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Mandra Lions Club Purulia, West Bengal

Mandra Lions Club Purulia, West Bengal. a) 12/24/2008 Site Visit Report b) 2009 – 10 Project Proposal February 21, 2009. Introduction. Started in 1975 by Mr. Somnath Singha Roy and friends Purulia district of West Bengal – tribal area Mr. Roy was born and raised in these parts

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Mandra Lions Club Purulia, West Bengal

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  1. Mandra Lions ClubPurulia, West Bengal a) 12/24/2008 Site Visit Report b) 2009 – 10 Project Proposal February 21, 2009

  2. Introduction • Started in 1975 by Mr. Somnath Singha Roy and friends • Purulia district of West Bengal – tribal area • Mr. Roy was born and raised in these parts • Coordinates day to day activities • High level: MLC has president, exec committee • Aim: Development of the tribal community in the region • 1992-93: Focus shifted to tribal children and education • Past funding: Asha, AID, UNICEF, CRY, Dutch Embassy • Long history of various developmental projects • No association with Lions Club Association Mandra Kolkata

  3. Photos from Site Visit in 24/12/2008 The Mandra office in Saradapally, at the base of the Ayodhya Hills. Also has residential quarters for staff and a mini mess.The 7 schools are spread over the hills. Note the abundance of date trees. Graffiti on wall, near the entrance, acknowledging support by various agencies including Asha.

  4. Socio Economic Status of the people • 74 tribal villages in Ayodhya Hills, Baghmundi district • Extremely interior: ~2.5 hours bikeride from Mandra office • Dense forest, habitat of elephants, bears, boars etc. • Massive deforestation in some parts to set up hydel project • Cutting wood for fuel is major occupation • Tribals (both male and woman) cut wood for one whole day • Next day: Climb down, carrying wood through forests • Sell them (Rs 60 – Rs 100), buy food, and go up again • Minor agriculture- mostly for internal consumption • Soil is infertile. Place is extremely hot during summers • 10% of families have 1 meal/day, 50% have 2 • Illiterate tribals are often exploited by political parties • Mura tribes: Understand/Speak Bengali • Santhal tribes: Separate language (Santhali) • Elder Santhals have working knowledge of Bengali

  5. Photos from Site Visit in 24/12/2008 Some loads of cut wood. Each person carries about 2 such loads and sells them for Rs 30 – 50 per load. Also seen in photo are Mandra staff Benimadhav and Mama (in blue) who is Mr. Roy’s uncle and the overall in-charge of the education component of Mandra Thatched huts in a tribal village

  6. Activities of Mandra Lions Club • Heath • Community health intervention • Mother and child health, reproductive child health • Women’s empowerment • Self help group promotion, micro-cerdit • Sponsor a grand parent • Malaria detection and control • Natural Resource Management • Water conservation and management • Worked with Govt, linked existing Govt schemes

  7. Details about educational projects • No of schools = 14 for Santhali children • 7 schools supported by Stanford are about 2-3 years old • 7 new schools funded by CNJ (schools started April 2008) • Children: 2.5 – 5+ years (pre-primary education) • ~240 children , boy/girl ratio ~1 • No permanent buildings – in courtyards or in the open • Teachers in a village school are youths from the same village, • Madhyamik to graduate education • Periodic teacher training by Mandra (more about this later) • There are Govt. schools at primary level • Insensitive to local culture • All in the plains – none up in Ayodhya hills • Teaching medium is Bengali – alien for Santhali children • Santhali language and Alchiki script different from Bengali • Hence need of vernacular pre-primary schools

  8. A note about Santhali language and Alchiki script • Santhali language: Very different from Bengali • Certain Santhali phonetics: not expressable in Bengali script • Thus a new script was needed • Pt. Raghunath Murmu developed Alchiki ~ 100 years back • Santhali language is much older • A language can’t be sustained without a script • Without written works, a language dies • Debatable: Do we need to sustain Santhali language/script? • Point: Wouldn’t help them in finding jobs in modern society • Counterpoint: Part of broader process of upliftment of tribals • Recognizing their culture gives them a boost

