15-year-old Anand works towards preventing children from dropping out in his school
Anand lives with his family in the Mangla, a small forest village in Karnataka. Both his parents work as daily wage farm laborers.
In spite of their bad financial condition, they send Anand to school hoping for a better future.
Anand's father and his uncle were in a dispute about the ownership of their ancestral land. This land fell in the Tiger reserve area. Due to this, the state has restricted the agricultural activity in the area. This led to further tensions. On one unfortunate day, the brothers resorted to physical violence. In this confusion, Anand's father was jailed for 2 and half months. He was later released when found not guilty.
Anand however was badly affected by his father's imprisonment. He dropped out of school in the middle of class 10.
It was then that the Bal Panchayat and the Community Social worker of Bal Mitra Gram visited his home. They counselled the family about the importance of the education. They motivated him to go back to school. They also encouraged him to work towards making a change about issues that affect his school and community.
This resulted in a great change in Anand's behavior. He returned to school. He become the Bal Panchayat Vice President of his Bal Mitra Gram (BMG).
He is very empathetic towards children who drop out of school. There is very high level of unemployment in these areas. The low quality of life in these areas often lead to children dropping out of school.
To combat this, Anand wrote a letter to the Gram Panchayat for effective implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) with the guidance of a social worker.
He also wrote to the Panchayat Development Officer for timely release of funds.
The Gram Panchayat accepted his request and started providing employment locally and also started releasing funds on time.
This brought results and the retention rate of children in school rose up.
Anand is not only a brilliant student but also a good volleyball player. He aspires to become a police officer. He hopes to use his power and authority to voice out the injustice and bring a positive change in his community.
Anand, for sure would have been a lost cause without the guidance of KSCF's Bal Mitra Gram.
Your help can make many more children like Anand find their inherent talents. You can donate so that the foundation can provide Bal Mitra Gram services in many more villages and help many children become contributing members of a the society. You can give with confidence because every program listed is GIVEASSURED.
With support and guidance, children can bring out their inherent talents and grow up to become future leaders.
