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Southern India

Background

India signed the International Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992. Since then, and despite various government policies, many children are still not part of the school system. Over the past 10 years as the country has industrialized, families have been broken up, poverty remains widespread, and the deficiencies of the education system are still present, the number of children who have been abandoned or run away has increased.

In Madurai, second city of the state of Tamil Nadu, about 35,000 children live in the streets and have no access to education or to primary health care.

In this state, there are serious inequalities in access to education and about 10% of children under 11 years of age have never gone to school. After age 14, only 77% of children are still in school and this figure drops to 43% after age 16.

The state government of Tamil Nadu committed to build and furnish schools in the early 2000s but, following the December 2004 tsunami, most funds were reallocated to the reconstruction of the schools destroyed along the coast.

Therefore, government schools are overcrowded and under-equipped. Study conditions are poor and children do not feel encouraged to stay in school: 30% of children registered for school drop out before age 14 and 65% between the ages of 14 and 18.

Once they are no longer in the school system, children are left with nothing to do and spend time on the streets. As most of these children come from poor families they also have to work to contribute to the family’s expenses.

Support to the Indian association Nanban for the educational and psychosocial support to vulnerable children of Madurai

BENEFICIARIES

NANBAN works with vulnerable children, aged 0 to 18, displaced by rural depopulation, orphans, street children, child-workers, children from very poor families, or in conflict with the law.

The activities of the association also concern women from poor communities of Madurai.

DESCRIPTION OF ITS WORK

NANBAN began its activities in 1990, and is today organized as follows:

• The transit center, hosts children for a few hours or days while seeking a solution: reintegration in the family or acceptance in a Nanban center. The main objective of Nanban is to reunite the child with his or her family. Counseling and follow-up are important activities of Nanban which visits the child and the family regularly.
• The home for girls, has about 30 girls, aged 3 to 18, who are cared for and educated. Games and artistic, sporting and educational activities develop their resilience. Older children can attend vocational training courses offered by Nanban or other NGO partners at the end of their studies.
• Vocational training centers, where children aged 16 or more can learn a profession, whatever their educational level. Nanban offers them both theoretical and practical training.
• Prevention efforts via the communities:

Children’s clubs, help them to deal with their problems and to learn their rights. The clubs also work to ensure that these rights are respected. They seek to educate adults and children about children's rights, create forums for exchange, set up activities for children (theatre, music, games, etc.), and keep children off the street.

Women’s groups bring together women in the same neighborhood to organize meetings and awareness sessions, discuss common problems and improve their economic situation and learn to save.

ROLE OF CDE

To ensure the sustainability of its work for children, their families and communities, CDE supports NANBAN to:

• Develop and organize children’s clubs
• Set up mobile play spaces in the slums
• Ensure the profitability of its income-generating activities
• Raise funds