VATSALYA
Dear Friend,
Vatsalya is now 8 years old. In 2000 when we began, we had some dreams as our assets. Some of those dreams have become a pleasant reality today. The most wonderful accomplishment of Vatsalya is its ever-expanding family. We have friends and partners in different parts of the globe – Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, UK and the USA. And of course, the generous and warm Indian community is always there for us! Wise and thoughtful people from all these places help us in implementing and strengthening our programs.
We work towards the holistic development of ourselves not only as individuals but also as an institution. The organization has very high standards for performance, strict work ethics and sensitivity as the most basic requirements to be followed in all our activities and programs. We imbibe the sentiments and thoughts of Guru Ravindra Nath Tagore, who said:
“According to the true Indian view, the highest purpose of this world
is not merely living in it, knowing it and making use of it,
but realizing our own selves in it through expansion of sympathy;
not alienating ourselves from it and dominating it,
but comprehending and uniting it with ourselves in perfect union”
In the pages that follow, we will take you through our journey in the year 2008. The year 2009 we hope will bring happiness and fulfillment to your life. We hope too that you will be able to find peace in whatever your endeavors and aspirations are. Please let us know if we can in any way assist you or partner with you in making your dreams come true.
With warm regards and best wishes,
Jaimala & Hitesh
Vatsalya
Annual Report: 2008
Our Child Welfare Programs
Vatsalya has the following welfare programs for children:
- Udayan; Vatsalya's Residential Care Program for Orphaned & abandoned children
- Medhaavi; Vatsalya’s Scholastic support program for talented children
- Samvedna; Vatsalya's Health care program for street children
- Upaarjan; Vatsalya's Vocational Training Program for children
- Parivaar; Vatsalya’s Repatriation and Foster Care program
- Jagriti; Vatsalya’s awareness generation program for street children
Udayan
Our Residential Child Care program Udayan for orphaned and abandoned children completed six years of existence in September 2008. During these years, we have enjoyed serving the children and sharing their journey as they grew with us. At Udayan, while our efforts are to provide them with a safe, healthy and enabling atmosphere, we also focus on their all-round personality development. At the time we find and pick up children from the streets, they have a very hostile and negative attitude towards society. They also tend to believe that they are victims of an evil destiny and have no future in the abusive adult world. We invest in changing this mindset, because having a positive attitude is an essential prerequisite to moving towards a successful and happy future. We use various methods to help them transform themselves into positive-thinking, forward-looking, happy young individuals. Our intensive focus is on Yoga, Art Therapy, Animal Assisted Psycho-therapy, Sports, exposure to Literature and Science, the development of skills, and Counseling. In Yoga, we focus on self-restraint, life-regulating moral rules and observances, fixing the mind on the Supreme and absorption of Self. In Art Therapy, we use Music, Dance, Creative Art-work and Story-telling. In Animal-Assisted Psycho-therapy, we have used horses, dogs, cows and rabbits. Massage Therapy is a combination of Acupressure and Reiki. Counseling is primarily based on listening and is absolutely devoid of preaching and arguing. Sports are played and promoted generously whilethe development of skills helps children discover their true talents. At Udayan, our basic focus is on making children happy, as once they are in that state, what is desirable becomes inevitable.
Medhaavi
We felt a need to restructure our outreach services for street children as not only the number of children we have covered has increased considerably, but also the range of activities is varied. We needed to reorganize groups of beneficiary children so as to decide where the focus needed to be and to plan and divide our budgets appropriately. The outreach service now focuses on identifying the needs in the area of health, education, vocational training and so on. Our program to select academically talented children and provide them with all the needed support and facilities to attain higher goals is named Medhaavi. Vatsalya has identified some slum localities and holds regular classes there for children to impart primary education. The idea is to catch them young and encourage their parents to support their children in pursuing a promising future. Other recreational and sports activities are organized in these slums from time to time to identify talents in other areas as well with the purpose of nurturing their talents.
Samvedna
Samvedna (the new name for Karuna)is our medical and health care program for the Street Children of Jaipur. This is a mobile van, equipped with staff and other resources, that holds camps regularly in the slums of Jaipur. Almost 90% of the Street Children that are seen selling newspapers, incense sticks, etc., on the streets of Jaipur, come from these slums. They are neither orphaned nor abandoned, so they do not come within the purview of Udayan. Vatsalya holds health camps in the slums for these children. They are given medical treatment and health education during these camps. A good rapport has been developed with them which then helps us to counsel them and encourage them to work towards a better life. During these camps, we often also come across children who are in need of institutionalization. The children of abusive parents and from single-mother situations are identified during these camps. Other children who attend our health camps in these slums become our 'informers' and let us know wherever there is a child in need.
