Education Centres for Children

Many of CINI education centers in the slums are supported through “Educate A Child Sponsorships”.

We visited these inspiring centers in Kolkata and Siliguri. Often the environment around the center is confronting and very poor with very little resources for families. The centers are a single room with mats or desks and a colourful posters provided by CINI. The local community provides the venue, often a school, club or sports center. Classes follow the Government curriculum as well as providing the chance to play and create.

An essential aspect is protection. This could not have been clearer than when I visited a center near Kolkata’s Park Street area, not far from the elegant shops and big restaurants.

The centre was a buzz of activity as children arrived back from school. The room was small, hot and humid. The ceiling fans didn’t work. No one complained. One child offered me a fan. The children, 6 to 13 years were busy doing their maths and Bengali, reading, copying from the black boards under the guidance of a kind and focused teacher. The children obviously felt safe and nurtured.

I asked if I could visit where the home. We walked down an alley to the railway line – home. There were hundreds of dwellings made from tarps and bamboo along the track, women were preparing food between the tracks, toddlers were playing under their eye. The women in their twenties told me they’d always live there; they hadn’t been to school and their houses were falling apart. There was no running water, they cary it in from the government supply truck in plastic bottles. There are no toilets.

The center provides so much that is essential: safety, help with school, some where to draw, dance and play including safety and the chance at education.

In Siliguri CINI has 4 slum education centers and CINI works in 50 of the Siliguri’s 186 slums.

Many families who migrate from poorer state such as Bihar& Jharkhand end up in slums on very low incomes.  Here were 2 teachers with 50 happy children, 5 to 16 years, class 1 to 8, speaking Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Nepali. Amazing!

If you would like to support these centres, an ” educate A Child” sponsorship is $10 per month

Go to Sponsorships

Sponsor A Mother & Her Baby

During  our February visit to CINI we went to see CINI’s Sponsor A Mother and Her Baby program. Some of our Australian donors are sponsoring mothers in the villages of Diamond Harbour district, South of Kolkata, where the Hooghly River enters the Bay of Bengal.

After reaching as far as the vehicle could take us we continued on foot through the village surrounded by padi fields. We passed ponds, tube wells, mud huts, and an occasional brick house. Most people have “joint families” were the daughters-in-law join their husband’s family. Cooking is done together by the women of the family on clay stoves built into the ground.

For the last four years, I have met up with Millie, supervisor of the local health workers. She guides these village women in caring for mothers and children

These “self-help-group” woman are trained by CINI and help about 90 women and children each. Twice a month they visit pregnant mums providing support and education. They make sure they get to the antenatal clinic, understand why hospital births is safer and importantly, help the young mother in those first few years of her babies life. This has a huge effect on preventing malnutrition and childhood illness.

Soumitas, the health worker took us visit Naseema (name changed), in Giopalpur village. She was 7 months pregnant with her first baby. She is 24 years and in spite of weighing 35 kilograms, was well. She was having regular antenatal care and taking her iron. She lives in a joint family and her husband is a daily labourer, which is unreliable and low income work. Her confidence with the health worker was evident.

Naseema’s mother was probably also  malnourished and anaemic from childhood. As a result, Naseema is under weight and her baby ‘at risk’.  Through “Sponsor A Mother” she receives close attention and support for the “first 1000 days”. We can expect her baby to be born safely in hospital, weigh at least 2.5kg, be better able to resist childhood illness and develop normally. This is the point of change for the next generation.

If you would like to give a hand to young mother from early pregnancy until her baby is two years old go to Sponsorships

 

Christmas Appeal 2017

.. to raise $5000 by Christmas for Kolkata’s children.

with gifts that give twice and last forever

CINI Australia wishes you all a very Happy Christmas

& thank you for your support to reach many families in need.

With Christmas celebrations, holidays and gifts for those we love,

we think of others who don’t have so much, so …

 CINI Australia aims to raise $5000 for

Kolkata’s children by Christmas

In 2015-16 CINI identified over 11,000 girls out of school and helped more than 7,000 get back into education.

Being out of school puts children at risk. Not only are they missing out on essential schooling, which is one of the most effective ways to get out of poverty, it means that they are on the streets, in child labour and very vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

Living in poverty is hard work for children: no books in their one-room homes and working to help their families survive. A child’s “Right To Play” is lost in this struggle.

Children in Kolkata’s slums come to CINI’s education centers for 4 hours a day. CINI’s dedicated teachers make sure that they are managing their school work. It is a place where they can ‘just be children’ and can play, dance and create in safety.

Many of the adolescents who attended the centers, return to help the next children, because they understand more than anyone, the enormous benefit of this support.

