Transform the Lives of Children in Gujarat, India

Introduction: The Pandemic has affected lives and livelihood all over the world. India, in its efforts to contain the spread of the virus on March 22nd, the Prime Minister ordered a lockdown. It’s been 8 months since India is still battling with the Pandemic and is the 2nd worst affected country in the World. 

In Bhavnagar, Shaishav being involved in training children in Child Rights, Child safety and prevention of Child Labour among the most marginalized section who faced huge challenges during the Pandemic. Financially, the families experienced a crisis due to job losses. The Pandemic has caused high mortality rates which led to social, mental and physical stress. 

The people were confined to their homes with monotonous / no activity which gives a sense of being trapped. Although homes may be considered as a safe place for some, it is not the safest place for all. In-fact with Covid-19 lockdown, there has been a hike in cases of domestic violence, child labour and other forms of violence. Children too have increased vulnerability to domestic violence during this time. Increased job insecurity, financial worry and other such emotions of parents can be a predictor of abuse. 

Lockdown and its impact on education:

Reducing physical contact has been the most common strategy adopted by the government to contain the spread of Covid-19. It has led most countries around the world to close down their schools for long periods of time. Covid-19 struck us without warning and left the education system scrambling, children were affected as the entire system came to a standstill. Knowing that this deadly virus wouldn’t leave so soon, the education system decided to move to the so-called “digital world” which led to online teaching, exams, lectures etc. 

The world of online education basically meant having sophisticated phones/laptops, strong networks etc. India, having caste and class dynamics, not everyone has access to smartphones. Lack of access to the internet and devices has created a gap in digital literacy, and to worsen the situation, India faces frequent power cuts, when compared to face-face education, online education brings forth significant deficiencies such as absence of opportunities of collaborative learning, lack of human connection and teacher’s supervision. Our Education system is forcing children to do rot learning instead of learning through concept clarity. Children are never taught “How to Learn” so they always remain dependent on schools, teachers, books for learning rather than learning independently.

So, in the light of this educational crisis, the Shaishav team conducted a survey with the objective of ensuring that children don’t fall prey to this crisis and opt out of the education system altogether. 

Survey:

A survey was conducted in Bhavnagar and Narmada by the Balsena and Aaranyashala facilitator and team where they went house to house to find out how the children and their families were coping-up with the pandemic crisis.  

During the home visits, the team introduced the idea about the Activity Resource kit, explaining its importance, how it will benefit the children and keep them engaged during the lockdown. Before preparing for the kits, the team took orders in advance, so that they have an approximate estimation of how many kits had to be prepared. A receipt for the same was provided with a minimal token cost of Rs.50.

Throughout the lockdown, Shaishav team members ensured that the children and their families had support through home visits and phone calls. At any time, be it day or night, the Childline team reached out to those facing any distress. The commitment and dedication of the team members in delivering their services was not time-bound because Childline works round the clock. For Shaishav, “Sky is the Limit”.

Through the home visits, Shaishav also identified the number of households who have access to phones and do not have access to phones. 

Out of 536 families surveyed at Bhavnagar, 21 families (4%) don’t have any phones, 143 families (27%) have simple phones and 372 families (69%) have smartphones but most of these are not smartphones with touch screens but the Jio phones.

The Balsena created a WhatsApp group to keep in touch with the family.

In Narmada district, out of 307 families surveyed at Narmada, 16 families (5%) don’t have any phones, 78 families (25%) have simple phones and 213 families (69%) have simple smartphones which do not have features to cope with the online education.

Other major findings of this survey were as follows:

1. The team was able to contact 536 Balsena children out of 625 Balsena children in our 20 communities in Bhavnagar. The rest migrated to their villages.
2. In Bhavnagar, there were 14 children who started working to supplement their family’s income. Due to the trauma these families experienced and as schools had closed down, these parents felt that their children could be “more productive”, instead of doing nothing.
3. In Narmada, the team visited 308 households and identified that 10 children are working outside home.

The 14 children who went into child labour, were immediately reported to the ChildLine team. They were counselled and made to realise the concept of child labour and the need for education. This timely intervention of Shaishav, helped rescue these children.

Training of Trainers:

Shaishav team attending various training session online which could help them and broaden their idea on the development of activities. Various activities were taught to the team which could help the, develop the Activity Resource kits.

Manish Freeman was one among the trainers who had innovative ideas about the activities which would benefit the child in their learning as well as keep them engaged.

In the absence of “formal Schooling”, The Child Rights training & Resource Centre team, along with other team members brainstormed on the idea of “learning through activity”. Thus, activity resource kits were prepared which aimed at engaging children between the age group of 8-18 with games which would enhance their knowledge.

The Activity Resource kit:

The Activity Resource kit contained 134 games, compiled around 15 themes which were creatively designed based on the concept of self- designed and self-paced learning, keeping in mind the WHO life skills recommendations. 

