4TH JUNE 2015 AND 10TH JUNE 2015.
ANTI CHILD LABOUR DAY – EVENT
A report – J. Subha
NGOs came together under the banner of Tamil Nadu Child Rights Observatory (TNCRO) and Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL – TN and P) to work against any attempt to regulate and recognize child labour through this Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2012. To address the press meet on 10th June 2015, it was decided to gather various case stories. So do the case stories myself and Mr. Vidyasagar, ex-UNICEF consultant visited Vellore and Gudiyattam on 4th June 2015.
The press meeting happened on 10th June 2015 at Madras Press club. It has been captured in Sun News, The New Indian Express etc. Below is the link of Indian Express new article.
http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/Activists-Plan-Campaigns-Seminars-to-Mark-International-Child-Labour-Day/2015/06/11/article2859683.ece
A sample case study report attached herewith.
CHILD FEST
DATE: 12th September 2105
“Children should be protagonists in addressing their own rights” called Ms. Glory Gunaseeli, Chennai District Child Protection Officer during the valedictory program of Child Fest 2015 held in Loyola College on 12th September 2015.
CHILDFEST is an annual event of the department of Social Work, Loyola College that attracted 250 Children from 12 different NGOs catering to the underprivileged children in Chennai city. This year the event was organized in collaboration with Voice Foundation.
The day was filled with fun and enjoyment for the children as they played variety of sports and games and participated in the cultural program. With Child Protection as the theme, children participated in palm painting in support of Free from Violence and Exploitation Campaign. The event was inaugurated by Adv. Shobana in the presence of Dr. Gladston Xavier, the Head of the Department and Prof. Akileshwari, the president of the staff and students forum of the department.
Ms. Glory Gunaseeli, District Child Protection Officer, Chennai in her valedictory speech called the children to be vigilant against all forms of child abuse and violation and said the children should not feel alone as the child protection mechanisms are at the reach of the children in need of care and protection with CHILDLINE 1098 being active. Mr. Siju Matthew, the Monitoring and Evaluation officer, Christian Children Fund of Canada in his felicitation address called the children to enjoy their childhood like butterflies and to be supportive to fellow children to be safe and be protected. ICCW organized a puppet show on Child Protection mechanisms during the event.
WORKSHOP ON HUMAN RIGHTS
DATE / : 01 – October - 2015PLACE / : Agnes Martin Auditorium, Madras Christian College
SESSION 1
THEME / : CHILD RIGHTS
RESOURCE PERSON / : MR. LIPI JOBSON
The students of the first year, who are pursuing MSW were put into teams and were asked to work on a particular theme so as to, bring the awareness and importance of Human Rights. A group of 15 students were put into a team, and they were asked to do a research on “Rights of a Child”. These students they did their survey on the topic “Awareness of Child Rights among the Slum Dwellers living in Chennai City”.
The students were also asked to put up a presentation with the details of the findings from their survey they had conducted and also to conduct a seminar on the same topic. The resource person had an interactive session with the students were they were tested on their information level about the Child Rights and the myths associated with it. The icebreaking session conducted by Mr. Lipi, also helped the students to know more about a child, his/her rights and also the basic conventions that they possess according to the United Nations.
The students also had a group activity, were they were put up into groups and given various scenarios where there are violations of Child Rights to check their level of problem solving skills and also to check how as a human they would react to a particular situation without hurting or causing any harm to the livelihood of the child. They students were also inducted upon the 4 basic rights of a child, to – Survive, Participate, Seek Protection, and Develop
SESSION2
TOPIC : RIGHTS OF DIFFERENTLY ABLED
RESOURCE PERSON : MS. VISHWAPRIYA NARASIMHAN
Since the main theme was Human Rights, this particular team of students went to the next level where they pondered and conducted a research among the “Rights of the Differently Abled”. They took various measures and collected a lot of information from the organizations in Chennai that help the spastic children, promote and empower people who are differently abled.
The resource person, Ms. Vishwapriya herself has a great amount of experience in the field of educating the kids who are differently abled. This particular session was very informative because the students gained knowledge about various acts and conventions for these neglected people
She spoke about,
· Right to Education Act
· Conventions from the UN for the rights pertaining to the people who are differently abled
· Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act of 1999
She insisted on the fact that, though people are speaking about the rights of the differently abled on an international panel, like the UNHCR, there are actually no people or persons who are/is differently abled in the panel so that they can actually understand the problems and the situations that is faced by these neglected people.
