Project 1: Empower children in the districts of Tiruchirappalli and Karur in Tamil Nadu

The Covid pandemic has wreaked havoc in the districts of Tiruchirappalli and Karur. A majority of the members of these rural communities are daily wage earners such as street vendors and hawkers and the pandemic brought heavy losses and a large decline in their livelihood, impacting their children and other family members.

During the pandemic, the number of school dropouts among the children of the daily wage earners increased dramatically. In some areas, there were a number of minor girl children being married off.

Prior to the pandemic, area children had access to Evening Study Centres in some 25 villages in the districts of Tiruchirappalli and Karur. The Centres helped to improve life outcomes for the children, focusing on holistic personality development. In addition to offering tutorial and homework assistance, the programs focused on life skill development through extra-curricular activities. Nutritional needs were also addressed with nutritional supplements.

Due to the pandemic, all 25 Evening Studies Centres had to be closed. As if that were not grave enough, the funding that had previously kept the Centres open and running had been reallocated to emergency Covid issues.

The project will work towards re-opening the 25 supplementary Education Centres.

Project 2: Access to nutrition and health for Sri Lankan Tamil women and children in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu

Tamils of Sri Lanka endured a long civil war. For decades, many families of the minority community of Tamils who were caught in the crossfire, fled seeking refuge in other countries. A vast majority of them traveled to Tamil Nadu in India and were accommodated in refugee camps.

These refugee camps differ in size with populations varying from small to large. In total, there are as many as 107 refugee camps for Sri Lankan Tamils across the state of Tamil Nadu.

Though some people in these camps are able earn decent income, most have to mainly rely on the monthly rations distributed by the government.

In recent years, most of the babies born in these camps are underweight and the Covid pandemic worsened the living conditions endured by the families.

The project would work towards improving the health of women and children in those camps.

Goals 

Project 1

• Encourage and empower children and youth from remote villages in Tamil Nadu, India, who have suffered academically and psychologically due to the Covid-19 pandemic lock-downs.

Project 2

• Provide access to health and nutrition to children, pregnant women and lactating women in the refugee camps of the Trichy, Namakkal and Pudukottai districts in Tamil Nadu.

Activities

Project 1

25 Supplementary Education Centres / Evening Study Centres for children will be established. The centres are geared for children ages 5-13 years from villages and hamlets in the district of Tiruchirappalli. Each centre will have 30 children studying in grades 1-8.

The centres will be monitored by a coordinator and tutors will help the children. The coordinator and tutors are undergraduate students.

Project 2

Distribution of monthly nutritional food kits to 1,000 children, 50 pregnant and lactating women.

Key Performance Indicators to be reached (KPIs)

Project 1

• Up to 750 children will access the services of the Evening Study Centers;
• The number of student readmissions to the area schools will increase significantly;
• Academic performance will improve;
• Participating children’s body weight will increase.

 Project 2

• Up to 1,000 children will receive nutritional food kits;
• Up to 50 pregnant and lactating women will receive nutritional food kits;
• Women and children’s nutritional intake will increase and their health will improve.

Myriad Canada is working with the Society for Poor People Development (SSPD) on these two  projects, a non-profit organization that envisions a secured and sustainable community and works on developing sections of society that are at risk and most deserving under five thematic areas.