Statistics show that 75% of our learning is through seeing. Children are visually wired – 50% of their brain is involved in visual processing. Comprehension is increased when using pictures alongside text. Hence it was important to design the activity resource kits, keeping the above information in mind.

The team recreated the “fun games” into “learning tools”. Concepts of child rights, family/individual values, decision making, confidence/capacity building, secularism were innovatively designed into these games. One such example is “snakes & ladders”, in which each step taught the children about their rights and exploitation against these rights. 

A Manual was prepared as a guide to direct children about the games and a wealth of information based on the themes. The first and the last page of the manual, covered all rights that the child is entitled to. The stationary required for the games was also provided to the children.

The Activity Resource Kit was prepared after rigorous reading from various books, in order to get information. The activities were recreated in an interesting manner that would grab the attention of the children to learn through the play way method. The kit was designed in a manner that could involve the siblings, parents, friends and relatives to play along.

The 15 themes are as follows:

We can categorize the 15 themes into 3 categories of learning; 1) Life-skills and Values, 2) Academic Learning and 3) learning through Play-Way Method.

1)      Life-skills and Values: Aimed at changing life-time habits. The activities would engage children in their formative years and enable them to become changemakers in their communities.

• Self-Awareness: Through this activity, the children are made to reflect about themselves; likes, dislikes, habits, dreams, their role models etc. In the manual, questions are framed which makes the children think and know themselves better. The child is able to contemplate upon their uniqueness, dreams, potential qualities etc.

• Creative, Logical and Critical Thinking:  Logic and critical thinking helps the child reason, which is a basis of the thinking process. Creativity skills help the child explore his imagination in all possible ways, thus creating new things that were not known before. Some challenges are given, wherein the child uses his creativity and imagination to resolve it. 25 types of activities were designed to challenge the children’s imagination and build their self-confidence. 

• Life-skills: The skills considered useful for life are covered in this section. It is an ability that enables human beings to deal effectively with daily challenges and demands of life. 60 skills are mentioned, right from basic serving, sewing, housekeeping, repair, cooking etc. Skills aimed at making children more humane and sensitive in their dealings with their own family members, also inculcating dignity of labour

• Corona Corona: This section contains a detailed explanation and awareness about the pandemic and the virus. Pictorially, safety measures to be adopted such as wearing masks, frequent washing of hands, maintaining physical distance etc. was depicted.

2)      Academic Learning: Various school curriculum like geography and science have been integrated into the kit, using experiential methods.

• Scientific toys: Explicit instructions are given whereby children would make scientific toys from household items. For example, matchbox and a string are all it takes to make a telephone, to help the child understand how sound travels across. Paper rockets, windmills, fans etc. are made from easily available household materials to understand science. 17 types of activities of scientific toys are designed.

• Let’s play Gandhi Gandhi: The values of Gandhiji are appreciated by many. Through this exercise and stories in this section, children are encouraged to imbibe the values he stood for. Questions are framed to enable the child to reflect and relate his/her values to Gandhiji’s values.

• Exposure visits: In this section the child explores the geography and history of his/her own surroundings. The child understands the significance of his surrounding and available community resources.

• Understanding the Human Body:  The games in this section are designed to help the child understand different organs of the body, their functions and its importance. A skeleton and body organ printed on the paper, the child has to cut each piece and attach it to the skeleton according to the numbers, as given in the manual. This helps children to learn about those organs more in detail. Details about functioning of these organs are given in the manual. 

• Geographical knowledge: This section aimed at helping the child understand the famous historical monuments across the state. Famous Parks, sanctuaries, government offices, temples, dams, and other such structures are covered up. 

Knowledge about the solar system was also provided.

3)      Learning through Play-way Method: It is a complete package that enables overall development of the child, in terms of feelings, intellect and skills parameters. It revolves around fun activity-based learning. It encourages expression and creative skills among children.

• Zentangle: This method brings out the artist inside you through a fun and creative way. The child learns to draw structured patterns step by step. Zentangle art is spontaneous and free-flowing in which the child focuses on each stroke, colouring the drawing with calming patterns. It is art meditation which helps children to focus and concentrate.

• Visual Challenge: This section challenges not only the brain, but also the child’s cognitive ability. A puzzle image is created where she/he has to identify certain characters from it. In this way, the children’s observation skills are strengthened which makes him/her more aware about the surroundings. It also helps the child to concentrate and focus.

• Magic Trick: Magic is an art of producing illusion for entertainment which can be quite fascinating for children. Superstition is a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, trust in super natural powers etc. With the objective of driving away superstitious beliefs, 10 magic tricks are described in the manual. The child thus realizes that magic are delusions that are created but scientifically it’s not real/true. This helps children to develop scientific temperament, rational attitude and critical thinking instead of magical and naive thinking.

