Parivaar is a humanitarian organisation, based in 24 Parganas* *(S), West
Bengal headquartered at Parivaar Ashram, Village- Barkalikapur, P.O.
Bakhrahat, District 24 Parganas (South), West Bengal. Parivaar Ashram is a
Residential Institution for Education and Overall Development of erstwhile
destitute children from categories like orphans, girls vulnerable to
exploitation and victimisation, street children, abandoned children,
children from highly impoverished tribal areas, and other such highly
vulnerable children. Parivaar Ashram is essentially a community of children
and Resident Seva-vratis whose only aim is to love and serve the children as
their younger brothers and sisters. Starting from scratch (with just 3
resident children) in 2003 and thereafter developed brick by brick, Parivaar
Ashram is being continuously developed and moulded into a unique institution
transforming the lives of each of its resident members (children as well as
adults). At present, Parivaar Ashram's Residential Institution has 332
resident children (both boys and girls) who have found a new life at
Parivaar and are being prepared for bright future through quality education
and overall development. Parivaar Ashram at Bakhrahat, about 30 Km from
Kolkata city is spread over 8 acres (about 320,000 sq. ft) of land. At the
Parivaar Ashram campus is also located Parivaar's own Formal School 'Amar
Bharat Vidyapeeth', a quality academic institution, in which the resident
children of Parivaar study.
Children are admitted at a young age of 4 to 10 into Parivaar Ashram. Each
resident child once admitted into Parivaar will be under the care and
custody of Parivaar till higher education (graduation / post-graduation) and
subsequent job placement and settlement into future phase of life. Parivaar
is and shall be behind each child and pave his/her way into any future
career which he/she is aspring for and showing promise of making to, whether
it is a stream graduation in humaities, commerce or sciences, or a
professional degree education in engineering/medicine. For example, children
showing aptitude for meritorious professional lines like engineering or
medicine or any other such lines shall be trained and fully supported (just
as parents do for their on children) for completion of that higher education
and subsequent placement. Our eldest group of children is already in Class 8
and despite the fact that they were late-starters in academic path (trained
and initiated straight into Class 4 in 2004) they are outperforming children
from educated households in their respective schools, and securing
top-bracket ranks.
In the next 2 years, Parivaar is being developed to accommodate 1000 such
resident children while ensuring the same high quality. A separate All-Girls
Residential Institution is on the way of being developed which will be
gradually expanded to accommodate 500 resident girls. Construction for the
same is going on. Residential Institutions shall also be started in some of
the far-off tribal areas where Parivaar is working.
Parivaar Ashram being the hub of training of Seva-vratis, is also the base
for many other projects serving the rural areas in 24 Parganas district as
well as far-off tribal areas in districts of Midnapore (West), Bankura, and
Purulia in West Bengal and Singhbhum (East) in Jharkhand. Two main tribes,
Sabar and Birhore, are the main beneficiaries of Parivaar's tribal service
programs. 400 such families from highly impoverished tribal areas are
enrolled in Parivaar's regular Foodstock Scheme whereby 9 tonnes (9000 Kg)
of foodstock (Rice and Dal) are ferried and distributed by Parivaar
Seva-vratis through most inaccessible terrains in these areas every month.
75 children from these tribal areas have also been admitted at Parivaar
Ashram Residential Institution.
Parivaar has also developed a wide field-base in various highly impoverished
tribal areas in West Bengal and Jharkhand in districts of Midnapore (West),
Purulia, Bankura in West Bengal, and Singhbhum (East) in Jharkhand.
Parivaar's work has attracted an increasing number of supporters from
amongst Indians in varied walks of life, and at the same time has been able
to build a cadre of highly dedicated youth Seva-vratis who are initiated
into ideals of service and trained at Parivaar Ashram.
In the Financial Year April '07- March '08, Parivaar spent more than Rs 1 Cr
on Parivaar Ashram Residential Institution, Amar Bharat Vidyapeeth, and host
of the other initiatives in tribal areas in West Bengal and Jharkhand. About
Rs 1.5 Crore were spent on infrastructure expansion at Parivaar Ashram and
land purchase and ongoing construction for the separate All Girls'
Residential Institution that Parivaar is developing. Towards this Parivaar
received more than Rs 3 Cr in the said Financial Year, by Parivaar
supporters worldover. Out of this the bulk was from hundreds of individual
supporters who inspired by Parivaar contribute to it magnanimously.
