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Dec'06 - May'07 - Dec'07
Hidden Domestic Child Labour
A Survey was done in a totally new arae i.e. Salt Lake. This is an affluent area with bungalows and high rise buildings. Here lots of CDW’s (Child Domestic Worker’s) were identified by the HDCL Staff. The survey covered an area of 8 Municipal Wards of Bidhannagar Municipality. 220 Non-Live-in and Live-in CDWs were identified.
Several Awareness campaigns on Child Domestic Workers were held :
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at Poura Bhawan, Saltlake to sensitize all the ward councillors.
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with parents and local club members in the wards of Bidhannagar Municipality in July.
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at Apeejay School, Saltlake on the 12th of July 17
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with the parents, teachers and CDWs in Sukantanagar School, Saltlake
Drop in / Coaching Centres
A One day training programme was given to 800 sevaks and sevikas from 68 NGOs on the CRC (Covention on Child Rights) and a Film was shown to them and another full day on Child Rights and CRC was given to 36 teachers from the Govt. Schools.
On Children’s Day, (14thNovember) 130 CDWs attended the programme. The children played games, danced and enjoyed themselves. The day ended with the distribution of gifts to each and every child.
A Truck Campaign was organized at the Saltlake area with the objective of spreading the message to people to avoid employing child domestic workers and to obey the new Amedment of Child Labour Act. Leaflets on Child Rights were distributed to the pulic, Speechs against child domestic work were given by the Staff to the public in the town square where the truck halted for half an hour. A song on “ Hum Bachhein Hain “ ( We are the children) was played.
The Child Domestic Workers participated in the 150th anniversary of Loreto Sealdah on the 22nd of November at a brilliant drill display, 130 children participated alongside children from supporting NGOs.
Bus back Campaign – 25 banners on “Stop Child Domestic Work” and “Child Rights” are being displayed on the rear of the 3 buses belongimg to Loreto Sealdah and 10 on the St.Lawrence buses and 12 on public buses.
Sit And Draw Competition – A sit & draw competition was held in all the DICs ( Drop-In-Centres) and Coaching Centres of Saltlake and Kolkata which was supervised by the respective multipurpose workers who operate the centres.
Village work
For the past three years we have shifted from Pailan to Raspunja village.
Our children handle 3500 primary school children who are all in the Government Primary Schools. Each Loreto Sealdah student gives up one Thursday per month for this activity which involves child-to-child teaching, science experiments, mathematical gaming. The games provide individual attention, otherwise these children have to share their teacher with 120 others.
We have been recently asked by the chairman of the Primary School Council to extend this programme to all the Government schools – a mere three and a half million children ! !
Survived, strived and thrived…..
Robi was born with his feet turned backwards which left him unable to walk. His parents, himself and his small brother and sister were found by an Irish volunteer on Sealdah station living on Rs.15/- a day – the earnings of his father shining shoes. She had him operated on the Children Hospital in Park Circus where he has had a number of operations. Anxious lest he pick up infection coming back onto the station after his operations, the volunteer requested Sr. Cyril to help find accommodation for them. The little family is now happily settled in Loreto Sealdah and the children are thriving on the love and affection of the older Rainbows and regular children in the school.
For his resilience of spirit, that this brave warrior has shown, he was honoured with the award for courage at the Telegraph School awards for excellence in August 2007.
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