• Paper craft: Young children are curious to learn; however, motor skills are not taught much anymore. Developing the motor skills in children is vital to their overall developmental process. Paper crafts enables children to express themselves in a purely creative environment. Apart from that, children earn the satisfaction of making something with their own hands and gain self-confidence.          
• Visual Illusions: Visual illusion involves visual deception. Due to the arrangements of images, the effect of colours, the impact of light and other variables, a wide range of misleading visual effects can be seen. This demonstrates the important principle of perception: we don't always see what's really there. Our perceptions depend upon how our visual system responds to environmental stimuli and how our brain then interprets this information. This concept makes the child perceive things in different ways and think differently.

• Shadow Figure: Making shadow figures with the hands gives an opportunity to the child to display his/her intelligence. Stories could be created based on the shadow the child makes. This particular activity does not require materials and creates a very enjoyable atmosphere. This happens in the dark so slowly the child also loses fear of dark and starts enjoying it. 

The child can also make shadow figures with materials easily available. The organization provided chart papers with pre-cut design to enable the child to make a variety of figures. For example, birds, animals, human beings etc.

Along with the Activity Resource kit and manual, Shaishav team provided 3 layers masks to its children, thus promoting safety during the pandemic. Apart from safety, the manual also had pre-cut mask designs of different characters for children to enjoy and play with their siblings.

The Shaishav team, totally dedicated and committed to the cause of child rights, prepared the activity resource kits with the manual numbering 2500, which were then distributed to our children of Balsena at Bhavnagar and Aaranyakshalas at Narmada. Besides we share these to our different network partners and Organisations working with marginalized children across Gujarat. 

Distribution of The Activity Resource kits:

1. Shaishav Child Rights 

a)         Balsena – 419 kits

b)         Aaranyakshlas – 315 kits

1. Atapi Foundation – 500 kits
2. G.H.C.L – 200 kits
3. Jeevantirth – 100 kits
4. Atul Foundation – 100 kits

Organisations such as Children homes, Tapibai Vikas Group (a home for abandoned girls), Nandkuvarba Bal Ashram (orphan children are sheltered) and other organisations working for marginalized children were also given the kits complementary. The Activity resource kits were also shared among Shaishav staff for their children and relatives.

Training on how to use the Activity Resource kits:

The Pandemic didn’t stop Shaishav from reaching out to their children.  The Balsena team, taking all the safety precautions, approached the community to train the children on how to use the activity resource kit, keeping in mind the physical distance and wearing masks at all times. Facilitators from the above Organizations were also trained on how to use the activity resource kits so that they can guide the children and get them engaged with the games that teach them a variety of concepts and values.

Balsena facilitators go to their adopted communities and teach one activity at a time from the kit while maintaining physical distance. In this way, the facilitators do their follow-ups and understand the impact of the activity resource kit which keeps them engaged and far from the risk of getting into child labour, child trafficking and other forms of violence. Rather than roaming around children enjoy doing these activities at home.

Responses of Appreciation:

1. Prof. Prahlad  (former Director of Lok Bharti, Sanosara); appreciated the efforts and detailed study, research and references to prepare a quality self-learning, child-oriented manual/kit. This kit kindles the spark of curiosity in the child.  

2. Ms. Moushmitaben (Coordinator of Atul Foundation); applauded the diverse themes covered-up to inspire both adults and children. She appreciated the emphasis on self-designed learning through activities, aimed at exploring the creative potential within each child. She expressed that it could bring about unity within the family and enhance feelings of cooperation.

3. Dr. Natawarbhai (Honorary Secretary and Director of Shishu Vihar–Bhavnagar); By distributing this Activity resource kit, Child education will get a new direction.

4. Mr. Maheshbhai  (An educationist and a true Gandhian, Founder of Shishukunj) responded: - In times of this CoronaVirus, this kit will bring about happiness in the lives of the children. It will help create a joyful atmosphere in the family, giving a direction to channelize the energies and potential of the children.

(To respect the privay of the individual, all names have been changed.) 

Feedback from Balsena Children:

The Activity resource kit was prepared for the children, so their feedback is of utmost importance for Shaishav. Their words of appreciation, gives the team a sense of satisfaction for the hard-work undertaken to prepare a quality, children-oriented kit even during this unusual crisis of the Covid-19.

The children were overjoyed on receiving the kit. Many expressed how much they enjoyed the learning experience through the play-way method. A simple and child-friendly language was used to help them learn various concepts. Children appreciated how their rights were explained pictorially with simple words.

Games like puzzle and board games were given credit as it helped the child become more observant and increased the child’s ability to think out of the box and be very creative while searching for solutions.

The children also admired the creativity and innovation of the team for preparing the human body organs exercise. They could understand the functions and structure of the organs very easily.