ADMISSION PROCESS OF CHILDREN INTO PARIVAAR
Parivaar Ashram is a Residential and overall life development institution
for erstwhile other destitute children. Typically Parivaar receives everyday
about 5 to 10 cases of such children everyday by different field
organizations, relatives or neighbors of the child in case, concerned
individuals, members of local bodies, Panchayats etc. After filtering Prima
Facie information, cases for site visit and detailed investigation are
short-listed. Parivaar has a special Enquiry team that conducts site
enquiries from where the case-request has come. This team visits the child's
existing location and collects detailed profile, facts and information of
the child, based on interaction with the child's referring persons / entity
and other possible sources. This site report is then discussed and
deliberated upon, and the severity of the need of the child to be admitted
for a long term into Parivaar Ashram is validated and decision thereof is
made. The important parameters looked into while admitting into Parivaar
Ashram are as follows:
1. The child's age during admission into Parivaar should be between 4 to 10
years, though certain exceptions are made
2. There should be no possibility of child's dropout from this long-term
stay at Parivaar Ashram at least he or she becomes of age and is able to
make decision for himself / herself, grow to his / her potential and find a
place as a socially dutiful, worthy individual.
3. Parivaar acts as the custodian of the child and makes all the decisions
in his / her best interest.
4. The child will continue to be in and under the care of Parivaar, even
after their legal age of adulthood i.e. 18 years just as in any family
parents and the family continues to support their ward financially and
otherwise until the child (who shall be a youth by then) has found a place
for himself / herself as described above.
5. Generally, along with one child all his / her siblings are also admitted
into Parivaar as all of them are destitute/homeless/'family-less' and
Parivaar's principle is that all siblings should progress and have bright
futures so that their familial bonding remains intact in future.
6. Every two months there is a date on which the recognized guardian or
close relative of the child (as recognized by Parivaar authorities) may
visit Parivaar and meet the child.
Generally children admitted into Parivaar are from categories like orphans,
street and pavement dwelling children, children with critically / terminally
ill mother and no father and other family support, children from other
crises background like whose father ahs deserted the mother and children,
vulnerable girl children from prostitution-infested areas who are under the
risk of being sucked into flesh trade unless educationally-equipped. A large
number of children are from rural areas as well.
*Orientation
A Brief of Scheme of Education for the resident children at Parivaar.*
Typically a child is admitted into Parivaar within the age group of 4 years
to 12 years. All these children without exception have had no exposure to
education whatsoever, before being admitted into Parivaar.
There are 3 categories in which the children can be placed as far as their
educational path is concerned and three different action plans are taken for
them.
*A) The youngest admittees into Parivaar (age 4 to 6)*
The youngest admittees (aged 4,5,6) are those who are rightly aged to start
their academic life, and are admitted into most initial classes
(Kindergarten / Class 1) since their age is in accordance with the class
they are admitted into. Right from the beginning they are able to progress
in their studies without any difficulty as there is a strong battery of
teachers at Parivaar Ashram, who teach these children after their day
school. Also the pace at which at these children are taught is just right
for their age as no fast-bridging has to be done for this category since
they do not have an educational backlog vis-a-vis their age.
*B) Admittees who have a big educational backlog*
Children admitted to Parivaar who have age of 8 to 12 (aged 8,9,10,11,12)
and still not having any exposure to education, are first trained in-house
for one year at Parivaar through what we call 'Fast-Learning Bridge Course'
by our battery of teachers, and then made to be admitted into a class
suitable for their age. For example, at the end of the bridge course a
nine-year-old child would be admitted in Class 4 or at least Class 3.
*C) Children who have already got past either A or B, and are now already
settled in regular academic path in Amar Bharat Vidyapeeth or other Formal
Schools*
The children who have in the previous years got past the above 2 stages i.e.
who are now already settled in the regular academic path at a normal pace
(i.e. one Standard (Grade) in one year) get admission into either Parivaar's
own Formal School 'Amar Bharat Vidyapeeth' (which at present is from Class 1
to 5) or (for Class 5 onwards) into other good quality schools in the area
through competitive admission tests. For all the students in this category
too, 'After-the-school-tutorship' is of immense importance and is an
essential component of our education efforts. There are two reasons for
this:
1. The first reason flows from central theme of Parivaar that is
'Excellence'. Parivaar's vision is that all the resident children
continuously excel from strength to strength and as per their abilities
shape a bright future for themselves in various professional lines.
Excellence and not mediocrity is what we aim for each child in Parivaar. Our
vision is that our children excel from one level to a higher level.