Please include these children in your Christmas plans

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year to you all

Make a secure on line contribution at

http://www.givenow.com.au/CINIA2017xmasappeal

 

Mother’s Day Celebration High Tea Fundraiser 13th May 2017

Saturday 13th May: High Tea & Fundraiser

Bookings are now open for CINI Australia’s 4th Annual Mother’s Day Celebration

Make it a Very Happy Mother’s Day. This is an opportunity to help young mothers in India provide their children with many of the things we take for granted: health care, good nutrition, schooling and safety. CINI’s programs start at conception, continue through childhood into adolescents, the parents of the next generation.

CINI (India) Recognised For “CINI Method”

HCL Technologies, one of India’s top IT companies, awards  HCL Grants in Health, Environment and Education.

It is a CSR commitment by HCL through the HCL Foundation,  contributing to rural development by strengthening NGOs.

CINI was awarded the grant in the Health category. It is in recognition of the experimental work carried out by CINI over the past decades in involving poor communities in participatory governance processes hinging on the convergence  in the areas of health, nutrition, education and protection. The CINI Method relies on the joint involvement of government service providers, Panchayati Raj Institutions ( Local government), and women and children’s groups.   The grant will help improve health and nutrition outcomes for children, adolescents and women in the districts of Jalpaiguri, South 24 Parganas and Murshidabad in West Bengal through building Child Friendly Communities, applying the CINI Method.

Mindfulness Bushwalk For CINI Australia 8th & 9th October

The Shenton park Meditation group are holding  a mindfulness walking meditation on part of the Bibbulmen Track in the Perth hills.  They aim to raise $2000 for our new Chainagar Child Friendly Community Program
Information or booking: email Gaby Yin – gabrieleyin@amnet.net.au

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Since we began the meditation classes at Yoga Moves in 2009, we have been regularly supporting CINI and their work in educating children and young mothers that they may break free from the cycle of poverty, malnutrition an
d ill health that many are caught in.

Each of us ascribes our own meaning to the things we choose to do. We walk in many ways, for many reasons – to get somewhere, to keep fit, to give thanks, to demonstrate our support for others, to restore or challenge ourselves. We can walk and talk with our companions and we can walk in silence. We can go on a pilgrimage. We can even walk ‘wishlessly’ as Thich Nhat Hanh describes the practice of mindful walking meditation. Over time, maybe we can do all these things…

 

Come celebrate Mother’s Day 2016 with CINI Australia – 7th May

Mother’s Day Celebration

CINI Australia’s High Tea Fundraiser

2 – 5pm, Saturday 7th May 2016
Exhibition Hall, John XXIII College
John XXIII Ave, Mt Claremont WA

Book your table or individual seats at http://www.trybooking.com/178155

Come celebrate Mother’s Day with CINI Australia

Bring along your friends and family to enjoy afternoon tea with delicious food and a glass of ‘sparkling’ to celebrate your mothers, grandmothers or daughters. There will be a silent auction, raffle, door prize and gifts for Mother’s Day.

You will hear about CINI Australia’s programs that empower young mothers to build a path out of poverty for their families. Your support will help create lasting change in the lives of women and their children in need in India.

Give A Mother’s Day Gift That Lasts

“Sponsor A Mother and Her Baby” will ensure that they both receive essential health care, nutrition and education from conception until the baby is 2 years.

Your sponsorship comes with a Mother’s Day gift card and yearly reports.

$15/month – for the cost of a cappuccino a week you will make a lasting difference for a young mother and her child.

Sponsor at https://www.ciniaustralia.org/how-to-help/sponsor/ or on the day.

Tickets $50/$35 concession/$360 table of 8 (wine not included)

Charity Of The Week

12-19th November.

Celebrate India’s Children’s Day on 14th November and download the one7day app this week. Encourage your friends to donate a dollar in support CINI’s programs for children.

CINI’s program help children achieve their rights to play, protection, food, health and an education. You can be a part of this. Take out an Educate A Child Sponsorships and follow a child through 2 years of schooling.

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2015 Mothers Day Celebration

On Saturday May 2016 our Mother’s Day Celebration High Tea raised $15000 for programs in India.

190 guests celebrated motherhood with a beautiful afternoon tea with wonderful food, a glass of sparkling wine by a team of volunteers.

Silent auction, raffle, door prizes and gifts for Mother’s Day were on offer with everything you could want from puppy lessons to a belly dancing party!

Fantastic music was performed by Jankar Indian Music group. There was also a beautiful Indian wedding display.

Thank you to John XXIII college students who worked hard all day. Many thanks to all our helpers and the generosity of individuals and businesses around Perth.

See you all again in May 2016!