To contain the spread of Covid-19, it was important to create awareness about the virus not only among adults but also among children. The children appreciated the team for including all the safety measures and creating awareness of the Coronavirus pictorially. It was very fascinating to learn by looking at the pictures.

The children were extremely content and grateful for providing the kit at a minimal token cost of just Rs.50 along with all the stationary worth Rs. 150 required for the kit. The children who did not want to join Balsena then, are now fascinated and interested to join by admiring all the activity done with children through the play-way method.

The parents were worried about the safety of their children as they would disobey and want to play outside their home. Children often don’t realize the severity of this virus and when boredom strikes, sitting in one place becomes impossible. Soon this worry came to an end when the Activity Resource kit was distributed, this not only kept the child safe and engaged, but also brought unity within the family. As children, we often fight and don’t get along. The kit was designed in a way that it needed a companion, hence it also brought a sense of harmony among the siblings. The kit also had a funny character mask, which was enjoyed by the children. They, themselves, had to colour and cut the mask with the help of the pre-cut design.

The children acknowledged and thanked Shaishav team for their selfless hard-work and dedication for preparing the kit which contained so many games through which the child was able to learn many life-skills and concepts which are not taught at schools. The children loved the manual as it was systematically organized and very easy to follow.

The education system in India is such that it does not give everyone the privilege to learn about science and experiment it. The Activity resource kit made it possible, the children were excited to learn about science and they could even experiment with materials that are easily available at home.

Impact – Post Assessment:

Early childhood development as a concept is extremely important in terms of their physical, cognitive, linguistic and social development.  Children’s early experience shapes their whole life. These early experiences lay the foundations of a child's brain and strongly influence the strength or weakness of the child’s ability to learn. It is important to understand that a healthy start in life gives each child to flourish and become an adult who contributes positively to the community, both socially and economically. However, this start is conditioned to a number of factors relating to home life, community and the environment.

The education system is designed in such a way that it does not give the child an opportunity to become an independent learner, rather they are dependent on school, teachers and books. Every child is unique and creative in their own ways. Shaishav, therefore keeping the above information in mind, developed the Activity Resource kit.

Post assessment, Shaishav could identify the impact of the Activity Resource kit. Through various activities such as the puzzle games, it triggered the child’s imagination to expand beyond the horizons. It creates curiosity in them which in return makes them think out of the box and come up with creative solutions.

As children, we often take certain things for granted. We know that our parents are there, we become so dependent that we don’t find it important to know minute details about ourselves. The Activity Resource kit had exercises where it made the child think and ask questions about themselves to the parents. Right from blood group, colour of the eyes, account number etc. the child was able to understand themselves better.

Children rationalize and understand what is right and wrong. For example, getting hooked on to the mobile games, not realizing how much they are missing out on other things. Through this kit, they realized the importance of learning various concepts that are essential for life through the play-way method which has the balance of both fun play and learning.

The parents were under the impression that the Balsena were only taking children to play. The distribution of the kits, made them realize that their children were taught life skills so important for life which enlightens their potential, capacity and creativity that enables them to become a skilful generation. Thus, mental/intellectual development and dialogue with the family was given a new direction.

The newspaper of 28th November 2020, reported that in Bhavnagar city out of 22,000 children enrolled in educational institutions only 3779 were able to access online studies. The education committee reported that 55 schools are struggling to continue education through Microsoft assistance. However, 15490 watch the DD Girnar channel, upload study material on youtube or study through whatsapp link to cover up the syllabus. The attempts by principal, teachers and CRC, BRC to engage the students in educational activities is hectic and time consuming but unable to reach the children for their holistic growth.

The attempt to reach out to the most marginalized children in October 2020 through the development of the activity resource kit speaks volumes for how the Shaishav team rose to the challenge in the midst of the pandemic.

ACTIVE COUNCIL MEETING

Balsena team conducts a meeting with leaders of various points along with the facilitators. The Balsena leads the team, decides and coordinates. They plan the activities that they want for the given month, discusses about the issues.

The Balsena Facilitator asked few questions to the leaders such as what role did you play as a leader, what leadership qualities did you displayed during lockdown, what skills you developed as a leader.

The leaders very enthusiastically answered all the question mentioned above and the facilitators could see consecutive growth in them.

The facilitators asked the Balsena members 4 questions to understand the situation of the child during the lockdown.

1)      What activities was done during the lockdown? The children replied T.V, drawing, card game, helping with household chores, reading books, some worked to supplement the family income.

2)      What are the difficulties you faced? The children were scolded by the parents, could not understand online classes, parents restricted from playing outside & could not meet friends as parents feared the police, economic situation was bad at home.

