The Education Project - To Build A School

Mrida’s school was set-up in 2016 with 90 children on rented premises to provide education to the children from impoverished families in the tribal region in Madhya Pradesh. The student strength has now grown to 210 children with more than 200 waiting for a place in the school. Mrida's team scour the villages from 3 districts in the Mahakaushal region to find the high potential in sports and neediest children. However, to continue to do this we need space - not just for new children but even for the older ones. Unless that happens, we will be stuck in a sea of need without a boat. And more children will continue to become migrant labourers.

The Mahakaushal region in Madhya Pradesh comprises three of the most backward and tribal populated districts in India. Some of the issues that affect the children and their education in this region are:

1) high rate of migration,

2) high rate of school dropouts due to migration, and

3) high rate of malnutrition. 

As per the Annual Health Survey conducted (2010-11), in Mandla, 56.5 per cent children are underweight, while 47.3 percent and 29.6 percent are suffering from stunting and wasting (decreased fat mass), respectively. Most of the farmer families in the region possess small landholdings and earn low produce from the farmlands due to inadequate irrigation facilities, and one crop farming practice. Thus, the tribal families live in abject poverty due to lack of alternative livelihood opportunities in the region.

We see a dire need to build a proper school building with well-equipped education and sports infrastructure. We have also planned to build hostels for orphaned and single parent girls and boys this year. Although this fundraiser might not fulfil the project's entire funding need, still it will help us cover 20-30% of our required construction and operational cost. Every little bit counts! 

KEY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS OVER THE LAST 5 YEARS:

Residential School: 

Set up a small school on rented premises in 2016 to provide education to 90 children from impoverished tribal families. We have also set-up a residential facility to house orphaned children and children with single parents. Our current teaching starts from Grade 1st - 8th and has future plans to add classrooms till Grade 10th.

Narmada Valley Football Academy: 

Set up Narmada Valley Football Academy (NVFA) in 2016 which has been recognized by the Madhya Pradesh Football Association. NVFA's goal is to provide a full residential and schooling facility to train 120 children to become National level football players by the academic year 2021-22.

Narmada Valley Aavishkaar Lab:  

Initiated a four-year Robotics program with a Government High School in Phulsagar in 2018-19. Some of the students from this program participated and won at IIT Indore’s Robotics design fest in January 2019. The program had to be discontinued at Phulsagar due to lack of funding but 14 of the children from Sagar transferred to RNS to continue their work in the program area in a focused way.

Agroforestry Initiative with the tribal families:  

Started this long-term Sustainability initiative to support Mrida’s intervention programs. Along with PRADAN-promoted FPO, Mrida mobilized 25 tribal farmer parents to grow the medicinal plant, Ashwagandha on 40 acres of land which is barren and lying unused by the farmers. The second stage of this initiative is to grow food forests in 60 acres of land with a focus on medicinal plants and fruits that are in demand in Indian food markets. 

Raja Hriday Shah Golden baby League: (AIFF-approved- an only league in MP which is under the FIFA guidelines) 

Started the football matches under the Baby League to address the learning gap faced by the children. The lockdown imposed due to Covid-2019 has impacted the Adivasi households in the region as 45,000 migrant labour has returned from April – May 2020. With schools closed due to the lockdown and children having little access to technology, they have no opportunities to learn. To bring joy back into the life of children here, we run an AIFF-approved Baby League, the Raja Hriday Shah Golden Baby league, dedicated to the 49th Gond King who holds a dear place in the heart of the locals. Over 14 girls and boys teams in under-10 and under 13- age categories are participating in the league.

For the last four years, we rented premises to run the day school. Our goal is to build a school capacity for 800 students.. We need a better school infrastructure to educate a growing number of children from impoverished tribal families.  In the past, we trained football players on makeshift grounds resulting in injuries and frustration. Our sports goal is to create National and International level football players. We need high-quality infrastructure to move beyond 1000+ hours of football practice sessions. The academic year 2021-22 will be the most challenging year for rural education. We fear that as schools reopen after the year-long COVID hiatus, more children will drop out of the education system. We are fundraising to create a lasting positive impact on the lives of children from tribal families. Join us to start to educate to end poverty. 

IMPACT OVER THE LAST 5 YEARS

• Improved health through strong nutrition and sports: We monitor the body mass index (BMI) every month - from June 2019 to February 2020, the percentage of severely malnourished children (BMI < 16.0) under our care fell from 81% to 68%. 
• ·Better attendance and academic performance: 85% of the players reported more than 90% attendance in the academic year 2019-20. Group learning has improved their academic results especially in subjects like Mathematics. 
• Self-employment and employment opportunities for football players: A total of 7 senior players who played/trained with us are employed/self-employed and earning up to Rs.60,000 annually which they are contributing towards their families and education of their younger siblings.