Bal Ashram Report 08-09 - Asha for Education

32 Pages·2009·0.99 MB·English

Annual report of Bal Ashram 2008-09

Background

“I experienced love, freedom, care and protection after several years, when I reached Bal
Ashram. The surroundings of Bal Ashram remind me that I am a free and independent person”-
Kinsu Kumar (undergoing rehabilitation in Bal Ashram, stood first in the entire school with a
percentage of 90.6 in the annual examination)

“Bal Ashram is second home for me which gave me love, care and happiness. It taught me what
my rights are and how to start a new life.” – Kalu Kumar (a former bonded labourer in carpet
industry and now a change agent working to eradicate child labour)

“I used to drink alcohol, use drugs and smoke. I used to quarrel with my friends and sleep on
road sides and verandas. I used to beg for food and for alcohol. Now I am ashamed of my past
activities. Bal ashram has changed my life” – Alamin (studying in 4th standard)

“I don’t know about my parents, brothers and sisters, now I am least bothered about that because
Bal Ashram is my father, mother and everything for me” – Vishal (studying in 3rd standard)
These are some of the views of the children at the Bal Ashram.

A short history of Bal Ashram

Bal Ashram was established in 1998 to provide rehabilitation to the children liberated from
bondage, who have suffered years of mental and physical trauma and hardship. Bal Ashram
gives them a feeling of cohesiveness, education and vocational training thereby helping them to
become self-supportive, self-confident and to overcome the traumatic spell of the past. So far
1300 children have been rehabilitated successfully till 2009.

Bal Ashram imparts training to freed child workers covering six aspects: social development,
conventional education, vocational education, health and physical education, leadership
development and cultural education. Bal Ashram also ensures holistic development of these
children through various physical and social education activities.

Bal Ashram is a pioneer institution for the rehabilitation of children freed from bondage. Every
year approximately 200 children are rehabilitated through this institution.
The hallucination of Bal Ashram is to create a child labour free society, where all children
receive free, compulsory, quality and meaningful education.

Bringing Change

Children who come to Bal Ashram are rescued bonded child labourers from various types of
exploitative situations and worst forms of labour. The child feels the love and freedom in the air
when he enters the Bal Ashram.

Children engaged in group discussion

Bal Ashram believes that systemic change can only be achieved when the victims themselves
become change agents against the exploitation and abuse that they have suffered. Therefore as a
first step the child would be provided with counseling and medical facilities. The children
currently undergoing rehabilitation in Bal Ashram welcome the new child and introduce them to
other and encourage him to come forward and make new friends. This becomes the first step for
the child to become a social human being which he was lacking from many years while working
behind closed doors.

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Mission

To create a child labour free society, where all children receive free, compulsory, quality and
meaningful education and free from all kinds of exploitation.

Vision

To identify, liberate, rehabilitate and educate children in servitude through direct intervention,
child and community participation, and mass mobilization.

Children are back from the school Children engaged in gardening

Objectives

The objectives of Bal Ashram are:

o To restore their childhood, by giving them a sense of identity, dignity and freedom
o To infuse self awareness and confidence among the children
o To provide a comprehensive and pragmatic training that could enable them to
integrate into the mainstream of the society smoothly
o To provide basic and meaningful education
o To make the children, above 14 years, self-reliant through vocational training
o To provide a favorable environment for learning, and for their multidimensional
development so as to enable them to grow as self-supportive human beings who can
fight for their own as well as others’ rights.
o To provide social education and leadership building.
o To provide health care.

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Day to Day activities of Bal Ashram Children

Lunch at Bal Ashram Games

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Evening meditation Cultural programme (every day after dinner)

Facilities and Programmes

Psycho-social counseling and psychological approach to interactions
Time to time psycho-social counseling of the released children is done by the Bal Ashram
teachers and volunteers to understand and to foster the intellectual growth of children. Also
psycho-social counseling and psychological interactions with children helps immensely to
promote safe, supportive, and effective learning environments .Also it is an easier way by which
new children can get used to new environment and forget their past and relive their childhood.

