TIGblogs - Anand Koti

It's been quite sometime I have not shared the developments of Colorss. First of all I am really thankful to everyone without whom we could not reach here at this stage. Still remember the day when we started 2 years nine months ago we had only ONE child and today we realize that we have grown up.. at a speed, with progress, with dedication, with your support and trust. Yes, not to mentioned those countless hurdles, difficulties and moments that gave us sleepless nights.

Today we are present at four schools and two cities in two states:

Mahadji Shinde High School, Pune Municipality School at Pune Cantonment Board
Dr. Ambedkar Memorial School, Pune Municipality School at Pune Cantonment Board
Guru Rabindranath Tagore School, Pune Municipality School, Pune
Navprerna - a care club of Navrachana School, Baroda, Gujarat (Navrachana is an independent, co-educational, English medium school. It is one of the premier schools of Gujarat. Each year it attracts the brightest students who wish to follow the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi (CBSE) curriculum.)

Projects:

Project Enhance :- Project Enhance uses sport and the arts as tools to promote physical well-being while improving mental health. Mental health is not just the absence of mental disorder; rather, it is a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.

In India, even today girl child is considered as a liability and is often ignored; even harassed and molested. Project Enhance is targeted at empowering the girl child through a blend of martial arts and creative arts resulting into increased self-confidence and improved academic performance as a result.

Project 'Colors of Life' :- Project 'Colors of Life' provides an answer to one of our nation's most troubling problems. Although more children are staying in school than in previous years, there are still too many students dropping out, even at the very earliest levels. This problem is especially prevalent among the poor and the disabled. Some studies estimate that as many as 50% of children will drop out before finishing the higher secondary stage. More than half of all children leave school before ninth grade. To reduce these rates, we have to figure out why so many children aren't finishing their studies.

Project Urja - igniting the fire within :-Project Urja - igniting the fire within is our first vocational training program started in Baroda, Gujarat. The project aims at the empowerment of women. It aims at providing vocational training to women especially for women from underprivileged sections of the society. Project Urja is an initiative to make Colorss a self-sustained model.

Number of students:

Project Enhance :- 100 girls

Project 'Colors of Life' :- 65 children

Project Urja - igniting the fire within :- 15 women from slums under-going training

Holistic Programs for a child - specially for Guru Rabindranath Tagore School - 50 students

Today we have approximate 215 children and 15 women at Colorss. The numbers are fluctuating due to unstable family cohesiveness, poor financial condition of the family, child is asked to work and avoid school, broken-family, distance between the school and home and other factors.. We have our limitations as we are still very young and we need a lot of support to address these grass-root level problems.

Small steps leads to Big Change

For Love

Anand