The primary aim of the Yuvajyothi Children’s Home (YCH) is the care and protection of children in disadvantaged situations from abuse, exploitation and violence and provides them with a protective environment for a dignified living and integral development. All the activities implemented during the year were to ensure integral health of the children, to strengthen their psycho-social skills, promotion of main stream formal education, building their capacity for the reintegration into the family and society and build their skills for their sustainable livelihood. There were a total of 49 children under the care of YCH. Thirty eight boys lived in YCH and six girls were sponsored for the living and formal education and four boys and a girl were sponsored for the education. YCH provided accommodation, food, clothing, health and hygiene facilities, counselling, recreation, sports, education, tuitions, celebration of festivals, picnics, exposures, vocational training and livelihood opportunities.  We wish to thank the Dare2Dream Foundation Inc, South Australia and all the donors for partnering in giving the YCH children a dignified living and a platform for sound development. The activities of YCH are illustrated below.

 

Education

Forty nine children under the care of YCH went to six different schools in the city. They were provided with special coaching for their respective subjects. The volunteers from Make A Difference took special effort in supporting the boys for English, Maths and Science subjects. All the children performed satisfactorily in their respective classes. Six children achieved A1 grade ((90-100%), 4 of them achieved A2 grade (80-90%), 10 of them achieved B1 grade (70-80%), 11 of them achieved B2 grade (60-70%) and 18 of them achieved C1 grade (50-60%). Most of the children also took active participation in the extracurricular activities in the schools like sports, karate, painting, debate, essay writing and cultural activities. Nine children won medals and prizes. Children were provided with library facility and encouraged to develop the habit of reading books.

 

Sports and games

Sports was given a big push among the children as it kept their minds and bodies fresh, energetic and healthy and instilled team spirit in them. Children were informed about the importance of sports and games. Children played football, cricket, kabaddi and kho kho. All the YCH boys were registered with sports body named Kridaprobodini at the indoor stadium of Maharashtra Government for training in athletics and other sports. 10 boys participated in the district level athletic competitions. The children were also provided with carom boards, chess, snake and ladder, bingo and other indoor games.

 

Life Skill Education

A total of six life skill sessions were organized by the team for the children during the year. The sessions focused various life skills such as self awareness, relationships, social responsibility and cooperativeness, empathy and caring for others, communication, decision making, coping with emotions and stress and conflict resolution. The sessions were interactive with role plays, charts, power point presentations and movies. The children were found to have fair understanding of the skills. 

Ten adolescent boys participated in a 7 days life skill education camp organized by Samarpan organization in the month September 2014 based in Nagpur which also focused on critical and creative thinking, decision making, problem solving and handling emotions.

 

A half day training program was organized in the month of October 2014 for the adolescent children on sex and sexuality. The topics like secondary sex characteristics, attraction towards opposite sex, homosexuality, bed wetting, masturbation etc were dealt with. They were also sensitized about being responsible towards their sexuality to protect themselves from STDs and HIV infections.

 

Two life skill education sessions were conducted by the Make A Difference volunteers on goal setting and being responsible in the month of January 2015.

 

Picnics

YCH organized two picnics, one to High Land Park in the month of August 2014 and another to Rama dam at Bhorkedi in the month of February 2015. These were the occasions to relax and refresh. Children enjoyed the ground and water games, singing, sweets, food and snacks. 

 

Exposures

Some of the children of YCH visited a radio station named Radio Mirchi in the month of February 2014 and interacted with the personnel of the radio station. Their interview was aired by the Radio Mirchi.

YCH children participated in the painting competition and the rally organized by Nagpur CHILDLINE on Universal Children’s Day on 20th November 2014.

 

Dream Camp

The YCH children participated in a ‘three days’ adventure camp organized by Make A Difference in the month of January 2015. The sessions were conducted on the themes of beautiful you, river of life, arts challenge, dreams come true, anchors, self esteem quilt and included activities like cooking with limited resources, adventurous activities, face painting, zumba and aerobics and trekking. For children it was a great learning experience and an enjoyable event of the year.

Summer programs

The YCH team organized a ‘three weeks’ summer program for the children. The children underwent a well planned personal development oriented participative summer program. The summer program included meditation, athletic training, literacy classes, painting, dance classes, team building games, skill building activities and educational films. The children showed keen interest in all the activities.

 

Art of Living Camp

The YCH children participated in a ‘four days’ art of living camp organized by the Art of Living Foundation in Nagpur. The camp focused on the aspects of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being with wide-range of fun filled activities. The camp also emphasised on yoga, breathing exercises and vegetarian food. The children showed keen interest in all the activities. Day

 

Annual Day

The annual day of the organization was celebrated in YCH on the 8th of December 2014. The YCH children staged a number of dances, songs and a short play signifying the importance and dignity of girl child. It was an excellent forum for the children to exhibit their talents, interact with the over 200 guests and enjoy the day.

Bal Mela (Children’s Festival)

 

The YCH children participated in the children’s festival organized by the organization in the month of December 2014 which had the participation of over 400 children from the target communities of the organization at Seminary Hill, Nagpur. It was a platform for the children to gain self-confidence, express themselves and have a day full of fun with educational film, pictorial informative stalls on child rights, health and hygiene. Children played free of cost games in the games stalls, won prizes. The YCH children staged dances and a short play on girl child.

 

Volunteers

Over 40 volunteers from Make A Difference, Social work colleges and Pilar Niketan visited the children every week during the year and conducted various activities like coaching classes, skill building, sports and singing.

 

Eleven students and four teachers of St. Dominic’s Priory College, South Australia spent a about a week with YCH children, giving them a fun filled week with games and other activities, making them feel  respected and touching their lives.

Four students from the Saphir college of Social Work, Israel spent six days with the children and taught them the steps to realize their dreams.

 

A lady student from the Don Bosco Institute of Social Work and a student from Hindi Maha Vidyalay were placed in YCH for a month as part of their block placement in the month of May 2014.

 

Conclusion

Helping children grow is not an easy task as they need role models. The YCH appreciates the commitment and dedication of the team who made available their services and expertise selflessly. The contribution of all the teachers in different schools and volunteers is remarkable. The YCH acknowledges and appreciates the contributions of all the donors, well wishers and friends in building the precious lives of the children in disadvantaged situations.