Parent meeting in the community
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About 2000 families residing in Basti have been divided amongst five Community workers with responsibility of linking the families to required program. These community workers visit the families in their allocated area regularly, check on their general well being and requirements and link them to health, education or income generation program as per the requirements of the families.
Need
Since many children are first generation learners from vulnerable families, there are innumerable reasons for drop outs. Some of these reasons include: lack of financial support, early marriage, illness in the family, poor health, disapproving brothers and lack of family support, emotional problems and learning disabilities, and erratic attendance. The community outreach program finds ways of supporting these children so that they can continue and complete their schooling. Women in this community are overburdened with household chores, multiple pregnancies and childcare. Limited means do keep them under pressure and they tend to neglect their own health as well as health of their children. They will not seek health care outside the basti due to social conventions so our Community workers, during their visits, persuade these women not to ignore the initial signs of problems.
Services delivered
The community outreach team identifies non-school going children and persuades them to give school a chance. Support is provided to the needy students by a variety of means: supplementary nutrition, medical assistance, counseling, financial assistance to meet educational overheads, such as uniforms, stationery, conveyance, NOS admission and examination fees.
The outreach team also makes regular home visits and follows up absentees and dropouts so that they can be persuaded to come back to school. Monthly meetings with parents are held so that parents are involved with their children’s education and support and motivate them to complete their education. The outreach team also serves as an educational resource by referring children to other schools and helping them to get admission to these schools.
Community workers hold awareness creating meetings with mothers on various aspects of childcare such as breast feeding, personal hygiene, weaning, immunization, childhood diseases and nutrition to increase the community’s level of knowledge. Pregnant women are encouraged to register in our antenatal care clinic. Women are encouraged to pay attention to their own well-being and economic assistance is also provided in deserving cases.
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