILLED DREADFUL EXPERIENCES. WE HAD THE HELP OF A FEW EXPERTISE FROM SEBS INDIA TO ASSIST US NAMELY MIC OSTIN A VERY COURAGEOUS AND OUTSTANDING GUY WHO WAS A VERY GOOD MOTIVATOR FOR US AND ANUP ALSO WAS MOTIVATING US A LOT.WE VISITED TWO SCHOOLS AND TWO HOMES HERE IN VELLORE. THE OBSERVATIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS :

1) UNION GOVERNMENT HIGH SCHOOL, VELLORE

THE BUILDING WAS IN THE SHAPE OF A RECTANGLE OPEN AT ONE OF ITS BREATH. THE SCHOOL WAS ONLY ONE BUILDING WHICH HAD A GROUND FLOOR AND A FIRST.THERE WERE A TOTAL OF 12 ROOMS OF WHICH ONE WAS EMPTY ONE WAS HEAD MISTRESS ROOM AND THE REST 10 ROOMS WERE CLASS ROOMS FOR STUDENTS OF CLASSES 1 - 10.THERE WERE SIX TEACHERS IN THE SCHOOL TOTALLY INCLUDING THE HEAD MISTRESS SO THERE WERE COMBINED CLASSES 1ST AND 2ND STANDARD KIDS WERE GROUPED UNDER ONE TEACHER THE REST OF THE CLASSES WERE ALSO BEING MANAGED BY THESE 6 TEACHERS ONLY.AS PER THE STUDENTS GENERAL REPORT 5 OF THESE 6 TEACHERS WERE EITHER TOO STRICT OR DIDNT KNOW TO TEACH PROPERLY ONLY ONE TEACHER WAS GOOD.THE RESULT OF THIS IS A 7TH CLASS GIRL RANI WAS NOT EVEN ABLE TO READ IN TAMIL(IT WAS HER MOTHER TONGUE AND WAS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IN THE SCHOOL) THE STUDENTS WERE AT ZERO LEVEL IN COMMON ENGLISH.THOSE STUDENTS HAVE TO BE GIVEN A LOT MORE CARE AND A MINIMUM OF 4 MORE TEACHERS HAVE TO BE PUT UP THERE.

2) KINGS MATRIC HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL,KASAM,VELLORE

THIS SCHOOL WAS A LOT MORE BETTER THAN THE OTHER SCHOOL THEIR BASIC ENGLISH WAS GOOD AND THE STUDENTS HAD MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE.THE SCHOOL ALSO HAD A HOME FOR THE CHILDREN AND THESE KIDS WERE ALSO SEND TO THE SAME SCHOOL BUT THESE KIDS WERE SEEN WITH A DIFFERENT KIND OF LOOK AS THEY DIDN'T HAVE PARENTS THAT WAS A VERY SAD PART OF THE SCHOOL.OTHER THAN THAT THE COMPUTER KNOWLEDGE WAS VERY BAD AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE A BASIC PAPER PRESENTATION SKILL'S.THEIR ENGLISH CAN ALSO BE IMPROVED A BIT.

3) ST.PETERS HOME,GUDIYATHAM,VELLORE


THIS WAS A HOME FOR 23 KIDS BOTH BOYS AND GIRLS 10 WERE STAYING THERE REST 13 WERE FROM NEARBY VILLAGES.THESE KIDS WERE GIVEN GOOD EDUCATION BY THE FOUNDER REV.BRO.SAMUEL.HE AND HIS WIFE WERE TAKING CARE OF THE KIDS AND THE KIDS WERE FROM 2ND TILL 9TH THIS WAS THE HARDEST PART SINCE WE WILL SURELY NOT BE ABLE TO CONCENTRATE ON THE WHOLE SET OF STUDENTS AS THEY WERE RANGING BETWEEN A LARGE GROUP OF KIDS OF VERY LESSER STANDARDS THE BEST THAT CAN BE DONE IS WE CAN DO MONETARY FUNDING'S AND TEACH THEM ENGLISH FOR NOW.ALSO IT IS A LONG TRAVEL TO THE PLACE SO WE ARE STILL IN A OSCILLATION ABOUT TAKING ANY DECISIONS YET.



