User talk:Sumit Baradia

“CHILDREN & YOUTH LEARNING PROGRAM & TRAINING CENTER, KEMPTY”
Background & Rationale: Jaunpur is a tribal block in the vicinity of the tourist destination Mussoorie but geographically a part of Tehri district of Uttarakhand. The youth of the community form a major chunk of the population here like in most other populations. They range from school going adolescents to Inter passed students and unemployed youths working part time in the tourist industry or running small shops. Those in the nearby villages also engage in seasonal farming and thus add on as an additional hand to their family.

Their social and cultural traditions, though still very much in practice, are showing apparent signs of weakening and erosion. The economy is shifting from being largely agriculture based to jobs, small shops and tourist dependent. The migration – from remote villages to the roadside and from roadside to the large cities – is on the rise. Modern urban life style is intruding in their housing, clothing, diet and entertainment practices. In the midst of all these changes the ever pertinent conflicts, concerns and questions of the youth of the community remain unexplored and unquestioned.

Current intervention: Vriksh-SSS is a relatively new initiative started in 2009 in Kempty (12 Kms. from Musoorie) in the community where information, guidance & counselling and essential skills are provided to young people. Come let’s grow is a program space for young people to co-learn and develop key skills in the process by looking deep within themselves and understand the web of connections that exist around us. Vriksh is a Sanskrit word for Tree and our core philosophy draws itself from the life of a tree which keeps growing both in and out. Through our efforts we aim to nourish the fruits that bear seeds of change.

Young people coming from small towns and rural areas are not equipped with essential life skills and deeper understanding of socio-developmental issues that affect their lives. In the absence of these they fail to understand themselves and end up making choices in the domain of relationship and work based on previous conditioning & socio-economic pressures. Children going to so called good English medium schools end up studying for marks and passing the examinations without any joy in learning. Their understanding of concepts and issues is highly superficial. Previous interactions, observations and workshops conducted have revealed a lack of space for the much needed explorations on such issues and not merely restrict learning to books and classroom. Rather it is important to spread education outside the four walls of the classroom. Further in the lack of any intervention programs in the school, the needs, aspirations and understandings of the young minds remain lopsided. They fail to understand themselves and roles in life and thus end up having fewer career choices.

Having understood these conflicts and confusions faced by young people Vriksh works on providing learning opportunities to the youth of the region to help them make the best choices and emerge as leaders in personal and social sphere. Ours is a collective initiative where in team members with special skills and interest work together in a mutually supportive way in the same geographical area but with different target groups and areas of intervention. Each lead their own initiative as a collective of committed social change leaders. Two prime areas of all our interventions are Youth Development and Quality Education. In our own capacity we have been trying to draw their attention to these changes and the apparent/hidden implications through the medium of education and focusing on providing learning opportunities to them.

The major areas of intervention addressed therein are:

Providing language(Spoken English), computer and academic skills to children and adolescents Engaging with them on issues of identity and personal conflicts primarily through counseling and provide appropriate guidance Interactions and discussions through films, workshops/ camps, sessions/ meetings etc. Providing experiential learning opportunities through group exposures, urban and rural internships and exchange programs We also make use of grassroots media and bring out a quarterly newsletter called YOUNG MINDS SPEAK on issues concerning young people and their voices.

Present need and plan of action: It is the need of the hour to assess their needs and demands in these growing and competitive times and establish a bigger youth learning and training centre which will address the community concerns while making it a sustainable one at the same time. The center is envisaged as a bigger space that would provide modest accommodation for various in-house training learning programs and also to host outside groups. Prominent among these are:

Academic support and co-curricular activities with children, adolescents and youth. Workshops, short term courses and trainings for teachers, local and outstation youth to impart life skills and professional skills. Organize and host youth camps and summer camps for children The center will have frequent visiting resource personals and facilitators from time to time and also generate income from the above sources/ programs to sustain it economically. Engaging local youths and inviting volunteers to support the need for human resources will be core focus and strategy. It is also pertinent to mention here that the land for the center has been identified and about 60% construction is already done via personal investments. The remaining construction concisely includes 1 training hall with toilet & bathroom and a kitchen.

Budgetary requirements: Following is budget of the financial support required for the Learning Center (one time) and the administrative & program costs for one year. For purpose of convenience they are categorized under three major heads.

Heading	Calculation	Amount A) Administration Cost per Month Internet	500 x 12	6000.00 Phone	1000 x 12	12000.00 Office Rent	6000 x 12	72000.00 Local Travel	1500 x 12	18000.00 Tea & Food	1500 x 12	18000.00 126000.00 B) Program Cost Stipend for programs head and coordinator	6000 x 12	72000.00 Stipend for center in charge, field staff, teacher (2 personnel)	4000 x 2 x 12	96000.00 Publication of quarterly newsletter (Young Minds Speak)	5000 x 4	20000.00 Workshops, camps, exposure and other activities with children, adolescents and youth	50000	50000.00 238000.00 C) One time resources Construction of additional hall with toilet, bathroom & kitchen	180000 x 1	180000.00 Books, Teaching aids, White Board, Stationeries, Films/ CD’s etc.	10000	10000.00 Musical & Sports equipment	5000	5000.00 Electrical Materials, Office Tools & Utensils, Fittings & Fixtures	10000	10000.00 Furniture, Chair and Soft boards	5000	5000.00 Mats/ Dari	1000 x 5	5000.00 Bedding (Mattress, quilt, bed sheet, pillow & cover )	1500 x 15	22500.00 Blower/ room heater	1000 x 2	2000.00 Ceiling Fan	1250 x 4	5000.00 Water purifier	1500 x 1	1500.00 Cushion with cover	200 x 20	4000.00 250000.00 Grand Total (A+B+C)		614000.00

Sumit Baradia 10:58, 10 November 2014 (UTC)