The hospital understands that health and development are two sides of the same coin. Many children from underprivileged backgrounds live in overcrowded homes with no suitable area for homework and lack help with their studies, as many parents are illiterate. The community health centre set up the CCE programme in May 1999 to develop an atmosphere in the slums where older children help educate and support their younger neighbors. It was envisaged that school-going children aged five to fifteen years would be the direct beneficiaries of extra supportive education. The Child Volunteers are benefited as teaching improves their self-esteem, reinforces their knowledge and improves their communication skills. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) skill building are key aspects of the Center’s work on the promotion of health and child development.

Aims to improve children’s: Self-esteem Performance in exams Organizing capacity Sense of social responsibility Gender equality Health awareness Rights of children

To achieve the above goal the following specific objectives were formulated:

• To develop an atmosphere conducive to studies and all round development of children in the slums.

• To develop a system where older children of slums teach younger children of neighborhood

• To identify, orient and empower children with good educational caliber as Child Volunteers (CVs) to educate younger children.
• To identify, train and develop 10 to 12 standard children as Youth Volunteers (YVs) to supervise the work of Child Volunteers and work as a link between children and the program team.
• To organize extra-curricular activities
• To evolve a system to increase participation of children in extra-curricular and sports activities.
• To establish a ‘House System’, where each child is a member of one of the 6 houses and to conduct healthy Inter-House Competitions.
• To enhance parent’s involvement in the program by holding regular Parents - Child Volunteer Meetings

• To develop a sense of responsibility towards society amongst the children of slums.

• To organize socially useful activities.
• To facilitate children to participate in socially useful activities.
• To introduce and train new volunteers so that they can integrate into the programme.

The Beneficiaries:

There are 24, 297 children in the school going age group (5 -15 years), in Sunder Nagri. Most of them are getting schooling from the Municipal Corporation & Delhi administration Schools.

Child-to-Child Education Staff Resource: (July 06 to March 07 Project Supervisor – 1 Development Assistant – 1 Houses – 6 Child Volunteer – 79 Youth Volunteer – 10

Child Volunteers

The idea is to have groups of ten children, ach taught by one Child Volunteer. The Child Volunteer is selected from a senior class and having good educational caliber. He/she is encouraged to educate younger children of his/her neighborhood. For example a 6th class child to teach children of 1st class and a 8th class child could teach 3rd or 4th class. Child Volunteers are paid Rs.15/- (Class 1 to 7), Rs.25/- (Class 8) or Rs.50/- (Class 9 & 10) by each child and also receives an honorarium/scholarship of Rs.100/-(CV of Class 1 to 8) or Rs.300/- (CV of Class 9 & 10) for his contribution.

Youth Volunteers

A cadre of youth volunteers is developed to supervise child volunteers. Each Youth Volunteer supervises at least 5 Child Volunteers. These youth are from 10th –12th class and work as a link between children and the program team. They are paid Rs. 500/- per month as an honorarium.

Special Committees: There are special committees of children for planning programmes, organizing co-curricular activities, sports and publishing the newsletter.

Committees:

There are five committees which are performing tasks for the development of the programme

• Fee Concession Committee

(There are some children who cannot afford to pay even the small amount of 15 rupees per month. A committee of children reviews such cases and recommends full or partial concession. The hospital honors their decision and pays fee for such children.)

• Sanitation committee
• Water arrangement committee
• Teaching aid arrangement committee
• Discipline committee

House system:

One of the strengths of the child- to- child education programme is the house system that has evolved in the slum. There are six houses, named Nehru, Gandhi, Subahsh, Shastri, Rajendra Prasad and Captain. Each house is represented by two Youth Volunteers.

Core Staff Resources:

Programme Organizer 1

Development Assistants 2

Monthly meetings of core team and management

In the initial phases, to monitor the program, regular Monthly Meetings of Core Team and Management were held. These meetings were important problem solving sessions. Gradually the meetings have been replaced by Development Assistants Meetings with the Child and Youth volunteers.

Monthly tests: Monthly test are conducted and a track record of Performance is maintained. The Child-to-Child Education Team Duties: Morning assembly with daily classes of 1 ½ hour duration, track record of monthly tests, regular monitoring, parents-volunteers meeting and health education classes. Co-curricular activities: Creative games, library, science lab,children’s magazine (Bal Swar), Dillidarshan,and other socially useful activities.

Progress and outcome (July 06 to March 07) 75 children were merit holders in their respective classes and 1 girl scored 72% in 12th class. There has been a radical impact on the health status of community because of children taking an active part in health programmes. Reach of the health team has increased to a great extent. Earlier we were reaching the community through 14 ANMs and 20 CHVs. Now we have additional 965 children, child volunteers and youth volunteers to spread our health messages in every section of the community. Children as volunteers have developed into strong motivators. Increased inclination to volunteer.