Children during study hours

Yoga and Meditation

Yoga and meditation are practiced by all the children every day. Yoga and meditation
harmonizes the mind with the body and hence result in real quantum benefits. It also increases
the will power of children and enables them to achieve extraordinary physical feats, which
proves beyond doubt the mind and body connection. And yoga through meditation works
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remarkably to achieve this harmony and helps the mind work in sync with the body and keeps
the children active throughout the day. Yoga workshops are held regularly.

Practicing yoga

Medical care
Every month a medical checkup is done by a qualified medical practitioner wherein month wise
monitoring of health of the children is done and a detail record of every child is maintained. Bal
Ashram is also maintaining a medical room for the emergencies and gives first aid to the children
in the necessary situations.

Music therapy
Ms. Sumedha Kailash, Director of Bal Ashram is a qualified classical singer and she introduced
the music therapy in the Ashram. Music has helped a lot in bringing all children together and
also brought harmony. All the children belong to different economical and cultural background
but during the classes they sit together and sing the lines of the poem which is inculcating a spirit
of togetherness in them. The songs which are sung are about unity, patriotism, different cultures,
environment, childhood etc. This helps all children to relate in a better way to their surroundings
to their surroundings and also it helps them. It has also been observed that the children, who
were depressed, reserved, isolated or had been through traumatic conditions changed to more
open and free person and have started interacting with other children.

Physical training
Bal Ashram children are given physical training and training in sports and games. This kind of
physical training makes the children strong and courageous. This keeps the children physically
as well as mentally healthy and fit.

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Physical exercise

The Ashram has capacity of rehabilitating 120 freed children in one batch of 6 months. Apart
from non formal education, they also undergo training in different vocational courses such as
tailoring, carpentry, motor winding, painting, screen printing and welding upon their interest.
Non-formal education being provided in the Ashram is intended to enable the children to be a
part of the mainstream education after the completion of training in the Ashram. Vocational
training empowers them to earn a living for themselves in future when they grow up.

Rehabilitation of children- the various methods

I. Social Development

Some of the key components of the child rights based programming for social development are
as follows:

Focus on children: A clear focus on children, Holistic view of children: Considering all
their rights and their role as social actors are aspects of a child while making strategic
ensured in all the activities of Bal Ashram. choices and setting priorities.
Participation: The promotion of children's The best interests of children: All the Bal
effective participation in and to challenging Ashram activities are planned and
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discrimination on such grounds as gender, implemented in the best interest of children
class, ethnicity, (dis)ability, etc. and in consideration (with children) of the
impact on children of all programme choices.
Children as part of a community: An
understanding of children's place in their
families, communities and societies and the
role that their parents and other care takers
have in defending their rights and guiding
children's development.

II. Leadership Development Initiative: The committee system was devised to promote
leadership qualities amongst the children. A committee of children elected by the children in a
democratic manner is formed to see to the smooth and effective functioning of the Ashram's food
supply, maintenance, security and discipline. This creates in the children a sense of responsibility
and accountability.

India @75: A workshop was held by the Bal Ashram along with students of Jaipur Engineering
College and Research Centre (JECRC) a few days before the 75th Independence day celebrations.
The main objective of the discussion was to assess India’s progress since Independence and
where would India be 75 years hence. They came up with interesting answers with the major
thrust being: ‘India has grown in several fields like agriculture, industry etc, but perhaps human
rights issues need to be looked at more closely. The gap between the rich and the poor is
widening and the challenge ahead is to find solutions to these problems.’ They are very positive
about the future though. All of them said that the current generation has the best of everything in
terms of technology and that youth and children like them with good intentions and will to do
good will make India a progressive nation within the next 75 years. A few photos:

Workshop-India @75

III. Human Rights Education: Awareness on human rights is also imparted to children.
Moreover, they are encouraged to discuss issues related to children and women's rights, gender
equity and environmental protection and thus sharpen their thinking process. Children are also
made aware of the various cultural and religious practices.
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This activity is a part of their social education class. The children have this class every day in the
afternoon when they discuss human rights issues including child rights, their fundamental rights,
how to seek them if denied etc. The older children like Om Prakash Gurjar and Kalu Kumar also
take this class oftentimes.

