Education India Project #5828

Providing Education & Training to Women in India

by Action Change (Formerly GVI Trust)

Project Report | Apr 11, 2016
The new toilet block at St Louis!

By Kate Robey | Charitable Trust Operations Manager

The old toilet block

Dear Supporters,

We have recently completed the construction of a brand new block of toilets at St Loius School. The toilet block will serve more than 100 students and several teachers.

It has been built on raised foundations and incorporated a septic tank so that it may last for many years and withstand the effects of the annual monsoon seasons which affects the underlying soil and wrecks havoc on buildings.

But why was this needed and what impact will it have?

The old boys and girls toilet blocks at the school were in an unusable state, both structurally and hygienically, and were therefore not fit for purpose. The sisters at the school stopped the children from using them due to concern for the children’s health and safety. This caused the children to go to the toilet in the open, and staff reported that the girls were suffering from urinary tract infections.

The condition of the old toilets was largely due to poor construction in the first instance. The ground they are built on is prone to flooding during monsoon season, and adequate foundations were not built on a suitable sub-base.

The new structure has been built to an extremely high standard and in such a way that the previous issues of flooding during monsoon and subsistence are extremely unlikely. The whole structure has been built at a high level above ground on substantial foundations and the cess tanks are incorporated into the solid foundations also above ground to avoid flooding or collapse. The previous structures have been demolished and broken up to be used to raise the ground level of the pathway to the toilets.

The toilets allow for a greater intake of pupils over the coming years, as well as for admission of disabled pupils as a ramp has been built to access part of the toilet block.

The health and safety of the staff and pupils at St. Louis School has been tremendously improved due to the building of the toilets, and all involved are immensely grateful.

Thank you for your continued support and generosity.

With Gratitude,

GVI India

The new toilet block

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Jan 19, 2016
Raksha Special Needs School

By Kate Robey | Charitable Trust Operations Manager

The happy children at Raksha

Dear Supporter,

Raksha is a special needs school that has dozens of students ranging from 18-month-old children in the early intervention unit, up to 20-year-old men and women in the vocational unit. The children have a huge range of impairments such as muscular dystrophy, Down ’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and developmental delay. The school has passionate staff despite limited teachers and resources and the children are a delight to work with.

During December, GVI health care volunteers worked in close partnership with the staff at Raksha to identify children who were in need of assessment. The aim is to identify goals and areas of development depending on the children’s individual needs and abilities.

A total of 29 children had Occupational Therapy assessments. Therapeutic activities have since been completed to work on areas such as social interaction, dexterity and gross motor skills, alongside educational tasks to improve overall well-being and development.

After a 12 month gap, health volunteers have started to build upon the already working relationship between GVI Kerala and the staff at Raksha. A steady stream of volunteers have been working at Raksha over the last few months- including two occupational therapists, a music therapist and other volunteers with varying degrees of health experience. The staff expressed the desperate need occupational therapists to assess certain children so that the teachers knew what areas needed help developing. The volunteers were more than happy to assist.

The assessments were lots of fun, especially when more resources were acquired such as a mini trampoline, toy tuk-tuks and drums! Following the assessments, goals were set to try and develop the child in various ways.

Another exciting project that the volunteers participated in was the redecoration of one of the classrooms. This was not just a beautification project, it was to improve the learning environment to help with engagement, education and sensory work. The bare walls soon were covered with a beautiful mural. The room took two days to transform with the help of volunteers and GVI staff over the Christmas period. The children, teachers and volunteers were delighted with the result and can’t wait to start using in 2016!

The relationship between GVI and Raksha is really developing and exciting changes are about to happen with regards to focused, structured therapeutic activities and encouragement of the more able-bodied students to develop academically – all thanks to the volunteers, GVI staff, Raksha staff and, more importantly, the enthusiasm and sheer joy from the children.

Watch this space!

With Gratitude,

GVI India

Music therapy

Painting the mural

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Nov 12, 2015
Expanding our projects! Tejus Home for Girls and Dil Se Counselling Centre

By Kate Robey | Head of Operations

The Dil Se house

Dear Supporter,

We are very pleased to bring you news of the growth and expansion of some of our projects here in Kerala.

Dil Se, an organization with an Indian committee, is the partner responsible for starting Tejus Girls Home in 2012and has done great work for the children of Kerala. They also run and manage the Dil Se Counselling Centre.

Construction

Dil Se started as a home for up to 15 children in 2001. Unfortunately it was badly damaged in the 2004 tsunami and they have been unable to finish the repair work and the home was closed down.

Since March this year, Dil Se has been actively sourcing funds to renovate the property from its previous use as a children’s home to a counselling centre for children who have suffered sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse is alarmingly common in the area. In the last month or so, funds have finally arrived and the task of getting the house back in to shape could begin in earnest.

The site had been filled with drift wood and other rubbish deposited by high tides over the years, as well as becoming quite overgrown. In August Dil Se staff began clearing the site, generating a huge mound of rubbish and unearthing extra jobs to do. This is when we came in! GVI made themselves available to help clear the rubbish, cut back vegetation and generally clear and tidy the site for the construction work.

Women’s Empowerment

Dil Se is also involved with Tejus Girl’s Home and earlier this year, during routine partner feedback we discovered we could possibly use our stream of bright and enthusiastic volunteers on the Women’s Empowerment project better- by giving the girls of Tejus English lessons tailored to their personal level and challenges. Throughout August we delivered high-quality English lessons, whilst assisting with childcare at the centre. After several weeks of working well together, and excellent communication between GVI and Dil Se, we agreed to trial extra classes. So far the girls at the home have loved it – as have our volunteers!

We are really pleased with this new partnership and are looking forward to continuing this great relationship with Dil Se.

With Gratitude,

GVI India.

Clearing the rubble and rubish

So much to clear!

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