2. Because of the fact that many of the children have been jumped into a
higher class through fast learning bridge course it may so happen that some
may initially struggle a bit when admitted into a higher class in a formal
school. But we have invariably seen that because of focused 'After-School
Tutorship' study hours (4 to 5 hours in addition to the school hours) the
performance of each child in every successive examination improves. The
children who get admission into outside schools by appearing into schools'
competitive admission tests continuously match the performance of other
children coming from regular households who did not have any education
backlog. With respect to these children too, their performance betters with
time.
Our team of teachers – both at Amar Bharat Vidyapeeth as well as Tutorship
Program work very hard with each child, so that each child can continue to
excel and learn to bring out the best from within themselves. Each day of
their academic progress is noted by the teachers and other Resident elders
of the Residential Institution (responsible for the overall caretaking of
the children), and it is ensured that they perform and master that very day
whatever is taught in the schools they attend. During the last week in each
month, detailed tests are taken for all subjects for all the children both
in their Schools as well as in internally in the 'After-the-School
Tutorship'. This helps in continuous evaluation and correction resulting in
improvement.
Parivaar has always being following this principle - A child before being
admitted into Parivaar may have been an orphan/homeless/family
less/destitute child, but after being admitted into Parivaar the child is no
more so. He has then got a Home, Family, and Future. Thus the first thing
done is to de-tag and de-label this unhappy epithet of 'homeless child'.
Therefore, when Parivaar children (who are in higher classes of 6 and 7)
have to seek admission in outside schools, Parivaar never pushes the
admission of children into schools merely on sympathetic background.
Self-Dignity and self-confidence have to be earned and our children do so by
getting admission in good schools on the basis of their merit and
re-strengthen it by their continuous good performance in their school. It
may happen that a child may not get admission into School A, failing to
clear its merit test, but gets admission into School B and advances from
there, always having a chance to excel in future.
*Parivaar in Jharkhand*
Swami Satyabodhananda (Chiranjib Maharaj) of the Ramakrishna Mission had
told me about the plightful condition of the Birhore tribal community in
Singhbhum (East) district of Jharkhand. For the last few months, Chiranjib
Maharaj was posted at the Ghatsila Centre of the Mission and he was striving
to uplift the condition of these tribesmen who lived in the region. He
suggested that I should first visit this place and then see if something can
be done in this direction. Consequently, we planned a visit on 3rd and 4th
April. From our Parivaar Ashram along with me came Pulakda and Nirmal (our
Jeep driver) and we proceeded in Jeep to Ghatsila in Jharkhand about 280 km
from our Parivaar Ashram. We stayed at the Ghatsila Ashrama of the
Ramakrishna Mission. We were taken by Chiranjib Maharaj to a number of
highly impoverished villages in this area like Bhadua, Chhatardanga and
Tumankocha.
The condition in these villages cannot be described in words. That these
brothers and sisters of ours have been languishing for thousands of years in
darkness and continue to be in the same condition was the foremost thought
that struck us. The children were all naked and malnourished, women
half-clad, old-aged persons were like living corpses. They live in
conditions that can hardly be called human. Generation after generation,
these people live in the same conditions with no better conditions
bequeathed to their posterity. In any progressive society material and
cultural conditions improve from one generation to another. One could not
see any such progress here for the reason that the most important resource,
namely, the human resource, has remained completely undeveloped. In such
material conditions it is no wonder that the lamp of education has not been
lit here which has further kept the region in such material conditions. To
my mind this perpetual misery cannot be broken unless a whole generation of
these people is shaken up, quality education given, a total regeneration and
unlocking of their human potential happens. The lives transformed in one
generation shall surely make way for further progress in future generations
once they through education break free from this bonding orbit of ignorance
and helplessness. It is something like the concept of Escape Velocity in
Mechanics, the velocity with which a body can get past the downward pull of
earth. In their case quality education and human-resource development is the
only force, which can nullify the downward force of ignorant helplessness
and resignation, and is capable of lifting an entire generation and thereby
transforming the lives of future generations too. Thus one should see this
not only from the point of view of so many people of this generation but
countless future generations of these brethren of ours. Lift one generation,
the following ones would surely be in better conditions.
A lot was needed to be done there on an ongoing basis to have a
life-transforming effect. The idea strengthened in my mind to start a
full-fledged Seva-Ashram in this area where highly dedicated young workers
can take the vow of service and make upliftment of these people their only
mission. While for Parivaar to do something there in this way could take
time, I suggested to Chiranjib Maharaj that we can at least do something by
admitting some children from this area to Parivaar Ashram's Residential
Institution for Education and Overall Development of Destitute children
where 225 erstwhile destitute children are marching towards gifted manhood
and life-excellence possibilities. Chiranjib Maharaj was very jubilant at
this idea and began to place this idea before the villagemen and
articulating the transforming effect it could have on their children if they
could be admitted to Parivaar. The villagemen were very enthusiastic about
it and wanted to know more. We therefore thought it best that a few senior
villagemen should accompany us to Parivaar Ashram and stay there for a few
days to see how Parivaar is redefining the entire meaning of the term
'Destitute Home' and what people commonly visualise when they hear this.
