Providing Education & Training to Women in India

As January runs away with us the project is back into the full swing of things in Kerala, India. Recent support for this project has helped us to further develop the sports program with a focus on providing sports shoes and clothing for children who could not afford them. Previously many of the children would need to play sports bare foot leading to injury, broken nails. Cuts and bruises were common, the new shoes help to prevent injury and enhance the performance of the children providing more enjoyment. The sports clothing means the children do not have to play in their uniforms making them sweaty and dirty, the sports clothes also bring a sense of team spirit as they have unified colours and numbers.

India project manager Ridhi Patel explains:

The donation money has been used for purchasing items that will be beneficial to the school and the children in the long term. The sports equipment is essential so the children have the right kit to play with. The sports coach is also important for the school to provide some structure to sports lessons. In the long term we hope to help the students become more active and confident, practise sports and participate in competitions, all of which is important for their development and growth. There are also a lot of talented children who need the right guidance and given the equipment they could grow up to be successful sportsmen/women.'

Funds also enabled us to construct a fence around the sports field. The area in the corner of the sports field had been used to dispose of rubbish bringing a dangerous and unhygienic situation for children playing in the field. Often the ball would roll into the area where rubbish was dumped meaning that the children would be exposed to it. Fencing off the area helps to contain the game on the field and separate the children from this danger.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this project.

With support for this project the school has been able to hold several sports day functions for kids at the school, for the orphanage boys and girls that we are working with, as well as hosting other schools in the local area. First was the sports day for the school, where the kids competed against each other for ultimate glory (and bragging rights). Funds helped to  to clean the soccer field and purchase drinks for the kids. The second was the A team playoffs with three other local schools, the A Team is Auxilium schools representative soccer team. Students and teachers came together for a fantastic, competitive and fun day. Thirdly was a games day held for the orphanage boys and girls, they were able to spend the day getting out of the classroom for some fun games together with all of the volunteers.

All of these things would not be possible without the donations received to be able to continue to give the school a greater focus on sports, and it is building more and more. With the donations also funding an excellent sports coach we are continuing to build a solid sports program. These sports days have also attributed to the schools identity both to the students and those in the community.  We are building a good sense of loyalty and team work into the kids through doing these programs. Hopefully teaching them lessons you just can’t find in a book. The A Team day was something never done before and was an excellent way to network and build relations with our fellow schools, the kids had an amazing time and is a program that we will definitely do again. The school and students performed amazingly well on and off the field, and showed how a little hard work and want for it to happen can provide a great experience for everyone. In case you were wondering our Auxilium school finished a gutsy second! We’ll get em next time.