4) GOVERNMENT HIGH SCHOOL, ASSANAMPET, VELLORE


THIS WAS MUCH MORE INTERIOR PART OF VELLORE IT TOO US 2 AND A HALF HOUR BY BUS.BUT THIS PLACE DRAW OUR MOST ATTENTION BECAUSE WE HAD THE TEACHERS AND THE STUDENTS  AND EVEN THE PARENTS AND THE COMMUNITY WERE HAPPY AND THEY ARE READY TO DO ANYTHING IF WE ARE GOING THERE WEEKLY. THERE WE HAVE TO START FROM THE BASIC ENGLISH AS THEY ARE WEEK IN ENGLISH FULLY THEY ARE WELL MOTIVATED AND THEY WISH FOR LEARNING SOMETHING VALUABLE.THE SCHOOL AGREED TO PROVIDE A ROOM AND TO INFORM ABOUT OUR WISH IN THEIR PRAYER IF WE ARE SURE TO COME THERE EVERY WEEKENDS.

OUR LINK WITH OTHER GROUPS

DEAR FRIENDS,

WE ARE HAPPY TO TELL U THAT TWO GROUPS NAMELY:

1) UDDESHYA - http://www.facebook.com/In.Uddeshya

ARE A GROUP WHICH IS REALLY DOING A HATS OFF JOB ON HIV/AIDS AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE.

THEIR STATEMENT IS AS FOLLOWS :

We , as a group of people are now embarking on a journey - a journey which will ensure that the knowledge that we have , does not remain within us, but is imparted to everyone - to everyone in need of it-just like Margaret Fuller rightly said - 'if you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it' Impartingknowledge in the context of 'Uddeshya' means making youngsters aware about the harms of substance abuse , making them aware about HIV/AIDS , telling them how to deal with peer pressure and bullying and addressing all the queries that these youngsters have . In essence , we are equipping them with life skills to deal with such issues. We,therefore , shall be conducting workshops in schools about the issues that are mentioned above to ensure that the youth today do not not fall into the trap of deadly infections like HIV and deadly obsessions like doing drugs and consuming alcohol and subsequently indulging in risky behaviour. Through our organization we aim not just to ensure that we guide the youth today in the right direction but to also ensure that the knowledge imparted to them does not stay confined to them- they too share it with others- either by joining hands with us or doing it at their own personal level ( it may even be as simple as telling the kids of your servants, drivers about what you learn) We shall not keep our work boundary defined to just schools and colleges but to orphanages and rural areas as well. All workshops conducted by'Uddeshya' will be absolutely free of cost. We are doing this because we feel that it is our duty as the youth and as citizens of our nation to ensure that lives of people are not ruined because of lack of awareness and those who fall prey to infections like HIV are not discriminated against. How can we enjoy our lives when those of others are getting ruined ? Since we today have resources which can be used for making the youth aware and since we are dedicated to our cause , why should we not go ahead improving the lives of others ? After all , its good to know that we are helping making better the lives of other people perhaps saving lives as well and sensitizing others towards how those who were unfortunate enough to fall prey to killers like HIV should be treated. We hope for your dedicated and enthusiastic involvement as well. You are welcome to join hands with us and help make a difference in the lives of others ! Come lets make a difference !


2 ) MAD - Make A Difference http://makeadiff.in/

A GROUP WHO ARE VERY MUCH INTERESTED AND ARE GIVING GREAT EDUCATION TO A FEW HOMES AND ORPHANAGES IN INDIA :


THEIR STATEMENT IS :

The Make A Difference project was initiated by a few of us in our second year of college when we saw a large disparity in the way rich and the poor learned. We realized that the system created a gap from the very early years of a child’s life and as time passed by, the gap only increased. We saw a huge untapped resource amongst us youngsters who if provided the right platform were capable of bridging the gap. Hence 20 of us in the city of cochin founded Make a Difference with a vision “To bridge the inequality in society through education.”

India has one of the highest drop out rates in the world. Even though over 70% of our children enroll for primary education, 72% of them would have dropped out by the time they reach standard 10. But being first generation learners, education is most critical for this 72%.

In Make a Difference, we currently focus on India’s urban underprivileged, particularly children in street shelters, orphanages, and poor homes. Our children are street smart, intelligent and mature. Yet hardly any of them get the opportunity to continue their education after 10th. This is primarily due to two reasons.

First is the lack of financial support. Most children are taken care of only till the age of 15, after which they are on their own. The education they receive till then is very generic and provides them with no specific skills, which forces them into doing menial jobs for a living.

Second, and more important reason why even the children who are sponsored cant cope up is the lack of quality education. Our children go to schools where the medium of instruction is in the vernacular language till 10th. But after 10th, the medium is compulsorily in English and most jobs have English language proficiency as one of its basic requirement. Hence even if we are able to sponsor students with good scores for higher education they are unable to cope. The bridge here is the English language.

Our aim is to ensure the underprivileged children are brought into the main stream so they can chose their careers based on their potential and interests and not their financial constraints.

