The MV Foundation started 20 years ago in this state (Andhra Pradesh) to combat child labor. They now work in six states. I hope they plan to expand to every state. They work with minimal fuss, maximum understanding of the ground realities in slum and village India, keep low overhead, and produce results.
Here is a picture of the parents, community leaders (called "Gram Panchayats"), youth committee members, and two MV Foundation staffers (far right) at Khanapur village. The man standing on the right edge of the group is Mallesh, he is the MV Foundation staff member dedicated to the Rainbow School back in Masthan Nagar. He took me to Khanapur to see a functioning, effective community-MV Foundation partnership. Khanapur is one hour east of Hyderabad(see map here).
In our slum, we are really struggling with building community relations. This visit gave me great hope.
The original mission for the Khanapur Community - MV Foundation partnership was to focus on a handful of bonded labor cases. They were children whose parents "sold" their labor in return for settlement of debts. The Khanapur children work for years in the "owners" fields or houses, often incurring substantial abuse and with no access to education. The partnership closed those cases fast through a "group v owner" negotiation model. The partnership now has the goal of strengthening Khanapur's schools.
The results speak for themselves. The Khanapur-MV Foundation partnership effectively ended child labor in the area. Agricultural communities traditionally rely on children to help, so this is an even bigger win than in the slums. The entire drive there and back, I watched the wheat, corn, cabbages, bean, and cotton fields. Not once did I see a child working in the fields.
Here is Mallesh speaking on the results.
(Note: I did relate that my dad, his brothers, his cousins - no matter what age - always worked on my grandfather's farm... but after school hours).
There are women in Khanapur who, as partners with the MV Foundation, continue to lead a child protection "cell," that means a special task force in Indian English. Their mission is to prevent recurrence of child labor, child bonded labor, and child marriages. But they, too, focus on strengthen the school in order to keep children in school.
Funny thing, the urban-slum Rainbow School and the rural-village Khanapur School face the same #1 problem: drop-outs. These are children who come to school for some time, then leaving school to play truant. These are "Drop Outs." We have 10% in both schools who consistently drop out. Reasons are varied, a primary reason is kids leave bad schools. The MV Foundation is partnering with Project 511 to help strengthen A.P. schools.
Here is a picture of the parents, community leaders (called "Gram Panchayats"), youth committee members, and two MV Foundation staffers (far right) at Khanapur village. The man standing on the right edge of the group is Mallesh, he is the MV Foundation staff member dedicated to the Rainbow School back in Masthan Nagar. He took me to Khanapur to see a functioning, effective community-MV Foundation partnership. Khanapur is one hour east of Hyderabad(see map here).
In our slum, we are really struggling with building community relations. This visit gave me great hope.
The original mission for the Khanapur Community - MV Foundation partnership was to focus on a handful of bonded labor cases. They were children whose parents "sold" their labor in return for settlement of debts. The Khanapur children work for years in the "owners" fields or houses, often incurring substantial abuse and with no access to education. The partnership closed those cases fast through a "group v owner" negotiation model. The partnership now has the goal of strengthening Khanapur's schools.
The results speak for themselves. The Khanapur-MV Foundation partnership effectively ended child labor in the area. Agricultural communities traditionally rely on children to help, so this is an even bigger win than in the slums. The entire drive there and back, I watched the wheat, corn, cabbages, bean, and cotton fields. Not once did I see a child working in the fields.
Here is Mallesh speaking on the results.
(Note: I did relate that my dad, his brothers, his cousins - no matter what age - always worked on my grandfather's farm... but after school hours).
There are women in Khanapur who, as partners with the MV Foundation, continue to lead a child protection "cell," that means a special task force in Indian English. Their mission is to prevent recurrence of child labor, child bonded labor, and child marriages. But they, too, focus on strengthen the school in order to keep children in school.
Funny thing, the urban-slum Rainbow School and the rural-village Khanapur School face the same #1 problem: drop-outs. These are children who come to school for some time, then leaving school to play truant. These are "Drop Outs." We have 10% in both schools who consistently drop out. Reasons are varied, a primary reason is kids leave bad schools. The MV Foundation is partnering with Project 511 to help strengthen A.P. schools.
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