3)      Did you help others during the pandemic? The pandemic has caused a lot of problems at home such as no money to buy even 1 meal per day. The facilitators took the help of Balsena leaders to identify the families who were vulnerable to the situation and they identified 225 families. The team distributed food ration kit to the needy families. The Balsena leaders also shared books with those who did not have books, shared meal with friends who didn’t have food, shared phone with friends to attend online class. This shows how much value the children have for others in need.

4)      If lockdown continues, how would they continue with the activities? The child said that they would take all the safe measures during covid-19 by maintaining physical distance, wearing mask, sanitizing hands, come in smaller group, frequently washing hands, no spitting in the surrounding, keep the place clean. All these measures would ensure that the activities should continue even if the pandemic is prolonged.

Kishore/ Kishori Mandal

Parents rarely speak openly about sexual matters to their children. Children often grow up with faulty ideas and attitude in life. Educating children about sex at early stage will help them understand, be sensitive and wise in these matters.

• The challenges/ problems faced by adolescents during puberty are dealt with in these sessions which are held with growing up boys & girls.
• The menstrual cycle/changes related to puberty
• Difference between girls and boys
• Understanding Attraction/ infatuations/ love between girls & boys
• How they should be aware, understand it and deal in an appropriate manner.
• The Child marriage act / right age of marriage / child nurturing/ child baring etc. are all topics discussed with the children.

The Balsena leaders were very happy and grateful to Shaishav team for constantly being in touch with the children and working hard to develop various meaningful resource materials in order to teach the children various topics through a fun play-way method.

Updates about Shaishav’s Response to Covid -19

From March 2020 to 15^th July 2020

As we all know that the situation across the globe is very challenging due to Covid -19 pandemic. Every individual and organization are affected by it and it has a huge socio-economic-political -cultural impact on every sections of society.

Shaishav’s work is also hugely impacted by the pandemic and we have tried to respond to the situation to best of our capacity. Following is the brief from March 2020 until 15^th July 2020. We have tried to outline here about what we have done so far, what we are doing at present and the upcoming plans for the weeks to come.

Considering our experiences of working with children over past twenty six years, we have focused our work with marginalized children living in slums of Bhavnagar and tribal villages of Dediapada block of Narmada district which is declared as one of the aspirational districts by NITI Aayog. Depending on the needs, the work is different at both places.

Updates of what we have done so far:

• Awareness about the Covid -19:

We started responding to Covid -19 much early on from the end of February, early March. We first learnt ourselves and then provided training to our team about what is Corona, how it spreads and affects people? What are different ways to protect ourselves from it by sanitizing, frequent hand washing, wearing masks, physical distancing etc. We did the home visits and met all our children of Balsena community points at Bhavnagar and villages under Aaranyak project in Narmada at their doorsteps and explained to children and their family members about the seriousness about Corona, how to prevent it and stay safe.

• Child Line Operations:

Childline is 24X7 free helpline for the children who are in need of care and protection. It is Government of India, Ministry of Women and Child Development supported project. In India there are over 500 childlines. Shaishav is running Childline at Bhavnagar since 2011. Considering the nature of its work, Childline is considered as an essential service hence was running even during the lockdown period. Just during the lockdown period (25^th March to 31^st May, 2020), we got 37 new cases. While, after the lockdown is lifted from 1^st June and Unlock 1 has begun, we have received other 49 new cases. So since lockdown we have received 86 new cases. At the beginning of the lockdown, we had 43 cases to follow up. In the month of July, when I am writing this report, we have got 16 cases. We have resolved many cases and as on 15^th July, we have 42 cases to follow up.

Shaishav has done many innovations in running Childline. We have established a Child Rights Committees or Child Protection Committees in every communities where we work which is consisting of Adults, Youth and Children. Many children raise their issues in these meetings.

Besides, we have also established Child Safety Net. This Safety Net is consisting of volunteers from across the city who are willing to support these children who are in need of care and protection. If they come across any such child, they immediately call the Childline and by the time the members reach there, they take care of the child. If we identify any case in their area, we call and request them to support our members because they are familiar with their own area and also know many people there who can support to us. These Child Safety Net members are anyone like shopkeepers, vendors, auto rickshaw drivers to any youth and of course our Balsena and Tarunsena members. We called up 596 Child Safety Net members during the lockdown and informed them that Childline is running and they can contact anytime for any child who may need any support. The whole Shaishav team is always ready to provide support to any child, in case of emergency and not just the Childline team.