[one_half]Please support our supporters:
Jhankar Music Group
Table Culture Subiaco
Manic Botanic Florist
Anna Chandler Designs
Bodhi J Spa
Pregnancy Day Spa
Boasted Market
The Honeycake
The Smooth Movers
Wiliabrup Wines
Spare Parts Puppet theatre
Bunnings Cottesloe
Harvey Fresh
Cake Subiaco
Office Works Fremantle
Plata Bonita
Swan Valley Tours
IGA Mosman Fresh
Creation Landscapes
Main Peak
Jenny Jones Rugs
Silverstream Wines
Natures Harvest
Scruff Dog Studio[/one_half][one_half_last]
Retravsion OConnor
Kitchenware Myaree
Simone Pereles
Coolabah Charms
Claremont Vet Clinic
Reclaim Your Space
Rivergums Riders Riding School
WASO
The Melbourne Comedy Festival
Musica Viva
7 to 1 Photography
Luna paradiso
Liquor Barons Claremont
Perth Theatre Trust
Swanbourne Market
Chai baba
Spotlight palmyra
Cookie Dough
The Naked Fig
Coles Claremont
Beau Est Mien
Labour Of Love
Cottesloe Golf Club
Wollworths Palmyra[/one_half_last]

Operation Smile

On 15th January, 2015,  Kolkata police in collaboration with Child and Women Development Ministry, CHILDLINE Kolkata , CINI and Child Welfare Committee launched a month-long programme known as Operation Smile to track and rescue children who have gone missing in the district over the last few years, so that they can be rehabilitated or reunited with their families. The cops undertook search and rescue operations across the metro under this programme in 16 drives at railway stations, bus stands, hotels, dhabas, traffic intersections and micro-industries to locate the kids. Operation Smile, throws light to the important aspect of the horrible story of more than 1 lakh missing children per year in India.

Right to Play

The charter on children’s Right to Play has been developed by concerned members of the civil society to promote children’s “Rights to Play”. It sets out a vision for sports and play, aims to be a catalyst for individuals and organisations to examine, review and improve their provision for children and young people’s play and informal recreation.

With the aim to emphasize and highlight Children’s “Right to Play” CINI for the last 5 years has initiated an event of joyful and unrestricted play for half a day on a winter weekend. The event gives the children an opportunity of free mixing cutting across the barrier of class, caste, and religion. This year the Right to Play event was celebrated on 10th January, 2015, at Rani Rasmoni Road at Dharmatala. Close to 1000 children from slums, streets, red light areas and mainstream schools took part in this event in this year. The day was celebrated with games and fun-filled activities. The children played our forgotten street games like guli danda, bicycle wheels as also participated in Bratachari and music and dance. Elite school children from Loreto, Our Lady of Providence, St. James, Mahadevi Birla Girls school, Assembly of God Church and few other schools also took part in this event. Many eminent guests were present there to grace the event and enjoyed playing with the children.

Securing Children in Contact with Railways

This year CINI got an rare opportunity from NCPCR to presents CINI`s 25 years experience about intervention of Sealdah Railway Station since 1989 and experience of Siliguri and Azimgunj. Babu Dey-a platform connected child turned a duty bearer made a presentation of CINI’s work on platform connected children for 25 years at Sealdah Railway children. He shared his early life of platform and his present life conditions that has been facilitated by CINI being a dweller and now as a duty bearer.

A consultative meeting with government departments and NGOs were convened by the ‘National Commission for Protection of Child Rights’ on 8th March, 2015 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi   on the occasion of it’s foundation day. The program titled and themed on  ‘Securing Children in Contact with Railways’ in the presence of  Honorable Union Minister of  Women & Child Development , Govt. of India  Smt. Maneka Gandhi. She launched a Standard Operating Procedure(SOP) for Children in Contact with Railways. In that event there were eminent personalities who are working in the Field of protecting children rights on the railways and the Chair Persons of SCPCR of different states, also many leading organizations who are working with these children for last decade in major Railway Station of across the India. 20 major railway stations have been identified where the SOP will be implemented, where Sealdah and Siliguri Railway Station is mentioned in the SOP where CINI is Intervening. As CINI is already working on the draft SOP and all the mentioned activities of SOP are successfully running & well monitored as per the SOP at Sealdah Railway Station, CINI got a special mention from the Minister of WCD.

A State Level Consultation with Child Protection Service Providers

A State Level Consultation with Child Protection Service Providers was conceptualised by CINI as part of the Missing Child Alert Project which is operational in 10 cross-border districts in West Bengal. It is used as a platform for facilitating learning and sharing among three key actors – West Bengal State Legal Services Authority (WBSLSA) and its district bodies (District Legal Services  Authority), District Child Protection Officers (DCPOs) and Child Welfare Committees (CWCs). The consultation witnessed significant participation with representatives from WBSLSA and DLSAs, DCPOs and CWC members from the ten districts covered under the MCA project and Kolkata. The presence of the Chairperson of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights,Mr Ashokendu Sengupta, Honourable Justice from the Kolkata High Court, Mr Joymlaya Bagchi, senior functionaries from the Department of Women and Child Development Government of West Bengal (GoWB), such as Assistant Director, Mr Indushekhar Chatterjee and  Deputy  Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development, Mr.Bedanga Biswas enriched the proceedings. Other distinguished speakers such as Additional Director General of Police, GoWB, Mr Adhir Sharma, IPS and the Officer in Charge, Anti Human Trafficking Unit, CID ,Ms Sarbari Bhattacharya also provided unique insights. Partner organisations in the MCA project also participated. This consultation paved the way to build on available knowledge and practice through reflections on capacities and systems within the state and help evolve a collective roadmap. The consultation also paved the way for convergent action among DCPO, SLSA and CWC s so that the missing and trafficked children are able to get access to justice and free legal aid.