Means of social change

Group discussion
Issues which are relevant and socially important like importance of education, social unity, child
marriages and various other social issues are given to the children for group discussion. The
group discussion is facilitated by different people from Bal Ashram and experts from outside Bal
Ashram. Different audio visual aids are also used in the discussion like documentary movies,
audios etc.

For the older children who are now adolescents, sex education is given twice every week by the
staff of Bal Ashram. The physical changes that manifest due to hormonal changes are explained
and healthy respect for the subject of sex is the focus of this education.

CHILDREN’S EXPOSURE VISITS:-

Organized rallies in villages

On 7th of March 2008 a rally led by the Bal Ashram Children in which about 600 children of
other school also took part was organized by the Bal Ashram. Children were soughing slogans
against the child labor and passed through the main market. At Panchayat Bhawan children made
a human chain and drew the attention of the government officials towards the child labor issue.
The Tehsildar of Virat Nagar was also present. One of the Bal Ashram children Kinshu
addressed the children and requested Tehsildar to take strong steps against the employer of
children and help them (child labourers) to come out of the trauma and help the nation by
mainstreaming them through effective rehabilitation process. Children also gave him a
memorandum signed by them.

Meeting with the Chief Justice of India

15 children from Bal Ashram and 10 children from BMG visited supreme court on 14th of
November 2008. On the eve of Children's Day, Chief Justice of India, Honourable Justice Shri
K. G Balakrishnan promised former child labourers rescued by BBA that the time would soon
come when child labour and exploitation of children would be eliminated from society. In a
programme organized by the National Legal Service Authority (NLSA) with Bachpan Bachao
Andolan (BBA), the Honourable Justice was joined by other eminent judges from the Supreme
Court and the High Court. 30 children from Rajasthan and a Bal Mitra Gram (Child Friendly
Village) of Meerut had an interactive question and answer session.
At the beginning of the programme, the children performed a skit weaving the true story of how
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children in many parts of the country are still in the grip of child labour and illiteracy and how
important education is for a bright future. It won the hearts of the judges.

Qs by Pradeep Kumar who was rescued at the time when he was being sacrificed by his parents,
wanted to know – "Whenever children complain, the police say that they would take action; but
then nothing happens as the employers go scot-free. What should we do in such a situation?

Ans – Chief Justice of India Justice K. G Balkrishnan replied - "Children or anybody can write to
National Legal Service Authority (NLSA) or to the Supreme Court Legal Services and we would
take action and any such reports would be welcomed."

Q- Rakesh, 12 years and a child labourer for 6 years asked – "There are so many street children
and many are trafficking for forced labour. Why are authorities not taking action against the
traffickers and what measures should be taken to solve this issue?"

Ans – Honourable Justice Shri Arijit Pasayat echoed the same statements as the Chief Justice of
India's and said - "You can write complaints on a post card and send it to the Supreme Court and
action would be taken against your complaint."

During the conclusion of the programme, Honourable Chief Justice of India, Justice Shri K. G
Balakrishnan expressed his happiness at the children and their wise, probing questions. He said –
"These children will shine like stars. I congratulate BBA for their success and this programme
has made us also are more sensitized by problems that these children encounter."

The President of BBA, Shri Ramesh Gupta said that this group of confident children after all that
they went through shows that there is hope in the society. And this is right message on the
children's day. “Send us a postcard, and we will ensure punishment against employers of
children"- the Chief Justice of India promises former bonded child labourers

Amarlal, receiving honor from Chief Justice of India Mr. K.G. Balakrishnan

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