Our English course is a five level program of 100 hours each. Every year our children go through 56 interactive classes of two hour duration. By the end of the 5th level the child’s communication skills will be at par with a private school student. We have an active placements program that runs side by side to keep the children aware of their career options and keep them motivated to study harder. We have initiated our computer program in Cochin where we have computers in the ratio 6:1 installed in every centre which means every child will get half an hour of computer class every day.

Our aim is to ensure a 100% retention rate in Indian schools. Currently we work in 11 districts in India with over 800 volunteers, teaching 2500 children. We plan to reach out to 10,000 children in the coming year.

BOTH ARE PRESENTLY WORKING IN OUR COLLEGE HAVE EXTENDED THEIR SUPPORT FOR US ALSO I SINCERELY THANK THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS FOR SUPPORTING US AND AGREEING TO HELP US IN OUR QUEST TO MAKE A BETTER INDIA.......

• SIDDHARTH SINHA AND OTHER MEMBERS OF UDDESHYA
• DEEPTI AND HER GROUP OF MAD

WE HEARTILY THANK U GUYS FOR YOUR CONSTANT SUPPORT AND INSPIRATION

                                                         THANKING U

                              TO MAKE A BETTER INDIA AND A BETTER WORLD

ORPHANS AROUND THE WORLD

These are the most recent and reliable statistics on the global orphan situation.

• The most recent estimate is that there are approximately 145 million orphans in the world (UNICEF 2008). For this number, an orphan is defined as a child who has lost one or both parents.

• More than 15 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, over 11.6 million of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa.

• In 2007 67.5 million Children in South Asia and East Asia had lost one or both parents due to all causes.

• Included in the 2008 estimate of 145 million orphans are more than 92 million that have a surviving mother—-with whom they most likely live.
• Another 38 million have a surviving father.

• The UNICEF orphan numbers DON’T include abandonment (millions of children) as well as sold and/or trafficked children.

• The UNICEF orphan numbers DON’T include many non-reporting nations (namely, Middle Eastern Islamic nations) where shame and divorce abandonment are rampant. 200,000 + orphans in Iraq, for instance, are not part of the count.

• We are looking at a number quite higher than 15 million “double orphans.” Best guess is somewhere around 40 or 50 million.

• According to data released in 2003 as many as eight million boys and girls around the world live in institutional care. Some studies have found that violence in residential institutions is six times higher than violence in foster care, and that children in group care are almost four times more likely to experience sexual abuse than children in family based care.

• As of 2002 in Europe and Central Asia, over one million children lived in residential institutions.

• Worldwide an estimated 300 million children are subjected to violence, exploitation and abuse, including the worst forms of child labour in communities, schools and institutions, during armed conflict, and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation/cutting and child marriage.

• In the US there are approximately 500,000 children in foster care (Based on data submitted by states as of January 16, 2008)

• 130,000 of those children in foster care are waiting and available for adoption. Children waiting to be adopted include children with a goal of adoption and/or whose parental rights have been terminated. Children whose parental rights have been terminated, who are 16 years old and older, and who have a goal of emancipation are excluded from the “waiting” population. An individual child is included in the count for each year that he or she has these characteristics on the last day of the year.

• Approximately 51,000 children are adopted from the foster system each year.

• That leaves 79,000 children annually in the US needing an adoptive family.

• Each year, an estimated 20,000 young people “age out” of the U.S. foster care system. Many are only 18 years old and still need support and services. Several foster care alumni studies show that without a lifelong connection to a caring adult, these older youth are often left vulnerable to a host of adverse situations:

Outcomes
Earned a high school diploma         54%
Obtained a Bachelor’s degree or higher     2%
Became a parent                 84%
Were unemployed                 51%
Had no health insurance             30%
Had been homeless                 25%
Were receiving public assistance         30%

THIS WAS THE REAL STORY WHICH WANTED US TO HELP THESE KIND OF GIRLS

I am only 16 years old. I have been Beaten & torn raped & abused . My mother was a very bad drug addict. My dad was an alcoholic . I was beaten by my mother and raped by my dad for 7 years of my life. I was taken out if that home and placed from foster home to foster home. I finally landed with the people I now call my parents. Life should be great right? No I can never seem to make anyone happy I feel like such a failure. I try cutting myself. I've tried killing my self I could never go through with it. I
To the point where I truly don't care anymore I have no where to turn and no one to talk to. I'm all alone and I put on a fake smile and act like everything is OK . Inside I'm dying and torn apart inside . I pray God take me away from this world soon I can't handle this. I'm so alone and lost.


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PEOPLE WHO REALLY WANT TO HELP US PLEASE CONTACT US TO :


lovingangels2011@gmail.com