CINI starts to provide academic coaching support to economically deprived adolescent girls

CINI starts to provide academic coaching support to economically deprived adolescent girls studying in government schools in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. At the moment, one of the major focus of the Government of India is on girls’ education so as to strengthen the position of woman in society and to combat illiteracy, violation of women’s rights, early marriage, trafficking, abuse and exploitation. Keeping this in view, CINI aims to reach adolescent girls from economically backward families, who are studying in class VIII to X in government schools. The principal aim of the project is to provide academic guidance to eligible adolescent girls of class VIII to X for achieving good result in the board examination (Madhyamik) and motivate them and their parents for continuing study and opting for higher studies so as to select the right profession for them and step towards a better, independent and self sufficient life.

International Womens’ Day Celebration

Every year the International Women’s Day is celebrated at CINI on March 8, 2015. The theme of the year 2015 was ‘Make it happen’. Besides celebrating the day with cultural events like dance programmes, songs, speeches, plays, we also arranged a Workshop for WLHA & CLHA (Women and Children Living with HIV and AIDS) at CINI where they learnt about their rights and various means of protecting themselves.

Cycle for Change 2015 Tasmania

Woohoo we did it! With Cycle For Change 2015 now completed, we have topped $30,000 with our fund raising. These funds will reach families in West Bengal, in their health, nutrition, education, their knowledge of their rights and skills in protecting their children and in gaining a voice to determine their futures.

We are absolutely thrilled and deeply grateful to the 9 riders from 3 states for the effort they put into making this a success. Despite the many hills, all our riders, including Karina, Camille, Neil, Karen, Josh, Peter, Steph, Magan and Jennie with support from Paula, Beau, Anne, Elizabeth, Tasmanian Camping Tours: Scott and Maggie completed the 460km ride through eastern Tasmania from Launceston to Hobart.

Thank you to the friends, family and sponsors from around the globe for your support.

Great logistical support by Tasmanian Camping Tours and Discovery Learning made the cycle safe and enjoyable for all. We particularly enjoyed two opportunities to host public talks about CINI in Scotsdale and Artifakt Restaurant in Swansea.

A daily blog of the ride can viewed here.

41 years of dedicated service to children & women

CINI India celebrated 41 years of dedicated service to children & women on February 1, 2015. Established in 1974, CINI has grown into a vibrant institution with various thematic divisions and units. It is guided by its mission of Sustainable development in health, nutrition, education and protection of child, adolescent and woman in need. Under the governance of esteemed pediatrician and Founder Director Dr. Samir Chaudhuri, we have been operating for the last four decades in the some of the poorest communities in the states of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Our core activities are in the areas of Health, Nutrition, Education, Protection and Environment. We reach out to over five million populations both directly and indirectly. CINI has won the National award for Child Welfare from Government of India twice, once in 1985 and then in 2004. Considering the need of the hour and addressing the entitlement issue of the poorest of the poor people across the country, this year CINI celebrated the 41st Foundation Day in the course of a thematic panel discussion on “Children First” chaired by Sister S. M Cyril, Eminent Educationist.

The thematic discussion on Children First was centred on the challenges, opportunities and exploring ideas for accelerated actions in education, child protection and health of the girl child, thus creating child- friendly communities. The eminent speakers in the panel shared their views and thoughts on the theme and suggested actionable areas for cooperation. The key-note speakers were Dr. Rinchen Chophel, Director General, SAIEVAC – SAARC Apex Body for Children, Prof. Ashokendu Sengupta, WB State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Mr. M. Asadur Rahman, Chief, Field Office, UNICEF West Bengal, Dr. Samir Chaudhuri, and Mr. Rajib K Haldar, Additional Director, CINI.

National Girl Child Day

National girl child day is celebrated every year on 24th of January. This celebration is to offer support and new opportunities to the girls in the country. It is celebrated to increase the awareness among people about all the inequalities faced by the girl child in the society. Inequality about girl child is a vast problem which includes areas like inequality in education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, protection, honour, child marriage and so many more. National girl child day has been started as a national girls development mission by the Government of India. It enhances the meaningful contribution of the girls in decision making processes through the active support of the parents and other community members. This day was observed across many CINI centers