Child-to-child co-curricular health activities

Physical Fitness % Students (July to March – 2007)

Key to physical fitness: 5 – Excellent, 4 – Good, 3 – Sometime unwell, 2 – Generally unwell, 1 – Always unwell

Hygiene % Students (July to Dec-2004)

Key to physical fitness: 5 – Excellent, 4 – Good, 3 – Sometime unwell, 2 – Generally unwell, 1 – Always unwell

Nutrition % of Students (July to Dec- 2004)

Key to Nutrition: 10 – Less than 80% normal body weight (Mild) 20 – Less than 70% normal body weight (Moderate) 30 –Lees than 60% normal body weight (Sever) N- More than 80% normal body weight U- Unknown

Co-Curricular Children Activities:

Sports Activities at community Health Centre

Competition 2007 June to July     How Many No. of Participants Carom 13 258 Chess 8 108 Badminton 3 66 Hanky Pick up 2 43 Football 1 48 Volley Ball 11 369 Skating 10 270 Passing Ball 2 53 Yaga 3 106 Total 53 1321

S.No Art & Craft Activity How Many Participants 1 Songs, Dance, Drama 9 299 2 Story Telling 2 40 3 Story andPoetry Writing 5 120 4 Slogan Writing 2 48 5 Waste material Utilisation 10 296 6 Painting 7 299 7 Film Show 1 54 8 Collage Making 4 19 9 Thumb Painting 1 57 10 Craft 3 133 11 Paper Mache Workshop 4 126

Outside Competition Attendants:

S.No. Name of Activity/Competition No. of Attendants 1 Tree Plantation 24 2 Integration camp at Bal Bhavan 27 3 YUV Yutsav & NGOs Mela 16 4 Shankar international children camp 54 5 Painting competition, Delhi State AIDS Control Society 10 6 Painting competition, Nehru Bal Samiti 13 7 Marathon Race, Nehru Stadium 12

Activities and Competition at Community Health Centre - till March 2007

Extra-Curricular Activities

Many parents in Sunder Nagri work long hours. They are unsupported and very poor, which means they have limited time and finance to send their children to a youth club or on any outings. The community centre has developed an extra-curricular activities programme in order to minimize this deprivation and maximize childhood health and development. The community staff organizes regular activities at the centre and outings to give a full range of developmental opportunities to children.

Extra-curricular activities:   Quiz, debates and drawing and spell well competitions A library has been developed at CHD-SSH Science and activity centre ‘Bal-swar’, a news letter of children

Exposure visits Children are taken on regular picnics and excursion tours. These visits are important for child development. There are weekly visits to Child House (Bal Bhavan) for learning Music, Dance, Singing, Painting, Mehendi, Handicraft, clay painting, Book Binding, Art & Craft etc.

Sports activities: Creative Games Judo classes for girls PT sessions Annual cricket & badminton tournaments Indoor games – Chess, Carom and Skating

Computer Training The children are given exposure to computers in both formal and non-formal ways. They play games, make drawings with the electronic paintbrush on a regular basis. It demystifies the computers. They also attend classes organized by the computer instructor in a structured format. Eligibility criteria is that children belonging to class 6th – 10th, Child Volunteer or Youth Volunteer. Monthly fee paid by the children Rs.10 (Classed held twice a week). There are 70-75 children.

Art & Craft Activity The centre provides teaching, materials and the environment for children to explore their artistic abilities. The children often take part in painting competitions and art exhibitions.

Volunteers Training

There is ongoing training and recruitment of Child-Youth volunteers (who teach in the child-to-child education programmes) in order to replace the existing volunteers as they progress to secondary education, colleges, universities or employment. More volunteers are also recruited if there is an increase in the number of children. The New recruits are selected on the basis of their abilities in key educational subjects. The new volunteers are then given an induction course to familiarize them with the programme, activities and their responsibilities. The induction training involves a two-day course in the following subjects:

Volunteers Training Schedule

Day 1

• Introduction
• Ice Breaking Session
• CCE Programme
  • History and Progress
  • Aims and Objectives
  • Organization Setup
• House System
• Teaching Methods
• Disease Spread and Personal Hygiene
• First Aid Training

Day 2

• Role of Child Volunteer
  • Rules
  • Committees
  • Importance of meetings
• Schedule of Activities
• Importance of daily morning activity
  • Prayer
  • Moral/Health Education
  • Health Check up
• Record Maintenance
• Nutrition
• Frequently Faced Problems
• Life Skills

Library

Children in Sunder Nagri have little access to educational and reading materials. The centre’s library addresses this issue by providing reading materials and videos. The social worker supervises the library resources.

Library Timings:

Morning: 7.00 AM to 9.00 AM

Evening: 4.30 PM to 8.00 PM

Library Staff Resources:

Development Assistant 1

Youth Volunteers 2 (Act as Librarian)

Supportive Staff

Science and Activity Centre

Children quite often lose interest in science because they don’t get the opportunity to do practical work. In 6^th to 8^th standard they don’t need expensive instruments or complex procedures. Even the most basic experiments can encourage a scientific approach. The centre proposes to develop a Science and Activity centre in the premises of Sunder Nagri Centre library. Youth volunteers will be given an honorarium for their services. The social worker will coordinate and supervis this service. Science teaching videos will also be shown.

Purpose:

• To develop scientific attitude amongst children;

• To make the subject more interesting.

Approach:

• Facility for children of 6^th to 8^th standard because of limitation of feasibility and resources.

• A Development Assistant will issue membership and co-ordinate the teaching times to ensure maximum use of resources.