That the children who till the age of 9/10 years did not even know alphabet
could within 2 years or so could start outperforming children coming from
regular households influenced our 4 guests. They said on going back they
would convene meetings in various villages of the Birhore tribal community
and compile a list of children from the community who can be admitted to
Parivaar. We told them we would again visit the area in 2-3 weeks time and
would then finalize the children to be admitted.
On 25th we again visited the area. This time Nimaida accompanied me along
with Nirmal. On our way to Bhadua village we took a wrong way and landed up
at another village by name of 'Bhadua'. It took us a while to realize that
this was not the Bhadua where we had intended to go and again jeeping our
way from on hillock to another in an area reputed to have wild elephants
roaming around we finally reached Bhadua during late evening when it was
completely dark. Our village brethren at at Bhadua heartily welcomed us. The
grown up men can speak Bengali with fluency and we conversed with them in
Bengali. In fact most of the tribal men here are fairly fluent in 3
languages – their own Birhore dialect, Hindi, and Bengali. It is interesting
to note this as only a very miniscule percent of world population can speak
3 languages and living in forests they have learnt these languages. After
treating the children and womenfolk with biscuits (we had brought about 200
packets of biscuits) we got distributed the 50 odd Sareees that we had
brought with us for the womenfolk. The village Pradhan Shri Samara Birhoree
who had been to Parivaar Ashram had already compiled a long list of about 50
children from 8-9 different villages of the area who were keen to be
admitted to Parivaar Ashram. He said that on the following he would convene
a meeting of all these children and their guardians where we could note the
details after interaction with them and finalise the particular children to
be admitted. We told them in the first phase we would admit 15 children in
May and once they get settled we would admit remaining children in phases.
We therefore shortlisted 15 children in the age-group of 6 to 9 years.
We also thought that it would be helpful if we could take a couple of
moderately educated young men from these villages who could be trained as
Housebrothers for caretaking of these boys at Parivaar Ashram so that at
least initially for this group there would be someone who could understand
their dialect, habits etc. There was one in Bhadua village who had studied
till Class 10 and he readily agreed for this. We asked him to accompany us
to Parivaar Ashram where his training as Housebrother would start. He is at
present at Parivaar Ashram with us. We decided 15th May as the date for
bringing all the 15 children to Parivaar. 3-4 villagemen have taken
responsibility to bring the group to Howrah station in train from Ghatsila.
We shall receive the group at Howrah station and from there bring the
children to Parivaar. We left a sum of Rs 2000/- for covering the costs of
the journey of this group to Howrah. Thus, this is the beginning we have
made in this direction, which can open a new chapter in Parivaar's work and
mission. I think everything has gone in the best possible way till now but
the real challenge starts from15th May when this group begins to settle in
Parivaar. The challenge is how quickly they shall successfully respond and
settle in a routine of education and overall development. We have no doubt
that they surely will, as all our Parivaar children have started from zero
and a good number did not have exposure in Bengali before they came. We have
geared up for this new challenge.
[image: Swami Satyabodhananda (Chiranjib Maharaj) at Bhadua
village during our first trip on 3rd April]
Swami Satyabodhananda (Chiranjib Maharaj) at Bhadua village during
our first trip on 3rd April
[image: Villagers at Bhadua village]
Villagers at Bhadua village
[image: Children at Tumankocha village]
Children at Tumankocha village
[image: Children at Chhatardanga village]
Children at Chhatardanga village
[image: The four Jharkhand villagemen at Parivaar Ashram with
Vinayakda and Pulakda (5th April)]
The four Jharkhand villagemen at Parivaar Ashram with Vinayakda
and Pulakda (5th April)
[image: Common Meal of Rice with live red ants (picture taken at
Chhatardanga village)]
Common Meal of Rice with live red ants (picture taken at
Chhatardanga village)
[image: Vinayakda with the villagers at Bhadua village during
second trip on 26th April]
Vinayakda with the villagers at Bhadua village during second trip
on 26th April
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
Explore http://Jharkhand.org.in 4 Live Chat, i-Messaging, Music Video, News
and much more.....
Posting Norms - http://www.jharkhand.org.in/posting_norms.htm
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