SESSION 3
THEME : RIGHTS OF PAVMENT DWELLERS
RESOURCE PERSON : MR. SIJU
The next team of students chose a topic that is a growing issue in the Chennai City that is the rights of people who live in pavement and in slums. The most populated areas in Chennai are those places where the slums are situated. Even though the Government has many other plans to empower these people who live in slums, there is a constant threat these people’s life and livelihood options. The students had a very interesting way to gel and to connect with the particular community. They organized a program called “Free Bazaar”, where the under privileged could get basic necessities like clothes, shoes etc., free of cost.
Mr. Siju, though he had a very less time to communicate with the students, he sure did make an impact and had a very informative session with the students where there was great knowledge sharing and exchange about the idea of slums, people who live there and also the rights that they possess legally.
He also spoke about the Achievement Goals that were planned by the United Nations, which were about 15 of them where the most important one was to alleviate poverty and hunger around the world. These goals also had and connected with many other issues like to promote equality, a healthy environment, to educate all the kids, sustainable lifestyle etc., for the betterment of the world.
SESSION 4
TOPIC : RIGHTS OF TRANSGENDERS
RESOURCE PERSON : MX. JEEVA
The last team chose a very sensitive topic and a theme in the current scenario that is “Rights of Transgender” in India. This particular team in order to understand to interpret the living conditions and the emotional stability of their community worked in hand with the Transgender Rights Association in Chennai.
The resource person, for their session was the founder herself, Ms. Jeeva. She carried an aura around her that screamed for respect and reverence in the society. Her session was very interactive where she shared various anecdotes and experiences from what she has faced in this patriarchal society.
She took various instances and examples from the Indian Transcripts that showed the existence of people like them, from eons ago. She also spoke about how people are very prejudiced and judgmental about them, that the people actually forget the basic essence of humanity that, even they are human beings born in this world with a soul just as same as anyone else.
She made sure that; the students removed the stereotype of shying away from the third gender, and asked them to promote and to accept these people in the society. Being an excellent social activist, Ms. Jeeva is extensively working with the government for the provision legal advantages to the third gender people.
In the end during the vote of thanks, the student representative thanked Voice foundation for the support and also thanked the Principal, HOD of social work department, teachers and students
GENESIS
This soft skill program is to train the government school children within the age limit of 12-14 years. This soft skill program is to train them under the topics such as Social skills, Cognitive skills and emotional skills etc.
SCHOOL NAME:
· POPPILI RAJA GOVERNMENT HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL
· Government Higher Secondary School, POONDI
· Government Higher Secondary School, Allikuzhi
· Government Higher Secondary School , Goonipalayam
· Government Higher Secondary School, Meyyur
· Government Higher Secondary School, Othapai
TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS BENEFITTED : 111 Girls and 104 Boys
DATE :29th JAN – 12th FEB 2016
SESSIONS
FIRST SESSION :
ICE BREAKERS, started the session with small game like introduce on their own. We gave a different topic to talk ,we questioned about their ambition and asked them to tell how to reach it. Arranged the students in a row and passed the ball to one and all , all of them have to tell their names, ambition, and separated up for doing other activities like games and team building activities.
SECOND SESSION :
The second session starts with human pyramid, and the trainee gave the volunteer to guide the teams to help them for pyramid and this helped the students to improve their skill in many things and it helps to get cognitive skills too. And the every team has to select one leader and also have to choose a team name for the team. Human pyramid, it helps the students to improve their skills and obedience level within them. In between the second activity trainee gave a lecture about the hygiene among the students and how we have to maintain our body. And the second activity is stretch game, the boys and girls are very shy to do the game but the volunteers helped them to do their activity and helped them to finish the activity. And all other volunteers help the students to do their activity well.
THIRD SESSION :
The final session is started by after the lunch and the trainee talked about the emotional problems in their student’s family and how to solve it with their skills and abilities and also how to manage and plan their carrier without interruption of family. And after that the trainee told a small moral story,
SPORT MATERIALS DISTRIBUTION
PLACE : KARUNYA HOME
DATE : Feb 2016
Every child has the right to play and enjoy their childhood and no child to deny their rights, Karunya home situated in Banagarpalayam which consists of 50 children who are affected with HIV, Voice foundation took an initiative to provide sports materials for the children so that they can enjoy the childhood. Voice foundation provided. The children were very happy and they thanked Voice foundation for the gesture.
· Ring : 8
· Volley ball: 2
· Volleyball net: 1
· Carom board : 2
· Snake & ladder : 3
· Chinese checker : 2
· Skipping : 5
· Cricket bat : 3