Upaarjan
Upaarjan is Vatsalya’s Vocational Training Program for children. This is a Sanskrit word, meaning 'earning' or 'livelihood'. Vatsalya has invested much in its vocational training program, bearing in mind that almost 70-80 % of our children will need to opt for some kind of skill-based vocation as soon as they are 15-16 years old. We believe in ensuring a future for them that is assured of possibilities, when it comes to living a life of independence and dignity. We want them to carry their jobs in their hands and not search for them in schemes launched by the government. We have a fully-operational bakery, a well-equipped tailoring unit, a carpentry unit, a dairy-farming unit, a vehicle-repair workshop and a computer training centre. Our agriculture wing is being strengthened gradually and is equipped with modern and traditional farming equipment. For the first few years, as we were trying to settle down, we kept these options limited to our children alone. Now that we have some experience and also skilled professionals to run the various courses, we have opened our doors to young boys and girls of nearby rural areas. We have also made it known to institutions in the state of Rajasthan that are working with children from the slums as well as those from rural populations. They are now sending children to Vatsalya in order to acquire vocational skills. We feel happy that more children now benefit from the infrastructure that was created primarily for the children living in Udayan. It will also be a good way for our children to socialize with children from outside Udayan and learn from them while sharing their knowledge with them.
Parivaar
Literally meaning ‘family’, Vatsalya’s Parivaar is basically its repatriation program redefined. You would agree that children belong to families and not institutions. Their first right is to be raised in a loving family atmosphere, ideally by two parents who share the responsibility to give a complete and happy childhood to them. Only when that is not possible, do we need to look for alternatives. Between a family and an institution,however, another possibility exists and Vatsalya strongly supports and promotes that possibility. In the case of situations such as a widowed mother, an absconding father, disabled parents, etc., we try to provide enabling resources to the parent/s, so that they not only can sustain themselves but also provide basic education and a nurturing home environment for their children. Similarly for those who are orphaned or abandoned, we find families who are willing to take them into their families and raise them along with their own children. Some financial support to such families is all that is required, but what the child gets in return is precious. Counseling and some financial support to these families spare the child the trauma of feeling abused, abandoned or having to seek refuge in an institution.
Jagriti
Jagriti, meaning ‘awareness’, is our program focused on spreading knowledge and awareness among Street Children regarding their rights. In India, the problem of illiteracy among the poor can be attributed more to the indifference of poor people towards education rather than the lack of educational facilities available. In India education up to the end of the primary cycle is absolutely free and then up to 10th Grade, the fee is nominal, about 250 Rs ($5-6) per year. Why would people not send their children to school, in spite of such a supportive system? Because firstly, the parents are unable to visualize the positive outcomes of educating their children and secondly, because children simply do not know that they are legally and constitutionally entitled to a healthy childhood including a quality education. The need is to tell them their rights and to remind their parents of their accountability. Vatsalya does that through its program named ‘Jagriti’. We constitute and hold Children’s Parliaments in slums. These are the groups of wise and brave children who stand up for themselves and speak up for their rights. They not only have chosen to get proper education but they also motivate slum-dwellers in other localities to send their children to school. These Children’s Parliaments meet once a month and discuss their progress and future plans under the guidance of Vatsalya personnel.
Below is the quantitative presentation of how much we have been able to accomplish in respect of our programs:
ProgramNumber of Children covered Time/Period
Udayan 942002-2008
Medhaavi322001-2008
Samvedna150242002-2008
Upaarjan1472006-2008
Parivaar3182002-2008
Jagriti1502007-2008
Our Health Programs
Vatsalya continues to work in the health area with government and non-government partners towards providing benefits to the deprived and vulnerable sections of society. At the same time, we have strengthened our Sancharan division to develop solutions by using Information Technology. The major projects under the Health Care Research and Training are broadly categorized under four heads:
• Health and Nutrition for Women and Children
• Sexually Transmitted Infections and Communicable Diseases
• Information Technology
• Training
Health &Nutrition for Women & Children
Health Resource Agency for the Fundamental Right to Health
In the last four years Vatsalya, with the support of CRY, has played a leading role in Rajasthan towards launching a campaign for the fundamental Right to Health. Currently, it has established partnerships with 20 NGOs and with the State-wide alliance called ‘Jan Morcha’. As part of the multi-pronged strategy Vatsalya has been doing primary and secondary data-collection for the last four years in the areas of Adolescent Health, Maternal and Child Health, Nutrition, Gender, Female Feticide and Infanticide, and traditional Birth Attendants. Health Expenditure data was collected with the involvement of all partner NGOs. Additionally, partner NGOs are maintaining an independent MIS with the help of the Village Health Monitoring Information System (VHMIS). Four years of meaningful association with CRY has now culminated in a mature partnership. The recent changes in the name and strategy of CRY (from ‘Child Relief and You’ to ‘Child Rights and You’) have resulted in a change in the approach of the Health Resource Agency. This partnership has started yielding the desired results and promises to have a long-lasting impact on the policy makers. This is done by addressing issues related to providing health-care on an equity basis, promoting Women and Child Rights to Health, with the ultimate aim of achieving the Right to Health for all.