• Connection with Children:

Mental Health of children is one of the biggest side effects of this lockdown. Our facilitators were calling all the children of Balsena and Aaranyakshalas in Bhavnagar as well as Narmada respectively to get updates about their wellbeing. We also found out if their family is facing any challenges or whether children are facing any domestic violence. During the calls facilitators were also explaining the children and their family members about how to stay safe, what to do and what not to do. During the lock down we called around 1300 Balsena children and over 250 Aaranyakshala children. Most of the children are doing fine but they are tired of the lockdown and eagerly waiting for Balsena point and schools to resume. They are doing their studies and watching TV and playing around. However, girls shared that their workload has increased since they don’t go to school anymore. In the few cases where we felt the need for intervention we referred the cases to emergency helpline for children-Childline. During the call facilitators also encouraged children to bring out their creativity and create stories, do paper craft or drawing, etc. Facilitators shared that in the second round of the calls many children had experimented and created new things.

• Relief Operations:

In middle of the crisis and at this trying time we also did relief and rehabilitation operations. We distributed about 550 ration kits to most poor and deserving families in Bhavnagar and Narmda district. For this we mobilized the local support from local well-wishers in Narmada district and from Divya Bhaskar Foundation in Bhavnagar. We reached out mostly to those who didn’t get any support from any other source including the government thus far. We got very positive feedback and blessings from these families. Our Balsena and Tarunsena members did a commendable job in identifying families and distributing the ration kits alongside Shaishav team members who went around all the areas and distributed the kits.

• Home Visits and Surveys about Access to Phones:

Once the Unlock 1 has started, our team started visiting the children at their doorsteps. We are finding out from children if they have any issues, concerns or problems. If there are any serious issues, we can refer these cases to our Childline for the further follow up.

The children who go to the government schools and some high-end private schools have started learning through various online mediums such as T.V. and what’s app messages.

Out of 536 families we surveyed at Bhavnagar, 21 families (4%) don’t have any phones, 143 families (27%) have simple phones and 372 families (69%) have smartphones. We discover that none of the children have their own phones.

In Narmada district, the situation is even worse. Out of 307 families we surveyed at Narmada, 16 families (5%) don’t have any phones, 78 families (25%) have simple phones and 213 families (69%) have simple smartphones where some features are there but they are not touchscreen or other latest features. Needless to mention that none of these children with whom we work in Bhavnagar or Narmada have any access to Laptops or Tablets or Wifi.

Usually the phones are with the father and children get access to it only in the late evening after the father comes back from work. If there are more children in the families, the access time per child is much less. The girls get minimum or no access to phones. They have no other activities besides supporting mothers in household chores.

Due to their limited access smart phones their learning is stopped. We keep getting news in the newspapers that in different parts of India, few children committed suicide or made attempts because they didn’t have smart phones or they are fed up with online studies. Luckily, in our areas none of such cases are reported.

• Survey about Child Labour

Once the unlock 1 is started, bringing economy back to the track pressure is prevailing from household to national to global economy. It can pull these children from marginalized families to child labour, child trafficking, child marriage etc. Online Child Sex Abuse can be very dangerous for children form any background. So we did follow up with children of our Balsena and Aaranyakshlas to ensure that they don’t get into child labour. In Bhavnagar we visited 550 households and identified that 14 children have started working, three have left schools and one case of abuse. We have referred all these cases to our child helpline. In Narmada, we have visited 308 households and identified that 10 children are working outside home. Some children are working at their own farms because the schools are closed during this time.

• Baseline Survey

We conducted Baseline survey in Bhavnagar as well as Narmada. In Bhavnagar we could visit 488 children (268 boys and 220 girls) in communities. We could not visit all the households because few children are living in cantonment zones so we can’t enter that areas. Few children have migrated, few have changed their homes and few wished to discontinue in Balsena because they are in 10^th grade now so they have too much pressure of studies from their schools and tuitions. Since the schools are closed we could not do the baseline of the Balsena members in the schools either.

In Narmada, we could do baseline with 306 children (156 boys and 150 girls) from 4 villages and 2 hamlets. Here also since the schools are closed, we could not do the baselines with the children of Aashramshalas or schools.

• Staff Safety

For us safety of our staff and children are of utmost importance. So we take all the precautions and care as per the government guidelines and more. We sanitize our entire office twice a day. When anyone (staff or any outsiders) enters the office, they have to sanitize themselves before approaching anywhere in the office. If any outsider comes, s/he has to sanitize immediately. We also clean and sanitize all the doors, windows and knobs multiple times. We provide multiple reusable 3 layers masks to all our staff so they can use it alternatively.

When the staff goes to the field, we also provide sanitizer bottles so they can keep sanitizing themselves and stay safe. We have also helped them take health insurance policies of all the staff so in case if someone gets infected with Corona, they have some support to fall back on. We have provided all the personal protection care such as masks, sanitizers etc. We also provide them Vitamine C and Ayurvedic herbal kadha every day in the office so their immunity increases.

