Support for 45 Child Clubs/After School Clubs in rural villages of West Bengal,Jharkhand and Maharashtra

45 Child Clubs with more than 1200 children from rural villages of 6 districts in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha, seek your support to buy activity supplies like board games, sports equipment, stationery, books, and local musical instruments. While working with children in the community it was observed that they did not have a common place to come together to bond, interact and learn from each other. Most of the kids belong to disadvantaged families and due to constant struggle and family issues, the after-school time is spent mostly at home with no creative interaction for self- development, and learning. CNI has been successful in forming Child Clubs to bring children together for various activities in sports, physical education, music, art and craft, communication, reading, creative learning and nature experiences. But the children lack good quality activity supplies for their clubs to function effectively. CNI has been able to get few supplies through local contributions and donations, but as the number of children is increasing, they require a formal functional space with quality supplies to run their clubs successfully.

The need was felt for the children to form creative groups or clubs to stay motivated, where they can play together and learn to nurture their talents. Child club is the platform for children where they are free to express their inner feelings and inherent talents. At present these clubs are being run by the local village community members with help of the local church’s social services board. CNI also observed that many performing arts like traditional dance forms in Kolhapur region using Lezim and Jhanjpatta local instruments are slowly fading away among the present generation of kids. The children along with the community shared the need to revive and restore these art forms to promote the cultural traditions of the community.

Our children have improved much on social and communication skills and are more confident in showcasing their talents. They are able to understand themselves better, gain self-confidence and connect with society (including parents) positively. Activities and skill development sessions through child clubs have also helped them to perform better in formal schools. The child clubs are also participating in many community cultural programs and also leading small community initiatives like Children’s Library. Presently child clubs are formed in Kolkata and Barrackpore in West Bengal, Kolhapur in Maharashtra, Phulbani in Odisha and Khunti and Simdega in Jharkhand.