Last year, a core committee of experts from health management, social work, gender, nutrition and demography was constituted to give direction to the project on a continuing basis. This year, during review meetings and in other forums, both CRY and Vatsalya expressed concern over the demoralizing sex-ratio in the north-western region of the State, especially Barmer and Jaisalmer, due to the prevalence of female infanticide in the region. Hence, it was decided that the HRA would conduct a research study on female infanticide in Barmer and regions adjoining Jaisalmer. The fieldwork for the study has been completed and some shocking results have been obtained. They reveal that the traditional ways of killing the girl child after birth, which were believed to have been discarded, still prevail in those societies and are being practiced tothis day. The organization plans to disseminate the report of the study on a large scale, to sensitize the Government and society in general against this cruel practice.
Vatsalya has had success in taking this intervention to the community through 15 partner NGOs working in approximately 200 remote villages. These partner NGOs are fully updated with the current government health programmes and schemes. All the community-based organisations are enabled to translate this into action. Simplifying schemes such as Panchamrit, Janani Surksha Yojna and the recently launched National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) helped in making early inroads into the intervention areas.
Larger issues such as Child Survival, Gender Discrimination, Maternal Health and Adolescent Healthare now effectively raised on various platforms, from the village to the state level. These issues are also shared with the State Alliance named Janmorcha, Rajasthan. Vatsalya is also working as the Janmorcha Regional Coordinator for the Jaipur region. Janmorcha is a group of activists who are working for the cause of social justice. Vatsalya also conducted a consultation with the media on “The Right to Health”, emphasizing the need to recognize health as a basic human right.
As part of the project, we also publish a quarterly handout Pradarshika, each issue of which is based on a specified theme. Till last year, Vatsalya was working with only one of its partner NGOs in Ajmer to develop a Model Village. This year, another partner from Udaipur was also included in these efforts. A baseline survey will now be conducted in the villages already chosen to be developed as Model Villages.
Sexually Transmitted Infections & Communicable Diseases
KAVACH: For Truckers
The target population under this project comprises long-distance truck-drivers and helpers. Under the Kavach project, the Khushi Clinic operated by Vatsalya was adjudged the 'Best Khushi Clinic' in the country, as per the norms and standards laid down by FHAI. Under the effective supervision of the TCIF team and sound in-house administration, Vatsalya's Khushi Clinic outperformed all other clinics in the country. As a result, this year, Vatsalya was entrusted with the challenging task of operating one more Khushi Clinic in the Vishwakarma Industrial Area (VKIA), another truckers' hub in Jaipur. In addition to the launch of the new clinic, the old clinic at Transport Nagar is also functional.
The “Kavach” project, run by TCI Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, focuses on arresting the spread of HIV among truckers and associated high-risk populations. The specific objectives are to reach out to 20 thousand truckers for prevention of HIV/AIDS/STI through Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) and to provide quality STI services to patients.
Since the new clinic was launched in a new area this year, the major focus was on establishing the organization's base as a quality-oriented organization in the area. Within a year and a half, we have seen 7600 general patients and 2600 STI patients, which is 27 per cent of the total patients seen. We have been able to get this result because of Behaviour Change Counseling with 35,000 clients and the exposure to information of 30,000 clients through Street Plays, Truckers Utsav ‘Infotainment’, Film Shows and other mass-media activities.
As every year, Vatsalya organized again this year two ‘Infotainment’ programmes for the truckers, this time in the VKI area. The programme was preceded by a health camp organized to provide free-of-cost medical and health services to the people of the area, especially long route truckers, who were present in the area at that time. The camp had facilities such as checkups and consultations for problems related to eyes, bones, general ailments and also problems related to sexual behaviour.