Other Work done during the Lockdown:

• We are also using this time in clearing our pending tasks, do capacity building training of our staff and do detail planning of all our programmes.
• We are in touch with our Trustee Board members and get their feedback and suggestions from time to time.
• We are also making our Succession Plans so we can step down and new team of young people can take over the leadership in the years to come. This will ensure the sustainability of the organization.
• We are also trying to mobilize some financial resources to sustain our work in this difficult time.
• We finished all our Donor Progress reports and Annual Report in Gujarati.
• During the lockdown our team worked from home. Our team members attended many Webinars, read very useful books, searched lots of materials online and learnt many things which are very useful for our work. They also created many models of different activities.
• We also created short videos of activities which can be shared with children online or do these activities offline once we resume our work.
• We also cleaned up and organize our office, reorganize our papers, documents, books etc. We also did major clean up when we began our office after the lockdown.
• We stayed in touch with all our partners and sent them updates about our work. We attended various webinars organized by our partners such as Laureus Sports for Good at the national and Asia level. It was a great learning and sharing platform and opportunity for us.
• We attended many national networks meetings of which we are part such as Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL), Right To Education Forum, National Action and Coordination Group to End Violence Against Children etc. We did the survey of Child Labour based as part of the National survey and it will be contributed to the national report.
• We also attended various webinars where we learnt about how the pandemic is going to affect the sustainability of the organizations and how to be prepared for it and what efforts can be done to overcome this critical situations.
• We undertook the detailed exercise of Self-Assessment which was prepared by Dasra and also made the planning based on the suggestions given by the experts to make our organization more resilient.
• We prepared few application for emergency support in respond to Covid-19. So far we have not been able to mobilize much extra funding.
• We provided the training to Navsari Childline team where the new childline has started. We also provided guidance to the Amreli and Botad childline for some difficult cases.
• We also attended various webinars to learn about changes happening in various laws and rules related Civil Society organizations such as changes in Income Tax Act Section 12 –A, 80-G, FCRA renewal and submission of annual report online, audit in the present context etc. 
• Parenting for Peace is a group of parents and teachers promoting peaceful communication in their relationship with children. Parenting for Peace invited Shaishav and Balsena to share our journey with them. Shaishav team members, Tarunsena members and Balsena members took part in this webinar and shared their stories of change. 
• We also organized online trainings for capacity building on life skill by Dream a Dream organization for our team members. 
• Time managment and Yoga and Pranayama trainings were also organized for our staff members. 

Things Planned but couldn’t happen:

• Usually Summer Vacation is the peak time of our activities because children are free mostly during this time. We organize Summer Vacation camps every year since 1995 without a single break any year. This year also we made all the plans; all the dates and activities were final but before we announced it, the lockdown was announced. For the first time, we could not do the Camps.
• We also organize many activities such as Residential Leadership Camps, tracking and tours for children, state level training for Gujarat Bal Manch etc. but none of these things could be done.
• This year we had planned the exchange programme of children between our two projects at Bhavnagar and Narmada. Children and we were very excited about it but that also couldn’t happen.
• We planned to launch our new project called “Mahatma Gandhi Leadership Academy” under which we can provide training to any children even outside Balsena. We were also planning to organize couple trainings at the state level. We made all the planning but nothing of these could be done.
• We are planning to organize a Training of Trainers (TOT) to create a cadre of Wenlido trainers who can provide age appropriate Self-defense training to girls for their physical, mental and emotional personal safety. To identify the potential participants for this TOT, we planned six Basic training in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi and Maharashtra. But we couldn’t do these training.
• We conducted the first phase of “Adolescent Empowerment and Protection” TOT in the month of February. The second phase was planned from the 1^st to 6^th June, but we couldn’t do it.

Further Steps and Plans based on our learning:

This crisis is happening first time in our life time so for children also it’s very new and unique experience. Suddenly they are not allowed to go out, go to school or meet with their friends. They have many questions which are seldom answered because adults around them also are unaware about these facts. The adults around them are anxious, depressed, angry, helpless, hopeless, choice less and totally victimized. So women and children are easy target to get out their frustrations. The number of child abuse, child sex abuse cases are increasing at an alarming rate.

The children are also scared and stressed. Their schools are closed so their studies have stopped. Some government and high end private schools have started online studies but very few children with whom we work have access to Smart phones and internet. In fact, in tribal villages, connectivity is a huge issues. In this case the children are left behind and excluded. For these children we need to provide them actual support and hand holding rather than the virtual and distance learning.

Our children don’t have any skills to learn independently because our education system has never provided the same to them. In fact, our education system makes them dependent on teachers, schools and books rather than create eagerness among them to study.

Our experience is that children are most neglected section of society and at time of such crisis, everyone’s attention is geared towards adults so they are left behind even more. So with the Unlock 2, we are planning following.

