Mandra Lions Club - Part 2

Project Brief: Mandra Lions Club is working in education and upliftment of the Santhal tribes in one of the most backward part of the tribal district of Purullia, West Bengal.
Project Type: Residential School (description)
Primary Focus: children of dalits/tribals (description)

Secondary Focus: other

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact: CentralNJ
Status: completed - requirements ended
Project Steward: Arul Gopal
Project Partner(s): Somnath Singha Roy
Other Contacts: Joyjit Roy
Project Address: , ,,Vill + P.O. - Baghmundi,
WEST BENGAL  723152
Tel: 91-03252 - 250335/250533/2503
Stewarding Chapter: CentralNJ
Jan 2012SheffieldGBP 1000
Dec 2011CentralNJUSD 13618
Jul 2010CentralNJUSD 12317
Sep 2009CentralNJUSD 7871
Aug 2008CentralNJUSD 6000
Aug 2008BurlingtonUSD 300

Total = $41690.14

Mandra Lions Club (MLC) works in the remotest corner blocks of Purulia, West Bengal, since last 17 years for ensuring the Rights of the Children.

This project is different from the eponymous project run by Asha Stanford and SV. They have been supporting basic education initiatives at 7 tribal villages at Ajodhaya hill. Details of this project can be found at
Stanford-SV Mandra Project

The current project is about supporting 7 new schools based on the model of the previous Stanford/SV project. The schools in both projects are pre-primary balwadi centers where the children are taught in Santhali language and ALCHIKI script, which is most suitable script for Santhali languages. This was introduced by Pandit Raghunath Murmu, 100 years back.

Ajodhaya Hill consists of 74 tribal villages. There are local Govt schools but due to jungle it is non approachable for the children as well as the teachers. The teachers recruited by the government are totally non tribal and the children do not relate to them. For this reasons Mandra has started basic education centres where the alchiki script and local tribal language is used. This project is in 7 villages and Mandra wants to replicate the model of the previous Stanford/SV project.

Please also visit the Asha CNJ wikispaces for more detailed information about this project
Long Term Goal: To ensure all rights (Development, Survival, Protection and Participation) of every child by involving the total community of the 74 villages Community. To ensure that as per the recommendations of the Kothari commission, tribal language and Alchiki script are introduced in Govt schools.

Short Term Goal: To set up pre-primary balwadis in all 74 villages and teach the first generation learners, basic education, through Santhali language and Alchiki script. Then introduce them to Bengali language gradually and see to it that they smoothly transition to primary schools whose medium if Bengali

Mandra Lions Club was a youth group formed this organisation in 1975 by a well established NGO called Mandra Unnayan Sansad in a place called Mandra in Hooghly district. Somnath Singha Roy (one of the founder members of the youth club) grew up at his maternal uncle's place in Purullia district. Since be knew that Purullia district one of the drought pro- ne and deprived area in overall India. The club moved to Purullia in 1992 and has been working there ever since.
This project supports 7 schools which are different from those supported by Asha Stanford/SV in the eponymous project 'Mandra Lions Club'