Asha for Education

Project Brief: VIKASANA is a non-governamental organisation (NGO) working in 165 villages of Tarikere and Bhadravathi taluks of Chikmagalore, Shimoga districts respectively. Asha is supporting a Bridge School for child labourers and migrants.
Project Type: Residential School (description)
Primary Focus: children who are working (description)

Secondary Focus: children of migrant workers

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact:
Seattle

Status: CURRENT
Project Steward: Sharan Asundi
Co-Steward: Madhukar Govindaraju
Project Partner(s): Varghese Cleatas
Project Address: Vikasana Organization for Education and Social Development - Bridge School
Vikasana,
P.B.No.23, Galihalli cross,Tarikere taluk,Chikmagalur Dist.
Tarikere, Karnataka 577228
Tel: 011 91 8261422570
Stewarding Chapter: Seattle

Asha-<i>Seattle and UFlorida</i> have elected to sponsor a Bridge School in the State of Karnataka, run by a Non Governmental Organization called VIKASANA. The project is aimed at addressing the Child Labor problem in India. The project encompasses a cluster of 10 villages in Shimoga district in Bhadravathi taluk. The area is rain fed and also houses some of the big industries. The people living in this area work in farms, coffee estates, hotels, garages, fisheries, jaggery processing units or as workers in small scale industries for low wages without any incentives and other facilities. Adults are forced to migrate in search of employment to earn their bread. The migration of their children with them generates dropouts from school. After dropping out of school, children are forced to work with their parents, some of them working in coffee plantations and bricks making, or as agricultural / domestic workers to supplement income for the family.

The project started with a 3 year plan with Asha Melbourne and aimed at providing Non-formal education classes in Bridge school child labor center to motivate the children to get back to the formal schools. It is now into the 4th year and is promising enough to warrant considerations for expansion. The money provided by Asha-<i>Seattle</i> will be used to create an environment to educate the drop out children, enabling 25 children each year to join the main stream of society. In the past two years of Asha UFlorida and Asha Seattles's support, the project has endeavored to return about 50 children to school. Once these children are ready to join the main-stream education, the local community and SHGs and the taluk and district level federations will take the responsibility and look after the kids’ needs and make the project a success and sustain the process in the future.

Considering the experience the organization has in the area of agriculture and farming activities, UFlorida is currently evaluating a proposal from VIKASANA for a pilot argo/farming initiative which hopefully over the next 5-6 years will render the bridge school self-sustaining. Funds were generated through Work an Hour 2007.