• We are preparing the activities and teaching learning materials which we can share with the children. We will prepare various educational and developmental activities such as creativity, Play and art therapy. We will share these resources with them through phones as well as teach them in very small groups at their doorsteps.
• We are also planning to prepare an Activity Resource Kits and distribute it to all the Balsena children in the communities where we work and also with children of Aarnayakshala in Dediapada. Right now we are preparing the resources and also mobilizing the financial resources to prepare such Activity kits.
• These Activity Resources Kits arefor children of 4^th to 8^th grade (8 to 13 years). In this kit activities like Science experiments, Scientific toys, travel across Gujarat and India activity, different types of drawing and craft activities, Creativity challenges, Board games, Puzzles, Indoor Games, Zentangle drawings, Waste management, Science of Human Body (Operation), Games and puzzles with match stick, Tangram, DIY Craft, shadow play etc. are included. All these activities are more with pictures and very simple step by step guidelines in Gujarati. So children can do it themselves very easily without any additional support. Children will learn life skills such as creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, coping with emotions, self-awareness etc. through these activities. We are also including stationary items like pencil, eraser, sharpener, scale, crayons, sketch pen, Gum stick, scissors, drawing book as well so the children don’t have to go out for any resources. We have chosen the activities in such a manner that all the materials which are required for activities are available from home and the surrounding environment.  We will also give a ball and activities that they can do using the ball so they also get some physical activities and stay fit. We will give a simple pictorial guideline of doing simple Yoga and other exercise so they get some physical activities. We are also including awareness regarding COVID-19 and suggestions to improve immunity. This will keep the children engaged and will work as an alternative to online education. They will not be tempted to go out and get infected. It will also keep children engaged so they will also stay away from corporal punishment, abuse or issues such as Child Labour or child trafficking.

• We will also share these Activity kits with our network partner organizations which are working with marginalized children at grassroots so they can also share it with the children with whom they work. Thus we will be able to reach out to large number of children in different parts of Gujarat.
• We are also planning to prepare small two to three minutes videos which we can share with the children who have access to smart phones. These video will teach them to do various activities and keep themselves creatively engaged.
• One major observation of our team is that there is no much seriousness among children, their families, parents and local communities about Corona. They know that they need to wash their hands frequently, keep physical distance or ware masks but they seldom do it. Many of them have bath or wash their hands when they come from outside. So we want to do activities using experiential education methods with them not just about the seriousness about Corona but also to bring the behavioral and attitude changes among children. They will become the messengers in their families and communities.
• We will train our team members to facilitate all these activities with children.
• When the situation is safer, we are planning to take permission from the local authorities and work with children in very small groups of five to seven children. We will ensure all the safety and precautions such as hand washing, use of masks, physical distancing, sanitizing etc. We can teach various activities to the children directly in person. The possibilities of doing this is higher in Narmada district compared to Bhavnagar because in Bhavnagar the situation is becoming very bad day by day.
• Once the schools are reopened, we can resume our work with children in Bhavnagar and Narmada district in schools and Aashramshalas. In the schools also we will begin with Art and Play therapy with children to help them release their fear, stress and trauma. But right now, the situation is very uncertain and scary. We don’t know when the schools will begin and when we will be able to resume our work.

In Built Concepts of Sustainability in Aaranyak to counter Covid -19:

When we formulated the concept of Aaranyak earlier, Covid 19 was not seen even on horizon. But during this lockdown while we are working from home and thinking about possible responses to this pandemic, we are realizing that our Aaranyak project has inbuilt answers to many of the challenges that is thrown to us due to this pandemic. In that sense this project Aaranyak becomes even more relevant now than ever. Following are the reasons.

• Firstly, Aaranyak is focusing a lot on the concept of Self-design learning of children. Today when entire learning of children is paused because of closure of all the schools, this concept is so powerful because it makes children independent learners rather than depending on schools, teachers and textbooks. The children will learn how to learn which is totally missing in the present education system.

• Secondly, we put a lot of focus on Life skills training in our work which is not taught in formal school curriculum. It prepares children to deal with crises such as Covid - 19. These life skills include skills such as Coping with Emotions, Stress Management, Problem Solving, Creativity etc. It really help children to be better prepared to handle such disaster and overcome it without being too much disturbed by it.

• Thirdly, we all have observed the plight of the migrant workers and how they had to walk back to their native place at the time of this Covid - 19 crisis. We want to promote such vocational training so the youth in our Aaranyak project areas and encourage them to find the work where they are in their own native place rather than going to cities in search of work and end up on the streets and slums.

• Finally this situation is also reminding us that we need to make huge changes in our lifestyle and also how we are treating the mother earth. In Aaranyak, we also want to promote simple and sustainable community living which is the demand of the present hour. We also want to use the appropriate technology which is much needed because they are more people friendly, sustainable and it does less harm to the environment.

Thus before even imagining about Covid -19, we have imagined about these concepts and it is reinforcing that these are very powerful concepts and are much needed to implement NOW. We are confident that your support to continue our experiments will help us show a new path to the world.