Aralu-Belaku Site visit report (2013) Date: Nov 23, 2013

Steward: Tata Venkata (Project Steward and Coordinator, Asha Chicago)

Executive Summary

ARALU, is a NGO organization in Bidar district of Karnataka state. The Belaku residential home is supported by Asha Chicago and is located just outside Bidar. The children (age range 7 to 15) in the Belaku residential home are doing well and seem happy and enthusiastic about education. 5 children recently graduated from the local secondary school (10th grade) and have enrolled in a local junior college for the +2 program. Majority of the children finish 10th grade but there are instances of kids being pulled out of school by parents to be given off early marriage. The partner holds regular meetings parents to emphasize importance of education. The children receive 1 meal a day and have room to play and study. They get lunch at the local secondary school where they are enrolled. They also tend to a garden which partially fulfills the vegetable needs in the kitchen. There are chronic power cuts in the village. Power is available 4 hours a day and the timing is unpredictable. It is not uncommon for kids to eat and study with candle light.

Site Report Details

ARALU, is a NGO organization in Bidar district of Karnataka state. They operate in the backward and drought prone areas of the Bidar district. Long term objectives include integrated rural development, social and environmental awareness, education facilities, and develop depressed sections of the society. The area is economically backward with a predominant number of families working as agricultural laborers. Aralu Belaku is a residential home for children of poor families, orphans, street kids in the local rural areas.

Currently there are 20 children (11 girls, 9 boys) in ages ranging from 7 to 15. The children in the Belaku residential home are doing well and seem enthusiastic about education. In July 2013, 5 children recently graduated from the local secondary school (10 th grade) and have enrolled in a local junior college for the +2 program and currently live at home with their parents or with a guardian or in a government hostel. They study English, Kannada, Hindi, Math, Social Studies and Science. I saw the marks sheets of all the kids currently in the home and the marks are respectable. One girl Jyoti finished her PUC (+2) and is currently enrolled for a BA in a local college. Another boy, Robin, completed vocational training in Bangalore after PUC and got a job in LG as a technician.

The children get food twice a day. On my visit I had a decent lunch (rice, curry, pickles, corn rotis, sambar, curd). The kids take turns with kitchen duties and gardening work etc. The children occasionally go on field trips in Bidar. An NGO doctor makes periodic visits to the center for health checks.

The project partner, K.T. Meril, holds monthly meetings with parents to reinforce importance of schooling, children’s rights (RTE), individual performance, children’s health, social issues such as gender stereotypes and empowerment of women (discouraging early marriage of young girls at 14 years).

Observations

• The power situation is not good. They have power 4 h a day and unpredictable. The kids have to read with candles sometimes and summers can be hot. Asha provided solar batteries about 2 years ago but they no longer work.

• The kitchen uses firewood for cooking; besides the smoke etc, the wood gets wet during rainy season.

• Rainy season can be painful as the school is a fair distance. • Girls as young as 14 are given away for marriage. While this is a painful fact, the

increase in school enrollment of girls is encouraging and one expects that statistically, this social ill will decrease with time.

• There was a sewing machine; but did not get the impression it was being used much.

Recommendations

• I contacted Selco-India, a non profit group that works in remote areas to address power and lighting needs. Recommend that Asha working with them and fund the needs as necessary. The kids should use lanterns instead of candles.

• Keep track of kids who go to govt school for +2 to ensure they seek guidance for a successful career path.

Aralu Belaku residential home

This room is essentially the dorm room for about 11 girls (15 X 20 ft). There is a similar size room for boys.

Some endearing cultural program during the visit

Library/TV room in the Belaku home

Govt secondary school in Yedlapur where the Belaku students are studying. The teachers were impressed with Belaku kids (who received their primary education in PPC) as they seem to do a better job with English than the non PPC kids.

Vegetable garden tended by the kids (tomatoes, chilli pepper, cucumbers, gourds, leafy vegetables, bananas)

Parents meeting with project partner (KT Meril) in the dining room.

Obligatory group photo with the Asha steward (Tata)

Marks sheets for the Belaku kids in various grades

Sl.  No  

Name   Class   Kannada    

Hindi   English   Maths   Science   Social  Studies  

Total  

1   Kaveri  D/o  Dasrah   9th   61   52   48   51   65   57    2   Sunil  S/o  Dasrath   6th   67   45   38   44   56   62    3   Abhishek  S/o  Jayvanth   7th   74   39   45   56   45   58    4   Princy  D/oPrakash   8th   68   54   42   47   53   68    5   Pawan  S/oTukaram   9th   75   61   51   68   62   74    6   Kalpana  S/oShanker   9th   70   46   45   54   61   74    7   Manjula  D/o  Dasrath   5th   65   49   52   63   66   78    8   Elshon  S/oManohar   8th     74   51   49   52   48   54    9   Martha  S/oBaburao   8th     55   42   49   55   42   61    10   Jaganath  S/oManohar   8th     75   51   42   47   58   65    11   Sony  D/oYesheppa     8     78   54   55   60   62   78    12   YeshodhaD/o  Jalendra   8   64   45   38   52   60   74    13   Anushamma  D/oShanker   5th     82   68   46   45   55   63    14   Akash  S/oSuresh   3rd     75   44   48   41   49   54    15   Priya    D/oPrakash     10th     68   48   44   56   58   64    16   Arun  S/oLaxman   4th   74   45   54   51   56   75    17   Sachin  S/oManohar   8th   84   65   47   64   68   78    18   AjaykumarS/o  Bhemsha   5th   64   47   54   56   58   70    19   Shivkumar  S/oSuresh   5th   63   56   50   54   58   68    20   Prashanth  S/o  Swamidas   9th   79   68   55   58   61   75