  9. Type of Education imparted to kids • Development of cognitive faculty • E.g. 5 cubes of different shapes; child asked to put them on top of each other, with largest one at bottom • Fun and learning (recall how we played with lego blocks as kids) • Introduction to formal language structure • Introduction to both Alchiki/Santhali and Bengali • E.g. flash cards with photo of a house on both sides • One side bengali word and other side Santhali word in Alchiki • Recognize letters from phonetics (by pronouncing the word) • Basic Science, Maths, and Nature appreciation • Made aware of importance of nature and jungles • Children’s performances are evaluated and monitored • Make efforts to link children to regular schools after 3 years • Reasonable success achieved with older 7 centers

  10. Photos from Site Visit in 24/12/2008 School # 1 Village Leoa: Community center Note the yellow blocks – one of the ‘toys’ for cognitive development Teacher Duryodhan teaches from the flash cards. Note the innovative ‘whiteboard’ made of cloth with pockets to keep the cards

  11. Photos from Site Visit in 24/12/2008 The blackboard containing letters from Alchiki script School # 2 Village: Mamori Out in the open. Just the previous day a wild elephant had meandered into the village and had to be driven out.

  12. Comments about the Schools and Mid day Meal • Was a surprise visit in both places • Both teachers were very dedicated • Children were paying attention • Some children were working on their own • About 60% attendance • Mid day meal was flattened rice (chiura) • Problem: Storage and transportation of food • Interior villages: Food can’t be brought every day • No fridge: Else milk could be stored and given • Suggestion: Give tinned milk – already implemented • New proposal emerged after discussion • Each day a family takes responsibility of cooking for all kids • The family can’t sell woods that day – reimbursed by Mandra • Mandra will investigate if this is feasible

  13. Teacher Training • Held every 6 months • New educational material prepared – flash cards etc • Reason given: Children lose interest if they keep seeing the same old cards. The need new things (books, cards etc) to keep their interests up. • Organized by Mama; Mr. Roy’s uncle and in charge of education • Discussion about teaching methodology Held in Mandra office for 2 days. 12/14 teachers were present. The other 2 teachers are from the schools in the site visit. They were not informed about the teacher training workshop and also that there would be a visit. Side profile of Mr. Roy is seen in the right side of the photo (orange shirt)

  14. Utilization of funds for first 6 months April 2008 to September 2008 As of October 2008 240 (Total no of children ) x 20 (working days per month) = 4,800 child per day are present x 6 months =28800 no of children are present in 6 months. Tiffin cost already made in 6 months is Rs.80, 040/- i.e. (Rs.80040 divided by 28800 children) Rs.2.79 per child per day expenses are happening.

  15. Synopsis of budget for 2009-10

  16. Some Random Discussions had with Sandip Pal, a social worker in Mandra • Aim of education is not a regular job • Else tribal person will relocate to city • His community will not benefit • Literacy that improves the entire community • Education should be tied to income generation • If Asha funds a school, Asha should also fund a project that generates income • E.g.: Project where tribal people can sell their art • In that way, they wouldn’t relocate to cities. • Formal educational projects shouldn’t destroy indigenous tribal culture

  17. Misc Photos Twisted trees inside the forest Part of the hydel plant. This area used to be one of the most densely populated forests. Millions of trees cut and hundreds of animals displaced. The plant is running at a loss now due to inefficient design

  18. Misc Photos Incision made and tube thrust into a date tree for the juice to trickle down. Usually collected inside an earthen pot all night. Here a bird is seen perched on the tube, to drink some of the morning juice, which is incidentally intoxicating and used to made tadi The pure date juice collected all night is boiled and processed to make gur

  19. Misc Photos Child and goat in a tribal village Chhou dance masks being made in a nearby town. Purulia is famous for this dance form which has attracted international attention

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