In the effort for greater change, MOM foundation work with government schools and communities to improve educational facilities, fight against child labor and to ensure that more children from disadvantaged backgrounds have access to quality education. Webring to them an specific attention to the needs of our time specifical the climate change. These are the pole that we develop in rural area:
- Awareness camps for students
- Tree planting program in schools to improve greenery
- Poster printing and distribution
- Annual talent competitions to gauge performance improvement
The targeted educational institutions not only display cleaner, greener and better equipped campuses but also a drastically lowered rate of absenteeism, from 30% to 13%. Children study in a more encouraging and comfortable learning environment, leading to better academic performance. Better sanitation has improved the attendance of girl children, and greatly reduced health risks. Parents, teachers and students feel collectively responsible for their school.In order to give response that improves those indicators we have:
- Orphans and Semi-Orphans The Orphan Program helps prevent child labor through community sponsorship. Communities work to provide scholarships for orphans and semi-orphans. Identifying Orphan Children: MOM works with the Women’s Groups to identify orphan children in their villages. These children are from a rural poor background and have lost both parents at a very young age. Left alone without any security, love or care, they suffer psychologically, emotionally, socially and economically. They often end up as child laborers and beggars. The Women’s groups take them under their wing and call them, “Vikasa Children”.
- MOM Mothers (women members):Members of the Women’s program are motivated to act as mothers to all the Vikasa children. The women themselves are poor and illiterate, earning about one dollar a day and struggling to manage. Yet, they understand the orphan children’s needs and provide them with motherly love and care. Many of these poor women become generous donors by donating a few days’ wages to pay for clothing and books. They provide them with emotional support and enroll them in boarding schools and colleges.
- Solidarity Day with Orphans:The Vikasa mothers organize a Solidarity Day with Orphans every year to celebrate the birthdays of all the orphans. In addition to giving a donation, the women will take a day off work, pay their own travel and bring the meals for themselves and the children. The children are ecstatic to celebrate and have a chance to speak publicly and share their happy and sad MOMents from the year. The Vikasa Mothers encourage them in their studies and console them if they are sad. The children feel warmth, love, strength and security.
- Other Programs
Child Labor Reduction: We conduct surveys of working children in the villages and discuss the issue of child labor, and a child’s right to education, in the monthly Self-Help Group Women’s meetings. Mothers are encouraged to educate their children rather than send them to work.