In underprivileged homes in both urban and rural areas, mothers have to stay at home to care for the child. That is added pressure on the sole earning member of the family. With lesser income, the malnourishment and illiteracy among their children are on the rise. This is a vicious cycle.If you want a healthy and educated child, you must give a helping hand to the mothers and allows them to make a living and also be independent.

Navajeevan Mahila Pragati Kendra supported by Rotary Bangalore Lakeside established Bangalore's  first creche for the children of these women in 2001. It helps by taking care of the young kids of these workers . They currently have 8 such creche's in Bangalore. They were all set up with the aim to empower poor mothers to take up jobs while their children are fed and taken care of at the crèche.

The cost of running the IBLUR creche is 50000 INR per month. Me and my friends of mine are raising funds to help run this creche for a entire year. Yes for 12 months !! My goal is to raise INR 20000. Please continue funding my campaign even after i get to & past my goal as additional funds will help us run the creche for a longer duration. 

Location of the Creche

ABOUT ME AND THE CAMPAIGN

Hi! My name is Aayushi Jain and I'm in class 12A. I like drawing, painting, singing and reading. Every time I see our house help's kids roaming around, not going to school, it hurts me. I feel bad that I get to enjoy so many resources and luxuries while these children dont even get basic needs such as education. They often end up being illiterate like their parents, and working in low wage jobs, thus leading a poor lifestyle and also falling prey to various diseases due to low awareness and lack of education. They also get exploited as they are not aware of their rights. I feel if we want our country to progress we should first focus on educating all the young children of our country. Education is the precursor to development. Thus, I want to take up this initiative with my friends and help all everyone gain access to the resources that they deserve.

SUCCESS STORIES :   SAROJ's STORY 

Pic: Sister Elise with the kids.

Saroj who serves as a domestic help at a housing society in Bengaluru would carry her two-year-old son with her to work. One day her employer told her not to bring the son along.She wasn’t happy leaving him at the neighbour’s house. Then she met Sister Elise Mary who enrolled her son at the Murgeshpalaya Crèche. A Franciscan nun serving at the Navjeevan Mahila Pragati Kendra, Sister Elise visits the slums of Bengaluru to “understand the difficulties of the women in the slums, counsel them (in case of domestic violence) and help them find a job."

Saroj says there were times when she couldn’t feed her son well “but now he eats like a Raja. The breakfast menu at the crèche includes poha, idli, dosa and a glass of milk.” Between 8 am to 4 pm the children are taught rhymes, English alphabets and Kannada. There is also provision for these children to sleep comfortably and they are fed three times a day. Parent meetings are conducted twice a month to assess the child’s development, address parents’ grievances and provide nutrition and hygiene awareness to them. Saroj is a very happy mother and thrilled that the CRECHE takes care of her child so well.

SUCCESS STORIES :   RITA'S STORY 

Pic: Rita who could earn more due to the creche support for her kids.

Rita was working as a household maid in 2-3 homes. With the children kept in the creche in a safe and sound manner, she could devote some time for a spoken "English" language course. Once the course was completed in 6 months time, she started applying for in-store sales/helper positions in the malls around and landed herself with a  job there. Now she works in one of the stores with a much higher salary and is able to enhance the living standard of her household. She is also now talking about her journey on this path and asking other creche moms to join the course towards making their lives better.

How do the children and the parents benefit from the crèche?

Children at the crèche:

A daily routine here include various activities and events planned by the coordinator and staff. These contribute to molding the character and behaviour of the children here. The collaboration, coordination of the coordinator, staff, and parents of these children and the hard work of the crèche staff, and coordinator contributed a lot for the success of these Crèche children.

There is marked improvements in the children’s malnourishment, underweight, cleanliness etc. Ove a course of time there were much improvement in their health, change in mental behaviour and adjustment with other children as well as with their family members. Very often the parents notice and tell the staff at the crèche that they are finding a change in their children’s behaviour for the better.

Parents at the crèche:

Apart from it being a full-day day care center for the children, the crèche provides multiple benefits to the parents. Time to time some good resource persons during parents and teachers meeting to impart some innovative programmes through awareness talks to the women in some selective subjects. Hence good fruitful discussions and input sessions for the welfare of these children in the crèches takes place here. Apart from these, since the teachers are closely associated with the mothers of these children, the crèche teachers give proper guidance and timely instructions to them for the welfare of their children, family and the Society. Life skill Education, Family life Education, Women Empowerment and child care topics are discussed with Mothers regularly. They always look forward for this monthly get together with eager enthusiasm.

Additional benefits for the parents enrolling their children here include counselling for the mothers who needed to cope up emotionally and other support. The crèche also helps a few parents to find employment.

IN THE NEWS

About Navajeevan Mahila Pragati Kendra

Navajeevan Mahila Pragati Kendra was established in 2001 to support mothers from underprivileged families who would otherwise have to stay at home to care for their children. This would put a lot of pressure on the sole breadwinner of the families. With lesser income, the children would lack the right nourishment and education, hindering their growth.

The programme allows growth of the families financially and focuses on the individual growth of the children. There are 7 crèches developed in and around Bangalore, including the latest addition in Murugeshpalayam.

COST BREAK UP

The below costs are for running the CRECHE for a month. I am raising 20000 INR to fund part of this running cost. Between me and my friends we hope to raise money to fund this CRECHE for 12 months. That would truly impact a lot of mothers and children. Please continue funding this campaign till the last day.

TAX BENEFITS 

The money from this campaign will be given to Rotary Bangalore Lakeside Charitable Trust They will issue receipts to all funders. Since they are a NGO any funding will have tax benefits for those filing taxes in India.